[iv-41] Joseph Gillespie, in Oldroyd, 462. Still another one of the famous cavalcade, Leonard Swett, said: “Beds were always too short, coffee in the morning burned or otherwise bad, food often indifferent, roads simply trails, streams without bridges and often swollen, and had to be swum, sloughs often muddy and almost impassable, and we had to help the horses, when the wagon mired down, with fence-rails for pries, and yet I never heard Lincoln complain of anything.”
In the same vein, Henry C. Whitney wrote: “At the table, he ate what came first, without discrimination or choice. Whatever room at the hotel came handy, or whatever bed he came to first, he took without criticism or inspection.”
[iv-42] Quoted from manuscript of Ninian W. Edwards by Herndon, i, 186; also: Lamon, 190; French, 60; Coffin, 99; Browne, 138-39; Master, 55-56.
[iv-43] Whitney, 32; see, also, Herndon, ii, 15-16.
[iv-45] Chief Justice John Marshall, whom Lincoln resembled in not a few particulars, is said to have made a similarly unfavorable impression upon a prospective client, during his younger days at the Richmond bar. But in the Virginian’s case, the critical suitor discovered, even before the trial began, that a poorly dressed lawyer is not necessarily a poor advocate. So Marshall was retained, at the eleventh hour, to assist an immaculately attired colleague, whose ability was found to fall far short of the promise held forth by broadcloth and powdered wig.
[iv-48] Jayne, 11; and Dr. William Jayne to the author, October 2, 1912.
[iv-49] Gibson W. Harris, quoted in Columbia (Ky.) _Spectator_, January 27, 1905. The same witness, writing elsewhere (Browne, 219) on the same theme, says: “Mr. Lincoln had a heart that was more a woman’s than a man’s,--filled to overflowing with sympathy for those in trouble, and ever ready to relieve them by any means in his power.”
[iv-50] Mrs. Lincoln to Mrs. Keckley, November 15, 1867, in Keckley, 352.
[iv-51] John F. Mendonsa to the author, August 31, 1912.
[iv-53] Fellowship, 1908, pp. 12-13; see, also, _Works_, ii, 313-14.
[iv-54] Lincoln to Johnston, January 12, 1851, _Works_, ii, 148.
[iv-56] This deed may be found in Coles County Deed Records, G, p. 5. Of the same date, October 25, 1841, entered in Mortgage Record, i, p. 43, is an instrument whereby Abraham Lincoln binds himself and his heirs to convey the property to John D. Johnston or his heirs, after the death of the parents, upon repayment of the two hundred dollars, without interest and without regard to any increase in the value of the tract.