From the Chicago Press and Tribune, May 23.
Published in NY Times: May 26, 1860
Ten thousand inquiries will be made as to the looks, the habits, tastes, and other characteristics of Honest Old ABE. We anticipate a few of them.
Mr. LINCOLN stands six feet and four inches high in his stockings. His frame is not muscular, but gaunt and wiry; his arms are long, but not unreasonably so for a person of his height; his lower limbs are not disproportioned to his body. In walking, his gait, though firm, is never brisk. He steps slowly and deliberately, almost always with his head inclined forward and his hands clasped behind his back. In matters of dress he is by no means precise. Always clean, he is never fashionable; he is careless, but not slovenly. In manner he is remarkably cordial, and, at the same time, simple. His politeness is always sincere, but never elaborate and oppressive. A warm shake of the hand and a warmer smile of recognition are his methods of greeting his friends. At rest, his features, though those of a man of mark, are not such as belong to a handsome man; but when his fine dark-gray eyes are lighted up by any emotion, and his features begin their play, he would be chosen from among a crowd as one who had in him not only the kind sentiments which women love, but the heavier metal of which full grown men and Presidents are made. His hair is black, and though thin, is wiry. His head sets well on his shoulders, but beyond that it defies description. It nearer resembles that of CLAY than that of WEBSTER; but it is unlike either. It is very large, and, phrenologically, well proportioned, betokening power in all its developments. A slightly Roman nose, a wide-cut mouth, and a dark complexion, with the appearance of having been weather-beaten, completes the description.
