Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/817

 The proposition was made in jest, and in this spirit it was accepted. When Mrs. Able returned in the following spring, however, accompanied by her sister, Lincoln became alarmed. For a reason which must remain unexplained unless, in spite of his wit, one may credit Lincoln with a deficient sense of humour, he regarded his idle promise as serious and binding. His distress, moreover, was increased considerably by the fact that the Miss Owens, whom he had remembered as an attractive girl, pretty in features and pretty in manner, had grown into a stout, embittered woman. Marry her he felt he could not, but, on the other hand, he knew not how to avoid it ; his honour and reputation he felt to be at stake. It is an amazing story, and not the least surprising part about it is the denoument. Happily, it has been described by Lincoln himself, and the reader cannot fail to find comedy where he discovered only tragedy. " What could I do ? " he asked, in a letter to his friend Mrs. Browning. " I had told her sister that I would take her for better or for worse, and I made it a point of honour and conscience in all things to stick to my word, especially if others had been induced to act on it, which in this case I had no doubt they had ; for I was now fairly convinced that no other man on earth would have her, and hence the conclusion that they were bent on holding me to my bargain. . . . After I had delayed the matter as long as I thought I could in honour do ... I concluded I might as well bring it to a consummation without further delay, and so I mustered my resolution, and made the proposal to her direct ; but, shocking to relate, she answered ' No ! ' At first I supposed she did it through an affectation of modesty, which I thought but ill became her under the peculiar circum- stances of her case, but on my renewal of the charge I found that she repelled it with greater firmness than before. I tried it again and again, but with the same success, or rather, with the same want of success. I finally was forced to give it up, at which I very unexpectedly found myself mortified almost beyond endurance. . . . And, to cap the whole, I then for the first time began to suspect that I was really a little in love with her." Poor Lincoln ! His conceit and self- assurance knew no bounds, and it was they which, no doubt, helped to make him a great President. But a glaring fault can be found in the moral characters of most great men ; in the case of many instability of affection is that flaw, but in the case of Lincoln it was an utter inability to win affection. Already he had been deceived twice by love, but experience had taught him nothing ; he was victimised again almost immediately. At about this time he removed to Spring- field, in order that he might expand his legal practice. He borrowed a horse, and on this animal he placed himself and his personal effects — two saddle-bags, containing law 7S9 LOVK books and a few articles of clothing. On his arrival at Springfield he took a bedroom at the house of a cabinet-maker, and then repaired to a local shop and asked, " What the furniture for a single bedroom would cost ? " "I took slate and pencil," records Mr. Speed, the shopkeeper, " made a calculation, and found the sum for furniture complete would amount to seventeen dollars in all. Said he, ' It is probably cheap enough, but I want to say, cheap as it is, I have not the money to pay. But if you will credit me until Christmas, and my experience here as a lawyer is a success, I will pay you then. If I fail in that I will probably never pay you at all.' The tone in his voice was so melancholy that, I felt for him .... I never saw so gloomy and melancholy a face in my hfe. I said to him : '. . . I can suggest a plan by which you will be able to attain your end without incurring any debt. I have a very large room, and a very large double bed in it, which you are perfectly welcome to share with me if you choose.' ' Where is your room ? ' he asked. ' Upstairs,' said I. Without saying a word he took his saddle-bags on his arm, went upstairs and put them down on the floor, came back again, and, with a face beaming with pleasure and smiles, exclaimed, At Springfield Lincoln was in his element. Soon he was elected to the State Legislature, and became one of the leading personalities in the social and political hfe of the town. In the glare of a life of splendid activity the shadows of the past began to fade. At last he was almost happy, but suddenly a new and unexpected influence was brought to bear upon him. The effect of Miss Mary Todd's arrival at Springfield was quite sensational. She took the town by storm, and laid as captives at her feet all who were youthful and eligible. She was a fascinating girl, twenty-one years of age, and, in addition to b^ing beautiful, she was a brilliant conversa- tionalist and extremely witty. Moreover, if such a circumstance is possible or permissible in a republican country, she was of aristocratic birth ; in her veins there flowed the blood of a distinguished ancestry — illustrious soldiers and astute pohticians. Needless to say, among the first to fall a victim to her charms was Abraham Lincoln. Miss Todd, moreover, was not averse to his attentions ; she was ambitious, and in him she saw a man destined for a great career. Ironical fate, however, could not have found a woman less suited for the position of wife to the great Lincoln. Lincoln, the morose lawyer, and Mary Todd, the gay but clever social butterfly, were representatives of two directly antagon- istic types. Accordingly, the courtship ad- vanced but slowly. " Mary invariably led the conversation," declared her sister. " Mr. Lincoln would sit by and listen. He scarcely said a word, but gazed on her as if irresistibly
 * Well, Speed, I am moved ! ' "