The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-02-19

! after another befell him and his house
hold.
| Politics a Consuming Passion.
/ What with storytelling and the praC-
ttice of law. politics was with Lincoln
| Il consuming passion. Through and
iby it were all human agencies and IN
stitutions to be moulded into perfection's
/ form Its stirring world he peopled
with personal triumphs and grand
achievements. All else concerned him
little. oddly enough he could no
sense in other men running for office
land he fathered no local enterprises
! He was not a booster He paid homage
to no intellect but his own. and when
| any other man sat IN a higher seat
| than he. unbidden thoughts arose with
| in him: not that he petty Drained
and jealous but that he was ambitious
Like the bee that extracts the honey
! from flowers not altogether the lovliest,
! he made boon companions of the coarser
grades of men, and from them drew sus-
! tenance for his hungry soul and brooding
mind. He belonged to no church and
was not an evangelical Christian. But
/ i'm the serious affairs of life, he was
ireverential and the fear of the Lord
| and the love of the Lord was in and
about him
Fond of Little Children.
! He was fond of little children and
prime favorite with them, for he was a
marvellous story teller with a tang of
/ Aesop Ills humor was droll. There
was once a young man who enlisted
! and went to the war. At the front he
heard rumors from home-they were ru-
morS that dsquieted his heart. He APP
piled for a, Through but his applica-
! ton was denied The rebels being in~
, active, he concluded to run away and
go home best his man and marry the
girl of his choice, which he did. On
irejoining his company, he was arrested
as a deserter, tried and sentenced. Lin
coin heard of his case and promptly
pardoned him. observing, that he CUES
h, CHI how ftr n inn
self under similar proVocation.
There one day came to Washington
from a far western state a young lady
to intercede with President Lincoln in
behalf of her brother who was under
a military sentence. Between her Sobs
and tears. Mr.. Lincoln managed to get
her story. and then said MY poor girl.
! you have come here with no governor.
hoops. and III he hooked if | don't
pardon your brother
| At anyother time he gave his reason
/ for executive clcmcncy in these words;
IF man had more than one life l
think a little hanging would not hurt
| this one. but as this man has only
one life, l think I'll pardon him.
| Lest any one should think that Lin
coin was a frivolous man. let me say,
| that he was just the Opposite-one of
! the most serious minded men that ever
! lived. His droll sayings were. uttered
, in all earnestness with no show Of eff
! feet attempt at being funny 1t was
his natural way of expressing himself
/ His sense of the humorous was his sal
walton. 1t was the safety valve to his
| depressed spirit and oVer-strained mind.
! When | began the study of latin I
! got too much land into the territory
| of Gual and had to learn my lesson
/ over again. | read my Caesar thus: All
! Gaul is divided into three equal halves.
! Upon Lincoln's arrival in Washington,
/ his secretary Of state. a statesman of
note and wide experience. assumed
lincoln inc II
war and the science of government and
so kindly offered to run the government
for him. Mr.. Seward got too much soil
/ into his Gaul. and had to learn his les
son over again. He and other powerful
politicians soon learned that Lincoln was
/ a man who did his own thinking and
! could and would do his own governing.
! 1t is seldom by chance that men be-
come the lustrous center pieces in heroic
epochs. They are usually prepared be-
! forehand for the doing of great deeds
and only wait the summons, the oppor-
tunity So it with Abraham Lin
coin. Wonderfully endowed mentally, he
bad improved on his talents by self
discipline, temperate living and much
brought in an environment where hon
! esty was held in higher esteem than
mere gold and green forests His moral
| perceptions were keen; while his early
/ self-reiant and resourceful in all the
emergencies of life. Hence it was but
| natural that he should assume power
with dignity and bear responsibilities
with caution and true humility. He was
never gentler and simpler than in his
hour of unprecedented triumph. But
he was no accident
Coin Proverb.
He could coin proverb point an
! historical allusion with telling effect
Asked if he would be a candidate for
Ia second term he replied that he did
not think it wise to swap horses in the
middle of the stream.
The south sent three ENJOYS to treat
with him for peace These were very
nsistent that he should recognize south
erD belligerency as a condition prece-
dent to the signing of a treaty of peace,
and cited the correspondence between
his parliament and Charles the First
as historical precedent. Lincoln quick
ly retorted that he knew nothing about
history: but his distinct recollection was
that. as result of that correspondence,
Charles lost his head
In conversation with a veteran tele-
grapher of the army of the Potomac,
the other day. l asked how Lincoln
had impressed him. He replied when
he grasped my hand and / looked up in
to his homely beautiful face. I felt
that, if / ever should be in need of
help. Abraham Lincoln was the man to
revealing in his kindness of heart. And
nothing gave him greater joy than to
pluck thistle and plant a flower in
the garden of human life.
Saved the Life of Volunteer.
There was a Vermont lad by name of
William Scott. For eight and forty hours
he had been on a forced marsh with his
unteered TO do sentinel service for a sick
cOmI9Ge besides doing his own Ma