Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-08

of mine, gave reception early in the
| son. About fifty distinguished men were
| invited. but Lincoln not amcng the
number. l concluded he should go and
went to my friend and told her that L
wanted invitation for him. as l was
| anxious that she should meet him. She
gave me the invitation. | remember how
| Lincoln looked as ne sat among the COM
pany that night. He was. you know. tail,
angular and awkward. Some time after ms
presentation he became engaged In con-
Versation with my lady friend, taking
| seat on a very low rocking chair at her
| feet As he grew interested in talking he
| kept edging closer and closer TO his hos
| tess He was so low that his knees al
| most came to his chin, and to get rid or
| his legs he wrapped them one around the
| other. As he grew more Interested ne
came so close that his knees touched the
ladv'S dress and as | looked | thought he
| must finally end in her lap. The next day
| l 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 | think he has the best chance Of be-
| ing President of the United States This
was about ten years before he was thought
| of as 4 presidential candidate
President Lincoln and The Boston Man
The conversation here turned to Lin
| coin as a story teller, when Mr.. Thompson
said:
president Lincoln did not originate the
tive memory and stored away every anec-
| lote 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 story. For instance take
an incident which occurred one night when
/ was az the White House. I had been
spending the evening there with President
Lincoln | was lying On my back upon
a lounge. Lincoln was sitting in a chair
with his feet propped up beside me. We
had ch2tted for an hour or SO. when the
clock struck half-past ten. l then got up
| and said that / must 20 home. told the
President that he must be tired and that
he ought to go to bed and get the rest
which he needed to fortify him for the wor-
| ries and troubles of the morrow.
" No. replied President Lincoln, don't
| go yet. Stay a half hour longer I have
! an appointment at eleven o'clock with a
man from Boston, who has a claim OF
| something like s2oO.0tD against the govern
| ment. i have told him he could bring his
papers here at eleven, and he will surely
call on the minute
"'An right. said l. L will stay
Well, the man was announced as the
clock struck eleven. As he came in Presi-
dent Lincoln took his papers and said: L
can't lcok over this matter now, but il you
will leave the papers | will attend to II as
soon as | can find time
There were n number of parties oppos-
ing the claim, and | could see that the
man wanted to get some idea as to what
his chances Were before he left. He volun-
teered question. hoping to draw the Pres
ident out. Lincoln appreciated his feeling
and told the following:
:" You make me think of n lawyer out in
Illinois who wanted to turn merchant lie
had not succeeded at the law and he de-
cided to close his office and open a store
He wrote to New York for a stock of
goods and offered his fellow-attorneys as
references. The wholesale house wrote to
one of these as 10 the responsibility of the
would-be storekceper. whom We will call
Tom Jones. The reply which was received
was about as follows:
Il think Tom Jones is good l know he
is rich. His assets, L should say. amount
TO at least s20o,c00. He has in the first
place, a wife, a beautiful, dark-hairei
brunette, who is worth to him or to any
man sloo,oW. l am sure he would not sell
FER for that. l know / should not il she
belonged to me. He has also two children,
a boy and a girl. The boy is perfectly
sound. He is eleven years old and il
bright, energetic and smart. ] don't think
he could be bought at any price. / know
Jones would not sell him for $4,000.
think that s49,93c would be low estimate
Tor the girl, as she has the making OF
good woman in her. In addition to these
items, Jcnes has a table in his office worth
s., two chairs worth 80 cents each, an
inkstand worth IL cents and double
bladed Barlow knife, which | put at a
dime, and. besides, there is in his office a
great big rat hole, which is worth looking
into. And So, concluded the President,
claim, L think there may be great big
rat hole there which may be worth looking
into, and 1 will look into it, The man
laughed and went away well pleased.
You knew John. Quincy Adams quite
well, did you not, Mr.. Thompson?
Yes; 1 sat beside him In the House of
Representatives for several years. He was
a pleasant man, but very dignified one.
Life was a serious matter with him. and
he spent little time in frivolty. Sull, lie
was kind and gentle and fond of children"
Advice to a Young Politician.
The conversation here turned to Jackson.
ard Col. Thompson described for me his
Inauguration In 1879, speaking of the soem-
nifty with which he kissed the Bible and
giving a vivid picture OF the scene. Said
he:
II was nineteen years old at that time
and 1 came to see the Inauguration with
my father. Father was a strong Jackson
nan, ard he had a personal acquaintance
with the President. 1 did not agree with
father to his political sentiments, and I
told him that / should never vote for a
man like Jackson. A day or so after the
inauguration father took me with him and
went to call upon the President. He ana
jackson chatted together for some time,
ana then, just he was about to leave,
fatner Mortified ME by saying: Mr.. Presi-
dent, l want to ask you to give some advice
to my son. He does not hold the same
views concerning you as 1 do, and 1 wish
you could say something to keep him in
the traces of the party
Il expected reproof from Jackson, for
he had, you know, the reputation of being
rather severe and dictatorial. On the con-
trary, he looked at me With a smile, which
in few seconds faded into seriousness.
ard then seid: My boy, il could give you
any advice. 1t would be to think for your
self on political matters and to always act
upon what You hopestly believe to be
right President jackson was, indeed, SO
kind that day that 1 have Fever allowed
myself to say a word against him. He was
not the man whom the world knows as
Old Hickory He was very gentlemanly
and was not rough In manner or bearing.
He was a man of ability and the stories Of
his not having written his own inaugural
are untrue. / have letters In my possession
from President jackson himself, Andrew
jackson Done;son and others which show
this to be the fact
FRANK n CARpENrI,p