The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln: A Narrative And Descriptive Biography With Pen-Pictures And Personal; Recollections By Those Who Knew HimBrowne, Francis F. (Francis Fisher)
History
The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln: A Narrative And Descriptive Biography With Pen-Pictures And Personal; Recollections By Those Who Knew Him
Browne, Francis F. (Francis Fisher)
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865; Presidents -- United States -- Biography
Many of the stories told of Lincoln at the bar are extremely
ridiculous, and represent him in anything but a dignified light. But
they are a part of the character of the man, and should be given
wherever there is reason to suppose they are genuine. Besides, they are
usually full of a humor that is irresistible. Such an incident is given
by the Hon. Lawrence Weldon, Lincoln's old friend and legal associate in
Illinois. "I can see him now," says Judge Weldon, "through the decaying
memories of thirty years, standing in the corner of the old court-room,
and as I approached him with a paper I did not understand, he said:
'Wait until I fix this plug for my _gallus_, and I will pitch into that
like a dog at a root.' While speaking, he was busily engaged in trying
to connect his suspender with his trousers by making a 'plug' perform
the function of a button. Lincoln liked old-fashioned words, and never
failed to use them if they could be sustained as proper. He was probably
accustomed to say 'gallows,' and he never adopted the modern word
'suspender.'"
On a certain occasion Lincoln appeared at the trial of a case in which
his friend Judge Logan was his opponent. It was a suit between two
farmers who had had a disagreement over a horse-trade. On the day of the
trial, Mr. Logan, having bought a new shirt, open in the back, with a
huge standing collar, dressed himself in extreme haste, and put on the
shirt with the _bosom at the back_, a linen coat concealing the blunder.
He dazed the jury with his knowledge of "horse points"; and as the day
was sultry, took off his coat and "summed" up in his shirt-sleeves.
Lincoln, sitting behind him, took in the situation, and when his turn
came he remarked to the jury: "Gentlemen, Mr. Logan has been trying for
over an hour to make you believe he knows more about a horse than these
honest old farmers who are witnesses. He has quoted largely from his
'horse doctor,' and now, gentlemen, I submit to you," (here he lifted
Logan out of his chair, and turned him with his back to the jury and
the crowd, at the same time flapping up the enormous standing collar)
"what dependence can you place in his horse knowledge, when he _has not
sense enough to put on his shirt_?" Roars of laughter greeted this
exposition, and the verdict was given to Lincoln.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account