The herald., 1896-02-23
STORIES ABOUT
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

WASHINGTON, D. O.. Feb. 12.-"As a
boy I knew Lincoln" said Senator
voorhees,. 1.-THE circuit he was wont to
travel in his law practice in the early
days swept the west border of Indiana,
and while studied and when l began
the practice of the law found myself
frequently in the same court room
with Lincoln.
"Of course no one thought Of him as
the coming president, the central figure
OF great war and the victim finally of
an assassin.
I'm that day every one conceded Lin
coins persuasive powers with a jury.
His humor. his good nature, his abso-
lutte honesty, as we'll as a potent trick
with English, made him dangerous
opponent before the twelve men who
passed on the facts in a law case.
physically, Lincoln wa as powerful
as an ogre, and his courage was proof.
l don't believe he ever feared anybody
or anything During the hours of civil
war Stanton and others were won't to
be afraid for him, but no sign of anxi-
ETY. for himself personally ever shone
In the eye of Lincoln. Nor did he
ever limit himself in his excursions
about Warrington or withhold himself
from the public in any fashion. He
went where he pleased, when he chose;
saw all fashions of callers.
"Lincoln was tcnder man Of others,
with sympsthies as harmless as air. I
was in congress while he was in the
White House, and saw good deal of
him, although our politics differed.
He said to me one day:
"'Voorhees, doesn't it seem strange
to you that should be here? Doesn't
it strike you as queer that I, man
who couldn't cut the head off a
chicken, who was sick at the sight of
blood, should be cast into the middle
of great war, with blood flowing all
about him? To me, when think of it
sometimes, it is the mostamazing thing
on earth
"Yet," concluded Voorhees,, "when 1
look back at Lincoln in the White
House, with armies in the field and
fleets on every sea, and think of the
work he must have done, wonder
what some presidents who have fol-
lowed him and who regard themselves
as over-worke ], would have thought if
their daily desks had been piled like
Lincoln's."
"Lincoln was shrewd politician as
we'll as great president" remarked
Colonel William r. Morrison. HE
gave evidence of it during my first
term in the Illinois Legislature. 1t was
late in the SOS. The Free Soil excite
ment was abroad. It came our turn in
Illinois to elect senator. As say,
was a member of the legislature. The
two parties were about equally bal
anced. Lincoln was the Free Soil can
didate and on joint ballot had 49 votes.
There were only an even 100 in all.
The remaining 81 we're divided between
Shields-who was our candidate-with
46 votes, and Lyman Trumbull. who
was the Free Soil Democratic candi-
date, with 5 votes. The Trumbull
votes were led by Senator Palmer, who
was then Free Soil Democrat and
also a member of the legislature. We
stood through several ballots, Lincoln,
40; Shields, 46, and Trumhull, 5.
Palmer and his five would not yield.
They we're Democrats. but they were
against slavery, and nothing we could
say or do would bring them to Shields.
We had just begun to realize this, and
we we're casting about for candidate
OF whom the Free Soil and regular
Democrats could unite, when, without
q word of warning. Lincoln stole q
march on US. He knew as we'll as we
that sooner or later, with matters as
they were, the regular Democrats
would abandon Shields and the Free
Sellers, with Palmer at their head, give
up Trumbull and unite on somebody
uhn ,Svh cs1it hnk h mi of hn na
mocracy. Now, Lincoln, if he couldn't
win himself, preferred Trumbull might
lily, and while our dickering with the
suddenly gave his whole forty-nine
votes to Trumbull, and, to the disgust
of the regular Democrats, made him
senator. A Few years later the unex-
pected happened and Lincoln was IN
the White House, while Trumbull, one
of his best and warmeSt friends, and
who practically owed Lincoln his Of
flee, was in the senate. During the
whole war and up to Lincoln's death he
never had stancher supporter than
Lyman Trumbull.
"From the Quincy district" said
secretary Morton, "during the early
'60s, there WAS as representative in con-
gress q great friend of mine named
Richardson. He was afterward in the
senate and was known to US who loved
him as old Dick Ny acquaintance
with him began when Buchanan named
Richardson as governor of the terri
tory of Nebraska and he chose me as
secretary of state. old Dick Richard
son told me more than one yarn about
Lincoln, whom hs dearly loved and
much admired. Lincoln and Richard
son practised law together and rode
the same circuits. Often they went to-
gether in a buggy, and 80 saw and
heard much of each other. Richard
son told me how one day on returning
from an eight-weeks' swing around the
circuit they drove up to Lincoln's
house. he had invited Richardson to
dinner.