The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-12
LlNCO4N'S GREATNESS, PATIENCE
 AND LOVE TOLD IN VIVID
 RECOLLECIIONS OF EW.SMlTH
(COntinued From First Paee.)

SpeecH. Wnlch School children now
 knoW by heart. He was a man who
 was certain to attract attention AS
 ne arose to begin his speech he seem
 ca long time getting to his feet. This
 was the impression produced by his
 great stature and the gauntness of his
 form. He was smooth faced. AS he
 talked ms countenance became ilIumi-
 mated. There was something in him
 that passed from him and affected the
 attitude of his listeners toward him"
 some men are like that. you know"
 continued the speaker. Sometimes
 thls quality in men is called magnet ism. In MT. Lincoln magnetism was
 the presence of moral quality. which made you unable to quarrel with him.
 even though you did not believe in his ldeas. lie was utterly free from the spirit of belligerency.
 lie spoke in a clear. pleasant con- versational voice. It was penetrat ng,
 but not heavy. His articulation was
 very clear.
 ,,I wish that were able to compare MT Lincoln as a speaker, with MT. Bryan. But that I cannot do. I have never heard MT. Bryan. I imagine that ms voice is much greater in volume ana ms style more oratorical. MT. Lin coln's style was just as if he were ta k ing the intimate facts of his know edge to his fellow townsmen. He used sim pie words. His effort was to lead you oy reason. aud the impulses of your moral nature to agree with him, If you accepted his promises you had to agree with him. His conclusions were then inexorable. His speech was not overcharged with maxims, it was just a plain talk. and plain argument, which you had to study over a long time before you realized its profundity. lie certainly made a great impression on us all with that speech.
 "He must have been tired. too He was just returning from 8 laborious trip through New England. He had made speech in Massachusetts. one in New Hampshire. and I think he had visited Vermont.
 When l saw him again he was pres fdent. On this occasion I was sent by my fellow citizens from Bridgeport up- on a mission. The people of this con- gressional district were dissatisfied with the way the office of provost marshal was administered.
 You know" he said. in explanation. 4that during the war the country was divided into districts and each district had provost marshal who had charge of the enlistment of men. the duty of providing a certain quota for the army, and other important functions to perform.
 "All of these officers were under Provost General Frye. The Provost Marshal for this district was. if I am not mistaken. James E. Durham. Some differences arose between General Frye and Provost Marshal Durham. He was displaced and a Hartford man was sent here to take his place. It was thought by many that the new provost was a protege of the provost general. Moreover it was thought that we were entitled to man who lived in the dis trict. The provost marshal had charge of the drafts. and also of the accept ance and rejection of substitutes. Of course a man who was drafted but who did not wish to go. could send a substitute. if, he could find somebody who could pass the examination and be accepted. I dare say there was some over the manner in which the new provost dealt with this matter.
 "we made protest to General Frye. by petition. from which we heard nothing. Then a meeting was held to consider what further ought to be done. A number of prominent men met at the Old Sterling House. We in- vited Governor Buckingham who met with us.
 and see the president. I was placed upon 1t. D. F. Hollister was the other member.
 s'Well, we went to the Capitol. The first thing we did was to get the Con- necticut delegation together. Senator Lafayette s. Foster, Senator James Dixon, Congressnan Augustus Brande- geo. father of Senator Rrandegee. and John H. Hubbard of this district, went before the president with us.
 '"The presidents office was on the l second floor of the White House. It was plainly furnished room. There 1
 -lz Icy plain desk in it.
 "senator Foster said, ''We've come l 0 take you by storm. MT. President" 'sMr Lincoln replied, You can do most anything if you are united.'
 "This was an allusion to his exper- ence with divided delegations which | came to him expressing the divided 1 sentiment of the country at every op- 
 During the talk which followed. in ! which we made it plain that we were united delegation, I remember that le said, Illustrative of matter that anne up. The way to keep mule in | pasture is to turn him into an adjoin- ng field and let him jump the fence.'
 ''Mr. Lincoln listened carefully to what we had to say. Took our state nent of the facts as they were embod- ed in the papers and said, now let me zee if can repeat what you say.
 'sFIe then went over our statement, nsising nothing of importance and tated our grounds of complaint sub- tantially as we had stated them to jim.
 'HThis was MT. Lincoln's way of be- ng sure that he understood what peo- lie had to say to him. He was always cry careful to be sure that he knew he other fellows side of the story. He vas patient with everybody, but he ad a gentle way of resenting 600 reat aggressions upon his considera- ion.
 Perhaps you remember the story of he delegation of ministers who sought i'm to do a certain thing, and said to i'm,
 |" MT Lincoln, if you refrain from his thing you are defying the will of .od'
 "You remember his reply, Gentle nen If there is anywhere man 1 rho wants to know the will of God and 1ho is trying to do His will, I am that nan. God knows that. If God has 1ade up his mind about this thing, 1 m surprised that he didn't tell me bout it instead of telling you.'
 "But. getting back to our mission in Washington" continued MT. Smith" IT, Lincoln asked if we had any round of complaint against the con- uct of the new provost. Did we say hat he was not doing his duty, or 1 hat he was committing any malfea- ance in office We replied that we ,o1o m S1,cb claim that O,1r cont en- l