The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-10-06

Abe Lincoln. Heard d lot about the
dam nig%ger-loving Yankees who were
trying to ruin the state and country
with abolition. There were some
stories like those we used to hear In
the lumber camp, and no end Of pow
erful talk, in which the names of God
and the Savior were roughly handled.
A few of the statesmen got drunk, and
after the dinner was over two of them
jumped on the table and danced down
the whole length of it, SCATTERING
plates and cups and saucers and
glasses. Nobody seemed to be able
to stop them. | hear that they had to
pay several hundred dollars for the
damage done. You will be apt to think
that there is too much liberty here in
the West, and perhaps that is SO, but
the fact is these men are not half SO
bad as they seem to be. Lincoln tells
me that they are honest, almost to a
man, and sincerely devoted to the pub
lie good as they see 1t. I asked Abe
Lincoln, who all his life has associated
WITH rough-tongued, drinking men,
how he managed to hold his own
course and keep his talk and habits SO
clean.
Why, the fact Isl said he, 4 have
associated with the people who lived
around me only part of the time, but I
have never stopped. assocjating with
myself and with Washington and Clay,
and Webster and Shakespeare and
Burns and DeFoe and Scott and
Blackstone and Parsons. On the
whole, I've been in pretty good COM
pany.'
He has not yet accomplished much
In the legislature. I don't think that
he will until some big issue comes
along. TIM not much Of q hand at
hunting squirrels he said to me the
other day. Wait till I see a bear The
people Of yandalia and Springfield
have never seen him yet. They don't
know him as l do. But they all re-
spect him-just for his good-fellow-
ship, honesty and decency. I guess
that every fellow with a foul mouth
hates himself for 1t and envies the
"a who isn't like him. They begin
to see his skill as a politician, which
has shown itself In the passage of q
bill removing the capital to Spring
field. Abe Lincoln was the man who
put 1t through. But he has not yet un-
covered his best talents. Mark my
word. some day Lincoln will be. a big
man. q a@E #"
1.-THE death Of his sweetheart has
aged and sobered him. When we are
together he often sits looking down
with q sad face. For a while not q
word out Of him. Suddenly he will
begin saying things, the effect Of
which will 60 with me to my grave,
although I cannot call back the words
and place them as he did. He is what
I would call a great captain Of words.
Seems as IL I heard the band playing
while they marched by me as well
dressed and stepping as proud and
regular as the Boston Guards. In
some great battle between Right and
Wrong you will hear from him. !
hope 1t may be the battle between
Slavery and Freedom, although at
present he thinks they must avoid
coming to a clinch. In my opinion It
cannot be done. T. expect to live to
see the fight and to take part In it."
Late In the session Of 1836-1837 the
prophetic truth Of these words began
to reveal itself. A bill was being put
through the legislature denouncing the
growth OF abolition sentiment and it's
activity in organized societies and up
holding the right Of property In slaves.
Suddenly Lincoln had come to a fork
in the road. Popularity, the urge Of
many friends, the counsel Of wealth
and power, and public opinion, the can
Of good politics pointed in n direc-
ton and the crowd went that way. It
was a stampede. Lincoln stood alone
at the corner. The crowd beckoned,
but in vain. One man game back and
joined him. 1t was Dan Stone, who
was not a candidate for reelection.
His political career was ended. There
three words on the sign-board
pointing toward the perilous and lone
ly road that Lincoln proposed to fol-
low. They We're the words Justice and
Human Rights. Lincoln and Dan
Stone took that road in a protest, de-
claring that they believed the i%nstitu-.
ton of slavery IA founded upon in
justice ard bad policy Lincoln had
followed his conscience, instead of the
crowd.
At tw~enty-eight years of age he had
safely passed the great danger point
in his career. The declaration at De-
catur, the speeches against Douglas,
the miracle of turning 100000 beasts
into 100000 men, the sublime utter
ancn at Gettysburg, the wise parallels,
the second inaugural, the innumerable
acts of mercy, all Of which lifted him
into undying fame, now possible.
H%enceforth he was to go forward with
the growing approval Of his own spirit
and the favor of God.
BOOK THREE
CHAPTER XVII.
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