Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

<i>A. Lincoln: Prairie Lawyer</i> (review)

1960; Kent State University Press; Volume: 6; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/cwh.1960.0064

1533-6271

Arnold Gates,

American Environmental and Regional History

328civil war history looking set of men." He particularly liked a Texas surgeon who accompanied him in a convoy of rebel prisoners from Camp Douglas, 111., to City Point, Va., for exchange. North Carolina troops and natives, however, catch his sharpest criticism: They were too cowardly to fight for their principles, and he had learned "to thoroughly despise them, while for the Virginia Rebels, [he had] the respect their bravery and fortitude demands" (pp. 169-170). In later years Ripley wrote brief accounts of several of the actions in which he participated. At appropriate places among the letters, the editor inserts extracts from these accounts. Included are "The Tragedy of Harpers Ferry," "The Battle of Fort Harrison," and "Final Scenes." This last account , "Final Scenes," a paper presented before the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of New York, is the story of Ripley's capture and occupation of Richmond. In able style the paper casts new light on what was indeed a "highly dramatic historical event." Confronted with rumor of a plot by Confederate agents to kill the President, Ripley personally warned Mr. Lincoln on his visit to Richmond. Although Lincoln heard him out, he shook off the danger, Ripley recalled, with the statement: "I deeply appreciate the feeling which has led you to urge [precautions] on me, but I must go on as I have begun in the course marked out for me, for I cannot bring myself to believe that any human being lives who would do me any harm" (pp. 307-308). James L. Nichols Stephen F. Austin State College A. Lincoln: Prairie Lawyer. By John J. Duff. (New York: Rinehart, 1960. Pp. vin, 433. $7.50.) this is the whole story of Abraham Lincoln and the law. In the telling John Duff starts back in the formative days in New Salem and follows the man throughout his midwest years. What unfolds is a study of singular worth and one that will unquestionably hold an important place among the classic volumes dealing with the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. With his very first words the author opens his account of the man and his profession with an image of forceful clarity: "On a March day in 1837 there fatefully stood before the Clerk of the Illinois Supreme Court a tall, melancholy man of twenty-eight who, with right hand upraised, swore to 'in all things faithfully execute the duties of Attorney and Counsellor at Law.' " Ahead were years of labor and diligence. In Mr. Duff's own excellent words Lincoln, "through his wit, wisdom and understanding of humankind, rather than through any extensive knowledge of abstract legal principles, was to rise to a position of primacy at the Illinois bar." In the readable chapters that follow there unfolds the story of Lawyer Lincoln, the cases he handled, the patience he displayed, and the circumstances he endured traveling the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Following him on his rounds, watching him meet with fellow lawyers and with the BooJfc Reviews329 people in and out of trouble, one can understand why the man was destined to be great. In another accounting of the man an able observer noted that if once one chanced to meet Abraham Lincoln on a crowded street he was sure to notice him. That certainly must have been true of Lincoln arriving at some county seat town and mingling with the people there. There was a "difference" about Abe that people noticed long before he took to the law. Mr. Duff marks these differences in the courtroom. There was Lincoln's kindly disposition to all lawyers, even those he opposed in a case, his reasonable fees—sometimes too reasonable in the view of his brother lawyers —and his sense of humanity that was reflected in countless instances. A Lincoln student of some endurance gradually recognizes a certain sameness to the "new" books dealing with his life. In too many instances some of the latest books have been nothing more than a compilation of a dozen or more earlier writings. It is with particular joy then that Lincoln students can turn to this definitive study of Lawyer Lincoln. While a number of other books have handled...