little natural curl and whether it had the black
gloss of his younger days, or the snowy white of old age, it was always
neat and orderly. In early life he was very proud of his hair, and
bestowed a great deal of care in its cultivation and arrangement. When
he became converted, Abe's hair underwent a marvellous change. The
beautiful locks which had been so much admired and preserved with such
care, were roughly taken off by the family scissors and thrown into the
fire, and while they frizzled into smoke, Abe felt he had done the
right thing in casting down every idol and putting away every mark of
pride. Many and many a time in after years would he say to his wife,
"Naa then, lass, where's th' shears? Thaa mun clip my locks agean.
Samson gat clipt by his wife, and he were worth nought after, but thy
shears mak's me strong." Then Sally would gently snip the ends of the
curling fringe all around, while Abe, by way of encouraging her, would
put in, "We mun shun th' appearance of evil, thaa knows; cut a bit
more, lass;" and then she would very reluctantly sever another lock or
two, until he could be persuaded enough was taken off.

Abe was in the latter part of his life particularly neat in his attire,
wearing an orthodox suit of black cloth, and cut in the Methodist
preacher style. He wasn't at all sparing in white neckcloth, for he
wore one that travelled around and around his neck in such profusion,
that it might have been intended as an extra security against the loss
of his head. Altogether he was quite the type of an old-fashioned
Methodist preacher. In the pulpit his appearance was exceedingly
prepossessing; he always had a smile on his face while talking, as if
he thoroughly enjoyed the good news he was telling to others. In
beginning to speak, or when about to say something which he thought
particularly good, he had a way of holding his head a little over on
one side, and clapping his hands together. These movements,
accompanied with an occasional shrug of his shoulders, were among the
general signs that the "Little Bishop" was having a good time, and when
Abe was happy in his work, everyone that heard him had a liberal share
of enjoyment and profit as well. But of course, like other men, he
sometimes felt the misery of preaching in what he quaintly and
appropriately called

"THE TIGHT JACKET."

Taking into account the want of education from which he suffered, the
disadvantages he was at in prepar