quently at her house, being sent there now and then by her husband on errands from the office. On two occasions, I remember, I was her escort at a ball, instead of her husband, who, because of absence from home, was unable to accompany her. I found her to be a good dancer; she was bright, witty, and accomplished, being able to speak French fluently. The sportive title or nickname she gave me was Mr. 'Mister,' but her husband invariably addressed me by my first name. She rarely visited the office. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, but the statement that Mr. Lincoln attended divine service nearly every Sunday he was in Springfield may have been true of later years, but to predicate it of the period when I was in office, in the forties, would be more or less of an exaggeration. Mr. Lincoln showed great consideration for his wife. She was unusually timid and nervous especially during a storm. If the clouds gathered and the thunder rolled, he knew its effect on his wife and would at once hasten home to remain there with her till the skies cleared and the storm was safely over." CHAPTER IX A Springfield lawyer's opinion of Lincoln's mental equipment - Outline of his physical organization-His appetite-How he ate an apple - His predisposition to melancholy - Description of his figure — His head, arms, and legs - His countenance, his walk, and other physical attributes - His mental processes-His perception, judgment, and conscience - His indifference as to forms or methods - A profound reasoner - Remorseless in analysis — A giant intellect and in full comprehension of his own ability. In his physical organization, according to John T. Stuart and Herndon, both of whom were his law partners and therefore observed him at very close range, Lincoln was something of a riddle. Likewise to those who viewed him from another angle he was still difficult of comprehension. Here is an analysis of his mental structure by a fellow lawyer. It was written in 1866 and the original manuscript is still in my possession. Although I have thus far withheld the writer's name, I feel free to state that he was a Springfield man, but not a partner of, nor intimate with, Lincoln. After reciting that he had been asked to put in writing his opinion of the mind of Lincoln he says: "I consent to do so without any other motive than to comply with the request of a brother lawyer, for if I know myself, no other motive would induce me to do it, because, while Mr. Lincoln and I were always good friends, I believe myself wholly indifferent to the future of his memory. The opinion I now have was formed by a personal and professional acquaintance of over ten years, and has not been altered or influenced by any of his promotions in public life. The adulation by base multitudes of a living and pageantry surrounding a dead President do not shake my well-settled convictions of the man's mental caliber. Physiologically and phrenologically the man was a sort of monstrosity. His frame was large, long, bony, and muscular; his head small and disproportionately shaped. He had large, square jaws; large, heavy nose; small, lascivious mouth, and soft, tender, bluish eyes. I would say he was a cross between Venus and Hercules. I believe it to be inconsistent with the laws of human organization for any such creature to possess a mind capable of anything called great. The man's mind partook of the incongruities of his body. He had no mind not possessed by the most ordinary of men. It was simply the peculiarity of his mental and the oddity of his physical structure, as well as the qualities of his heart, that singled him out from the mass of men. His native love of justice, truth, and humanity led his mind a great way in the accomplishment of his objects in life. That passion or sentiment steadied and determined an otherwise indecisive mind." The following extract from a lecture by Herndon soon after Lincoln's death contains an analysis of the latter's physical and mental equipment so unerring and yet so profound there is abundant reason why it should be preserved. Its value to history arises from the fact that it was prepared for delivery to audiences in central Illinois composed largely of Lincoln's neighbors, people the most competent of all to test its accuracy and truthfulness. Among other things he said: Mr. Lincoln was wiry, sinewy, and raw-boned-thin through the breast to the back and narrow across the shoulders. Standing, he leaned forward; was somewhat stoop-shouldered, inclining to the consumptive in build. His usual weight was 183431 Surveyed for Rufeel Godby. the West Ray of the ди 19 North of 6 Section 30 in Lownshif Range of West. Begining at a White ook 10 Singles in diameted. 40 chains to a White Oak 19 inches Ny 38.20 Lenk, V mound. Rammen now Hercules Demming Calhoun 4.96 CERTIFICATE OF SURVEY WRITTEN BY LINCOLN WHEN HE WAS DEPUTY SURVEYOR UNDER JOHN CALHOUN IN 1834 |