The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-21

the other .sox no insttnctively. shrnnk IRON
T AS n clerk in Ellis's store at Neh Salem II
said that Lincoln could not be prevailed npon {
wait upon n woman customer. In manner an
pcarance Lincoln was n quaint and ecccntri
Being; no ordinary rules applied 10 hin. Their
IL n lame effort to n owe that he was n cold an,
|, Indifferent man TO individuals. True. he love
humanity. as a whole and hated nobody, bn
individually: Accord ing 70 nerndon: he had ll,,l
10 promote his own ambition. He was sclf
confident, self. reliant: seldom consulted other
Lincoln could be kind and thoughtful. ever
shivalrous, to women upon occasion, but Hern
don hero hardly describes n man who coult
he merely conipanionahle to any woman. ever
his wife. Beyond being n good housewife
NO %S% pi"so T. IL a S sEF tshsS Ss's OF so oGSfoEs 10 h hTyS m haf
was almost wholly bent toward It's political
aspects. His rotations with his wife and hi:
manner toward her arc said TO have been In
keeninr with this ANALYSIS OF his character.
Herndon himself assigns o,her reasons for
m%"rriaae o% %ltIIf"N igres 81 With N the
ruth; IL was = MARRIED pec,!liarity long bc'
f snrf he Szr %si that Mt'i i Goa haa Ill ,hIs his !w6 sSs'f%E9;
look from his early boyhood.. Tho most salts.
%factofy aspect Of Llncoln's character given us
by hcrndon Is TINT hr was prc1mincntlv one
without vanity or %eEotism; full of humility
and kindness:. utterly devoid Of pride or oro.
form. and making IL ridiculous in al possible
ways, fraternizing cheertully and OF choice
he moved; in short. the most democratic OF
men,; Yet, remarkably enough. this biogranher
stSnt1v h oopp. ss 99 Sy SSm 5hTs h'rG snow SSS con- N
sosterous. Could this, phiiesopher Of the
describes as always taking the practical. com
nonsense view Of every subject. ever have
given himself one single moments nneasiness
by futile brondings over a mere abstraction,
which he must have seen cut no figure what
those days Associates and candidates for
All honors we're accepted upon, their own mer-
its. without question as to their origin. i'm
Just here it may DO no led that both Lamon
and Herndon. without directly saving. so. de-
constantly lived under the shadow of some great
blot .upon his birth: there was even doubt II
that he was particularly Weighed down on nc.
count, of their lowly and obscure origin. The
later INVESTIGATIONS OF the much ADLER. more
thorough and trustworthy biographer. Miss
,rarbell. have completely neRatived these errors
by nnearthing the original MARRIAGE certificate
further disclosing that Lincoln sprang. on
his dathss,s side at least, from a long line OF
~cestors. Thus have been utterly exploded
some OF, the fctions up"n which Herndon
erected the superstrncture of his theories con-
corning Lincoln's alleged n entail gloominess.
Lincoln doubtless knew nil about his origin:
Mt any rate. he was aware that hts genesis was
proportion of his fellow citizens. Mas Todd
arrived from Kentucky heralded as a member
through several. generations as an uitra-fash-
ionable. endowed with many accomplishments.
s sSi yh in rn MAXINE dneu LIZ, ii, lincoln Mife had had docs no diff iii,
seem to have objected to his Lowry origin:
doubtless never thought OF it.
ness in RESPECT of the practice OF the small at.
%tentions the world considers due a wife from
in his own fashion Lincoln loved his wife as
yell as the average husband does: All the
and considera.e OF her in ali important mat.
ters. Upon receiving the announcement of
his first nomination for the Presidency in a
SnrtnDnAI1 Ryxa m nv nffrA hA nf rrnA ttt
drew. remarking that..he must go and tell n
little woman dow the street tho news"
the event was the first consideration. after all.
Describing LincGln,s abiect poverty and
fisp s n IG ! r e y'D nsmia9 that alter :hi ms wi mas shared
In his struggles" And he continues:
She was q pinnky little woman; and III fact en-.
vas gifted with n rare insight INTO the motives that |
actuate mankind. and there Is no doubt that much
10 her acuteness and the stimulus OF her influences.
-, Sh" loved power and prominence. and when
to nue. then that she was inord,nately proud Of her
tall and ungaiuly husband.
On ono acGasion at tho office she said to
may not be a handsome figure. but the people
are perhaps not aware that his heart is as large
with the H-rndon conception OF an iil-as.ortrd
pair who were constantly at log :erhesds; OF a
husband driven from home by a foolish wo-
pointed. distraucht wife, angered and an
gu:shed by the deliberate avoidance of a hus-
pnnion? Far from it,. On the contrary. they
show the chief elements at the foundation Of
viduality like Lincoln be swayed by the "stim-
illus and influence of n woman for whom
lise hsa nn n0 reG ard NH HG Hs s sGuld e brig t, intel;
Of a husband she did not love and honor? Mo-:
Herndon. on his own showing. is in error; he
does this man and his wits cruel wrong.
Another of Herndon's extraordinary nara.
doxes Is the foolish conjecture. setting aside
atelv accepted Lincoln solely from ambitious
motives. or in a fit OF jealous $. leen. to avengc
her. This last is Supposititioas entirely. and 5it not
or attention.. In. respect of the first it
is TO be observed that while Lincoln was Ger.
The political career of Stephen A. Douglas. his
fellow-townsman. was beyond all question at
He was already the leader Of the dom.
innnt party In Illinois. II ambition. then. was
ed THU growing statesman. who for a time
sedulously %courted her and eventually pro-
posed marriage. Yet Lamon ayers that she
discarded Douglas on account OF his BID NOR
II is singular that she would coolly le-
cline the offer of the brilliant. handsome. and
sured. and turn to the cadaverous. awtwnr
struggling Lincoln unless her heart had to do
that she would marry a, future Prasident.
Low down as he then wss in the ~roliticnl and
success and Doue lass failure? This. Of coarse.
not be credited.
However strong 1T was, Mrs. Lincoln's am
billion. like that of her great husband, ap-
pears TO have been under proper discipline and
well directed. To a young frlerd who had
a very old man-a mere ''bng Of
as was.said-confessedly..for his horses,
and gold. Miss Todd remarked: ii
would rather marry n good man. Il man OF
mind. with hope and bright prospects ahead
IHr position. fame. and power, than TO marry
all the horses. gold. and bones In the world"
IL was not until he had become a consul
erable public figure. and some years fter his
which, widencd his social oppOrtuni-
Ties. that Lincoln could have had much CON
,ept'on or ap probation OF true. refined home
lie. Although it Is agreed by all authorities
mat, his mother and stepmother were good.
wholesome women. II must no meusurablv
RUG. ~ Hcrndon sets out. that he hail previ-
>ualy failed OF nearly every association that
;ulti rates and develops the higher domestic
instinct. His rude and crude frontier er.uca-
Ion and limited opportunity for observation "
wen commorest social forms shut out from
llm pretty much'nll knowledge OF the brighter.
moro c~leyating side Of the marriage relation.
ike his rough associates OF tho Sangamon
;ottOms.- ito him at first home was II place 10
stay at" only whom tho office Mt last had to
20 closed for tho night. The uncultured. rough
md reniy citizen Of that time and region and
here were few ri u different or superior quail
not feel It his duty to do NOR. than
provide IT with meat, drink. and raiment, and
leemed 1t the good wife's mart to cook, wash,
md mend and keen the young ones'' In ordnr, i
ie volunteered little in = ldItIon and rrnhnbIu