ng elements of Mr. Lincoln's peculiar character,
were: First, his great capacity and power of reason; secondly, his
excellent understanding; thirdly, an exalted idea of the sense of
right and equity; and, fourthly, his intense veneration of what was
true and good. His reason ruled despotically all other faculties and
qualities of his mind. His conscience and heart were ruled by it. His
conscience was ruled by one faculty--reason. His heart was ruled by
two faculties--reason and conscience. I know it is generally believed
that Mr. Lincoln's heart, his love and kindness, his tenderness and
benevolence, were his ruling qualities; but this opinion is erroneous
in every particular. First, as to his reason. He dwelt in the mind,
not in the conscience, and not in the heart. He lived and breathed and
acted from his reason--the throne of logic and the home of principle,
the realm of Deity in man. It is from this point that Mr. Lincoln must
be viewed. His views were correct and original. He was cautious not to
be deceived; he was patient and enduring. He had concentration and
great continuity of thought; he had a profound analytic power; his
visions were clear, and he was emphatically the master of statement.
His pursuit of the truth was indefatigable, terrible. He reasoned from
his well-chosen principles with such clearness, force, and
compactness, that the tallest intellects in the land bowed to him with
respect. He was the strongest man I ever saw, looking at him from the
stand-point of his reason--the throne of his logic. He came down from
that height with an irresistible and crushing force. His printed
speeches will prove this; but his speeches before courts, especially
before the Supreme Courts of the State and Nation, would demonstrate
it: unfortunately, none of them have been preserved. Here he demanded
time to think and prepare. The office of reason is to determine the
truth. Truth is the power of reason--the child of reason. He loved and
idolized truth for its own sake. It was reason's food.

Conscience, the second great quality and force of Mr. Lincoln's
character, is that faculty which loves the just: its office is
justice; right and equity are its correlatives. It decides upon all
acts of all people at all times. Mr. Lincoln had a deep, broad, living
conscience. His great reason told him what was true, good and bad,
right, wrong, just or unjust, and his conscience echoed back its
decision; and it was from this point