New-York tribune., 1901-10-05

a literature in themselves. Certainly no other
public mans personality was ever so beloved
attracted much popular interest through
its picturesqueness and lovable qualities. 1t
a happy thought of Mr. Pratt to gather
together authentic anecdotes of Lincoln, and,
by arranging them in chronological order, to
make them FORM if not biography, at least
an illustration of the life story of the man.
The little book is packed full of anecdotes. dat
ing from his boyhood days to his assassination.
the larger number, of course. belonging to the
days of the Civil War, and his relations with
soldiers and the friends and families OF SOL
diers. They Of various degrees of point and
pith but few fail to throw some ray OF light
on the character of the man and his motives.
There is a brief connecting story that gives the
main facts of Lncoln's life. 1t begins at the be-
ginning, with LincoIn's boyhood, and there
numerous tales of his life in Indiana in the early
days.
One of the first relates to his helping a little
girl, a schoolmate, who, in the spelling class,
was wrestling with the word 'defled," and being
In doubt the fourth letter happened to
look at Lincoln, who had been closely watching
her. He had a broad grin, and pointed with
one hand to his eye; the little girl quickly
guessed his meaning and spelled it correctly
with an t." We shown how he studied
at night by the fire. using a shovel as slate.
and how he was reading the rail fence.
marked thereby as destined he a smart
man.; how he earned his first dollar by ferry
ing a couple of trunks across the Ohio River
IAN important incident in my life" as he told
Seward, because he had earned a dollar in less
than day; and he hopeful boy from
that time. His first appearance in Springfield,
where he went to practise law, made on
borrowed horse, with no earthly property save
q pair OF saddlcbags containing few clothes.
He tried to buy the furniture for a single bed
of his friend Joshua Speed, but it cost SIT.
Mr.. Speed tells the story thus:
| Perhaps that's cheap enough" said Lin
coin. but small as the price is. l am unable to
credit till Christmas time, and my experiment
as a lawyer succeeds. l will pay you then"
! WELL" / said, suppose you don't succeed"
In the saddest possible tone of voice he re-
piled, IF fail in this do not know that can
ever pay you" AS 1 looked up at him, L
thought never saw sadder face.
So Speed took him in to live with him, and the
debt was avoided. Lincons appearance when
| he came to Washington President-elect
thus described by the late Senator Dawes:
| never saw man so unkempt so i'll looking;
| his hair dishevelled his clothes the
ones he had worn on the sleeper from Spring
| field. He was long and angular 1t seemed as
though his body was made. up Of component
| parts OF different bodies-as though his head
I was not in the right place. Rough and un-
couth, he was typical backwoodsman. But
| there something incomprehensible in his
! face, something unfathomable.
| A few days before his death Mr. Dawes took
| his little boy to Lincoln who lifted him up
| in his and said: My boy. never try TO be
! President of the United States: If you do you
never Will be" Of Lincoln's days at the White
House there are, of course innumerable stories,
| all developing III way another his in
evitable. often grotesque. humor and his kind
of heart, the mmeasurable grief that
weighed him down and made his face what the
| artist Carpenter called the saddest he had ever
seen, which days he could not look al
without crying. Lincoln's interference in par
donirg soldiers condemned to punishment for
offences against military discipline aroused
great protest in the War Department and from
some of the generals. His aversion to signing
death warrants the despair Of the judge
acknowledgement. One day the latter brought
him a clear case Of desertion with a sentence
OF death by shooting:
Lincoln. after running his fingers through his
hair. said. We'll, after ALL judge 1 think 1
must put ii among my leg cases.
Leg cases." exclaimed the judge frowning
at the supposed ievity of the President What
do you mean by leg cases. sir?"
why. why" replied the President, do YOU
those papers crowded into those pigeonholes?
They cases that you call by that long title
them for short my leg cases / put II to you,
to decide for YOURSELF If Almighty God gives a
man cowardy pair Of legs. how he help
running away with them?"
There are abundant stories of how the Presi-
dent heard patiently many applicants for re-
lease or pardon of other delinquents. with such
remarks as, well. 1 don't believe shooting will
do him any good" or You know have not