The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-02-11

she had one. An as like as not Abe d
eat his supper thar, takin' anything
she'd give him that he could gnaw at
an read at the same time. I've seen
many feller come in an look at him,
Abe not knowin' anybody was round. =
an sneak out ag'in like cat an say,
We'll, I'll be darnedv 1t didn't seem
natural, nohow, to see a feller read
like that"
Lincoin's Unsuitable craving to know
things did not manifest itself alone, in
a desire to read. Every stranger that
came to the house would be ques.
toned by the youngster until the eldel
Lincoln interfered. He was as per
sistent a questioner as Ii Hung
Chang. When Robert Owens colony
was started at New Harmony, Ind;
young Abraham almost worried him.
self sick because he heard there was
a boat load Of books along, arr he
wanted to break into this paradise OF
knowledge. Books were not plentiful
In Indiana in those days, and the fu
ture president was known to walk 70,
miles or work for days for the pooz
privilege Of buying or borrowing one
That was the poverty the boy fek
most.
One more quotation from the gar
rulous Dennis and we leave him. l.
Is anent the Lincoln stories:
Abe says I. 'whar did you get Sc
blamed many lies? An he'd always
say: Denny. when a story farms you
q good lesson it amt no lie. God tell.
truth in parallels. They're easier fus
common folks to understand an rico!-
lect.' His stories was like that"
Most writer's on Lincoln insist on de
scrfbing his dress. dwelling on the
fact that his trousers did not meet his
shoes. that his coat was too small, II
he had a coat, and generally making
his habiliments as ridiculous rs rath.
er lively imagination will permit. This
Is scarcely fair. Lincoln dressed fully
as well as those with whom he asso-
ciated. Indeed, the lively Dennis says
tcat Abe had more pride than the 9th
er children and therefore indulged the
unusual luxury of white shirts fo-
Sunday. Awkward he perhaps was,
but that he was the lout sometimes
pictured was farthest from the truth.
Indeed. he was regarded as the bright
est and most ambitious boy in the
neighborhOod.
Compared with city standards o.
even with modern standards anywhere
Lincoln was shabbily dressed, was
poor, lacked educational advantages
and was surrounded by an inferior
environment, 1t is not just to com
pare by such standards. His boyhood
occurred nearly century ago on the
frontier. In his world his education.
mostly self acquired, was better. than
the average; his poverty was little or
no worse than that Of those around
! him; his dress was as good as or better
than that of his boy friends. To ridi-
, cule his people or his circumstances
or his clothes is to ridicule those OF
all frontiersmen of his day. Any one
guilty OF such a reflection but adyer-
t1seS his own narrOwneSs and the un-
due stress he places on outer things.
What do the Lincoln clothes amount
to anywat? They were the most su-
perficial part of the man and are i'm
pOrtant only in the eyes of the most
superficial people. Why are thes spo-
ken OF more than those of any other
president? Lincoln himself was too
big to be conscious of them.
But little removed from this is the
continual, reiterated, everlasting refer
ence to his great height. What if he
was tall? There have been other tai
men in history Of whose longitudinal
measurements little or nothing is said
Why keep it so in the foreground with
Lincoln? Why make it so prominent
that it obscures infinitely more impor
tant things? Does his stature in his
tory depend on the length Of his bones9
Are we to measure his soul with a
footrule? Are his bodily dimensions
more to be regarded than his charac-
ter? Are his inner glory and beauty
always to be yelled behind q homely
exterior? There have been other ugly
men in history concerning whose lack
OF personal pulchritude not one-hun-
dredth part as much has been said
Why not talk more of the inner Lin
coin and his mission of mercy rather
than spend SO much time on his outer
mask and the accidents that surround
ed him?
The most noteworthy things about
Lincoln the boy were not the length
Of his trousers and the sbOrtness of his
purse. They were his love Of justice,
his love of knowledge. his love OF
truth. These were shown In thou
sand ways. They are the lights that
reveal him. With all due respect to
everybody. l am infinitely tired of All
the nonessential rubbish that is foist-
ed on the world in the name of Lincoln
to the obscuration of his greater and
better self.
When Roman emperor won a war
he was given triumph. Lincoln
likewise had triumph. but the pro-
cessions were in black and were ac-
companied by dirges. tears and the
tolling of bells. Yet no tribute ever
paid was so great. Just as no victory
ever won was so momentous. 1t was
not a section that gained the day, but
self government and the rights of
man. 1t was not one race that was