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.
In his personal habits, Mr. LINCOLN is as simple as a child. He loves a good dinner, and eats with the appetite which goes with a great brain; but his food is plain and nutritious. He lever drinks intoxicating liquors of any sort — not even a glass of wine. He is not addicted to tobacco in any of its shapes. He never was accused of a licentious act in all his life. He never uses profane language. A friend says that once, when in a towering rage, in consequence of the efforts of certain parties to perpetrate a fraud upon the State, be was heard to say, “They shan’t do it, d — n ’em!” but beyond an expression of this kind, his bitterest feelings never curry him. He never gambles; we doubt if he ever indulges in any games of chance. He is particularly cautious about incurring pecuniary obligations for any purpose whatever, and in debt he is never content until the score is discharged. We presume he owes no man a dollar. He never speculates. The rage for the sudden acquisition of wealth never took hold of him. His gains from his profession have been moderate, but sufficient for his purposes. While others have dreamed of gold, he has been in the pursuit of knowledge. In all his dealings he has the reputation of being generous, but exact, and above all, religiously honest.
He would be a bold man who would say that ABRAHAM LINCOLN ever wronged any one out of a cent, or ever spent a dollar that he had not honestly earned. His struggles in early life have made him careful of money; but his generosity with his own is proverbial. He is a regular attendant upon religious worship, and though not a communicant, is a pew-holder and liberal supporter of the Presbyterian Church in Springfield, to which Mrs. LINCOLN belongs. He is a scrupulous teller of the truth — too exact in his notions to suit the atmosphere of Washington as it now is. His enemies may say that he tells Black Republican lies; but no man ever charged that, in a professional capacity, or as a citizen dealing with his neighbors, he would depart from the Scriptural command. At home he lives like a gentleman of moderate means and simple tastes. A good-sized house of wood, simply but tastefully furnished, surrounded by trees and flowers, is his own, and there he lives, at peace with himself, the idol of his family, and for his honesty, ability and patriotism, the admiration of his countrymen.
If Mr. LINCOLN is elected President he will carry but little that is ornamental to the White House. The country must accept his sincerity, his ability, and his honesty, in the mould in which they are cast. He will not be able to make as polite a bow as FRANK PIERCE, but he will not commence anew the agitation of the Slavery question by recommending to Congress any Kansas-Nebraska bills. He may not preside at the Presidential dinners with the ease and grace which distinguish the “venerable public functionary,” Mr. BUCHANAN, but he will not create the necessity for a Covode Committee and the disgraceful revelations of CORNELIUS WENDELL. He will take to the Presidential Chair just the qualities which the country now demands to save it from impending destruction — ability that no man can question, firmness that nothing can overbear, honesty that never has been impeached, and patriotism that never despairs.
