The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-09

the session I saw a tall, ungainly man
coming across the hall of the house
of representatives with a smile on his
face, I knew that it must be he He
apparently knew me in the same way,
for as he reached me he held out his
hand, saying, How are you, Dick?'
How are you, Abe! 1 replied, as I
took it, and then began a friendship
which lasted until Lincoln died
II was very fond of Lincoln" MI.
Thompson went on. "We were much
together during his first term In con-
gress, and [ believe he made his frs,
entrance into fashionable society with
me. a most accomplished lady from
Virginia, a friend of mine, gave a re-
ception early in the season. About fifty
distinguished men were invited, but
Lincoln was not among the number
I concluded he should go and 1 went
to my friend and told her that 1 want
ed an invitation for him, as I was an
XiOus that she should meet him. She
gave me the invitation. [ remember
how Lincoln looked as he sat among
the company that night. He was, you
know, tall, angular and awkward
Some time after his presentation he be
came engaged in conversation with my
lady friend, taking q seat on a very
low rocking chair at her feet AS he
grew interested in talking he kept edS-
ing closer and closer to his hostess.
He was so low that his knees almost
came to his chin, and to get rid of his
legs he wrapped them one around the
other. AS he grew more interested he
came so close that his knees touched
the lady'S dress. and as | looked I
thought he must finally end in her lap!
The next day I met my lady friend and
asked her what she thought of Lincoln.
She replied at once: That man has
elements Of greatness in him. OF all
those at my house last night I think he
has the best chance of being president
of the United States This was about
ten years before he was thought of as
q presidential candidate"
LINCOLN AND THE BOSTON MAN.
The conversation here turned to Lin
coin as story teller, when M. Thomp-
son said:
president Lincoln did not originate
the best Of his stories He had a very
receptive memory and stored away
every anecdOte he heard. His mind was
such that he was able to use such
things in the way of illustration. HIS
favorite way of conveying an idea was
by a story. For instance, take an In
cident which occurred one night when
l was at the White house. L had been
spending the evening there with Presi-
dent Lincoln. [ was lying upon my
back upon a lounge. Lincoln was sit
ting in q chair with his feet propped
IN beside me. We had chatted for an
hour or so. when the clock struck nall
mast 10 [ then got up and said that
must go home. I told the president
that he must be tired and that he
0ught 10 go to bed and get the rest
which he needed to fortify him FOR the
worries and troubles of the morrow.
e.anT raDlied President Lincoln,
don't go vet. Stay a half hour longer.
have an appointment at II o'clock
with a man from Boston, who has
claim of something like 100000 against
the government. [ have told him he
could bring his papers here at IL, and
he will surely call on the minute
"'All right said L I will stay.
We'll the man was announced as
the clock struck II. AS he came in
President Lincoln took his papers and
said: I can't look over this matter
now, but if you will leave the papers
I will attend to it as soon as L can
find time
There were a number Of parties OPP
posing the claim, and I could see that
the man wanted to get some idea as
to what his chances were before he left
He volunteered a question, hoping to
draw the president out. Lincoln appre-
ciated his feeling and told the follow
ing:
You make Inc think of a LAWYER
out in Illinois who wanted to turn
merchant. He had not succeeded at
the law, and he decided to close his
office and open Il store. He wrote to
New Work for q stock of goods and
offered his fellow-attorneys as refer
ences. The wholesale house wrote to
one Of these as to the responsibility