146 BIRDS AND POETS 
is. Indeed, it may be said of Mr. Lincoln’s entire 
course while at the head of the nation, that no 
President, since the first, ever in his public acts 
allowed the man so fully to appear, or showed so 
little disposition to retreat behind the featureless 
political mask which seems to adhere to the idea of 
gubernatorial dignity. 
It would hardly be fair to cite Everett’s speech 
on the same occasion as a specimen of the opposite 
style, wherein ornate scholarship and the pride of 
talents dominate. Yet a stern critic would be 
obliged to say that, as an author, Everett allowed, 
for the most part, only the expurgated, compliment- 
ing, drawing-room man to speak; and that, consider- 
ing the need of America to be kept virile and broad 
at all hazards, his contribution, both as man and 
writer, falls immeasurably short of that of Abraham 
Lincoln. — 
What a noble specimen of its kind, and how free 
from any verbal tricks or admixture of literary sauce, 
is Thoreau’s “Maine Woods”! And what a marked 
specimen of the opposite style is a certain other 
book I could mention in which these wild and grand 
scenes serve but as a medium to advertise the au- 
thor’s fund of classic lore! 
Can there be any doubt about the traits and out- 
ward signs of a noble character, and is not the style 
of an author the manners of his soul? 
Is there a lyceum lecturer in the country who is 
above manceuvring for the applause of his audience ? 
or a writer who is willing to make himself of no 
