e.

Had he lived until February 12, 1911, he would have been one hundred
and two years old. Less than forty-five years ago, in the very
prime of life, he was the Chief Magistrate of the Nation, guiding
and controlling it in its great struggle for national existence.
Such a vast accumulation of history has been compressed into those
years, and such a wonderful panorama of events has passed before
us in that comparatively brief time, that we are apt to think of
Lincoln as of the long ago, as almost a contemporary of Washington
and of the Revolutionary fathers. The immensity of the history
which has been crowded into those forty-five years has distorted
our mental vision, as ordinary objects are sometimes distorted by
refraction. Yet when we reflect, the distortion disappears. But
the wonder still remains. The years during which the deeds of
Lincoln have been a memory to us do not carry us back to the early
days of our own country. They do not carry us back even to the
time of Jackson, Webster, Clay, or Calhoun; yet the sacred halo of
patriotic veneration invests as completely the name of Lincoln as
of Washington.

The many personal memories of the martyred patriot that I can recall
seem almost a dream to me. It seems almost a vision of the
unsubstantial imagination, when I think that I have known the one
immortal man of the century, and enjoyed his friendship. He was
the very impersonation of humanity; his stature was above and beyond
all others. One hand reached back to the very portals of Mount
Vernon, while the other, giving kindly protection to the oppressed,
still reaches forward to guide, encourage, and sustain the people
of this Nation.

It was my great good-fortune to know something of Abraham Lincoln
from the time I was about twelve years old, and even earlier than
that I have a distinct recollection of hearing my father advising
men to employ Lincoln in important litigation. Lincoln at that
time was about thirty years old, and even then was regarded as a
really great lawyer.

The first time I ever saw him in court he, assisted by Colonel E.
D. Baker (afterwards a senator from Oregon, and killed at Ball's
Bluff), was engaged in the defence of a man on trial for murder.
The conduct of the defence made by those great lawyers produced an
impression on my mind that will never be forgotten. Lincoln became
then my ideal of a great man, and has so remained ever since.

In 1846, Mr. Lincoln was the Whi