Page:Life and Works of Abraham Lincoln, v1.djvu/76

46 absent-mindedness, and self-introspection which constituted so marked and prominent a feature in his character in his later days. Whereas he presented no appearance of gravity or decorum theretofore, he suddenly awoke to a deep sense of responsibility; and gravity of manner usurped the former characteristics of frivolity and mental vacuity.

Mr. Lincoln was a versatile genius, whether as man or boy. His mind was constantly on the go; he hopped about from one thing to another, never adhering to one thing long. He wrote doggerel poetry of no merit whatever; it was sometimes didactic, occasionally philosophical, but generally satirical. A single day's labor was a composite of story-telling, studying all the primitive studies then known to his locale, writing Chronicles (as he called them) in derision of some one who exhibited ludicrous phases of character, doing chores from choice and more robust work from compulsion, with occasional lapses into earnest and sombre reflection.

Gentryville was a little world by itself. No circus or lecturer ever came within its borders. Its inhabitants lived within themselves, and entertained each other the best they could in a social style, and while Lincoln was in great demand as an entertainer and otherwise, he yet had to endure rebuffs which he took as seriously to heart as if he had been fashioned in an ordinary mould of humanity. A noted instance of the truth of the Scriptural adage that "the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the headstone of the corner," appeared in the great double wedding of two sons of Reuben Grigsby, which important occurrence was closed by a