The National tribune., 1900-02-22

| arms ana nandS 4protr1ded Tar through
his coat sleeves, gkingahim a peculiarly
seen him before, and had heard him in
| court-alwayS with delight in his clearness
and cogency of statement, his Illuminating
humor, and his conspicuous fairness and
| when he appeared SO homely, and thought
him about the ugliest man / had ever seen.
There was nothing in his looks or manners
| that was preposSessing. Such he ap-
| peared as he rode III the, procession on the
forenoon OF that warm Summer day. His
appearance was not different in the after
noon of that day, when, in the public square,
| he first stood before the great multitude
who had assembled there to hear him.
His powers were aroused gradually as he
went on with his speech. There was
much play of humor. Judge Douglas
has, he said, 'one great advantage of me
| in this contest When he stands before his
admiring friends, who gather in great
numbers to hear him, they can easily see
with half an eye all kinds OF fat offices
and, indeed, from every part Of his plump
and wei-rounded body His appearance
! is therefore irresistibly attractive. His
friends expect him to be President, and they
expect their reward. But when 1 stand
before the people, not the sharpest vision
is able to detect in my lean and lank person
or in my sunken and hollow cheeks the faint
| est sign or promise of an office. am not a
candidate for the Presidency, and hence
| there is no beauty in me that men should
with laughter at this sally As the speech
went on, the speaker, though often inn
| pressing his points with opposite and
laughter-provoking stories, grew more and
more earnest. He showed that the Gov
| ernment was founded i'll the interest of
freedom, not slavery. He traced the steady
| aggressions of the slave power step by step,
until he came to declare and to dwell upon
| the fact of the irrepresSble conflict between
the two. Then, as he went on to show,
with wonderful eloquence of speech and
manner, that the country must and would
ultimately become, not all slave but all free,
he was transfgured before his audience.
| His homely countenance fairly glOwed
with the splendor of his prophetic speech;
and his body, no longer awkward and
umgainly but mastered and swayed by his
thought. became an obedient and graceful
instrument of eloquent expression. The
whole man seemed TO speak. He seemed
like some grand Hebrew prophet, whose
face was glorified by the bright visions of a
better day which he saw and declared. His
eloquence was not merely that of clear
and luminous statement, felcitous Illus
tration, o. excited yet restrained feeling;
il was the eloquence also of thought. With
something of the imaginative. he united
rare dialectic power. He felt the truth be
| fore he proved it, but when once il was felt
by him then his logical power came into
remarkably effective play. Step by step
he led his hearers onward, till at last he
| placed them on the summit whence they
| could see all the landscape of mis- subject in
| harmonious and connected order. OF these
| two contraSted pictures of Mr.. Lincoln it IS
| only the last which shows him as he was iia
| his real and essential greatness. And not
| this fully. for il was in his character that
| he was greatest. He was not merely q
| thinker. but a thinker for man. directing
1 hon t,, tla
and humanity. If he, desired and sought
| high position it waSLonly that he might thus
| better serve the cause offreedOm to which he
was devoted. From the time when he with
drew in spirit of magnanimlty that was
| never appreciated in favor of a rival candi-
date for the United States Senate, it was
| evident that the cause was more to him
| than any personal advantage or advance
| ment." gil
Another graphic description of Mr.
| Lincoln's S appearance and manner on the
| stump is given by MIR, Jerah Bonham,
whose account of the famous "House di
vided-agai inst-itselfs speech has found
| a place in this narrative. When Mr..
Lincoln took the stand" says Mr.. Bon.
ham, 'he did not, on rising, show his full
| hight, but stood in "a STOPPING posture, his
| long-tailed coat hanging loosely around
| his body, and descending over an ill-fitting
pair of pantaloonS that covered his not very
symmetrical legs. He began his speech
| in rather diffident manner, seeming for
| awhile at a loss for words; his voice was
| irregular, even a little tremulous, as he
| began his argument. AS he proceeded he
seemed to gain more confidence, his form
| Strengthened up, his face frightened, his
language became free and animated. Soon
he had drawn the attention of the crowd
by two or three well-told stories that Illus
| trated his argument, and then he became
eloquent, carrying his audience at will,
as tumultuous applause greeted every
telling point he made"
HUMORS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Among the party that attended Mr.
Lincoln in the Senatorial campaign was the
Hon. Andrew Shuman, afterwards Lieu
tenant-Governor of Illinois, and one of
the veteran journalists of Chicago. NJ r.
Shuman was detailed to report the joint
debates for his paper, the Chicago Erening
JOurndJ, and he accompanied Mr. Lincoln
through nearly all of the campaign, travel
ing with him by night-sometimes occupy
ing the same room, and when in crowded
quarters, the same bed He thus saw
much of Mr.. Lincoln, and had the best of
opportunities for studying his character,
not only hearing all his public speeches,
but having long conversations with him
in private, and listening to the stories,
anecdotes, and gay or grave discourse by
which the journeys and the frequent waits"
were enlivened. The group consisted of
several gentlemen, including Norman b.
Judd, of Chicago, afterwards member of
Congress; Robert r. Hitt who was Lincoln's
shorthand reporter. now member of Con
gress from Illinois; Mr.. Willard, the late
President of the Northern Pacific Railroad,
who was then newspaper correspondent;
Mr.. Shuman, and at various times other
politicians and journalists. or this party
Mr.. Lincoln was always the leading spirit
in conversation. He would tell stories
himself, and draw out stories from others,
and his laugh, though not the loudest, was
| always the heartiest. Then he would pass
to soberer themes and discuss them with a |
tinge of that melancholy which, however
he might be surrounded, never seemed |
far distant from him. AT night, stopping |
at the country tavern or at some friends |
house, the evenings would be spent in dis |
cussion and Storytelling, or perhaps in a |
humorous review of the events of the day, |
and after retiring Mr.. Lincoln would enter
tain his companion, often far into the
night, discoursing on a great variety of
subjects, politics, literature, views of hui
man life and character, or the prominent |
men and measures then before the country. |
"Too MANY OF US IN THIS BED"
One incident of the many that Mr.. Shu- |
man relates indicates both the simplicity |
and the bumor of Mr.. Lincoln. Coming |
from the southern portion of the State on |
'beated train one afternoon, the party |
missed their connection with train on "a |
crossroad in Central Illinois, and were
Obliged to seek shelter for the night at the |
small town at which thew had eyDectpd tn |