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+--- Forum: Trivia Questions - all things Lincoln (/forum-8.html)
+--- Thread: Who Said This? (/thread-2480.html)
RE: Who Said This? - Eva Elisabeth - 02-11-2020 06:07 PM
Thanks, Gene! (I'm looking forward to your review!)
RE: Who Said This? - RJNorton - 12-09-2020 04:13 PM
No googling please.
Who said this?
"Lincoln had the tenderest heart for any one in distress, whether man, beast, or bird."
RE: Who Said This? - RobertLC - 12-09-2020 05:14 PM
Hi, Roger!
Was it Noah Brooks?
Bob
RE: Who Said This? - Eva Elisabeth - 12-09-2020 07:07 PM
John Hay?
RE: Who Said This? - Dennis Urban - 12-09-2020 07:23 PM
Walt Whitman
RE: Who Said This? - AussieMick - 12-09-2020 07:52 PM
Someone from Springfield years who was a friend / relative?
RE: Who Said This? - Gene C - 12-09-2020 08:33 PM
Herndon ?
RE: Who Said This? - AussieMick - 12-10-2020 02:53 AM
His stepmother Sarah?
RE: Who Said This? - RJNorton - 12-10-2020 04:48 AM
Bob, Eva, Dennis, Michael, and Gene: Your guesses are all excellent but not correct.
The closest guesses are Michael's first one and Gene's.
RE: Who Said This? - RobertLC - 12-10-2020 11:18 AM
Joshua Speed was a close friend of Lincoln. Was it Speed?
Bob
RE: Who Said This? - Susan Higginbotham - 12-10-2020 12:17 PM
John T. Stuart?
RE: Who Said This? - RJNorton - 12-10-2020 12:41 PM
Logical guess, Susan, but Bob got it. Kudos, Bob!
The quote comes from a lecture Speed delivered which was published in 1884.
Speed told the following story to explain why he included "bird" in his statement about Lincoln's tender heart:
"Six gentlemen, I being one, Lincoln, Baker, Hardin, and others were riding along a country road. We were strung along the road two and two together. We were passing through a thicket of wild plum and crab-apple trees. A violent windstorm had just occurred. Lincoln and Hardin were behind. There were two young birds by the roadside too young to fly…. The old bird was fluttering about and wailing as a mother ever does for her babes. Lincoln stopped, hitched his horse, caught the birds, hunted the nest and placed them in it. The rest of us rode on to a creek, and while our horses were drinking Hardin rode up. “Where is Lincoln?” said one. “Oh, when I saw him last he had two little birds in his hand hunting for their nest.” In perhaps an hour he came. They laughed at him. He said with much emphasis, “Gentlemen, you may laugh, but I could not have slept well tonight if I had not saved those birds. Their cries would have rung in my ears."
RE: Who Said This? - RobertLC - 12-10-2020 05:17 PM
Thanks, Roger!
I saw the response that mentioned Springfield and thought of Lincoln’s close friends there and in the early years and Speed came to mind.
Lucky guess!
By the way, neat story that you shared with us. I remember seeing it somewhere before, but it was a very long time ago. I had forgotten all about it. Getting old and forgetful, I guess. Thanks for sharing.
Bob
RE: Who Said This? - Gene C - 12-10-2020 05:30 PM
(12-10-2020 05:17 PM)RobertLC Wrote: Getting old and forgetful, I guess.
I prefer to look at it this way.
My mind just likes to take the scenic route when retrieving information. It takes a little longer, but the scenery is more fun.
RE: Who Said This? - RobertLC - 12-10-2020 07:23 PM
Thanks, Gene!
I like that perspective.
Bob