The real Lincoln, a portrait

Foreword

Not long after the appearance of Herndon's Life of Lincoln, in the preparation of which I collaborated with the author, I was asked by the late Leonard Swett to visit him when I next came to Chicago. In due time I complied with the invitation. It was not long after I had called until our conversation turned on the Life of Lincoln which was then undergoing the test of popular approval. It was soon apparent that Mr. Swett greatly admired Herndon and he was generous and complimentary in his allusions to the book; but while he expressed the belief that Herndon, of all persons who had attempted to narrate the story of Lincoln's life, was best qualified to tell all the truth and had religiously tried to do so, yet he felt that in some respects, due probably to his advanced age, he had fallen short of his full task. Mr. Swett intimated that he had talked to certain other friends, to whom he purposed sending me, who knew Lincoln personally, and they coincided with his view. He mentioned Joseph Medill, Horace White, Henry C. Whitney, Leonard W. Volk, the sculptor, and Alexander Hesler, the photographer, all of whom I interviewed. In addition he took me to see Lyman Trumbull, and I listened with deep interest to their recollections of Lincoln and Herndon. Regarding the need, in view of his unusual opportunities, of fuller revelations from Herndon, Swett and Trumbull agreed with each other, but in certain other respects, notably their estimate of Lincoln, they were not in complete accord. Trumbull, I regret to say, maniviii FOREWORD

fested an inclination to rob Lincoln of the credit of some of his achievements. I remember he criticized Nicolay and Hay because they claimed that Lincoln opened the way for the freedom of the slaves, whereas, as he contended, Congress had done it by two laws it passed before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Mr. Swett's criticism of Herndon was that he had failed to bring out as fully as he should the human side of Lincoln, the incidents of his domestic and home life, and especially a definite and searching insight into his activities as a lawyer. He maintained that Mr. Lincoln, notwithstanding his brilliant career as a statesman, would never cease to be remembered as a lawyer and as such would be judged by the world; that therefore the more we learned of that phase of his life, the clearer and more impressive would be the portrait we should be able to transmit to posterity. Our knowledge, therefore, of all that Lincoln accomplished in the law office and the court-room, as well as how he did it, is in the highest degree essential.

Another criticism by Mr. Swett was that not enough attention had been given to Mr. Lincoln's Springfield environment — his connection with local affairs, commercial as well as political. We should know more about him as a fellow townsman — where and how he lived and how he spent his money. A great deal has been written regarding his public career, as statesman and Chief Magistrate during the most eventful period in our national history; but more remains to be said of that period of his evolution which antedates his elevation to the Presidency; in other words, there should be more local color, more of the details of his personal history as revealed by his neighbors — in

FOREWORD ix

short, the doors of his office and of his home should be made to swing open and the light turned on so that we may indeed view him as a man.

My visit to Chicago convinced me that Mr. Swett simply voiced the opinion of the friends of Lincoln whose names I have mentioned, as well as others whom I elsewhere encountered. Since then my earnest endeavor has been to learn and record the truth as it developed in a careful study of one of the greatest characters in human history, and to that end these pages have been written.

For the benefit of their ripe knowledge and discriminating judgment as well as the use of a generous array of letters, papers, and other valuable historical material, I am indebted to an army of friends. Among them may be named Charles A. Dryer, of Indianapolis; Dr. William W. Sweet, of DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana; and Isaac R. Diller and the late John W. Bunn, of Springfield, Illinois. The full list is too large for individual mention, but each contributor may console himself with the reflection that he has added materially to a truthful history of The Real Lincoln.

Jesse W. Weik Greencastle, Indiana August 10, 1 921

Contents

Chapter I i

Preliminary words — Beginning investigations at Springfield — Estimates of Horace White and Henry C. Whitney — Comparison of Lincoln and Herndon — Visiting places where Lincoln labored — Conference with Herndon — Preparing "The True Story of a Great Life" — Description of the Lincoln and Herndon library — Dismantling the law office.

Chapter II 13

Lincoln's birth in Kentucky — Visiting his birthplace — Some of his early playmates — Interviewing Austin Gollaher and others at Hodgenv^lle and Elizabethtown — Dr. Rodman's visit to Washington — Recollections of the artist Rowbotham — The removal to Indiana — Lincoln's schooling there — Incidents of his boyhood — Association with Dennis Hanks — Cutting wood at Posey's Landing — Letters of Dennis Hanks to Herndon.

Chapter III 28

The question of Lincoln's birth and descent — The various books on the subject — Investigations by Herndon and the author in Kentucky and elsewhere — The Enloe tradition — The Lincoln family Bible record — Sarah Lincoln — The John L. Scripps incident — Herndon's story of his ride with Lincoln to Petersburg — Dennis and John Hanks, who they were and whence they sprang — Their letters to Herndon regarding the Lincoln family tree.

Chapter IV 47

Removal of the Lincolns from Indiana to Illinois in 1830 — Thomas Lincoln sells the land to Charles Grigsby — Leaving Gentryville — Names of the emigrants and description of the journey — Reaching Macon County, Illinois — Abe leaves the family near Decatur and pushes out for himself — Thomas Lincoln and the Hankses — Story of Thomas Johnston jailed for stealing a watch and how Lincoln saved him — Recollections of Harriet Chapman, who lived at the Lincoln home in Springfield.

xii CONTENTS

Chapter V 56

Lincoln's several proposals of marriage — Story of his failure to join Mary Todd at the Edwards home, January, 1 841 — His letter to John T. Stuart — Invitation to John Hanks — Preparations for the marriage to Mary Todd — The story of the wedding — Judge Browne's amusing interruption — Conflicting views of Springfield people — Writer's visit to and interview with Ninian W. Edwards and wife — Refusal of Mrs. Simeon Francis to tell her story.

Chapter VI 6$

Lincoln's attitude toward the ladies — His attentions to Sarah Rickard — What Mary Owens said about him — His conduct in the parlor — The stag literary society — How he, with the aid of Evan Butler and James Matheney, punished the drunken shoemaker — His bashfulness — Whitney's account of his embarrassment before the ladies at Urbana — The evening at Norman B. Judd's residence — What Mrs. Judd recollected — Lincoln's break at the concert — His attentions to the lady performer — What Davis and Swett said to him about it — His reply.

Chapter VII 81

Lincoln's passion for women — How he dealt with them — Herndon's testimony — Interviewing one of Lincoln's female clients — Her story of his conduct — Lincoln on the circuit — Avoiding social functions — Fondness for concerts and like entertainments at the town hall — Accompanying Henry C. Whitney to the negro minstrel show in Chicago — Efforts of author to determine if Lincoln attended lecture by Thackeray in St. Louis — Lincoln's status as a married man — His wife's temperament and its effect on him — Her traits of character — Her management of the household — Her experience with Springfield tradesmen.

Chapter VIII 96

Further accounts of Mrs. Lincoln — Herndon's account of the dance with her — The serenade — Riding with the Bradfords — Her difficulties with the servants — Her husband's ingenious scheme to retain them — The government of the children — Lincoln taking them to the office on Sunday — His control over them — Playing chess with Judge Treat — An interesting

CONTENTS xiii

glimpse by a law student — Description of the office — How Lincoln dressed — How he spent the day — His habits of study

— Escorting Mrs. Lincoln to a ball — Her husband's consideration for her — His action when a storm threatened.

Chapter IX 109

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 reason er — Remorseless in analysis — A giant intellect and in full comprehension of his own ability.

Chapter X 119

Behind the door of Lincoln's home — What the neighbors saw and heard — The testimony of James Gourley — Lincoln's garden and dooryard — The ups and downs of life at the Eighth Street home — How Lincoln and his wife agreed — What Josiah P. Kent saw and remembered — Mrs. Lincoln and the iceman

— The family carriage — Buying a ticket to the circus — Juvenile pranks at Lincoln's expense — Mrs. Lincoln's peculiarities of temperament.

Chapter XI 127

Lincoln as a lawyer — Estimates of David Davis and others — First leaning toward the law manifested in Indiana — Borrowing books of Judge Pitcher, of Rockport — Attending squire's court at Gentryville — Studying law books after reaching New Salem — Admission to the bar at Springfield — His opinion of examinations — Story of an applicant he himself examined — The note to Judge Logan — Hawthorne vs. Woolridge, his first case: its history and termination — Scammon vs. Cline, his first case in the Supreme Court — His last appearance in court — His three partnerships — His wonderful ability as a reasoner — The scope and extent of his practice — Range and size of his fees — His skill and care in the preparation of papers — The trial of Bailey vs. Cromwell proving that a negro girl was not a slave — Also Carman vs. Glasscock involving the navigability of the Sangamon River.

xiv CONTENTS

Chapter XII 148

Green vs. Green, Lincoln's first divorce case — His dislike for divorce suits — His magnanimity in the trial of Samuel Rogers vs. Polly Rogers — His comment on the Miller vs. Miller petition— A pitiful story of marital discord — A slow collector — Rarely enforced collection of fees by suit — When in partnership with Logan brought one suit for fee — Retained by Illinois Central Railroad to enjoin McLean County from assessing road for taxation — Lincoln's letter to Brayman — Gains case in Supreme Court — Lincoln sues railroad company for his fee — History of transaction — Dividing fee with Herndon — One of Lincoln's first suits for personal injury — The Horological Cradle case — The slander suit of McKibben vs. Hart — Turning the fee over to his father — The Spink vs. Chiniquiy case settled by Lincoln — The Dungey vs. Spencer case as recalled by Lawrence Weldon — Fixing Lincoln's fee — Linder vs. Fleenor — How Lincoln proved the marriage — Dorman vs. Lane — Proposal by Lincoln to his associates that they join him and donate fees as a wedding present.

Chapter XIII 169

Lincoln seldom wrote briefs or legal arguments — Scarcely ever made notes — Of the few briefs he reduced to writing Herndon preserved but a portion — One was a petition for rehearing in Patterson vs. Edwards, tried in the Supreme Court in 1845 — Slander suit between two women — Notable specimen of Lincoln's reasoning — Smith vs. Smith, suit on election bet — Vigorous denunciation of those who bet on elections — Hurd vs. Rock Island Bridge Company tried by Lincoln in United States Circuit Court in Chicago — Record of Lincoln's argument before the jury as delivered, preserved, and reproduced by Robert R. Hitt, the shorthand reporter — How Lincoln talked when he faced a jury — What he thought of Judge McLean.

Chapter XIV 188

Life on the circuit — The Eighth Circuit described — Lincoln only lawyer who traveled over all of it — His horse and buggy — The landlord's welcome — Life at the tavern — Lincoln's dress — Leonard Swett's introduction to Lincoln and Davis — Lincoln's methods described by Henry C. Whitney — Joins Leonard Swett in defense of a murderer — His record in fugitive slave cases — Explanation by John W. Bunn of his few appearances in court in behalf of runaway slaves — Account by J.

CONTENTS xv

Birch of Lincoln lounging in the county clerk's office — Also his physical appearance and habits in political campaigns — The Wright case — Befriending the Matheney heirs — Forcing the foreign impostor to disgorge his gains — Fee paid by Jacob Bunn and how Lincoln applied it.

Chapter XV 206

How Lincoln whiled away his spare moments in Springfield — Places he was in the habit of frequenting — An evening in the office of Colonel W. B. Warren, Clerk of the Supreme Court — Incidents of Lincoln's stay at Urbana in the spring of 1856 — Stealing the hotel gong — Apprised of his vote for Vice-President at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia — Leaving Urbana for Springfield — Riding in the omnibus — Whitney's recollection of Lincoln's modest fees — His financial accumulations — The bank account of Lincoln & Herndon.

Chapter XVI 215

Instances of Lincoln's weakness — His unwonted faith in certain friends — His blindness to their faults — His failure to redeem Herndon — Joining the charmed circle at the tavern — His bland and inexplicable confidence in the ability and moral influence of Ward Lamon — Appoints him United States Marshal of the District of Columbia — Lamon's attempt to influence General Fremont — Scheme to transport troops to West Virginia — The pretended Lamon's Brigade — Investigation by Congressional committee which denounces Lamon in scathing report — Notwithstanding opposition of fifteen Senators Lincoln adheres to him — Mark W. Delahay another instance of Lincoln's misplaced confidence — Surprise of John J. Ingalls — Lincoln finally appoints him United States Judge for the District of Kansas — Congressional committee visits Kansas to investigate Delahay 's moral and official conduct — Delahay resigns to avoid impeachment — Lincoln's appointment of Simon Cameron and the trouble it gave him — Herndon's letter to Henry Wilson — Lincoln's real estimate of Douglas — What he told C. H. Moore about Douglas — Incidents of the joint debate — The recollections of Horace White.

Chapter XVII 237

Lincoln as a student — The effect of a college education — Comparison of John Fiske's and Lincoln's conception of social evolution— Lincoln takes up Euclid — Reading "The Annual of xvi CONTENTS

Science" — Studying higher mathematics — His attempt to square the circle — His self-confidence and secretiveness — His mechanical bent — Securing a patent — Working on the model of his invention at Walter Davis's shop — Explaining it to his partner and callers at his office — Preparing his lecture on " Discoveries and Inventions" — Delivers it at Jacksonville and Springfield — What some of his colleagues thought about it — Several paragraphs of the lecture — Account by S. H. Melvin of what Lincoln did with the manuscript — Herndon also enters the lecture field — Delivers his effort entitled "The Sweep of Commerce" before an audience in Cook's Hall in Springfield — What the "Journal" said about it.

Chapter XVIII 251

An epoch in Lincoln's life — His political baptism — Signs the call for the Bloomington Convention — Herndon's account of the incident — How Stuart tried to retard him — Lincoln announces himself — His speech at the Bloomington Convention — The prediction of Jesse K. Dubois described by Whitney — Lincoln invited to speak in New York — Effect on his neighbors in Springfield — What John T. Stuart said — The Cooper Institute address — His speeches in New England — How he impressed the Eastern people — Mentioned for President by the press — County convention in Springfield endorses him for President — He attends the Decatur meeting where John Hanks brings in the famous rails — Crowds of Lincoln's friends head for Chicago, leaving him at Springfield — The Chicago Convention — What Lincoln was doing at home — The nomination on Friday — How Lincoln received the news — The account by Clinton L. Conkling — The effect at Springfield — Marching to Lincoln's house — His speech — Arrival of notification committee from Chicago — Incidents of their visit — The notification ceremony in the parlor of Lincoln's home — Incidents of the campaign — All paths lead to Springfield — The great rally in August — Letter of John Hanks supporting the claims of his cousin Abe Lincoln — Some local campaigners — Herndon's speech at Petersburg — Comments of the local papers.

Chapter XIX 282

Lincoln the candidate for President — Meeting the expenses of the campaign — Judge Logan's plan — The ten friends of Lincoln who contributed — John W. Bunn's story of the fund —

CONTENTS xvii

John G. Nicolay selected as Lincoln's secretary — Lincoln's attention to the details of the campaign — Meets with local committee— Recommends John Hay as assistant secretary — Interesting reminiscence of John W. Bunn — How Lincoln bore himself throughout the campaign — The election — Lincoln going to the polls — Assigned quarters for his office in the State House — His habits as President elect — Goes to Chicago to meet Hannibal Hamlin — Returns to Springfield — Visitors at his office and incidents of his stay there — Journeys to Charleston to see his stepmother — Account of his visit and interesting reminiscence by James A. Connolly — Returns to Springfield and begins preparations for the journey to Washington — Last visit to his law office — Final interview with Herndon.

Chapter XX 303

Last social function at Lincoln's home — He receives threatening letters — Sends a friend to Washington to sound General Scott — General Thomas S. Mather returns with his report — Plans for Lincoln's journey to Washington as outlined in the local papers — Personnel of the party selected to accompany him — Leaving the Chenery House — His trunks — Departure from the railway station — Lincoln's farewell speech — Story of the two versions — His emotion when the train moved off.

Index 315

ILLUSTRATIONS

Abraham Lincoln Frontispiece

Photograph taken by Alexander Hesler at Lincoln's home in Springfield a few days after his nomination for President. Pronounced by Mr. Herndon to be the best and most lifelike portrait of Lincoln in existence. Reproduced by permission of Mr. George B. Ayres.

William Henry Herndon 2

Lincoln's Pocket Scrapbook carried during the Campaign OF 1858 AGAINST DOUGLAS IO

Page from Lincoln's Hand-made Arithmetic, used by him while a Schoolboy in Gentryville, Indiana 11

The Family Record in Thomas Lincoln's Bible, chiefly in Abraham Lincoln's Hand 32

House near Farmington, Illinois, in which Thomas Lincoln lived, and where he died in 1851 50

Joshua F. Speed and his Wife 62

From a painting owned by the family.

Sarah Rickard 68

From a woodcut after a photograph by R. T. Jones.

Mary S. Owens 68

From a photograph.

Mary Todd Lincoln 96

From a photograph.

Certificate of Survey written by Lincoln when he was Deputy Surveyor under John Calhoun in 1834 no

Judge John Pitcher 130 xx ILLUSTRATIONS

Page of the Records of the Circuit Court of Sangamon County, Illinois, for March 24, 1836, showing the Court Order certifying to Lincoln's Good Moral Character on his Admission to the Bar 134

Papers in Lincoln's First Case, Hawthorn vs. Wool-

DRIDGE I38

Items from Stuart and Lincoln's Fee Book 142

Lincoln's Brief in a Case involving the Navigability of the Sangamon River 146

Lincoln's Bill against the Illinois Central Railroad Company, with Copy of Opinion signed by Fellow Lawyers i 54

Leonard Swett 192

Henry C. Whitney 192

Part of a Letter of Lincoln's to a Client (Rowland Smith & Co., April 24, 1844), showing Errors in his Usually Correct Spelling 238

Page of Lincoln's Manuscript of his Lecture "Discoveries and Inventions" 246

Call for a County Convention to appoint Delegates to the Republican State Convention at Bloomington, 1856 254

Stephen T. Logan 282

From a painting by G. P. A. Healy.

John T. Stuart 282

From a photograph of one of the earliest daguerreotypes made in this - country, believed to have been taken by S. F. B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph.

Chapter I

Preliminary words — Beginning investigations at Springfield — Estimates of Horace White and Henry C. Whitney — Comparison of Lincoln and Herndon — Visiting places where Lincoln labored — Conference with Herndon — Preparing " The True Story of a Great Life " — Description of the Lincoln and Herndon library — Dismantling the law office.

Abraham Lincoln is rapidly nearing his place among the fixed stars; but before he is borne aloft in the nimbus of immortality which invariably overtakes a deservedly great and illustrious character, I feel emboldened to submit a few incidents gathered by me during a patient study of the man's history covering almost half a century. This array of material, including facts emanating from certain authentic and trustworthy sources, will, I hope, serve to bring out in sharper outline that portrait which, we are assured, some great artist, set apart for the task, is destined yet to produce. In thus acquainting the public with the results of my investigations I shall endeavor to avoid the expression of my own opinions, being content to impart the information as nearly as I can in the shape it came to me.

To begin with I do not feel justified in putting on record the facts and conclusions outlined in the following pages without first paying a merited tribute to the memory of William H. Herndon, who, of all persons, as Horace White has so fittingly observed, has "most thoroughly searched the sources of Lincoln's biography and most attentively, intelligently and also lovingly studied his character. He was generous in imparting his information to others. Almost every Life of Lincoln published since the tragedy at Ford's Theater has been enriched by his labors. He was nine years the junior of Lincoln. Their partnership began in 1843 and it continued until it was dissolved by the death of the senior member. Between them there was never an unkind word or thought. When Lincoln became President, Herndon could have had his fortunes materially advanced under the new Administration by saying a word. He was a poor man then and always, but he chose to remain in his more humble station and to earn his bread by his daily labor."

I can conceive of nothing more significant and illuminating than the following estimate of Herndon by one who was his associate at the bar and who, for upwards of thirty-five years, maintained with him the most intimate relations. In a letter to Herndon this gentleman — the late Henry C. Whitney, of Urbana, Illinois — says: "You saw Lincoln as he was and know him far better than all other living men combined. Armed with such knowledge it follows that you know better than others how to delineate him. You have the acuteness of vision that we attribute tc Lincoln; you acquired much of his analytical power by attrition and you thought deeply as he did. He had unbounded confidence in your intuitions and your adhesion to him. I shall never forget the day — January 6, 1859 — when the legislature of Illinois met in joint session and elected Stephen A. Douglas, instead of himself, to the United States Senate. I went to your office and found Lincoln there alone. He appeared to be somewhat de-

WILLIAM HENRY HERNDON

LINCOLN AND HERNDON 3

jected — in fact I never saw a man so depressed. I tried to rally his drooping spirits and thus extract all the comfort possible from the situation, but with ill success. He was simply steeped in gloom. For a time he was silent; finally he straightened up and thanked me, but presently slid back into his chair again, blurting out as he sank down, 'Well, whatever happens I expect every one to desert me now, but Billy Herndon.'"

As has been truthfully said, it was his unwavering and inflexible devotion to the truth that formed the predominating trait in the character of William H. Herndon. In this respect he resembled his illustrious law partner. Both men up to a certain point were very much alike; but there was a difference. Lincoln, deeply cautious and restrained, was prone to abstract and thoughtful calculation. Herndon, by nature forceful and alert, was quick, impulsive, and often precipitate. If he detected wrong he proclaimed the fact instantly and everywhere, never piling up his wrath and strength, as Lincoln did, for a future sweeping and telling blow. He never stopped to calculate the force, momentum, or effect of his opposition; but fought at the drop of the hat, and fought incessantly, pushing blindly through the smoke of battle until he was either hopelessly overcome or stood exultant on the hilltop of victory. Younger than Lincoln he was more venturesome, more versatile, perhaps, and magnificently oblivious of consequences.

Conscious of his limitations Herndon knew that he was too radical and bold to achieve success in politics and he therefore sunk himself in the fortunes of his more happily poised partner. In the end posterity will accept the verdict of Herndon's friends that, despite his faults, he was a noble, broad-minded man; incapable of a mean or selfish act, brave and big-hearted, tolerant, forgiving, just, and as true to Lincoln as the "needle to the pole.,,

Early in the seventies I opened up a correspondence with Herndon which ended only with his death and is represented by over five hundred pages of his manuscript now in my possession. After my graduation from college I journeyed from my Indiana home to Springfield to see him, and was so fascinated by his recital of Lincoln's life and activities that I adopted his suggestion and decided to remain there. For almost four years I traced Lincoln's footsteps viewing him from almost every possible angle. My researches were both continuous and painstaking; nor did I think of desisting until I had interviewed or communicated with almost every person then living in that region who had known or talked with Lincoln.

Shortly after my first meeting with Herndon, he piloted me to the dingy back room on the second floor of a store building facing the Court-House Square in Springfield which had sheltered him and his illustrious partner when they used it for their law office. "Here," he said, "is where we expounded the law to our clients, prepared our papers and charged up our fees." The room and furniture were strictly in keeping with the modesty of their fees. In the center was a table, leaning against the wall was an old sofa or lounge, and on the opposite side of the room stood the bookcase. An old wood-burning stove and four or five chairs completed the outfit. The bookcase contained not to exceed twenty volumes and of this number scarcely half were law books, the others miscellaneous,

IN SPRINGFIELD WITH HERNDON 5

partly literary and partly official, and statistical reports. After a few hours spent in the old law office, Herndon took me to a room over another store building in an adjacent square where, as he related, Lincoln wrote his first Inaugural Address. The store-room below was occupied by Lincoln's brother-in-law, Mr. C. M. Smith, who conducted therein a dry-goods store. We were shown the table on which Lincoln did his writing and even the inkstand which, it was said, he had used. It was on this occasion that Herndon told me the story of the preparation by Lincoln of this, his first official document as President. Having but few books at his home Lincoln asked Herndon to procure certain volumes that he might consult them while he was at work preparing the Address. Herndon told me he was expecting a request for numerous books and pamphlets, but was surprised when Lincoln furnished him the list. It consisted of only four items: Jackson's proclamation against Nullification; Clay's famous speech on the Compromise of 1850; Webster's reply to Hayne, and a copy of the Constitution.

After visiting several points of interest in and about the court-house, Herndon and I returned to the law office where we spent the rest of the day. Lincoln had been but a few years in his grave so that the story of the association of himself and his partner, as it came from Herndon's lips, was a most vivid and entertaining recital. From this time forward I was destined to share to the end of his days the confidence and friendship of this rare and interesting man. From Herndon it was decreed I should learn what manner of man Lincoln was, how to measure him, to dissect his moral structure, to analyze his mental processes. I soon realized that no other man lived who comprehended so thoroughly the great character whose life I was trying to solve, who had dug so deeply and laid bare the springs of action, the motives that animated that clear head, brave heart, and strong right arm. It was plain that Herndon with implicit faith and fanatical devotion clung to Lincoln, and it therefore requires but little evidence to convince us that the latter, throughout the memorable and tempestuous times that made him great, bared his heart and soul to "Billy" Herndon.