tories for their own sake,
as so many conversational bores are in the habit of doing, but the
story was suggested by or served to illustrate some incident or
principle. Indeed, in aptness of illustration Lincoln has never been
surpassed. Emerson said of him: "I am sure if this man had ruled in a
period of less facility of printing, he would have become mythological
in a very few years, like Aesop or Pilpay, or one of the Seven Wise
Masters, by his fables and proverbs." Many of the anecdotes attributed
to Lincoln are undoubtedly to be referred to other sources, but the
number of authentic stories noted, especially during the presidency, is
very large.

The question has often been raised whether Lincoln originated the
stories he told so well. Fortunately we have his own words in this
matter. To Noah Brooks he said: "I do generally remember a good story
when I hear it, but I never did invent anything original. I am only a
retail dealer." Slightly differing from this, though probably not
contradicting it, is Lincoln's statement to Mr. Chauncey M. Depew: "I
have originated but two stories in my life, but I tell tolerably well
other people's stories."

During the Civil War Lincoln's stories served a special purpose as a
sort of safety valve. To a Congressman, who had remonstrated with him
for his apparent frivolity in combining funny stories with serious
discussion, he said: "If it were not for these stories I should die."
The addresses of the presidential period, however, with the exception
of a few responses to serenades, are entirely without humorous
anecdotes. Although Lincoln never hesitated to clear the discussion of
the most momentous questions through the medium of a funny story, his
sense of official and literary propriety made him confine them to
informal occasions.

The Eulogy of Henry Clay of 1852 is of interest as being the only
address of this kind that Lincoln ever delivered. It might perhaps
better be called an appreciation, and because of its sincerity and deep
sympathy it may be regarded as a model of its kind. Two years later
Lincoln engaged in his first real debate with Douglas on the burning
question of the day, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. From the
purely literary point of view the Peoria Speech is superior to the
better-known debates of four years later. While it lacks the finish
and poise of the two Inaugurals it is far more imaginative than the
Debates. One of its most stri