. Abraham Lincoln and the downfall of American slavery . inhis own State, said : He seemed to be about twenty foothigh ! At such times Lincoln no longer was the homelyand ungainly man that he was reputed to be. His eyesflashed fire ; his appearance underwent a change as thoughthe inspired mind had transformed the body; his face,darkened with malarial influences and seamed with thewrinkles of premature age, was transfigured with thatmysterious inner light which some observers have saidreminded them of a flame glowing within a half-transparentvase. To the end of his life Lincoln adhered to the o
. Abraham Lincoln and the downfall of American slavery . inhis own State, said : He seemed to be about twenty foothigh ! At such times Lincoln no longer was the homelyand ungainly man that he was reputed to be. His eyesflashed fire ; his appearance underwent a change as thoughthe inspired mind had transformed the body; his face,darkened with malarial influences and seamed with thewrinkles of premature age, was transfigured with thatmysterious inner light which some observers have saidreminded them of a flame glowing within a half-transparentvase. To the end of his life Lincoln adhered to the pronunciation of many familiar words. Withhim a chair was a cheer; legislature was legislatur,and so on. In presenting a close argument he wouldstoop over towards his auditors, lower and lower, until hehad got to the point where the demonstration was shothome upon those who had followed him. Then, with asudden jerk, he would straighten himself up, as somebodyhas said, like a jack-knife. Unconscious although thiswas, it was very CHAPTER X. A GREAT AWAKENING. Stupor Before Excitement — A Dead Sea of Politics — Repeal of theMissouri Compromise—The Migration to Kansas — Lincoln andDouglas Meet again—A Memorable Debate—Lincoln Withdrawsfrom the Canvass—Lyman Trumbull Elected to the Senate. IN 1850 it looked to the eyes of most men that humanslavery was forever fixed in this country. Congresshad passed a series of measures that were supposed tosettle every thing, but which satisfied neither the slaveStates nor the free States, although the friends ofhuman freedom were deeply discouraged by the enact-ment of the so-called compromise. Mr. W. H. Herndonrelates that as he and Lincoln were wayfaring togetherthat year Lincoln gloomily said: How hard, ah, howhard it is to die and leave ones country no better thanif one had never lived in it! The world is dead to hope,deaf to its own death-struggle, made known by a univer-sal cry. What is to be done ?
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectslaves, bookyear1894
