The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1921-11-04
CHAPTER XIII.

Which Presents the Pleasant Coined
of IndividuaIism in the New Capital
and the Courtship of Lincoln ant
Mary Todd.
4 Samson, with Mr.. NimbIe" on
! pad stuffed with straw in front O
him. logged across the prairies ant
waded the creeks and sloughs on his
way to Springfield. The little lad was
in his fourth year that summer He
slept and talked much on the way and
kept Samson busy with queries about
the sky and the creeks and the great
! howery meadows.
They camped the first night in a
belt of timber and Samson writes that
the boy Slept snug against me with
his head on my arm. He went to sleep
crying for his mother" He adds:
ut reminded me of the old days of
wanted to pick all the flowers and
splash his bare feet In every stream
In the evening he would talk to the
stars as IL he were playing with them.
He is like some of the grown folks in
Chicago. He would sit hanging on to
the reins. and talk to the horse and
to God by the hour. He used to tell
me that God WAS friend of his and
l think he was right. 1t was good
luck to get back to Sarah and the
children. They took the little strGn-
ger into their hearts. Heart room,
house room is the motto of this part
of the country"
1t was a new town to which Samson
returned. The governor and the state
officers had moved to Springfield. The
new capitol was nearing completion.
The hard times which had followed
the downfall of 81 had unjustly dim
inished Mr.. Lincoln's confidence in his
ability as a legislator. He enjoyed
the practice of the law, which had be-
gun to turn his interest from the af-
fairs of state. But the pot of political
science boiled before the fireplace in
the rear of Joshua Speeds store every |
evening that Lincoln and his associ-
ates were In Springfield. The wit and |
wisdom which bubbled into its vapors
and the heat that surrounded 1t were
the talk of the town. Many came
to witness the process and presently |
it was moved, for time, to more
accommodating quarters. Before
crowd of people In the Presbyterian |
church, Lincoln, Logan, Baker and
Browning for the Wings, and Douglas,
Calhoun, Lamborn and Thomas for
the Democrats, having assiduously
prepared for the trial. debated the
burning issues of the time. The effort
of each filed an evening and Lincoln's
speech gave him new hope of himself.
Wise men began to have great conf
dence in his future. He had taken
the style of Webster for his model.
He no longer used the broad humor
which had characterized his efforts on
the stump. A study of the best
speeches of the great New Englander
had made him question its value In
A public address. Dignity, clear rea-
soning and impressiveness were the
chief aims of his new method, the lat
Ter of which Is aptly illustrated by
his passage from his speech in reply
20 Douglas in the debate mentioned:
"If | ever feel the soul within me
elevate and expand to those dimen-
;ions not wholly unworthy Of its Al
mighty Architect, 1t is when l con-
template the cause of my country de-
serted by all the world besides. and
standing up boldly and alone and
lurling defiance at her victorious OPP
,ressors. Here without contemplating |
before high heaven and
n the face of the world l swear eter-
lal fidelity to the just cause. as /
leem 1t, of the land of my life, my
liberty and my love"
In these perfervid utterances one
nav find little to admire save great |
spirit seeking to express itself and
acking as yet the refinement of taste
,qual to his undertaking. He was
10 heaven-born genius sprung in full
,anoply from the head Of Jove." He
vas lust one of the slow, common
ok. with a passion for justice and
human rights, slowly feeling his way ,
inward. His spirit was growing.
strong in It's love and knowledge of
ommon men and of the things neces- ,
airy to their welfare, 1t was beginning !
o seek and know THE divine power
+ words" Every moment of leisure
e gave to the study Of Webster and
burke and Byron and Shakespeare and !
burns. He had begun TO study the 4
TT of Irving and Walter Scott and of
new writer Of the name of Dickens.
There were four men who slept with
i'm In the room above Speeds store, &
nd one of them has told how he used
D lie sprawled on the floor, with his
iuow and candle, reading long after S
he others had gone to sleep. Samson
rites that he never knew man who Il