An "out-of-character" moment for Lincoln?

[RJNorton]

(05-12-2014 11:49 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  I do not understand why this story of Lincoln rescuing a pig mired in mud, that would have died without Lincoln's assistance, is placed under the caption heading of "An 'out-of-character' moment for Lincoln." I believe that such stories of empathy for the plight of animals is "in character" for Lincoln. I will forego the repetition of the "kittens in the telegraph office" story which took place at City Point near the end of the Civil War, although it is another story illustrative of Lincoln's kindness to animals in distress.

I wish to add two more stories on the subject from one of my favorite Lincoln books -- "Lincoln Talks, a Biography in Anecdote" by Emanuel Hertz. One story is directly on point; the second story has a tangential "animal kindness" reference.

1) We had passed through a thicket of wild plum and crab trees, and stopped to water our horses, when Hardin came up alone. "Where is Lincoln?" we all inquired. "Oh," replied he, "when I saw him last he had caught two young birds which the wind had blown out of their nest, and he has been hunting for the nest so as to put them back." In a short time Lincoln came up, having found the nest. The party laughed at him but he said: "I could not have slept if I had not restored those little birds to their mother." -- Joshua F. Speed (page 95)

2) Some of Mr. Lincoln's intimate friends once called his attention to a certain member of his Cabinet who was quietly working to secure a nomination for the Presidencey, although knowing that Mr. Lincoln was to be a candidate for re-election. His friends insisted that the Cabinet officer ought to be made to give up his Presidential aspirations or be removed from office. The situation reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story.

"My brother and I," he said, "were once plowing corn, I driving the horse and he holding the plow. The horse was lazy, but on one occasion he rushed across the field so that I, with my long legs, could scarcely keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the furrow, I found an enormous chin-fly fastened upon him, and knocked him off. My brother asked me what I did that for. I told him I didn't want the old horse bitten in that way. 'Why,' said my brother, 'that's all that made him go."

"Now," said Mr. Lincoln, "if Mr. -- has a Presidential chin-fly biting him, I'm not going to knock him off, if it will only make his department go."
-- Henry J. Raymond (page 226)

Hi David. I actually think we have quite a few threads in which a certain opinion/topic is stated, and as the discussion goes along, other folks give examples in which the original opinion/topic is disputed/debated. If someone takes a stand in opposition to the main thesis of a thread then that opinion will also be respected as well as discussed/supported/disputed. As long as everyone is polite I think this is a pretty normal thing on a forum where a huge variety of topics are discussed.