Lincoln and the liquor question

Lincoln and the
Liquor Question

'It is not the use of a bad thing, bat
the abuse of a very good thing"

-LINCOLN

Compiled from the
Most Reliable Authorities

By Robert J. Halle

Published by the

Literary Bureau of the National
Liquor League of America

Digitized by the Internet Arcjiiye

in 2011 with funding from

The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant

http://www.archive.org/details/lincolnliquorqueOOhall

LINCOLN AND THE LIQUOR QUESTION.

The attempt of the Prohibitionists to make capital out of the
centennial celebration of Lincoln's birthday and to divert the
honor and glory due the great emancipator to their OAvn un-
christian and heathenish doctrine is too serious to be allowed
to pass unnoticed.

The Pharisees of old who denounced Christ as a wine bibber
were but the forerunners of the Pharisees of to-day who en-
deaver to persuade their over-credulous adherents, that the wine
that Christ made, drank, blessed, and gave as a memorial of
His divine person, was nothing but pure, unfermented grape
juice, are the same Pharisees that to-day are claiming Lincoln
as a prohibitionist in order to cover their tattered garments,
stained with corruption, deceit and dishonor, under the broad
cloak of the martryred President.

Lincoln has been called the "Man of Sorrow," and as the
Christ-like "Man of Sorrow" of old, preached and practiced "tem-
perance in all things" and at all times.

Both Christ and Lincoln drank moderately and abhorred
drunkenness, and preached the doctrine of moral and not legal
suasion for those too weak to withstand temptation.

Let not the honors that are bestowed upon the great eman-
cipator by a grateful people show him in a wrong light on the
Mahommedan doctrine of prohibition.

The early history of Lincoln reveals him as a country store-
keeper who kept in stock and sold liquor as others did in those
days. It reveals him as a moderate drinker of wines and liquors.
It reveals him as a statesman voting and opposing prohibition
and its twin brother, local option. It reveals him as an orator
advocating temperance and opposing the false doctrine of pro-
hibition, declaring that the injurv done by liquor did not "ARISE
FROM THE USE OF A BAD THING, BUT THE ABUSE
OF A VERY GOOD THING."

A year ago the writer published an article in the "Champion"
on "Lincoln as a Saloonkeeper," which aroused the ire of some
very staunch prohibitionists who took exception to the follow-
ing quotation from a speech of Lincoln:

"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temper-
ance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes.

beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a
man's appetite by legislation, and in making crimes out of things
that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the
very principles on which our government was founded."

Mr. Alonzo E. Wilson, chairman of the Prohibition Com-
mittee of Illinois, offered $50 for proof of the authority of the
above passage, while the Rev. Royal W. Raymond, superintend-
ent of the Anti-Saloon League of the State of Washington
(who has since resigned under a cloud), offered $100 reward
"for the citation of any accepted authority wherein may be
found the words of Abraham Lincoln,'' as quoted above. Mr,
Raymond just now dc-es not care what Lincoln said on any
subject.

This indignant protest on the part of the prohibitionists
caused a general research into the Lincoln archives at Spring-
field which has resulted not only in the absolute proof of the
truthfulness of the above quotation, but in the production of the
most positive proof that Lincoln was not only a moderate drinker
but an opponent of prohibition and local option.

The absurd outcry of the Women's Christian Temperance
Association and some ministerial organizations against the serv-
ing of wine at the Lincoln banquet at Springfield, the attempt
of the Anti-Saloon League to make capital out of the memorial
celebration by the "breaking of ground" for "a Lincoln Tem-
perance Memorial Building." to be used for a printing office in
which their official organ, the "American Issue," is to be pub-
liBhed, is a sufficient excuse for the publishing in a concise form
the facts concerning Lincoln and the prohibition question.
LINCOLN DRANK MODERATELY.
The prohibitionists claim that Lincoln was a total abstainer
because some very eminently respectable people declare that
they never sazv him drink. Lincoln did a great many things
that a host of people never saw him do, but there is a cloud
of witnesses who know and saw him drink among them. We
quote from three of his best biographers:

The Hon. John Hay, late Secretary of State, who was at
one time private secretary to. Lincoln, who prohibitionists delight
to quote in defense of their claim. They have circulated
a letter, said to be written by John Hay, in which he states that
Abraham Lincoln never took a drink of "zvhisky." The letter,
however, is most cunningly worded and even if genuine it is
very inconclusive. It runs as follows :

Dear Sir— Mr. Lincoln was a man of extremely temperate

habits; he made no use of eitlier whisky or tobacco during all
the years that I knew him.

(Signed) JOHN HAY.

The impartial reader will observe that this letter is undated
and tlie name of the person to whom it is supposed to have been
sent carefully omitted; and it covers only a small period of
Lincoln's life — about four or five years. The writer makes ref-
erence to only one kind of alcoholic beverage, viz., "whisky,"
although there were in Lincoln's time a score or more different
kinds in common daily use. This letter therefore is not straight-
forward or to the point. Probably it is not authentic, though
we do not actually say so, John Hay is now dead, and if he
lived he would certainly make a frank denial or no denial at
all. Even if this letter is admitted to be genuine it contains no
proof whatever that Lincoln "never tasted any kind of alcoholic
beverage." In fact, it may be considered evidence to the con-
trary; else why is the name of only one intoxicating beverage
mentioned? The natural inference is that Lincoln drank some
of "the other kinds" to his private secretary's knowledge. Upon
investigation we find that such is the case.

In November, 1890, Hay wrote an article in the Century
Magazine in which he makes the positive and most emphatic
declaration that Abraham Lincoln was not a total abstainer, but
occasionally drank a little wine. The following is a quotation
from the article:

"The pleasures of the table had few attractions for Lincoln,
field. A portion of the ledger leaf showing Lincoln's account,
he rarely took more than a biscuit and a glass of milk, a plate
of fruit in season; at dinner he ate sparinglv of one or two
courses. He drank LITTLE or no wine; NOT THAT HE
REMAINED ALWAYS ON PRINCIPLE A TOTAL AB-
STAINER, as he was during PART of his early life."

Every just minded reader must acknowledged that the above
duly authenticated sentence is good and substantial evidence that
Abraham Lincoln, when President of the United States, took a
drink of wine occasionally to the full knowledge of his then
private secretary.

Further proof that Lincoln drank has been found in the
long forgotten ledger of a drug firm doing business at Spring-
field. A portion of the ledger leaf showing Lincoln account
which we reproduce herewith.

Abraham Lincoln for many years had an account at the
drug store of Corneau & Diller, located on the east side of

the public square, in Springfield, 111. The junior member of
the firm, Mr. R. W. Diller, was one of the popular characters
of the day and the drug store was the social center for all the

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Fac Simile of the Leaf from the Ledger of Corneau & Diller,.
Druggists, of Springfield, 111.

local celebrities. It was at the Diller drug store that Abraham
Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas often met and exchanged
stories. Mr. Corneau retired from the firm and the business

I

was conducted by Mr. Diller until a comparatively recent date.
In 1905, the business having passed to the firm of Hoy & James,
there was discovered an old ledger containing the account of
Abraham Lincoln from 1849 to 1853, inclusive. The first entry
in Lincoln's account was made August 10, 1849. Up to 1853
the account does not specify the articles purchased, tiie charge
being entered simply as "merchandise." The page reproduced
is a part of the account of 1853 :

Mr. Whitney, who was one of Lincoln's lawyer-partners at
Springfield, 111., is the author of a book entitled, "Life on Circuit
tvith Lincoln." It was published in Boston in 1892, and may be
found in any public library. On page 157 the following para-
graph appears :

"Once I remember, several of us drove out to the residence
of Reason Hooten near Danville, 111., where we were treated to
SEVERAL VARIETIES of home-made wine. A mere sip of
each affected Lincoln, and he said, 'Fellers, I am getting drunk.'
That was the nearest approach to inebriety I ever saw in him."

The plain meaning of this paragraph is that Abraham Lin-
coln, when he was a lawyer did, once upon a time, indulge in
a glass of good liquor and actually became a "little elevated."
Mr. Whitney's evidence on this point is conclusive, and he knew
Lincoln personally and intimately for a long period.

It will be observed that Lincoln "sipped several varieties of
wine," a thing which of course no true total abstainer would
do; but then Lincoln was not a total abstainer.

Colonel Ward Hill Lamon was at one time Major Domo at the
White House and United States Marshal of the District of Co-
lumbia during the Lincoln administration. Before that he had
been intimately associated with Lincoln as his law partner and
bosom friend. Lincoln was in the habit of telling Colonel Lamon
about his early life, his struggles, trials, adventures and habits.

It was only natural, therefore, for Colonel Lamon to become
one of his friend's best biographers. In 1872 he pubHshed a
"Life of Abraham Lincoln" — a volume of over 600 pages. (Os-
good & Co., Boston.) Upon page 80 the following sentence may
be read:

"In those days Abe (then a young man), as usual, is de-
scri'bed as being funny, jokey, full of yarns, stories, rigs, as
being tall and green, frequently quoting poetry and reciting
prose-like orations. They had their own amusements. Abe
(who was the camp cook while boat building) extracted a good
deal of fun out of the cooking and TOOK HIS DRAM WHEN

8

ASKED TO, and played 'seven-up' at night, at which he made
a good game."

Does not this paragraph contain an emphatic declaration that
Lincoln "TOOK A DRAM?" A "dram" means a glass of
whisky, rum, gin, or brandy, which judging from his drug store
bill must have been his favorite tipple.

The same historian, on page 65 of the work referred to, de-
scribes a fight which Lincoln broke up. He says :

During the time Lincoln lived at Gentryville he seems to have
spent his spare time in writing very bad doggerel containing sar-
castic, ironic allusions to some of his neighbors ; this resulted in
a fist fight between one of the men who had been slandered and
John Johnston, who was Abraham Lincoln's step-brother.
Johnston appeared to be getting the worst of it, when Lincoln,
"bursting out of the crowd, seized Grigsby by the heels and flung
him off. Having righted John, and cleared the battle ground of
all opponents, 'he swung a whisky bottle over his head, and
swore that he was the 'big buck of the lick.' "

Herndon and Weik, on page 44, refer to this incident in the
following language: "There he stood, proud as Lucifer, and,
swinging a bottle of liquor over his head, swore he was 'the big
buck of the lick.' 'li anyone doubts it,' he shouted, 'he has only
to come on and whet his horns.' "

Isn't that a dainty dish to set before a prohibitionist?

Mr. Foster, a lawyer, of Peoria, 111., in an interview in the
Chicago Tribune declared he saw Lincoln drink whisky several
times in a law office in Bloomington, where Mr. Foster was a
law student in 1851. The law firm was Rogers & Leeming. Mr.
Leeming was afterwards a master in chancery in Chicago. He
died a few years ago.

"I saw Lincoln drink more than one time and more than
one day, and saw him drink whisky that had been given him by
my preceptor, Mr. Rogers.

"I don't believe Mr. Leeming ever saw Lincoln drink, for
Rogers and Lincoln were close together and generally came to
the office by themselves, had their quiet little drink, then sat
down and talked about the day's work for a long while.

"Lincoln would come up from his home on law business
when court was in session, and after a hard day's work he
would come over to our offi.ce with Mr. Rogers, who would get
the jug of whisky, pour out a generous drink for Mf. Lincoln
and one for himself, and then drink it right before me. I was
19 years old, and considered too young to drink, and so was

not asked. They generally had but the one drink, but on un-
usual occasions would take a second glass, smaller than the
first one.

"Abraham Lincoln was a temperate man, but he would take
a drink of whisky with a personal friend when he felt its need. I
have seen him drink whisky under such conditions. He did not
use tobacco."

C. H. Smith, 266 31st street, Chicago, who was sutler for
a Wisconsin regiment throughout the war, offers "circumstan-
tial evidence" that President Lincoln drank claret:

"Lincoln visited our regimental headquarters with Secretary
of Ward Seward. I had five cases of claret in my stores, and
this wine was used for entertainment of the party. I can't say
that Mr. Lincoln really drank any of the wine, but others who
were in the tent said he did. I only know that I never got back
any of the wine."

Further proof, if necessary, could be furnished, but even the
most skeptical must admit that Lincoln was a moderate drinker.
LINCOLN KEPT A SALOON.- .

In McClure's Magazine for February, 1896, page 220, ap-
pears the fac simile of the tavern license issued to Lincoln and
his partner March 6, 1853, which we produce herewith. Some
of the clerical prohibitionists have declared this to be a "fake,"
'but we give herewith a fac simile of the certificate from the
County Clerk of Sangamon County to the effect that it is abso-
lutely on record in his office.

The following is the form of the license and the bond that
was used in those day :

THE LICENSE GIVEN TO LINCOLN.

Ordered that William F. Berry, in the name of Berry and
Lincoln, have a license to keep a tavern in New Salem, to con-
tinue twelve months from this date, and that they pay one dollar
in addition to the six dollars heretofore paid as per Treasurer's
receipt, and that they be allowed the following rates, viz. :

Franch brandy, per half pint 25

Peach brandy, per half pint 18^

Apple brandy, per half pint 12

Holland gin, per half pint 18^4

Domestic gin, per half pint 123^2

Wine, per half pint 25

Rum, per half pint 18^

Whisky, per half pint 12^^

10

Fac Simile of Lincoln's Saloon License.

Pac Simile of Clerk's Certificate That the Above Is Genuine.

II

Breakfast, dinner or supper 25

Lodging, per night ; 12^

Horse, per night 25

Single feed I2>4

Breaklast, dinner or supper for stage passengers Z7y2

who gave bond as required by law.

COPY. OF BOND WHICH LINCOLN GAVE.

Know all men by these presents, we, William F. Berry,
Abraham Lincoln and John Bowling Green, are held and firmly
bound unto the County Commissioners of Sangamon County in
the full sum of three hundred dollars, to which payment well
and truly to be made we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and
administrators firmly by these presents sealed with our seal and
dated this 6th day of March, A. D. 1833. Now the condition
of this obligation is such that whereas the said Berry & Lincoln,
has obtained a license from the County Commissioners' Court
to keep a tavern in the Town of New Salem to continue one
year. Now if the said Berry & Lincoln shall be of good be-
havior and observe all the laws of this State relative to tavern,
kepers, then this obligation to be void or otherwise remain in
full force.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN (Seal),
WM. F. BERRY (Seal),
BOWLING GREEN (Seal).

"Lamon, a Lincoln historian, in his "Life of Lincoln," says
(page 137), 'Of course he (Lincoln) sold Hquor by the quan-
tity and probably by the drink, * * * some of it he gave
away; for no man could keep a store without setting out the
customary dram^ to the patrons of the place' — ^mostly farmers
and backwoodsmen.' On page 480, the same authority declares
that President Lincoln himself drank spirituous liquors in mod-
eration— nothing to his discredit — and, further, that 'he dis-
liked sumptuary laws (prohibition?) and would not prescribe
by statute what other men should eat or drink.' "

Miss Ida Tarbell in her most interesting article on Lincoln
in McClure's Magazine for February, 1896, says :

LINCOLN HAD A BARTENDER.

The license seems to have stimulated the business, for the

firm concluded to hire a clerk. The young man who secured

this position was Daniel Green Burner, son of Isaac Burner,

at whose house Lincoln for a time boarded. He is still living on

12

a farm near Galesburg. 111., and is in the eighty-second year
of his age (he has since died). "The store building of Berry
and Lincoln," says Mr. Burner, "was a frame building, not
very large, one story in height, and contained two rooms. In
the little back room Lincoln had a fireplace and a bed. There
is where he slept. I clerked in the store through the winter
of 1834, up to the 1st of March. While I was there they had
nothing for sale but liquors. They may have had some groceries
before that, but I am certain they had none then. I used to sell
whisky over their counter at six cents a glass — and charged it,
too."

N. A. Lamon, on page 137 of his "Life of Lincoln,"
says : "When Douglas, with that courtesy for which he dis-
tinguished himself in the debates with Lincoln, revived the
story that Lincoln kept a saloon, Lincoln replied, that there was
but little difference betiveeti them; for, zvhile he figured on one
side of the counter, Douglas Hgured on the other. It is cer-
tain liquors were a part of the stock of all the purchases of
Lincoln & Berry. Of course they sold them by the quantity,
and probably by the drink. Some of it they ^az'^ away, for no
man could keep store without setting out the customary dram
to the patrons of the place.''

The building in which this saloon was conducted is still in
existence, but of course in a very dilapidated condition, as will
be seen by the accompanying cut.

In connection with this we quote the following from the
"Qiampion's" report of the recent convention of the National
Liquor League:

"Mr. R. J. Halle, on behalf of the Illinois delegation, pre-
sented National President McDonough with a very handsome
gavel of historic origin. In making the presentation, Mr. Halle
said:

"Among the many statesmen that Illinois has sent to Wash-
ington none stands out more prominently in American history
than the immortal Lincoln. The Prohibitionists have recently
canonized and claimed him for their patron saint.
' The great emancipator who freed the black man never
uttered one word in favor of adding 'to the white man's burden'
the shackles of prohibition.

While Lincoln occasionally followed St. Paul's advice to
Timothy and took a little wine for his stomach's sake, yet he
strongly advocated temperance — temperance in all things, par-

13

ticularly in speech — and total abstinence for those who could not
resist temptation, but, never prohibition.

Records of the Illinois Legislature show that while a mem-
ber of the House of Representatives (1834-1842), Lincoln
voted against both prohibition and local option, against local
option on December 26, 1839, ^"d against prohibition, December
19, 1840.

Furthermore, in 1833, when Lincoln was in partnership with
one Berry, as owners of a general store at New Salem, now
known as Petersburg, liquor was sold, as was the custom in those

Jf^ <v^ jiS

The Building in Which Lincoln Kept a Saloon as It Stands To-Day
on the Property of Mr. John Hoffing at Petersburg, 111.

days. Lincoln, like a true American citizen, believed in 'Render-
ing unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's,' and the complying
with the law, and on the 6th day of March, 1833, the firm of
Berry & Lincoln applied for, and was granted a license to sell
liquor at their store.

A few weeks ago it was my privilege to visit Petersburg and
to hold a meeting in the identical building in which Lincoln sold
liquor, and at the request of Mr. Otto Lenz, Mr. John Hoffing,
the owner, gave me a portion of the logs of this historic building
from which this gavel has been made.

On behalf of the Illinois delegation, we present to you this
emblem of your authority, and in doing so, protest against the

14

Pharisees of to-day condemning men because they may be en-
gaged in a business that in their ignorance they wish to ter-
minate, but which is recognized by every civiHzed country in
the world, and consecrated by divinity itself.

We believe that every true American should be judged for
what he is, and not by the clothes he may wear, or the business
he may be engaged in. May this gavel be a solemn protest
again all such uncharitableness."

Lamon also claims that Lincoln worked in a distillery, for
in the last paragraph on page 114 of his book, appears the
following: "It is true that Lincoln did work the latter part of
one winter in a little still-house, up at the head of a hollow."

LINCOLN AS A LEGISLATOR VOTED AGAINST LOCAL
OPTION AND PROHIBITION.

Mr. Nicholas Michaels, Assistant State's Attorney of Chi-
cago, in his pamphlet, "The Rise and Fall of Prohibition in
Illinois," proves from the records of the Illinois Legislature that
while a member of the House of Representatives, Lincoln voted
against local option and against prohibition. Mr. Michaels says :
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND LOCAL OPTION. ■

As a member of the House of Representatives of the Illinois
General Assembly from 1834 to 1842, Abraham Lincoln took
an active part in the early efforts of the advocates of prohibi-
tion to foist upon the statute books of Illinois a law embodying
their views. As a law maker he was a consistent opponent of
local option and prohibition. But let the record speak for
itself.

The following is taken from Journal of the House, December
26, 1839:

Journal of the House of Representatives.

"Mr. Webb from the Committee on the Judiciary, to whom
was referred 'A bill for an act to repeal an act entitled, "An
act regulating tavern and grocery license, and for other pur-
poses ;" ' reported a substitute for the bill entitled 'A bill for
an act concerning groceries,' and recommended its passage.

Mr. Walker, of Vermillion, moved to amend the report by
adding to the end of the first section, the following proviso :

Provided, That if a majority of the qualified votes of the
incorporated towns, justices' district, or ward of any city in
which said grocery is to be licensed, shall remonstrate against
the granting of such license, the same shall not be granted;
which amendment was decided in the negative by yeas and

15

nays, upon the call of Messrs. Edwards and Pace as follows, viz :
Yeas, 39 ; nays, 39 ; Mr. Lincoln voted 'No.' "

We can readily understand what the leaders of the Anti-
Saloon League (had it existed in those days) would have said
about Lincoln for his vote against local option which, as in
1905, was defeated by one vote. Rev. P. A. Baker would cer-
tainly not have been celebrating the event by the erection of a
Lincoln Temperance Memorial Building, or seriously consider
the prospective change of name from the Anti-Saloon League
to the Lincoln League, owing to the discredit that has been
cast upon the Anti-Saloon League all over the country.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND PROHIBITION.

The following appears in the Journal of the House for De-
cember 19, 1840:

House Journal, December 19, 1840.

"Mr. Ormsbee from the select committee to which was re-
ferred the engrossed bill for 'An act to amend an act entitled
"An act to regulate tavern and grocery licenses," ' reported the
same back to the Plotise, with a substitute for the original bill,
which was read.

Mr, Murphy, of Cook, moved to strike out all after the en-
acting clause, and insert as follows :

'That after the passage of this act, no person shall be licensed
to sell vinous or spirituous liquors in this State, and that any
person who violates this act by selling such liquors shall be fined
in the sum of one thousand dollars, to be recovered before any
court having competent jurisdiction.'

Mr. Lincoln moved to lay the proposed amendment on the
table. Mr. Lincoln voted yea. The motion of Mr. Murphy was
defeated, by 75 yeas to 8 nays."

It will now be in order for Alonzo E. Wilson, chairman of
the Prohibition State Central Committee, to change the name of
the Lincoln Press to that of some real friend of prohibition.

Lincoln served but two terms in the State Legislature, and
from 1840 to 1846, he took no active part in public affairs. In
1846 he was elected to Congress from the Sangamon district,
but served for one term only, and from 1848 to 1854 he again
retired from public life and resumed the practice of the law,
and it was doubtless on this account that there is no record of
his taking part in the prohibition campaign of 1855, when the
Maine prohibition law was submitted to the people of Illinois and
ignominiously defeated by nearly 30,000 votes.

i6

It was Stephen T, Logan, a representative from Sangamon
County, who sponsored this bill in the House. So sure was he
of the appreciation of the people that on the strength of his
agitation and vote for the law he became a candidate for judge
of the Supreme Court, but he was snowed under at the same
election that enabled the people to show their antipathy for the
principle of legal prohibition. And in like manner history re-
peats itself in the defeat last fall of Judges Artman and Chris-
tian, of Indiana, who rendered the absurd decision that the
liquor business was illegal. During the campaign Lincoln's elo-
quent tongue was silent. The men who so flippantly claim him
as their own to-day, forget that Lincoln was an honest advo-
cate of true temperance, but not a prohibitionist.

However, three days alter the defeat of the prohibition law
and its sponsor, Judge Logan, Lincoln wrote to his old partner,
Mr. Whitney, the following letter, which clearly shows that he
had no sympathy with the prohibition movement:

Springfield, June 7, 1855.

My Dear Sir — Your note containing election news is re-
ceived; and for which I thank you. It is all of no use, how-
ever. Logan is worse beaten than any other man ever was since
elections were invented, beaten more than 1,200 in this county.

It is conceded on all hands that the prohibitory law is also
beaten. Yours trulv,

a' LINCOLN.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS A TEMPERANCE ORATOR.
From His Address Before the Springfield Washingtonian Tem-
perance Society, February 22, 1842.

See page 33, "Letters and Addresses of Abraham Lincoln,"
by Howard Wilford Bell.

Mr. Lincoln said : "The warfare heretofore waged against
the demon intemperance has somehow or other been erroneous.
Either the champions engaged or the tactics they adopted have
not been the most proper. These champions for the most part
have been preachers, lawyers and hired agents. Between these
and the mass of mankind there is a want of approachability, if
the term be admissible, partially, at least, fatal to their suc-
cess. They are supposed to have no sympathy of feeling or in-
terest with those very persons whom it is their object to con-
vince and persuade.

And again, it is so common and so easy to ascribe motives
to men of these classes other than those they profess to act
upon. The preacher, it is said, advocates temperance because

17

he is a fanatic, and desires a union of the church and State ; the
lawyer, from his pride and vanity of hearing himself speak; and
the hired agent for his salary.

Too much denunciation against dram-sellers and dram-
drinkers was indulged in. This I think was both impolitic and
unjust. It was impolitic, because it is not much in the nature
of man to be driven to anything; still less to be driven about
that which is exclusively his own business ; and least of all
where such driving is to be submitted to at the expense of pe-
cuniary interest or burning appetite. When the dram-seller and
drinker were incessantly told — not in accents of entreaty and
persuasion, diffidently addressed by erring man to an erring
brother, but in the thundering tones of anathema and denun-
ciation * * * that they were the authors of all the vice and
misery and crime in the land; that they were the manufacturers
and material of all the thieves and robbers and murderers that
infect the earth; and that their houses were the workshops of
the devil; and that their persons should be shunned by all the
good and virtuous, as rnoral pestilences — I say, when they were
told all this, and in this way, it is not wonderful that they were
slow, very slow, to acknowledge the truth of such denunciations,
and to join the ranks of their denouncers in a hue and cry against
themselves.

To have expected them to do otherwise than they did — to
have expected them not to meet denunciation with deunciations,
crimination with crimination, and anathema with anathema — was
to expect a reversal of human nature, which is God's decree and
can never be reversed.

When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, per-
suasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted.

On this point the Washingtonians greatly excel the temper-
ance advocates of former times. Those whom they desire to
convince and persuade are their old friends and companions.
They know they are not demons, nor even the worst of men;
they know that generally they are kind, generous, and charitable,
even beyond the example of their more staid and sober neigh-
bors.

But I have said that denunciations against dram sellers and
dram drinkers are unjust as well as impolitic. Let us see. I
have not inquired at what period of time the use of intoxicating
liquors commenced ; nor is it important to know. It is sufficient
that to all of us who now inhabit the world, the practice of drink-
ing them is just as old as the world itself — that is, we have seen

i8

the one just as long as we have seen the other. When all such
of us as have now reached the years of maturity first opened our
eyes upon the stage of existence, we found intoxicating liquor
recognized by everybody, used by everybody, repudiated by no-
body. It commonly entered into the first draught of the infant
and the last draught of the dying man. From the sideboard of
the parson down to the ragged pocket of the houseless loafer,
it was constantly found. Physicians prescribed it in this, that
and the other disease ; government provided it for soldiers and
sailors ; and to have a rolling or raising, a husking or 'hoedown'
anywhere without it was positively insufferable. So, too, it was
everywhere a respectable article of manufacture and merchandise.
The making of it was regarded as an honorable livelihood, and
he who could make most was the most enterprising and respecta-
ble. Large and small manufactories of it were everywhere erect-
ed, in which all the earthly goods of their owners were invested.
Wagons drew it from town to town ; boats bore it from clime to
clime ; and the winds wafted it from nation to nation ; and mer-
chants bought and sold it, by wholesale and retail, with precisely
the same feelings on the part of the seller, buyer and bystander
as are felt at the selling and buying of plows, beef, bacon or any
other of the real necessaries of life." Universal public opinion
not only tolerated, but recognized and adopted its use.

It is true that even then it was known and acknowledged that
many were greatly injured by it; but none seemed to think the
injury arose from the USE OF A BAD THING, BUT FROM
THE ABUSE OF A VERY GOOD THING.

In this same address Lincoln criticised the methods of the
arbitrary reformers. He said: "When the conduct of man is
designed to the influenced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persua-
sion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that
'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.' So
with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince
him that you are his sincere friend."

LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT.
The following anecdotes are told of Lincoln when President:
During the famous battle of Shiloh, President Lincoln was
extremely anxious to hear from the front. Late in the evening
he slipped out of the rear entrance of the White House and
found his way to the office of the Washington Post, and climbing
the dark stairs, led by the ticking of the telegraph instruments,
found his way to the operators' room. When the President
opened the door the operator was regaling himself by drinking

19

beer out of a can. Looking up and recognizing the gaunt form
of the President, the operator sheepishly sHpped the can under
his desk.

Lincoln said: "What have you there?" pointing to where
the can was hidden.

"Only some beer, Mr. President," said the abashed man.

"Let me look at it," said Lincoln, and being handed the half
emptied can, proceeded to drink the remainder of the beer, and
with a smack of his lips reached down in his pocket for a quar-
ter, called the office boy and instructed him to "go and get some
more."

Lincoln and the operator received reports from the battle-
ground, discussed the condition of affairs and drank beer out of
the can until after midnight.

LINCOLN REBUKED THE TEMPERANCE PEOPLE.

After the battle of Shiloh had been won a delegation of pro-
hibitionists called upon the President to protest against General
Grant remaining at the head of the army, as it was claimed that
he was intoxicated the morning of the battle.

"Well," said the President, "the charge is serious, and if I
knew the brand of whiskey Grant drinks I would send a barrel
of the same kind to every general in the field."

STRIKES A POPULAR CHORD.
(Page 58 — Lamon.)

"Abe was very fond of music, but was himself wholly un-
able to put three harmonious notes together. Religious songs
did not appear to suit him at all," says Dennis Hanks, "but of
profane ballads and amorous ditties he knew the words of a
vast number, among which the following was a prime favorite:
"Hail Columbia, happy land!
If you ain't drunk, then I'll be damned."
(In Herndon and Wiek's Life of Abraham Lincoln, page 56,
this song is also mentioned.)

However, it is said that Lincoln's favorite song was that most
beautiful song of friendship and wassail in any language:

THE DAYS OF o' LANG SYNE.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,'
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot.
An' days O' lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear.
For auld lang syne,

20

We'll take a cup O' kindness yet

For auld lang syne. :

We two have run about the hills,
And plucked the berries fine,
But we've wandered many a weary foot.
Since auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the creek
From morning sun till "dine"
But seas between us broad have roared,
Since auld lang syne.

Then here's a hand my trusty friend.

An' give me a hand O' thine,

An' we'll take a right good bumper cup,

For auld lang syne. -

And surely you'll fill your pint-stoup, ' (T

An' surely I'll fill mine,

And we'll drink a cup O' kindness yet.

For auld lang syne.

In conclusion, we believe that we have forever established
the fact even to the most ardent prohibitionist that Lincoln was
a man of the people, for the people and with the people on the
liquor question. Although it may .be impossible to prove con-
clusively that Lincoln used the exact words in the disputed sen-
tence, yet there is no reasonable person but will admit that the
preponderance of evidence is in favor of Lincoln being the real
author and there can be no dispute that Lincoln gave utterance
to the following denunciation of prohibition:

"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temper-
ance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes
beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a
man's appetite by legislation, and in making crimes out of things
that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very
principles on which our government was founded."

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