grandest man in the procession." The impression made by Mr. Lincoln's height upon the brilliant young journalist when he first met him is revealed as follows by Mr. James R. Gilmore of the New York Tribune: "Mr. Lincoln was exceedingly tall, and so gaunt that he seemed even above his actual height of six feet four inches; but he was not, as very tall men often are, ungainly in either manner or attitude. He had an air of unstudied ease, a kind of careless dignity that well became his station."

Mr. Thomas D. Jones, a Cincinnati sculptor, went to Springfield in December, 1860, to make a bust of the newly elected President, and in 1871 published in the Cincinnati Commercial an account of his first view of Lincoln at that time, which Nicolay copied in an article in the before-cited Century Magazine, as follows: "He was surrounded by his nearest and dearest friends, his face illuminated, or in common parlance, lighted up. He was physically an athlete of the first order. He could lift with ease a thousand pounds, five hundred in each hand. In height six feet four inches, and weighed one hundred and seventy-six pounds. He was a spare, bony and muscular man, which gave him that great and untiring tenacity of endurance during his laborious administration.”

In the same article Mr. Jones quotes Mr. Lincoln, who was usually so disinclined to speak of himself, as saying: "All I had to do was to extend one hand to a man's shoulder, and with weight of body and strength of arms give him a trip that generally sent him sprawling on the ground, which would so astonish him as to give him a quietus."

The sculptor adds, "Well might he send them sprawling, his arms were very long and powerful and his great strength and height were calculated to make him a peerless antagonist.”

Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, although he had been for four years intimately associated with President Lincoln, as a member of his Cabinet, states in his diary that he had no realization of his great strength until he saw his bare arms as he lay upon his dying bed.

LINCOLN IN 1861

From a painting by J. L. G. Ferris, designed to represent the raising of

the flag on Independence Hall, Philadelphia, by Abraham Lincoln on the morning of February 22, 1861. By courtesy of the artist and Gerlach-Barklow Co.

A writer in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin of November 14th, 1860, says: "The beholder felt that here was a strong man, a person of character and power.'

Nicolay reproduces this statement of the Bulletin in his magazine article before cited and in referring to Mr. Lincoln's great height declares that "it was a stature which of itself would be hailed in any assembly as one of the outward signs of leadership."

In prosecuting the critical and prolonged investigations by which he was preparing for the production of his famous Lincoln statue which Mr. Charles P. Taft and wife recently presented to Cincinnati, George Gray Bernard reached the conclusion that Lincoln "was probably the most powerful physical being known to the frontier life." This opinion of the distinguished sculptor is corroborated by many declarations of men who were closely associated with Lincoln in Illinois and it explains his own statements before cited respecting his methods and success in vanquishing those who ventured to engage with him in physical encounters.

His great physical strength and agility were silent but potential influences combining with his heroic measurements to produce such profound impressions upon all who met him. It was not necessary that those who were in his presence should know of his great physical powers in order to feel the power of his personality. Horace Greeley, while criticising his administration, refused to hold a conference with him because he never could oppose or disagree with him when in his presence. Back of his imposing physical proportions, his marvelous eyes, his manifest sincerity and the pleasing tones of his voice in conversation, was the power-house of his great strength, making all else effective.

Col. A. K. McClure, of Philadelphia, one of the ablest and most influential political leaders of those times, states that when he "first met Lincoln at his home in Springfield, soon after his election as President in 1860, his heart sank within him, as he remembered that this was the man chosen by a

great nation to become its ruler in the gravest period of its history." But he adds, "Before half an hour had passed I learned not only to respect but indeed to reverence the man.'

Mr. Lincoln had invited Colonel McClure to visit him for consultation, and had himself answered the doorbell and received him when he arrived at seven o'clock in the evening; but in his attire he made not the least preparation for the coming of his distinguished caller.

Just previous to Colonel McClure's visit Mr. Lincoln had invited General Simon Cameron to become a member of his Cabinet. This was very objectionable to Colonel McClure, and during the interview Mr. Lincoln made no concessions to the Colonel concerning the matter. Yet, with this serious disadvantage, together with the unfavorable first impression before mentioned, Mr. Lincoln, during that evening interview, won the confidence, esteem and love of Colonel McClure to such a degree that he remained one of his most devoted friends and supporters until the day of his death.

Judge Whitney, who for years was closely associated with Lincoln in his law practice in Illinois, and who never failed to give him the full measure of his loyal and earnest support, tells of his first impressions of Lincoln, as follows: "While court was in session Lincoln came straggling carelessly in. His face divested of his usual melancholy garb, and apparently in a humor to take life easy and gaily for the present moment. I noticed his intellectual countenance and especially his eyes, so clearly indicative of deep reflection, at the first glance. I mentally pronounced him to be a great man at once. I never saw any man who impressed me so highly, at first sight, as Abraham Lincoln."

Of his silent, involuntary influence upon those with whom he mingled, Francis Grierson says: "Lincoln's presence infused into the mixed and uncertain throng something spiritual and supernormal. His looks, his words, his voice, his attitude, were like a magical essence dropped into the seething cauldron 3 Life on the Circuit with Lincoln, p. 30.