|
Prev
| Next
| Contents
LINCOLN'S FIRST SPEECH.
Lincoln made his first speech when he was a mere boy, going barefoot,
his trousers held up by one suspender, and his shock of hair sticking
through a hole in the crown of his cheap straw hat.
"Abe," in company with Dennis Hanks, attended a political meeting,
which was addressed by a typical stump speaker--one of those loud-voiced
fellows who shouted at the top of his voice and waved his arms wildly.
At the conclusion of the speech, which did not meet the views either
of "Abe" or Dennis, the latter declared that "Abe" could make a better
speech than that. Whereupon he got a dry-goods box and called on "Abe"
to reply to the campaign orator.
Lincoln threw his old straw hat on the ground, and, mounting the
dry-goods box, delivered a speech which held the attention of the crowd
and won him considerable applause. Even the campaign orator admitted
that it was a fine speech and answered every point in his own "oration."
Dennis Hanks, who thought "Abe" was about the greatest man that ever
lived, was delighted, and he often told how young "Abe" got the better
of the trained campaign speaker.
Prev
| Next
| Contents
Stories and Anecdotes About the Life of Abraham Lincoln
|