BEFORE GENIUS 145 
beyond the merely conventional and scholastic, — 
little, I mean, in which one gets a whiff of the 
strong, unbreathed air of mountain or prairie, or a 
taste of rude, new power that is like the tonic of 
the sea. Thoreau occupies a niche by himself. 
Thoreau was not a great personality, yet his writ- 
ings have a strong characteristic flavor. He is anti- 
scorbutic, like leeks and onions. He has reference, 
also, to the highest truths. 
It is very likely true that our most native and 
original characters do not yet take to literature. It 
is, perhaps, too early in the day. Iron and lime 
have to pass through the vegetable before they can 
reach the higher organization of the animal, and 
maybe this Western nerve and heartiness will yet 
emerge on the intellectual plane. Let us hope that 
it will indeed be Western nerve and heartiness when 
it gets there, and not Eastern wit and epigram! 
In Abraham Lincoln we had a character of very 
marked and lofty type, the most suggestive study 
or sketch of the future American man that has yet 
appeared in our history. How broad, unconven- 
tional, and humane! How democratic! how adhe- 
sive! No fine arabesque carvings, but strong, un- 
hewn, native traits, and deep lines of care, toil, and 
human sympathy. Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech is 
one of the most genuine and characteristic utterances 
in our annals. It has the true antique simplicity 
and impressiveness. It came straight from the man, 
and is as sure an index of character as the living 
voice, or the physiognomy, or the personal presence 
