Reminiscences about Abraham Lincoln . tokeep us back from the Presidentialparty, and we stuck close by until wereached the platform. I was smallerthan most of the others and wriggledmy way up to the edge of the standwhere I could look up into the faces ofthe speakers and might have touchedthem with my hand. Heard Everett Edward Everett was the chieforator of the occasion, and I recall h6wwell he was received by the audience ofsome or It looked likethere were 100,000 there, and they ap-plauded enthusiastically as Mr. Everettspoke. He talked for an hour and ahalf, but fo
Reminiscences about Abraham Lincoln . tokeep us back from the Presidentialparty, and we stuck close by until wereached the platform. I was smallerthan most of the others and wriggledmy way up to the edge of the standwhere I could look up into the faces ofthe speakers and might have touchedthem with my hand. Heard Everett Edward Everett was the chieforator of the occasion, and I recall h6wwell he was received by the audience ofsome or It looked likethere were 100,000 there, and they ap-plauded enthusiastically as Mr. Everettspoke. He talked for an hour and ahalf, but for all his splendid oratory Ido not recall a single word the Massa-chusetts statesman uttered. Then Mr. Lincoln arose. I thoughthe was the homeliest man I ever hadseen, and his legs, which almost reachedto the ground as he rode on horsebackfrom his hotel, now looked even longeras I gazed up at him. Voice Wa» Beautiful. He strode to the front of the plat-form and slowly raised his hand to, stillthe plaudits of the crowd. Silence came. immediately, and the President, in avoice that seemed somewhat raspy,began that famous introduction:• Four score and seven years agoHe had not spoken a dozen wordsuntil I thought his voice was beautifuland that the man himself was magnifi-cent and handsome. Like all the otherthousands, I listened with rapt atten-tion as he went through the discoursewhich was so wonderful and so though I was, I was impresseddeeply by the address, probably becauseof its marked simplicity, and I wentaway repeating some of the most strik-ing sentences. Little Applause the President finished and re-turned to his seat, the silence that hehad invited continued. As I rememberit, there was almost no applause, andthe crowd seemed to be under somekind of a spell. The President, I wastold, was somewhat disappointed withthis reception, feeling that he had notmade the impression that he had hopedfor. I shall never forget that stands out promine
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