Arizona republican., 1908-02-13
ABE LINCOLN AS 4 PROPHET.

a prophet which is herein given. | ABE LINCOLN AS 4 PROPHET. ! The only time that I ever saw Abra- i ham Lincoln, was during the presiden- | tial campaign Of 1856. l shall never i forget the impression his unique per sOnality made upon me, nor the words | he uttered upon that occasion. Bureau county. Illinois. was, at that ! time, one of the hot-beds of Aboli- ! tionism. Princeton, the county seat.
 was the home of Owen Lovejoy. a 1 Congregational minister, later a mem | Der of congress, and one of the ablest and most aggressive anti-slavery men ! of the country. Naturally most of the electors in that locality affiliated with | the new national republican party
 whose first nominee, John C. Free mont, was then before the people for president
 It was decided to hold a grand rally of the new party at Princeton, early in the summer of that year Extensive preparations were made to that end, and the meeting was a great Outpour- ing of the people. It was held in a grove, just south of the town, Abra- ham Lincoln, a Springfield lawyer, be- | ing one of the speakers. MT. Lincoln was then forty eight years of age. He had achieved a local reputation only, and that in the legal rather than in the political arena. An intimate personal as well as political friend of MT. Love joys he had, at that gentlemans so- licitation, consented to attend the meeting and address the people,
 It had been arranged that MT. Lin- | coin was to make the opening and principal speech; but the train was late. and MT. Lovejoy was the first speaker, delivering one of his fiery phillipics. He had not concluded when MT. Lincoln appeared upon the plat form.
 I was a boy in my teens then, but well remember how. the SangamOn attorney looked as he advanced to the front of the rostrum. after the intro duction given him by Mir. Lovejoy.
 Angular long-limbed and loose jointed, he was uncouth, and awkward in his movements. and he appeared to me to be not less than seven feet in height, as he stood a moment surE- ing the people, as if gauging their collective intelligence and power. be- fore iie began to speak.
 lie was clean-shaven. and there was that look of calm, thoughtful sadness in his face that Ishave since seen in some of his earlier photographs. I thought him painfully modest and self-consciOus, for a public man, and made up my mind that the speech would be a bore of Jumbo size. But I was mistaken. At first the speaker employed but few gestures, and these were singularIy impOrtune; but. as he proceeded, their inapproprateness was no longer noticeable, and his voice gained in power and cIearness. The audience became completely absorbed in the subject under discussion. Lucid ly, and with lawyer like exactness, he outlined the attitude of the two great political parties toward each other and the country; defined their distinctive principles, as set forth in their plat forms and made his argument.
 His vocabulary, it seems to me was not as full as that of many less able speakers whom I have heard since then; but it was ample for his pur- pose. and the words fitted into their places like the parts of a well-con- structed piece of mechanism. While not a great order he expressed himself with great clearness, precision, and force. His logic was flawless, clinched by apt illustrations, ana relieved by anecdotes. which, as he told them, were irresistably grotesque and anus ing. Altogether it was a masterly speech, and it made a deep impression upon the people.
 When Mir. Lincoln had concluded his remarks, several local speakers were called. Not caring to hear them and the day being warm. I walked back of the rostrum a few rods and seated myself upon a large log lying in the shade. l had been there but a few minutes, when I observed MT. Lincoln and MT. LOvejoy coming to- ward me. They were engaged in an earnest conversation. The former looked somewhat wearied by his long speech, as he mopped the precipitation from his forehead with a large red handkerchief
 When the two men reached the log they took their seats upon it. near me, Mir Lovejoy, who was my fathers pastor, having first given me friendly greeting.
 They were discussing the probable outcome of the campaign. MT. Love joy, who was nothing, if not radical and enthusiastic, contended that Free mont would be successful in his can didacy.
 q tell you. Abe" said he, "the peo- pie are aroused to the iniquity of this thing-slavery-and they have deter mined to bury it out of sight We are certain to win"
 No, owen" replied MT. Lincoln, you are mistaken. l have been a stu dent of politics for a long time. and this movement is in its incipiency; the