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+Project Gutenberg’s Lincoln’s Yarns and Stories, by Alexander K. McClure
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Lincoln’s Yarns and Stories
+
+Author: Alexander K. McClure
+
+Release Date: February, 2001
+Posting Date: December 23, 2008 [EBook #2517]
+Last Updated: November 13, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LINCOLN’S YARNS AND STORIES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Dianne Bean
+
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S YARNS AND STORIES
+
+A Complete Collection of the Funny and Witty Anecdotes that made Abraham
+Lincoln Famous as America’s Greatest Story Teller
+
+With Introduction and Anecdotes
+
+By Alexander K. McClure
+
+Profusely Illustrated
+
+THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY
+
+CHICAGO & PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the Great Story Telling President, whose Emancipation
+Proclamation freed more than four million slaves, was a keen politician,
+profound statesman, shrewd diplomatist, a thorough judge of men and
+possessed of an intuitive knowledge of affairs. He was the first Chief
+Executive to die at the hands of an assassin. Without school education
+he rose to power by sheer merit and will-power. Born in a Kentucky
+log cabin in 1809, his surroundings being squalid, his chances for
+advancement were apparently hopeless. President Lincoln died April 15th,
+1865, having been shot by J. Wilkes Booth the night before.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+Dean Swift said that the man who makes two blades of grass grow where
+one grew before serves well of his kind. Considering how much grass
+there is in the world and comparatively how little fun, we think that a
+still more deserving person is the man who makes many laughs grow where
+none grew before.
+
+Sometimes it happens that the biggest crop of laugh is produced by a man
+who ranks among the greatest and wisest. Such a man was Abraham Lincoln
+whose wholesome fun mixed with true philosophy made thousands laugh and
+think at the same time. He was a firm believer in the saying, “Laugh and
+the world laughs with you.”
+
+Whenever Abraham Lincoln wanted to make a strong point he usually began
+by saying, “Now, that reminds me of a story.” And when he had told a
+story every one saw the point and was put into a good humor.
+
+The ancients had Aesop and his fables. The moderns had Abraham Lincoln
+and his stories.
+
+Aesop’s Fables have been printed in book form in almost every language
+and millions have read them with pleasure and profit. Lincoln’s stories
+were scattered in the recollections of thousands of people in various
+parts of the country. The historians who wrote histories of Lincoln’s
+life remembered only a few of them, but the most of Lincoln’s stories
+and the best of them remained unwritten. More than five years ago the
+author of this book conceived the idea of collecting all the yarns and
+stories, the droll sayings, and witty and humorous anecdotes of Abraham
+Lincoln into one large book, and this volume is the result of that idea.
+
+Before Lincoln was ever heard of as a lawyer or politician, he was
+famous as a story teller. As a politician, he always had a story to fit
+the other side; as a lawyer, he won many cases by telling the jury a
+story which showed them the justice of his side better than any argument
+could have done.
+
+While nearly all of Lincoln’s stories have a humorous side, they also
+contain a moral, which every good story should have.
+
+They contain lessons that could be taught so well in no other way. Every
+one of them is a sermon. Lincoln, like the Man of Galilee, spoke to the
+people in parables.
+
+Nothing that can be written about Lincoln can show his character in such
+a true light as the yarns and stories he was so fond of telling, and at
+which he would laugh as heartily as anyone.
+
+For a man whose life was so full of great responsibilities, Lincoln had
+many hours of laughter when the humorous, fun-loving side of his great
+nature asserted itself.
+
+Every person to keep healthy ought to have one good hearty laugh every
+day. Lincoln did, and the author hopes that the stories at which he
+laughed will continue to furnish laughter to all who appreciate good
+humor, with a moral point and spiced with that true philosophy bred in
+those who live close to nature and to the people around them.
+
+In producing this new Lincoln book, the publishers have followed an
+entirely new and novel method of illustrating it. The old shop-worn
+pictures that are to be seen in every “History of Lincoln,” and in
+every other book written about him, such as “A Flatboat on the Sangamon
+River,” “State Capitol at Springfield,” “Old Log Cabin,” etc., have all
+been left out and in place of them the best special artists that could
+be employed have supplied original drawings illustrating the “point” of
+Lincoln’s stories.
+
+These illustrations are not copies of other pictures, but are original
+drawings made from the author’s original text expressly for this book.
+
+In these high-class outline pictures the artists have caught the true
+spirit of Lincoln’s humor, and while showing the laughable side of
+many incidents in his career, they are true to life in the scenes and
+characters they portray.
+
+In addition to these new and original pictures, the book contains many
+rare and valuable photograph portraits, together with biographies, of
+the famous men of Lincoln’s day, whose lives formed a part of his own
+life history.
+
+No Lincoln book heretofore published has ever been so profusely, so
+artistically and expensively illustrated.
+
+The parables, yarns, stories, anecdotes and sayings of the “Immortal
+Abe” deserve a place beside Aesop’s Fables, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
+and all other books that have added to the happiness and wisdom of
+mankind.
+
+Lincoln’s stories are like Lincoln himself. The more we know of them the
+better we like them.
+
+BY COLONEL ALEXANDER K. McCLURE.
+
+
+
+While Lincoln would have been great among the greatest of the land as a
+statesman and politician if like Washington, Jefferson and Jackson,
+he had never told a humorous story, his sense of humor was the most
+fascinating feature of his personal qualities.
+
+He was the most exquisite humorist I have ever known in my life. His
+humor was always spontaneous, and that gave it a zest and elegance that
+the professional humorist never attains.
+
+As a rule, the men who have become conspicuous in the country as
+humorists have excelled in nothing else. S. S. Cox, Proctor Knott, John
+P. Hale and others were humorists in Congress. When they arose to speak
+if they failed to be humorous they utterly failed, and they rarely
+strove to be anything but humorous. Such men often fail, for the
+professional humorist, however gifted, cannot always be at his best, and
+when not at his best he is grievously disappointing.
+
+I remember Corwin, of Ohio, who was a great statesman as well as a great
+humorist, but whose humor predominated in his public speeches in Senate
+and House, warning a number of the younger Senators and Representatives
+on a social occasion when he had returned to Congress in his old age,
+against seeking to acquire the reputation of humorists. He said it
+was the mistake of his life. He loved it as did his hearers, but the
+temptation to be humorous was always uppermost, and while his speech on
+the Mexican War was the greatest ever delivered in the Senate, excepting
+Webster’s reply to Hayne, he regretted that he was more known as a
+humorist than as a statesman.
+
+His first great achievement in the House was delivered in 1840 in reply
+to General Crary, of Michigan, who had attacked General Harrison’s
+military career. Corwin’s reply in defense of Harrison is universally
+accepted as the most brilliant combination of humor and invective ever
+delivered in that body. The venerable John Quincy Adams a day or two
+after Corwin’s speech, referred to Crary as “the late General Crary,”
+ and the justice of the remark from the “Old Man Eloquent” was accepted
+by all. Mr. Lincoln differed from the celebrated humorists of the
+country in the important fact that his humor was unstudied. He was
+not in any sense a professional humorist, but I have never in all
+my intercourse with public men, known one who was so apt in humorous
+illustration us Mr. Lincoln, and I have known him many times to silence
+controversy by a humorous story with pointed application to the issue.
+
+His face was the saddest in repose that I have ever seen among
+accomplished and intellectual men, and his sympathies for the people,
+for the untold thousands who were suffering bereavement from the war,
+often made him speak with his heart upon his sleeve, about the sorrows
+which shadowed the homes of the land and for which his heart was freely
+bleeding.
+
+I have many times seen him discussing in the most serious and heartfelt
+manner the sorrows and bereavements of the country, and when it would
+seem as though the tension was so strained that the brittle cord of life
+must break, his face would suddenly brighten like the sun escaping from
+behind the cloud to throw its effulgence upon the earth, and he would
+tell an appropriate story, and much as his stories were enjoyed by his
+hearers none enjoyed them more than Mr. Lincoln himself.
+
+I have often known him within the space of a few minutes to be
+transformed from the saddest face I have ever looked upon to one of the
+brightest and most mirthful. It was well known that he had his great
+fountain of humor as a safety valve; as an escape and entire relief from
+the fearful exactions his endless duties put upon him. In the gravest
+consultations of the cabinet where he was usually a listener rather
+than a speaker, he would often end dispute by telling a story and none
+misunderstood it; and often when he was pressed to give expression on
+particular subjects, and his always abundant caution was baffled, he
+many times ended the interview by a story that needed no elaboration.
+
+I recall an interview with Mr. Lincoln at the White House in the
+spring of 1865, just before Lee retreated from Petersburg. It was well
+understood that the military power of the Confederacy was broken, and
+that the question of reconstruction would soon be upon us.
+
+Colonel Forney and I had called upon the President simply to pay our
+respects, and while pleasantly chatting with him General Benjamin F.
+Butler entered. Forney was a great enthusiast, and had intense hatred of
+the Southern leaders who had hindered his advancement when Buchanan
+was elected President, and he was bubbling over with resentment against
+them. He introduced the subject to the President of the treatment to
+be awarded to the leaders of the rebellion when its powers should be
+confessedly broken, and he was earnest in demanding that Davis and other
+conspicuous leaders of the Confederacy should be tried, condemned and
+executed as traitors.
+
+General Butler joined Colonel Forney in demanding that treason must
+be made odious by the execution of those who had wantonly plunged the
+country into civil war. Lincoln heard them patiently, as he usually
+heard all, and none could tell, however carefully they scanned his
+countenance what impression the appeal made upon him.
+
+I said to General Butler that, as a lawyer pre-eminent in his
+profession, he must know that the leaders of a government that had
+beleaguered our capital for four years, and was openly recognized as
+a belligerent power not only by our government but by all the leading
+governments of the world, could not be held to answer to the law for the
+crime of treason.
+
+Butler was vehement in declaring that the rebellious leaders must be
+tried and executed. Lincoln listened to the discussion for half an hour
+or more and finally ended it by telling the story of a common drunkard
+out in Illinois who had been induced by his friends time and again to
+join the temperance society, but had always broken away. He was finally
+gathered up again and given notice that if he violated his pledge once
+more they would abandon him as an utterly hopeless vagrant. He made
+an earnest struggle to maintain his promise, and finally he called for
+lemonade and said to the man who was preparing it: “Couldn’t you put
+just a drop of the cratur in unbeknownst to me?”
+
+After telling the story Lincoln simply added: “If these men could
+get away from the country unbeknownst to us, it might save a world of
+trouble.” All understood precisely what Lincoln meant, although he
+had given expression in the most cautious manner possible and the
+controversy was ended.
+
+Lincoln differed from professional humorists in the fact that he
+never knew when he was going to be humorous. It bubbled up on the most
+unexpected occasions, and often unsettled the most carefully studied
+arguments. I have many times been with him when he gave no sign of
+humor, and those who saw him under such conditions would naturally
+suppose that he was incapable of a humorous expression. At other times
+he would effervesce with humor and always of the most exquisite and
+impressive nature. His humor was never strained; his stories never
+stale, and even if old, the application he made of them gave them the
+freshness of originality.
+
+I recall sitting beside him in the White House one day when a message
+was brought to him telling of the capture of several brigadier-generals
+and a number of horses somewhere out in Virginia. He read the dispatch
+and then in an apparently soliloquizing mood, said: “Sorry for the
+horses; I can make brigadier-generals.”
+
+There are many who believe that Mr. Lincoln loved to tell obscene or
+profane stories, but they do great injustice to one of the purest and
+best men I have ever known. His humor must be judged by the environment
+that aided in its creation.
+
+As a prominent lawyer who traveled the circuit in Illinois, he was much
+in the company of his fellow lawyers, who spent their evenings in the
+rude taverns of what was then almost frontier life. The Western people
+thus thrown together with but limited sources of culture and enjoyment,
+logically cultivated the story teller, and Lincoln proved to be the most
+accomplished in that line of all the members of the Illinois bar. They
+had no private rooms for study, and the evenings were always spent in
+the common barroom of the tavern, where Western wit, often vulgar or
+profane, was freely indulged in, and the best of them at times told
+stories which were somewhat “broad;” but even while thus indulging
+in humor that would grate harshly upon severely refined hearers, they
+despised the vulgarian; none despised vulgarity more than Lincoln.
+
+I have heard him tell at one time or another almost or quite all of the
+stories he told during his Presidential term, and there were very few of
+them which might not have been repeated in a parlor and none descended
+to obscene, vulgar or profane expressions. I have never known a man of
+purer instincts than Abraham Lincoln, and his appreciation of all that
+was beautiful and good was of the highest order.
+
+It was fortunate for Mr. Lincoln that he frequently sought relief from
+the fearfully oppressive duties which bore so heavily upon him. He had
+immediately about him a circle of men with whom he could be “at home” in
+the White House any evening as he was with his old time friends on the
+Illinois circuit.
+
+David Davis was one upon whom he most relied as an adviser, and Leonard
+Swett was probably one of his closest friends, while Ward Lamon, whom
+he made Marshal of the District of Columbia to have him by his side,
+was one with whom he felt entirely “at home.” Davis was of a more
+sober order but loved Lincoln’s humor, although utterly incapable of a
+humorous expression himself. Swett was ready with Lincoln to give and
+take in storyland, as was Lamon, and either of them, and sometimes all
+of them, often dropped in upon Lincoln and gave him an hour’s diversion
+from his exacting cares. They knew that he needed it and they sought him
+for the purpose of diverting him from what they feared was an excessive
+strain.
+
+His devotion to Lamon was beautiful. I well remember at Harrisburg
+on the night of February 22, 1861, when at a dinner given by Governor
+Curtin to Mr. Lincoln, then on his way to Washington, we decided,
+against the protest of Lincoln, that he must change his route to
+Washington and make the memorable midnight journey to the capital. It
+was thought to be best that but one man should accompany him, and he
+was asked to choose. There were present of his suite Colonel Sumner,
+afterwards one of the heroic generals of the war, Norman B. Judd, who
+was chairman of the Republican State Committee of Illinois, Colonel
+Lamon and others, and he promptly chose Colonel Lamon, who alone
+accompanied him on his journey from Harrisburg to Philadelphia and
+thence to Washington.
+
+Before leaving the room Governor Curtin asked Colonel Lamon whether he
+was armed, and he answered by exhibiting a brace of fine pistols, a
+huge bowie knife, a black jack, and a pair of brass knuckles. Curtin
+answered: “You’ll do,” and they were started on their journey after all
+the telegraph wires had been cut. We awaited through what seemed almost
+an endless night, until the east was purpled with the coming of another
+day, when Colonel Scott, who had managed the whole scheme, reunited
+the wires and soon received from Colonel Lamon this dispatch: “Plums
+delivered nuts safely,” which gave us the intensely gratifying
+information that Lincoln had arrived in Washington.
+
+Of all the Presidents of the United States, and indeed of all the great
+statesmen who have made their indelible impress upon the policy of the
+Republic, Abraham Lincoln stands out single and alone in his individual
+qualities. He had little experience in statesmanship when he was called
+to the Presidency. He had only a few years of service in the State
+Legislature of Illinois, and a single term in Congress ending twelve
+years before he became President, but he had to grapple with the gravest
+problems ever presented to the statesmanship of the nation for solution,
+and he met each and all of them in turn with the most consistent
+mastery, and settled them so successfully that all have stood
+unquestioned until the present time, and are certain to endure while the
+Republic lives.
+
+In this he surprised not only his own cabinet and the leaders of his
+party who had little confidence in him when he first became President,
+but equally surprised the country and the world.
+
+He was patient, tireless and usually silent when great conflicts raged
+about him to solve the appalling problems which were presented at
+various stages of the war for determination, and when he reached his
+conclusion he was inexorable. The wrangles of faction and the jostling
+of ambition were compelled to bow when Lincoln had determined upon his
+line of duty.
+
+He was much more than a statesman; he was one of the most sagacious
+politicians I have ever known, although he was entirely unschooled in
+the machinery by which political results are achieved. His judgment of
+men was next to unerring, and when results were to be attained he
+knew the men who should be assigned to the task, and he rarely made a
+mistake.
+
+I remember one occasion when he summoned Colonel Forney and myself to
+confer on some political problem, he opened the conversation by saying:
+“You know that I never was much of a conniver; I don’t know the methods
+of political management, and I can only trust to the wisdom of leaders
+to accomplish what is needed.”
+
+Lincoln’s public acts are familiar to every schoolboy of the nation, but
+his personal attributes, which are so strangely distinguished from the
+attributes of other great men, are now the most interesting study
+of young and old throughout our land, and I can conceive of no more
+acceptable presentation to the public than a compilation of anecdotes
+and incidents pertaining to the life of the greatest of all our
+Presidents.
+
+A.K. McClure
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S NAME AROUSES AN AUDIENCE, BY DR. NEWMAN HALL, of London.
+
+When I have had to address a fagged and listless audience, I have found
+that nothing was so certain to arouse them as to introduce the name of
+Abraham Lincoln.
+
+REVERE WASHINGTON AND LOVE LINCOLN, REV. DR. THEODORE L. CUYLER.
+
+No other name has such electric power on every true heart, from Maine
+to Mexico, as the name of Lincoln. If Washington is the most revered,
+Lincoln is the best loved man that ever trod this continent.
+
+
+GREATEST CHARACTER SINCE CHRIST BY JOHN HAY, Former Private Secretary to
+President Lincoln, and Later Secretary of State in President McKinley’s
+Cabinet.
+
+As, in spite of some rudeness, republicanism is the sole hope of a sick
+world, so Lincoln, with all his foibles, is the greatest character since
+Christ.
+
+
+STORIES INFORM THE COMMON PEOPLE, BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, United States
+Senator from New York.
+
+Mr. Lincoln said to me once: “They say I tell a great many stories; I
+reckon I do, but I have found in the course of a long experience that
+common people, take them as they run, are more easily informed through
+the medium of a broad illustration than in any other way, and as to what
+the hypercritical few may think, I don’t care.”
+
+HUMOR A PASSPORT TO THE HEART BY GEO. S. BOUTWELL, Former Secretary of
+the United States Treasury.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s wit and mirth will give him a passport to the thoughts and
+hearts of millions who would take no interest in the sterner and more
+practical parts of his character.
+
+
+DROLL, ORIGINAL AND APPROPRIATE. BY ELIHU B. WASHBURNE, Former United
+States Minister to France.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s anecdotes were all so droll, so original, so appropriate
+and so illustrative of passing incidents, that one never wearied.
+
+
+LINCOLN’S HUMOR A SPARKLING SPRING, BY DAVID R. LOCKE (PETROLEUM V.
+NASBY), Lincoln’s Favorite Humorist.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s flow of humor was a sparkling spring, gushing out of a
+rock--the flashing water had a somber background which made it all the
+brighter.
+
+
+LIKE AESOP’S FABLES, BY HUGH McCULLOCH, Former Secretary of the United
+States Treasury.
+
+Many of Mr. Lincoln’s stories were as apt and instructive as the best of
+Aesop’s Fables.
+
+
+FULL OF FUN, BY GENERAL JAMES B. FRY, Former Adjutant-General United
+States Army.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was a humorist so full of fun that he could not keep it all
+in.
+
+
+INEXHAUSTIBLE FUND OF STORIES, BY LAWRENCE WELDON, Judge United States
+Court of Claims.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s resources as a story-teller were inexhaustible, and
+no condition could arise in a case beyond his capacity to furnish an
+illustration with an appropriate anecdote.
+
+
+CHAMPION STORY-TELLER, BY BEN. PERLEY POORE, Former Editor of The
+Congressional Record.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was recognized as the champion story-teller of the Capitol.
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CHRONOLOGY.
+
+     1806--Marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, June 12th,
+     Washington County, Kentucky.
+     1809--Born February 12th, Hardin (now La Rue County), Kentucky.
+     1816--Family Removed to Perry County, Indiana.
+     1818--Death of Abraham’s Mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln.
+     1819--Second Marriage Thomas Lincoln; Married Sally Bush
+     Johnston, December 2nd, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
+     1830--Lincoln Family Removed to Illinois, Locating in Macon
+     County.
+     1831--Abraham Located at New Salem.
+     1832--Abraham a Captain in the Black Hawk War.
+     1833--Appointed Postmaster at New Salem.
+     1834--Abraham as a Surveyor. First Election to the Legislature.
+     1835--Love Romance with Anne Rutledge.
+     1836--Second Election to the Legislature.
+     1837--Licensed to Practice Law.
+     1838--Third Election to the Legislature.
+     1840--Presidential Elector on Harrison Ticket.
+     Fourth Election to the Legislature.
+     1842--Married November 4th, to Mary Todd. “Duel” with General
+     Shields.
+     1843--Birth of Robert Todd Lincoln, August 1st.
+     1846--Elected to Congress. Birth of Edward Baker Lincoln, March 10th.
+     1848--Delegate to the Philadelphia National Convention.
+     1850--Birth of William Wallace Lincoln, December 2nd.
+     1853--Birth of Thomas Lincoln, April 4th.
+     1856--Assists in Formation Republican Party.
+     1858--Joint Debater with Stephen A. Douglas. Defeated for the
+     United States Senate.
+     1860--Nominated and Elected to the Presidency.
+     1861--Inaugurated as President, March 4th. 1863-Issued
+     Emancipation Proclamation. 1864-Re-elected to the Presidency.
+     1865--Assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth, April 14th. Died April
+     15th. Remains Interred at Springfield, Illinois, May 4th.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND McCLURE.
+
+(From Harper’s Weekly, April 13, 1901.)
+
+Colonel Alexander K. McClure, the editorial director of the Philadelphia
+Times, which he founded in 1875, began his forceful career as a tanner’s
+apprentice in the mountains of Pennsylvania threescore years ago. He
+tanned hides all day, and read exchanges nights in the neighboring
+weekly newspaper office. The learned tanner’s boy also became the aptest
+Inner in the county, and the editor testified his admiration for young
+McClure’s attainments by sending him to edit a new weekly paper which
+the exigencies of politics called into being in an adjoining county.
+
+The lad was over six feet high, had the thews of Ajax and the voice of
+Boanerges, and knew enough about shoe-leather not to be afraid of any
+man that stood in it. He made his paper a success, went into politics,
+and made that a success, studied law with William McLellan, and made
+that a success, and actually went into the army--and made that a
+success, by an interesting accident which brought him into close
+personal relations with Abraham Lincoln, whom he had helped to nominate,
+serving as chairman of the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania
+through the campaign.
+
+In 1862 the government needed troops badly, and in each Pennsylvania
+county Republicans and Democrats were appointed to assist in the
+enrollment, under the State laws. McClure, working day and night at
+Harrisburg, saw conscripts coming in at the rate of a thousand a day,
+only to fret in idleness against the army red-tape which held them there
+instead of sending a regiment a day to the front, as McClure demanded
+should be done. The military officer continued to dispatch two companies
+a day--leaving the mass of the conscripts to be fed by the contractors.
+
+McClure went to Washington and said to the President, “You must send a
+mustering officer to Harrisburg who will do as I say; I can’t stay there
+any longer under existing conditions.”
+
+Lincoln sent into another room for Adjutant-General Thomas. “General,”
+ said he, “what is the highest rank of military officer at Harrisburg?”
+ “Captain, sir,” said Thomas. “Bring me a commission for an Assistant
+Adjutant-General of the United States Army,” said Lincoln.
+
+So Adjutant-General McClure was mustered in, and after that a regiment
+a day of boys in blue left Harrisburg for the front. Colonel McClure is
+one of the group of great Celt-American editors, which included Medill,
+McCullagh and McLean.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” LINCOLN’S YARNS AND STORIES.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN ASKED TO BE SHOT.
+
+Lincoln was, naturally enough, much surprised one day, when a man of
+rather forbidding countenance drew a revolver and thrust the weapon
+almost into his face. In such circumstances “Abe” at once concluded that
+any attempt at debate or argument was a waste of time and words.
+
+“What seems to be the matter?” inquired Lincoln with all the calmness
+and self-possession he could muster.
+
+“Well,” replied the stranger, who did not appear at all excited, “some
+years ago I swore an oath that if I ever came across an uglier man than
+myself I’d shoot him on the spot.”
+
+A feeling of relief evidently took possession of Lincoln at this
+rejoinder, as the expression upon his countenance lost all suggestion of
+anxiety.
+
+“Shoot me,” he said to the stranger; “for if I am an uglier man than you
+I don’t want to live.”
+
+
+
+
+TIME LOST DIDN’T COUNT.
+
+Thurlow Weed, the veteran journalist and politician, once related how,
+when he was opposing the claims of Montgomery Blair, who aspired to a
+Cabinet appointment, that Mr. Lincoln inquired of Mr. Weed whom he would
+recommend, “Henry Winter Davis,” was the response.
+
+“David Davis, I see, has been posting you up on this question,” retorted
+Lincoln. “He has Davis on the brain. I think Maryland must be a good
+State to move from.”
+
+The President then told a story of a witness in court in a neighboring
+county, who, on being asked his age, replied, “Sixty.” Being satisfied
+he was much older the question was repeated, and on receiving the same
+answer the court admonished the witness, saying, “The court knows you to
+be much older than sixty.”
+
+“Oh, I understand now,” was the rejoinder, “you’re thinking of those ten
+years I spent on the eastern share of Maryland; that was so much time
+lost, and didn’t count.”
+
+Blair was made Postmaster-General.
+
+
+
+
+NO VICES, NO VIRTUES.
+
+Lincoln always took great pleasure in relating this yarn:
+
+Riding at one time in a stage with an old Kentuckian who was returning
+from Missouri, Lincoln excited the old gentleman’s surprise by refusing
+to accept either of tobacco or French brandy.
+
+When they separated that afternoon--the Kentuckian to take another stage
+bound for Louisville--he shook hands warmly with Lincoln, and said,
+good-humoredly:
+
+“See here, stranger, you’re a clever but strange companion. I may never
+see you again, and I don’t want to offend you, but I want to say this:
+My experience has taught me that a man who has no vices has d----d few
+virtues. Good-day.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S DUES.
+
+Miss Todd (afterwards Mrs. Lincoln) had a keen sense of the ridiculous,
+and wrote several articles in the Springfield (Ill.) “Journal”
+ reflecting severely upon General James Shields (who won fame in the
+Mexican and Civil Wars, and was United States Senator from three
+states), then Auditor of State.
+
+Lincoln assumed the authorship, and was challenged by Shields to meet
+him on the “field of honor.” Meanwhile Miss Todd increased Shields’ ire
+by writing another letter to the paper, in which she said: “I hear the
+way of these fire-eaters is to give the challenged party the choice of
+weapons, which being the case, I’ll tell you in confidence that I never
+fight with anything but broom-sticks, or hot water, or a shovelful of
+coals, the former of which, being somewhat like a shillalah, may not be
+objectionable to him.”
+
+Lincoln accepted the challenge, and selected broadswords as the weapons.
+Judge Herndon (Lincoln’s law partner) gives the closing of this affair
+as follows:
+
+“The laws of Illinois prohibited dueling, and Lincoln demanded that
+the meeting should be outside the state. Shields undoubtedly knew that
+Lincoln was opposed to fighting a duel--that his moral sense would
+revolt at the thought, and that he would not be likely to break the
+law by fighting in the state. Possibly he thought Lincoln would make a
+humble apology. Shields was brave, but foolish, and would not listen to
+overtures for explanation. It was arranged that the meeting should be
+in Missouri, opposite Alton. They proceeded to the place selected, but
+friends interfered, and there was no duel. There is little doubt that
+the man who had swung a beetle and driven iron wedges into gnarled
+hickory logs could have cleft the skull of his antagonist, but he had
+no such intention. He repeatedly said to the friends of Shields that in
+writing the first article he had no thought of anything personal. The
+Auditor’s vanity had been sorely wounded by the second letter, in regard
+to which Lincoln could not make any explanation except that he had had
+no hand in writing it. The affair set all Springfield to laughing at
+Shields.”
+
+
+
+
+“DONE WITH THE BIBLE.”
+
+Lincoln never told a better story than this:
+
+A country meeting-house, that was used once a month, was quite a
+distance from any other house.
+
+The preacher, an old-line Baptist, was dressed in coarse linen
+pantaloons, and shirt of the same material. The pants, manufactured
+after the old fashion, with baggy legs, and a flap in the front, were
+made to attach to his frame without the aid of suspenders.
+
+A single button held his shirt in position, and that was at the collar.
+He rose up in the pulpit, and with a loud voice announced his text thus:
+“I am the Christ whom I shall represent to-day.”
+
+About this time a little blue lizard ran up his roomy pantaloons. The
+old preacher, not wishing to interrupt the steady flow of his sermon,
+slapped away on his leg, expecting to arrest the intruder, but his
+efforts were unavailing, and the little fellow kept on ascending higher
+and higher.
+
+Continuing the sermon, the preacher loosened the central button which
+graced the waistband of his pantaloons, and with a kick off came that
+easy-fitting garment.
+
+But, meanwhile, Mr. Lizard had passed the equatorial line of the
+waistband, and was calmly exploring that part of the preacher’s anatomy
+which lay underneath the back of his shirt.
+
+Things were now growing interesting, but the sermon was still grinding
+on. The next movement on the preacher’s part was for the collar button,
+and with one sweep of his arm off came the tow linen shirt.
+
+The congregation sat for an instant as if dazed; at length one old
+lady in the rear part of the room rose up, and, glancing at the excited
+object in the pulpit, shouted at the top of her voice: “If you represent
+Christ, then I’m done with the Bible.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE.
+
+Once, when Lincoln was pleading a case, the opposing lawyer had all the
+advantage of the law; the weather was warm, and his opponent, as was
+admissible in frontier courts, pulled off his coat and vest as he grew
+warm in the argument.
+
+At that time, shirts with buttons behind were unusual. Lincoln took in
+the situation at once. Knowing the prejudices of the primitive people
+against pretension of all sorts, or any affectation of superior social
+rank, arising, he said: “Gentlemen of the jury, having justice on my
+side, I don’t think you will be at all influenced by the gentleman’s
+pretended knowledge of the law, when you see he does not even know which
+side of his shirt should be in front.” There was a general laugh, and
+Lincoln’s case was won.
+
+
+
+
+A MISCHIEVOUS OX.
+
+President Lincoln once told the following story of Colonel W., who had
+been elected to the Legislature, and had also been judge of the County
+Court. His elevation, however, had made him somewhat pompous, and he
+became very fond of using big words. On his farm he had a very large and
+mischievous ox, called “Big Brindle,” which very frequently broke down
+his neighbors’ fences, and committed other depredations, much to the
+Colonel’s annoyance.
+
+One morning after breakfast, in the presence of Lincoln, who had stayed
+with him over night, and who was on his way to town, he called his
+overseer and said to him:
+
+“Mr. Allen, I desire you to impound ‘Big Brindle,’ in order that I may
+hear no animadversions on his eternal depredations.”
+
+Allen bowed and walked off, sorely puzzled to know what the Colonel
+wanted him to do. After Colonel W. left for town, he went to his wife
+and asked her what the Colonel meant by telling him to impound the ox.
+
+“Why, he meant to tell you to put him in a pen,” said she.
+
+Allen left to perform the feat, for it was no inconsiderable one, as
+the animal was wild and vicious, but, after a great deal of trouble and
+vexation, succeeded.
+
+“Well,” said he, wiping the perspiration from his brow and
+soliloquizing, “this is impounding, is it? Now, I am dead sure that the
+Colonel will ask me if I impounded ‘Big Brindle,’ and I’ll bet I puzzle
+him as he did me.”
+
+The next day the Colonel gave a dinner party, and as he was not
+aristocratic, Allen, the overseer, sat down with the company. After the
+second or third glass was discussed, the Colonel turned to the overseer
+and said:
+
+“Eh, Mr. Allen, did you impound ‘Big Brindle,’ sir?”
+
+Allen straightened himself, and looking around at the company, replied:
+
+“Yes, I did, sir; but ‘Old Brindle’ transcended the impanel of the
+impound, and scatterlophisticated all over the equanimity of the
+forest.”
+
+The company burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, while the
+Colonel’s face reddened with discomfiture.
+
+“What do you mean by that, sir?” demanded the Colonel.
+
+“Why, I mean, Colonel,” replied Allen, “that ‘Old Brindle,’ being
+prognosticated with an idea of the cholera, ripped and teared, snorted
+and pawed dirt, jumped the fence, tuck to the woods, and would not be
+impounded nohow.”
+
+This was too much; the company roared again, the Colonel being forced
+to join in the laughter, and in the midst of the jollity Allen left the
+table, saying to himself as he went, “I reckon the Colonel won’t ask me
+to impound any more oxen.”
+
+
+
+
+THE PRESIDENTIAL “CHIN-FLY.”
+
+Some of Mr. Lincoln’s intimate friends once called his attention to
+a certain member of his Cabinet who was quietly working to secure a
+nomination for the Presidency, although knowing that Mr. Lincoln was to
+be a candidate for re-election. His friends insisted that the Cabinet
+officer ought to be made to give up his Presidential aspirations or be
+removed from office. The situation reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story:
+
+“My brother and I,” he said, “were once plowing corn, I driving the
+horse and he holding the plow. The horse was lazy, but on one occasion
+he rushed across the field so that I, with my long legs, could scarcely
+keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the furrow, I found an
+enormous chin-fly fastened upon him, and knocked him off. My brother
+asked me what I did that for. I told him I didn’t want the old horse
+bitten in that way. ‘Why,’ said my brother, ‘that’s all that made him
+go.’ Now,” said Mr. Lincoln, “if Mr.---- has a Presidential chin-fly
+biting him, I’m not going to knock him off, if it will only make his
+department go.”
+
+
+
+
+‘SQUIRE BAGLY’S PRECEDENT.
+
+Mr. T. W. S. Kidd, of Springfield, says that he once heard a lawyer
+opposed to Lincoln trying to convince a jury that precedent was superior
+to law, and that custom made things legal in all cases. When Lincoln
+arose to answer him he told the jury he would argue his case in the same
+way.
+
+“Old ‘Squire Bagly, from Menard, came into my office and said, ‘Lincoln,
+I want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what’s been elected justice of
+the peace a right to issue a marriage license?’ I told him he had not;
+when the old ‘squire threw himself back in his chair very indignantly,
+and said, ‘Lincoln, I thought you was a lawyer. Now Bob Thomas and me
+had a bet on this thing, and we agreed to let you decide; but if this is
+your opinion I don’t want it, for I know a thunderin’ sight better, for
+I have been ‘squire now for eight years and have done it all the time.’”
+
+
+
+
+HE’D NEED HIS GUN.
+
+When the President, early in the War, was anxious about the defenses
+of Washington, he told a story illustrating his feelings in the case.
+General Scott, then Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, had
+but 1,500 men, two guns and an old sloop of war, the latter anchored
+in the Potomac, with which to protect the National Capital, and the
+President was uneasy.
+
+To one of his queries as to the safety of Washington, General Scott had
+replied, “It has been ordained, Mr. President, that the city shall not
+be captured by the Confederates.”
+
+“But we ought to have more men and guns here,” was the Chief Executive’s
+answer. “The Confederates are not such fools as to let a good chance to
+capture Washington go by, and even if it has been ordained that the city
+is safe, I’d feel easier if it were better protected. All this reminds
+me of the old trapper out in the West who had been assured by some ‘city
+folks’ who had hired him as a guide that all matters regarding life and
+death were prearranged.
+
+“‘It is ordained,’ said one of the party to the old trapper, ‘that you
+are to die at a certain time, and no one can kill you before that time.
+If you met a thousand Indians, and your death had not been ordained for
+that day, you would certainly escape.’
+
+“‘I don’t exactly understand this “ordained” business,’ was the
+trapper’s reply. ‘I don’t care to run no risks. I always have my gun
+with me, so that if I come across some reds I can feel sure that I won’t
+cross the Jordan ‘thout taking some of ‘em with me. Now, for instance,
+if I met an Indian in the woods; he drew a bead on me--sayin’, too, that
+he wasn’t more’n ten feet away--an’ I didn’t have nothing to protect
+myself; say it was as bad as that, the redskin bein’ dead ready to kill
+me; now, even if it had been ordained that the Indian (sayin’ he was a
+good shot), was to die that very minute, an’ I wasn’t, what would I do
+‘thout my gun?’
+
+“There you are,” the President remarked; “even if it has been ordained
+that the city of Washington will never be taken by the Southerners, what
+would we do in case they made an attack upon the place, without men and
+heavy guns?”
+
+
+
+
+KEPT UP THE ARGUMENT.
+
+Judge T. Lyle Dickey of Illinois related that when the excitement
+over the Kansas Nebraska bill first broke out, he was with Lincoln and
+several friends attending court. One evening several persons, including
+himself and Lincoln, were discussing the slavery question. Judge
+Dickey contended that slavery was an institution which the Constitution
+recognized, and which could not be disturbed. Lincoln argued that
+ultimately slavery must become extinct. “After awhile,” said Judge
+Dickey, “we went upstairs to bed. There were two beds in our room, and
+I remember that Lincoln sat up in his night shirt on the edge of the
+bed arguing the point with me. At last we went to sleep. Early in
+the morning I woke up and there was Lincoln half sitting up in bed.
+‘Dickey,’ said he, ‘I tell you this nation cannot exist half slave and
+half free.’ ‘Oh, Lincoln,’ said I, ‘go to sleep.”’
+
+
+
+
+EQUINE INGRATITUDE.
+
+President Lincoln, while eager that the United States troops should
+be supplied with the most modern and serviceable weapons, often took
+occasion to put his foot down upon the mania for experimenting with
+which some of his generals were afflicted. While engaged in these
+experiments much valuable time was wasted, the enemy was left to do as
+he thought best, no battles were fought, and opportunities for winning
+victories allowed to pass.
+
+The President was an exceedingly practical man, and when an invention,
+idea or discovery was submitted to him, his first step was to ascertain
+how any or all of them could be applied in a way to be of benefit to the
+army. As to experimenting with “contrivances” which, to his mind, could
+never be put to practical use, he had little patience.
+
+“Some of these generals,” said he, “experiment so long and so much with
+newfangled, fancy notions that when they are finally brought to a
+head they are useless. Either the time to use them has gone by, or the
+machine, when put in operation, kills more than it cures.
+
+“One of these generals, who has a scheme for ‘condensing’ rations,
+is willing to swear his life away that his idea, when carried to
+perfection, will reduce the cost of feeding the Union troops to almost
+nothing, while the soldiers themselves will get so fat that they’ll
+‘bust out’ of their uniforms. Of course, uniforms cost nothing, and real
+fat men are more active and vigorous than lean, skinny ones, but that is
+getting away from my story.
+
+“There was once an Irishman--a cabman--who had a notion that he could
+induce his horse to live entirely on shavings. The latter he could get
+for nothing, while corn and oats were pretty high-priced. So he daily
+lessened the amount of food to the horse, substituting shavings for the
+corn and oats abstracted, so that the horse wouldn’t know his rations
+were being cut down.
+
+“However, just as he had achieved success in his experiment, and the
+horse had been taught to live without other food than shavings, the
+ungrateful animal ‘up and died,’ and he had to buy another.
+
+“So far as this general referred to is concerned, I’m afraid
+the soldiers will all be dead at the time when his experiment is
+demonstrated as thoroughly successful.”
+
+
+
+
+‘TWAS “MOVING DAY.”
+
+Speed, who was a prosperous young merchant of Springfield, reports
+that Lincoln’s personal effects consisted of a pair of saddle-bags,
+containing two or three lawbooks, and a few pieces of clothing. Riding
+on a borrowed horse, he thus made his appearance in Springfield. When he
+discovered that a single bedstead would cost seventeen dollars he said,
+“It is probably cheap enough, but I have not enough money to pay for
+it.” When Speed offered to trust him, he said: “If I fail here as a
+lawyer, I will probably never pay you at all.” Then Speed offered to
+share large double bed with him.
+
+“Where is your room?” Lincoln asked.
+
+“Upstairs,” said Speed, pointing from the store leading to his room.
+
+Without saying a word, he took his saddle-bags on his arm, went
+upstairs, set them down on the floor, came down again, and with a face
+beaming with pleasure and smiles, exclaimed: “Well, Speed, I’m moved.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE’S” HAIR NEEDED COMBING.
+
+“By the way,” remarked President Lincoln one day to Colonel Cannon, a
+close personal friend, “I can tell you a good story about my hair. When
+I was nominated at Chicago, an enterprising fellow thought that a great
+many people would like to see how ‘Abe’ Lincoln looked, and, as I had
+not long before sat for a photograph, the fellow, having seen it, rushed
+over and bought the negative.
+
+“He at once got no end of wood-cuts, and so active was their circulation
+they were soon selling in all parts of the country.
+
+“Soon after they reached Springfield, I heard a boy crying them for sale
+on the streets. ‘Here’s your likeness of “Abe” Lincoln!’ he shouted.
+‘Buy one; price only two shillings! Will look a great deal better when
+he gets his hair combed!”’
+
+
+
+
+WOULD “TAKE TO THE WOODS.”
+
+Secretary of State Seward was bothered considerably regarding the
+complication into which Spain had involved the United States government
+in connection with San Domingo, and related his troubles to the
+President. Negotiations were not proceeding satisfactorily, and things
+were mixed generally. We wished to conciliate Spain, while the negroes
+had appealed against Spanish oppression.
+
+The President did not, to all appearances, look at the matter seriously,
+but, instead of treating the situation as a grave one, remarked that
+Seward’s dilemma reminded him of an interview between two negroes in
+Tennessee.
+
+One was a preacher, who, with the crude and strange notions of his
+ignorant race, was endeavoring to admonish and enlighten his brother
+African of the importance of religion and the danger of the future.
+
+“Dar are,” said Josh, the preacher, “two roads befo’ you, Joe; be
+ca’ful which ob dese you take. Narrow am de way dat leads straight to
+destruction; but broad am de way dat leads right to damnation.”
+
+Joe opened his eyes with affright, and under the spell of the awful
+danger before him, exclaimed, “Josh, take which road you please; I shall
+go troo de woods.”
+
+“I am not willing,” concluded the President, “to assume any new troubles
+or responsibilities at this time, and shall therefore avoid going to the
+one place with Spain, or with the negro to the other, but shall ‘take to
+the woods.’ We will maintain an honest and strict neutrality.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CARRIED HER TRUNK.
+
+“My first strong impression of Mr. Lincoln,” says a lady of Springfield,
+“was made by one of his kind deeds. I was going with a little friend for
+my first trip alone on the railroad cars. It was an epoch of my life.
+I had planned for it and dreamed of it for weeks. The day I was to go
+came, but as the hour of the train approached, the hackman, through
+some neglect, failed to call for my trunk. As the minutes went on,
+I realized, in a panic of grief, that I should miss the train. I was
+standing by the gate, my hat and gloves on, sobbing as if my heart would
+break, when Mr. Lincoln came by.
+
+“‘Why, what’s the matter?’ he asked, and I poured out all my story.
+
+“‘How big’s the trunk? There’s still time, if it isn’t too big.’ And he
+pushed through the gate and up to the door. My mother and I took him up
+to my room, where my little old-fashioned trunk stood, locked and tied.
+‘Oh, ho,’ he cried, ‘wipe your eyes and come on quick.’ And before I
+knew what he was going to do, he had shouldered the trunk, was down
+stairs, and striding out of the yard. Down the street he went fast as
+his long legs could carry him, I trotting behind, drying my tears as I
+went. We reached the station in time. Mr. Lincoln put me on the train,
+kissed me good-bye, and told me to have a good time. It was just like
+him.”
+
+
+
+
+BOAT HAD TO STOP.
+
+Lincoln never failed to take part in all political campaigns in
+Illinois, as his reputation as a speaker caused his services to be in
+great demand. As was natural, he was often the target at which many of
+the “Smart Alecks” of that period shot their feeble bolts, but Lincoln
+was so ready with his answers that few of them cared to engage him a
+second time.
+
+In one campaign Lincoln was frequently annoyed by a young man who
+entertained the idea that he was a born orator. He had a loud voice, was
+full of language, and so conceited that he could not understand why the
+people did not recognize and appreciate his abilities.
+
+This callow politician delighted in interrupting public speakers, and
+at last Lincoln determined to squelch him. One night while addressing a
+large meeting at Springfield, the fellow became so offensive that
+“Abe” dropped the threads of his speech and turned his attention to the
+tormentor.
+
+“I don’t object,” said Lincoln, “to being interrupted with sensible
+questions, but I must say that my boisterous friend does not always make
+inquiries which properly come under that head. He says he is afflicted
+with headaches, at which I don’t wonder, as it is a well-known fact that
+nature abhors a vacuum, and takes her own way of demonstrating it.
+
+“This noisy friend reminds me of a certain steamboat that used to run on
+the Illinois river. It was an energetic boat, was always busy. When they
+built it, however, they made one serious mistake, this error being in
+the relative sizes of the boiler and the whistle. The latter was usually
+busy, too, and people were aware that it was in existence.
+
+“This particular boiler to which I have reference was a six-foot one,
+and did all that was required of it in the way of pushing the boat
+along; but as the builders of the vessel had made the whistle a six-foot
+one, the consequence was that every time the whistle blew the boat had
+to stop.”
+
+
+
+
+MCCLELLAN’S “SPECIAL TALENT.”
+
+President Lincoln one day remarked to a number of personal friends who
+had called upon him at the White House:
+
+“General McClellan’s tardiness and unwillingness to fight the enemy or
+follow up advantages gained, reminds me of a man back in Illinois who
+knew a few law phrases but whose lawyer lacked aggressiveness. The man
+finally lost all patience and springing to his feet vociferated, ‘Why
+don’t you go at him with a fi. fa., a demurrer, a capias, a surrebutter,
+or a ne exeat, or something; or a nundam pactum or a non est?’
+
+“I wish McClellan would go at the enemy with something--I don’t care
+what. General McClellan is a pleasant and scholarly gentleman. He is
+an admirable engineer, but he seems to have a special talent for a
+stationary engine.”
+
+
+
+
+HOW “JAKE” GOT AWAY.
+
+One of the last, if not the very last story told by President Lincoln,
+was to one of his Cabinet who came to see him, to ask if it would be
+proper to permit “Jake” Thompson to slip through Maine in disguise and
+embark for Portland.
+
+The President, as usual, was disposed to be merciful, and to permit
+the arch-rebel to pass unmolested, but Secretary Stanton urged that he
+should be arrested as a traitor.
+
+“By permitting him to escape the penalties of treason,” persisted the
+War Secretary, “you sanction it.”
+
+“Well,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “let me tell you a story. There was an
+Irish soldier here last summer, who wanted something to drink stronger
+than water, and stopped at a drug-shop, where he espied a soda-fountain.
+‘Mr. Doctor,’ said he, ‘give me, plase, a glass of soda-wather, an’
+if yez can put in a few drops of whiskey unbeknown to any one, I’ll be
+obleeged.’ Now,” continued Mr. Lincoln, “if ‘Jake’ Thompson is permitted
+to go through Maine unbeknown to any one, what’s the harm? So don’t have
+him arrested.”
+
+MORE LIGHT AND LESS NOISE.
+
+The President was bothered to death by those persons who boisterously
+demanded that the War be pushed vigorously; also, those who shouted
+their advice and opinions into his weary ears, but who never suggested
+anything practical. These fellows were not in the army, nor did they
+ever take any interest, in a personal way, in military matters, except
+when engaged in dodging drafts.
+
+“That reminds me,” remarked Mr. Lincoln one day, “of a farmer who lost
+his way on the Western frontier. Night came on, and the embarrassments
+of his position were increased by a furious tempest which suddenly burst
+upon him. To add to his discomfort, his horse had given out, leaving him
+exposed to all the dangers of the pitiless storm.
+
+“The peals of thunder were terrific, the frequent flashes of lightning
+affording the only guide on the road as he resolutely trudged onward,
+leading his jaded steed. The earth seemed fairly to tremble beneath him
+in the war of elements. One bolt threw him suddenly upon his knees.
+
+“Our traveler was not a prayerful man, but finding himself involuntarily
+brought to an attitude of devotion, he addressed himself to the Throne
+of Grace in the following prayer for his deliverance:
+
+“‘O God! hear my prayer this time, for Thou knowest it is not often that
+I call upon Thee. And, O Lord! if it is all the same to Thee, give us a
+little more light and a little less noise.’
+
+“I wish,” the President said, sadly, “there was a stronger disposition
+manifested on the part of our civilian warriors to unite in suppressing
+the rebellion, and a little less noise as to how and by whom the chief
+executive office shall be administered.”
+
+
+
+
+ONE BULLET AND A HATFUL.
+
+Lincoln made the best of everything, and if he couldn’t get what he
+wanted he took what he could get. In matters of policy, while President
+he acted according to this rule. He would take perilous chances, even
+when the result was, to the minds of his friends, not worth the risk he
+had run.
+
+One day at a meeting of the Cabinet, it being at the time when it seemed
+as though war with England and France could not be avoided, Secretary
+of State Seward and Secretary of War Stanton warmly advocated that the
+United States maintain an attitude, the result of which would have been
+a declaration of hostilities by the European Powers mentioned.
+
+“Why take any more chances than are absolutely necessary?” asked the
+President.
+
+“We must maintain our honor at any cost,” insisted Secretary Seward.
+
+“We would be branded as cowards before the entire world,” Secretary
+Stanton said.
+
+“But why run the greater risk when we can take a smaller one?” queried
+the President calmly. “The less risk we run the better for us. That
+reminds me of a story I heard a day or two ago, the hero of which was
+on the firing line during a recent battle, where the bullets were flying
+thick.
+
+“Finally his courage gave way entirely, and throwing down his gun, he
+ran for dear life.
+
+“As he was flying along at top speed he came across an officer who drew
+his revolver and shouted, ‘Go back to your regiment at once or I will
+shoot you!’
+
+“‘Shoot and be hanged,’ the racer exclaimed. ‘What’s one bullet to a
+whole hatful?’”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S STORY TO PEACE COMMISSIONERS.
+
+Among the reminiscences of Lincoln left by Editor Henry J. Raymond, is
+the following:
+
+Among the stories told by Lincoln, which is freshest in my mind, one
+which he related to me shortly after its occurrence, belongs to the
+history of the famous interview on board the River Queen, at Hampton
+Roads, between himself and Secretary Seward and the rebel Peace
+Commissioners. It was reported at the time that the President told a
+“little story” on that occasion, and the inquiry went around among the
+newspapers, “What was it?”
+
+The New York Herald published what purported to be a version of it, but
+the “point” was entirely lost, and it attracted no attention. Being in
+Washington a few days subsequent to the interview with the Commissioners
+(my previous sojourn there having terminated about the first of last
+August), I asked Mr. Lincoln one day if it was true that he told
+Stephens, Hunter and Campbell a story.
+
+“Why, yes,” he replied, manifesting some surprise, “but has it
+leaked out? I was in hopes nothing would be said about it, lest some
+over-sensitive people should imagine there was a degree of levity in
+the intercourse between us.” He then went on to relate the circumstances
+which called it out.
+
+“You see,” said he, “we had reached and were discussing the slavery
+question. Mr. Hunter said, substantially, that the slaves, always
+accustomed to an overseer, and to work upon compulsion, suddenly freed,
+as they would be if the South should consent to peace on the basis of
+the ‘Emancipation Proclamation,’ would precipitate not only themselves,
+but the entire Southern society, into irremediable ruin. No work would
+be done, nothing would be cultivated, and both blacks and whites would
+starve!”
+
+Said the President: “I waited for Seward to answer that argument, but as
+he was silent, I at length said: ‘Mr. Hunter, you ought to know a great
+deal better about this argument than I, for you have always lived under
+the slave system. I can only say, in reply to your statement of the
+case, that it reminds me of a man out in Illinois, by the name of Case,
+who undertook, a few years ago, to raise a very large herd of hogs.
+It was a great trouble to feed them, and how to get around this was a
+puzzle to him. At length he hit on the plan of planting an immense field
+of potatoes, and, when they were sufficiently grown, he turned the whole
+herd into the field, and let them have full swing, thus saving not only
+the labor of feeding the hogs, but also that of digging the potatoes.
+Charmed with his sagacity, he stood one day leaning against the fence,
+counting his hogs, when a neighbor came along.
+
+“‘Well, well,’ said he, ‘Mr. Case, this is all very fine. Your hogs are
+doing very well just now, but you know out here in Illinois the frost
+comes early, and the ground freezes for a foot deep. Then what you going
+to do?’
+
+“This was a view of the matter which Mr. Case had not taken into
+account. Butchering time for hogs was ‘way on in December or January! He
+scratched his head, and at length stammered: ‘Well, it may come pretty
+hard on their snouts, but I don’t see but that it will be “root, hog, or
+die.”’”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” GOT THE WORST OF IT.
+
+When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Illinois, he and a certain Judge once
+got to bantering one another about trading horses; and it was agreed
+that the next morning at nine o’clock they should make a trade, the
+horses to be unseen up to that hour, and no backing out, under a
+forfeiture of $25. At the hour appointed, the Judge came up, leading the
+sorriest-looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a few
+minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching with a wooden saw-horse upon
+his shoulders.
+
+Great were the shouts and laughter of the crowd, and both were greatly
+increased when Lincoln, on surveying the Judge’s animal, set down his
+saw-horse, and exclaimed:
+
+“Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a
+horse trade.”
+
+
+
+
+IT DEPENDED UPON HIS CONDITION.
+
+The President had made arrangements to visit New York, and was told that
+President Garrett, of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, would be glad to
+furnish a special train.
+
+“I don’t doubt it a bit,” remarked the President, “for I know Mr.
+Garrett, and like him very well, and if I believed--which I don’t, by
+any means--all the things some people say about his ‘secesh’ principles,
+he might say to you as was said by the Superintendent of a certain
+railroad to a son of one my predecessors in office. Some two years after
+the death of President Harrison, the son of his successor in this office
+wanted to take his father on an excursion somewhere or other, and went
+to the Superintendent’s office to order a special train.
+
+“This Superintendent was a Whig of the most uncompromising sort, who
+hated a Democrat more than all other things on the earth, and promptly
+refused the young man’s request, his language being to the effect
+that this particular railroad was not running special trains for the
+accommodation of Presidents of the United States just at that season.
+
+“The son of the President was much surprised and exceedingly annoyed.
+‘Why,’ he said, ‘you have run special Presidential trains, and I know
+it. Didn’t you furnish a special train for the funeral of President
+Harrison?’
+
+“‘Certainly we did,’ calmly replied the Superintendent, with no
+relaxation of his features, ‘and if you will only bring your father here
+in the same shape as General Harrison was, you shall have the best train
+on the road.”’
+
+When the laughter had subsided, the President said: “I shall take
+pleasure in accepting Mr. Garrett’s offer, as I have no doubts whatever
+as to his loyalty to the United States government or his respect for the
+occupant of the Presidential office.”
+
+
+
+
+“GOT DOWN TO THE RAISINS.”
+
+A. B. Chandler, chief of the telegraph office at the War Department,
+occupied three rooms, one of which was called “the President’s room,”
+ so much of his time did Mr. Lincoln spend there. Here he would read
+over the telegrams received for the several heads of departments. Three
+copies of all messages received were made--one for the President, one
+for the War Department records and one for Secretary Stanton.
+
+Mr. Chandler told a story as to the manner in which the President read
+the despatches:
+
+“President Lincoln’s copies were kept in what we called the ‘President’s
+drawer’ of the ‘cipher desk.’ He would come in at any time of the night
+or day, and go at once to this drawer, and take out a file of telegrams,
+and begin at the top to read them. His position in running over these
+telegrams was sometimes very curious.
+
+“He had a habit of sitting frequently on the edge of his chair, with his
+right knee dragged down to the floor. I remember a curious expression
+of his when he got to the bottom of the new telegrams and began on those
+that he had read before. It was, ‘Well, I guess I have got down to the
+raisins.’
+
+“The first two or three times he said this he made no explanation, and I
+did not ask one. But one day, after he had made the remark, he looked up
+under his eyebrows at me with a funny twinkle in his eyes, and said: ‘I
+used to know a little girl out West who sometimes was inclined to eat
+too much. One day she ate a good many more raisins than she ought to,
+and followed them up with a quantity of other goodies. They made her
+very sick. After a time the raisins began to come.
+
+“She gasped and looked at her mother and said: ‘Well, I will be better
+now I guess, for I have got down to the raisins.’”
+
+
+
+
+“HONEST ABE” SWALLOWS HIS ENEMIES.
+
+“‘Honest Abe’ Taking Them on the Half-Shell” was one of the cartoons
+published in 1860 by one of the illustrated periodicals. As may be
+seen, it represents Lincoln in a “Political Oyster House,” preparing to
+swallow two of his Democratic opponents for the Presidency--Douglas
+and Breckinridge. He performed the feat at the November election.
+The Democratic party was hopelessly split in 1860 The Northern wing
+nominated Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, as their candidate,
+the Southern wing naming John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky; the
+Constitutional Unionists (the old American of Know-Nothing party) placed
+John Bell, of Tennessee, in the field, and against these was put Abraham
+Lincoln, who received the support of the Abolitionists.
+
+Lincoln made short work of his antagonists when the election came
+around. He received a large majority in the Electoral College, while
+nearly every Northern State voted majorities for him at the polls.
+Douglas had but twelve votes in the Electoral College, while Bell had
+thirty-nine. The votes of the Southern States, then preparing to secede,
+were, for the most part, thrown for Breckinridge. The popular vote was:
+Lincoln, 1,857,610; Douglas, 1,365,976; Breckinridge, 847,953; Bell,
+590,631; total vote, 4,662,170. In the Electoral College Lincoln
+received 180; Douglas, 12; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Lincoln’s
+majority over all, 57.
+
+
+
+
+SAVING HIS WIND.
+
+Judge H. W. Beckwith of Danville, Ill., said that soon after the Ottawa
+debate between Lincoln and Douglas he passed the Chenery House, then
+the principal hotel in Springfield. The lobby was crowded with partisan
+leaders from various sections of the state, and Mr. Lincoln, from his
+greater height, was seen above the surging mass that clung about him
+like a swarm of bees to their ruler. The day was warm, and at the first
+chance he broke away and came out for a little fresh air, wiping the
+sweat from his face.
+
+“As he passed the door he saw me,” said Judge Beckwith, “and, taking
+my hand, inquired for the health and views of his ‘friends over in
+Vermillion county.’ He was assured they were wide awake, and further
+told that they looked forward to the debate between him and Senator
+Douglas with deep concern. From the shadow that went quickly over his
+face, the pained look that came to give way quickly to a blaze of eyes
+and quiver of lips, I felt that Mr. Lincoln had gone beneath my mere
+words and caught my inner and current fears as to the result. And then,
+in a forgiving, jocular way peculiar to him, he said: ‘Sit down; I have
+a moment to spare, and will tell you a story.’ Having been on his feet
+for some time, he sat on the end of the stone step leading into the
+hotel door, while I stood closely fronting him.
+
+“‘You have,’ he continued, ‘seen two men about to fight?’
+
+“‘Yes, many times.’
+
+“‘Well, one of them brags about what he means to do. He jumps high in
+the air, cracking his heels together, smites his fists, and wastes his
+wreath trying to scare somebody. You see the other fellow, he says not
+a word,’--here Mr. Lincoln’s voice and manner changed to great
+earnestness, and repeating--‘you see the other man says not a word. His
+arms are at his sides, his fists are closely doubled up, his head is
+drawn to the shoulder, and his teeth are set firm together. He is saving
+his wind for the fight, and as sure as it comes off he will win it, or
+die a-trying.’”
+
+
+
+
+RIGHT FOR, ONCE, ANYHOW.
+
+Where men bred in courts, accustomed to the world, or versed in
+diplomacy, would use some subterfuge, or would make a polite speech,
+or give a shrug of the shoulders, as the means of getting out of an
+embarrassing position, Lincoln raised a laugh by some bold west-country
+anecdote, and moved off in the cloud of merriment produced by the joke.
+When Attorney-General Bates was remonstrating apparently against
+the appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial
+importance, the President interposed with: “Come now, Bates, he’s not
+half as bad as you think. Besides that, I must tell you, he did me a
+good turn long ago. When I took to the law, I was going to court one
+morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before me, and I had
+no horse.
+
+“The judge overtook me in his carriage.
+
+“‘Hallo, Lincoln! are you not going to the court-house? Come in and I
+will give you a seat!’
+
+“Well, I got in, and the Judge went on reading his papers. Presently the
+carriage struck a stump on one side of the road, then it hopped off to
+the other. I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerking from side to
+side in his seat, so I says:
+
+“‘Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a little too much this
+morning.’
+
+“‘Well, I declare, Lincoln,’ said he, ‘I should not much wonder if
+you were right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since
+starting.’
+
+“So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted, ‘Why, you infernal
+scoundrel, you are drunk!’
+
+“Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great
+gravity, the coachman said:
+
+“‘Begorra! that’s the first rightful decision that you have given for
+the last twelvemonth.’”
+
+While the company were laughing, the President beat a quiet retreat from
+the neighborhood.
+
+
+
+
+“PITY THE POOR ORPHAN.”
+
+After the War was well on, and several battles had been fought, a lady
+from Alexandria asked the President for an order to release a certain
+church which had been taken for a Federal hospital. The President said
+he could do nothing, as the post surgeon at Alexandria was immovable,
+and then asked the lady why she did not donate money to build a
+hospital.
+
+“We have been very much embarrassed by the war,” she replied, “and our
+estates are much hampered.”
+
+“You are not ruined?” asked the President.
+
+“No, sir, but we do not feel that we should give up anything we have
+left.”
+
+The President, after some reflection, then said: “There are more battles
+yet to be fought, and I think God would prefer that your church be
+devoted to the care and alleviation of the sufferings of our poor
+fellows. So, madam, you will excuse me. I can do nothing for you.”
+
+Afterward, in speaking of this incident, President Lincoln said that the
+lady, as a representative of her class in Alexandria, reminded him of
+the story of the young man who had an aged father and mother owning
+considerable property. The young man being an only son, and believing
+that the old people had outlived their usefulness, assassinated them
+both. He was accused, tried and convicted of the murder. When the judge
+came to pass sentence upon him, and called upon him to give any reason
+he might have why the sentence of death should not be passed upon
+him, he with great promptness replied that he hoped the court would be
+lenient upon him because he was a poor orphan!
+
+“BAP.” McNABB’S BOOSTER.
+
+It is true that Lincoln did not drink, never swore, was a stranger to
+smoking and lived a moral life generally, but he did like horse-racing
+and chicken fighting. New Salem, Illinois, where Lincoln was “clerking,”
+ was known the neighborhood around as a “fast” town, and the average
+young man made no very desperate resistance when tempted to join in the
+drinking and gambling bouts.
+
+“Bap.” McNabb was famous for his ability in both the raising and the
+purchase of roosters of prime fighting quality, and when his birds
+fought the attendance was large. It was because of the “flunking” of
+one of “Bap.’s” roosters that Lincoln was enabled to make a point when
+criticising McClellan’s unreadiness and lack of energy.
+
+One night there was a fight on the schedule, one of “Bap.” McNabb’s
+birds being a contestant. “Bap.” brought a little red rooster, whose
+fighting qualities had been well advertised for days in advance, and
+much interest was manifested in the outcome. As the result of these
+contests was generally a quarrel, in which each man, charging foul play,
+seized his victim, they chose Lincoln umpire, relying not only on his
+fairness but his ability to enforce his decisions. Judge Herndon, in his
+“Abraham Lincoln,” says of this notable event:
+
+“I cannot improve on the description furnished me in February, 1865, by
+one who was present.
+
+“They formed a ring, and the time having arrived, Lincoln, with one hand
+on each hip and in a squatting position, cried, ‘Ready.’ Into the ring
+they toss their fowls, ‘Bap.’s’ red rooster along with the rest. But
+no sooner had the little beauty discovered what was to be done than he
+dropped his tail and ran.
+
+“The crowd cheered, while ‘Bap.,’ in disappointment, picked him up and
+started away, losing his quarter (entrance fee) and carrying home his
+dishonored fowl. Once arrived at the latter place he threw his pet down
+with a feeling of indignation and chagrin.
+
+“The little fellow, out of sight of all rivals, mounted a woodpile and
+proudly flirting out his feathers, crowed with all his might. ‘Bap.’
+looked on in disgust.
+
+“‘Yes, you little cuss,’ he exclaimed, irreverently, ‘you’re great on
+dress parade, but not worth a darn in a fight.”’
+
+It is said, according to Judge Herndon, that Lincoln considered
+McClellan as “great on dress parade,” but not so much in a fight.
+
+
+
+
+A LOW-DOWN TRICK.
+
+When Lincoln was a candidate of the Know Nothings for the State
+Legislature, the party was over-confident, and the Democrats pursued a
+still-hunt. Lincoln was defeated. He compared the situation to one of
+the camp-followers of General Taylor’s army, who had secured a barrel of
+cider, erected a tent, and commenced selling it to the thirsty soldiers
+at twenty-five cents a drink, but he had sold but little before another
+sharp one set up a tent at his back, and tapped the barrel so as to
+flow on his side, and peddled out No. 1 cider at five cents a drink, of
+course, getting the latter’s entire trade on the borrowed capital.
+
+“The Democrats,” said Mr. Lincoln, “had played Knownothing on a cheaper
+scale than had the real devotees of Sam, and had raked down his pile
+with his own cider!”
+
+
+
+
+END FOR END.
+
+Judge H. W. Beckwith, of Danville, Ill., in his “Personal Recollections
+of Lincoln,” tells a story which is a good example of Lincoln’s way of
+condensing the law and the facts of an issue in a story: “A man, by vile
+words, first provoked and then made a bodily attack upon another. The
+latter, in defending himself, gave the other much the worst of the
+encounter. The aggressor, to get even, had the one who thrashed him
+tried in our Circuit Court on a charge of an assault and battery. Mr.
+Lincoln defended, and told the jury that his client was in the fix of
+a man who, in going along the highway with a pitchfork on his shoulder,
+was attacked by a fierce dog that ran out at him from a farmer’s
+dooryard. In parrying off the brute with the fork, its prongs stuck into
+the brute and killed him.
+
+“‘What made you kill my dog?’ said the farmer.
+
+“‘What made him try to bite me?’
+
+“‘But why did you not go at him with the other end of the pitchfork?’
+
+“‘Why did he not come after me with his other end?’
+
+“At this Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his long arms an imaginary dog,
+and pushed its tail end toward the jury. This was the defensive plea of
+‘son assault demesne’--loosely, that ‘the other fellow brought on the
+fight,’--quickly told, and in a way the dullest mind would grasp and
+retain.”
+
+
+
+
+LET SIX SKUNKS GO.
+
+The President had decided to select a new War Minister, and the Leading
+Republican Senators thought the occasion was opportune to change the
+whole seven Cabinet ministers. They, therefore, earnestly advised him to
+make a clean sweep, and select seven new men, and so restore the waning
+confidence of the country.
+
+The President listened with patient courtesy, and when the Senators had
+concluded, he said, with a characteristic gleam of humor in his eye:
+
+“Gentlemen, your request for a change of the whole Cabinet because I
+have made one change reminds me of a story I once heard in Illinois,
+of a farmer who was much troubled by skunks. His wife insisted on his
+trying to get rid of them.
+
+“He loaded his shotgun one moonlight night and awaited developments.
+After some time the wife heard the shotgun go off, and in a few minutes
+the farmer entered the house.
+
+“‘What luck have you?’ asked she.
+
+“‘I hid myself behind the wood-pile,’ said the old man, ‘with the
+shotgun pointed towards the hen roost, and before long there appeared
+not one skunk, but seven. I took aim, blazed away, killed one, and he
+raised such a fearful smell that I concluded it was best to let the
+other six go.”’
+
+The Senators laughed and retired.
+
+
+
+
+HOW HE GOT BLACKSTONE.
+
+The following story was told by Mr. Lincoln to Mr. A. J. Conant, the
+artist, who painted his portrait in Springfield in 1860:
+
+“One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of my
+store with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. He
+asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in his
+wagon, and which he said contained nothing of special value. I did not
+want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, half a
+dollar for it. Without further examination, I put it away in the store
+and forgot all about it. Some time after, in overhauling things, I
+came upon the barrel, and, emptying it upon the floor to see what it
+contained, I found at the bottom of the rubbish a complete edition of
+Blackstone’s Commentaries. I began to read those famous works, and I had
+plenty of time; for during the long summer days, when the farmers were
+busy with their crops, my customers were few and far between. The more
+I read”--this he said with unusual emphasis--“the more intensely
+interested I became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly
+absorbed. I read until I devoured them.”
+
+
+
+
+A JOB FOR THE NEW CABINETMAKER.
+
+This cartoon, labeled “A Job for the New Cabinetmaker,” was printed in
+“Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper” on February 2d, 1861, a month and
+two days before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United
+States. The Southern states had seceded from the Union, the Confederacy
+was established, with Jefferson Davis as its President, the Union had
+been split in two, and the task Lincoln had before him was to glue the
+two parts of the Republic together. In his famous speech, delivered a
+short time before his nomination for the Presidency by the Republican
+National Convention at Chicago, in 1860, Lincoln had said: “A house
+divided against itself cannot stand; this nation cannot exist half slave
+and half free.” After his inauguration as President, Mr. Lincoln went
+to work to glue the two pieces together, and after four years of bloody
+war, and at immense cost, the job was finished; the house of the Great
+American Republic was no longer divided; the severed sections--the North
+and the South--were cemented tightly; the slaves were freed, peace was
+firmly established, and the Union of states was glued together so well
+that the nation is stronger now than ever before. Lincoln was just the
+man for that job, and the work he did will last for all time. “The New
+Cabinetmaker” knew his business thoroughly, and finished his task of
+glueing in a workmanlike manner. At the very moment of its completion,
+five days after the surrender of Lee to Grant at Appomattox, the Martyr
+President fell at the hands of the assassin, J. Wilkes Booth.
+
+
+
+
+“I CAN STAND IT IF THEY CAN.”
+
+United States Senator Benjamin Wade, of Ohio, Henry Winter Davis,
+of Maryland, and Wendell Phillips were strongly opposed to President
+Lincoln’s re-election, and Wade and Davis issued a manifesto. Phillips
+made several warm speeches against Lincoln and his policy.
+
+When asked if he had read the manifesto or any of Phillips’ speeches,
+the President replied:
+
+“I have not seen them, nor do I care to see them. I have seen enough to
+satisfy me that I am a failure, not only in the opinion of the people
+in rebellion, but of many distinguished politicians of my own party. But
+time will show whether I am right or they are right, and I am content to
+abide its decision.
+
+“I have enough to look after without giving much of my time to the
+consideration of the subject of who shall be my successor in office. The
+position is not an easy one; and the occupant, whoever he may be, for
+the next four years, will have little leisure to pluck a thorn or plant
+a rose in his own pathway.”
+
+It was urged that this opposition must be embarrassing to his
+Administration, as well as damaging to the party. He replied: “Yes, that
+is true; but our friends, Wade, Davis, Phillips, and others are hard
+to please. I am not capable of doing so. I cannot please them without
+wantonly violating not only my oath, but the most vital principles upon
+which our government was founded.
+
+“As to those who, like Wade and the rest, see fit to depreciate my
+policy and cavil at my official acts, I shall not complain of them. I
+accord them the utmost freedom of speech and liberty of the press, but
+shall not change the policy I have adopted in the full belief that I am
+right.
+
+“I feel on this subject as an old Illinois farmer once expressed himself
+while eating cheese. He was interrupted in the midst of his repast by
+the entrance of his son, who exclaimed, ‘Hold on, dad! there’s skippers
+in that cheese you’re eating!’
+
+“‘Never mind, Tom,’ said he, as he kept on munching his cheese, ‘if they
+can stand it I can.’”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MISTAKEN FOR ONCE.
+
+President Lincoln was compelled to acknowledge that he made at least one
+mistake in “sizing up” men. One day a very dignified man called at the
+White House, and Lincoln’s heart fell when his visitor approached. The
+latter was portly, his face was full of apparent anxiety, and Lincoln
+was willing to wager a year’s salary that he represented some Society
+for the Easy and Speedy Repression of Rebellions.
+
+The caller talked fluently, but at no time did he give advice or suggest
+a way to put down the Confederacy. He was full of humor, told a clever
+story or two, and was entirely self-possessed.
+
+At length the President inquired, “You are a clergyman, are you not,
+sir?”
+
+“Not by a jug full,” returned the stranger heartily.
+
+Grasping him by the hand Lincoln shook it until the visitor squirmed.
+“You must lunch with us. I am glad to see you. I was afraid you were a
+preacher.”
+
+“I went to the Chicago Convention,” the caller said, “as a friend of Mr.
+Seward. I have watched you narrowly ever since your inauguration, and
+I called merely to pay my respects. What I want to say is this: I think
+you are doing everything for the good of the country that is in
+the power of man to do. You are on the right track. As one of your
+constituents I now say to you, do in future as you d---- please, and I
+will support you!”
+
+This was spoken with tremendous effect.
+
+“Why,” said Mr. Lincoln in great astonishment, “I took you to be a
+preacher. I thought you had come here to tell me how to take Richmond,”
+ and he again grasped the hand of his strange visitor.
+
+Accurate and penetrating as Mr. Lincoln’s judgment was concerning men,
+for once he had been wholly mistaken. The scene was comical in the
+extreme. The two men stood gazing at each other. A smile broke from the
+lips of the solemn wag and rippled over the wide expanse of his homely
+face like sunlight overspreading a continent, and Mr. Lincoln was
+convulsed with laughter.
+
+He stayed to lunch.
+
+
+
+
+FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW.
+
+President Lincoln, while entertaining a few friends, is said to have
+related the following anecdote of a man who knew too much:
+
+During the administration of President Jackson there was a singular
+young gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in Washington.
+
+His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a neighbor
+of the President, on which account the old hero had a kind feeling for
+him, and always got him out of difficulties with some of the higher
+officials, to whom his singular interference was distasteful.
+
+Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the General
+Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to Major H., a
+high official, in answer to an application made by an old gentleman in
+Virginia or Pennsylvania, for the establishment of a new postoffice.
+
+The writer of the letter said the application could not be granted, in
+consequence of the applicant’s “proximity” to another office.
+
+When the letter came into G.’s hand to copy, being a great stickler for
+plainness, he altered “proximity” to “nearness to.”
+
+Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+
+“Why,” replied G., “because I don’t think the man would understand what
+you mean by proximity.”
+
+“Well,” said Major H., “try him; put in the ‘proximity’ again.”
+
+In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which he very
+indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty in the second
+war for independence, and he should like to have the name of the
+scoundrel who brought the charge of proximity or anything else wrong
+against him.
+
+“There,” said G., “did I not say so?”
+
+G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the
+Postmaster-General, said to him: “I don’t want you any longer; you know
+too much.”
+
+Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+
+This time G.’s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very busy
+writing, when a stranger called in and asked him where the Patent Office
+was.
+
+“I don’t know,” said G.
+
+“Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?” said the stranger.
+
+“No,” said G.
+
+“Nor the President’s house?”
+
+“No.”
+
+The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+
+“No,” replied G.
+
+“Do you live in Washington, sir.”
+
+“Yes, sir,” said G.
+
+“Good Lord! and don’t you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+President’s House and Capitol are?”
+
+“Stranger,” said G., “I was turned out of the postoffice for knowing too
+much. I don’t mean to offend in that way again.
+
+“I am paid for keeping this book.
+
+“I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything more
+you may take my head.”
+
+“Good morning,” said the stranger.
+
+
+
+
+HE LOVED A GOOD STORY.
+
+Judge Breese, of the Supreme bench, one of the most distinguished of
+American jurists, and a man of great personal dignity, was about to open
+court at Springfield, when Lincoln called out in his hearty way: “Hold
+on, Breese! Don’t open court yet! Here’s Bob Blackwell just going to
+tell a story!” The judge passed on without replying, evidently regarding
+it as beneath the dignity of the Supreme Court to delay proceedings for
+the sake of a story.
+
+
+
+
+HEELS RAN AWAY WITH THEM.
+
+In an argument against the opposite political party at one time during a
+campaign, Lincoln said: “My opponent uses a figurative expression to
+the effect that ‘the Democrats are vulnerable in the heel, but they are
+sound in the heart and head.’ The first branch of the figure--that
+is the Democrats are vulnerable in the heel--I admit is not merely
+figuratively but literally true. Who that looks but for a moment at
+their hundreds of officials scampering away with the public money to
+Texas, to Europe, and to every spot of the earth where a villain may
+hope to find refuge from justice, can at all doubt that they are most
+distressingly affected in their heels with a species of running itch?
+
+“It seems that this malady of their heels operates on the sound-headed
+and honest-hearted creatures very much as the cork leg in the comic song
+did on its owner, which, when he once got started on it, the more he
+tried to stop it, the more it would run away.
+
+“At the hazard of wearing this point threadbare, I will relate
+an anecdote the situation calls to my mind, which seems to be too
+strikingly in point to be omitted. A witty Irish soldier, who was always
+boasting of his bravery when no danger was near, but who invariably
+retreated without orders at the first charge of the engagement, being
+asked by his captain why he did so, replied, ‘Captain, I have as brave
+a heart as Julius Caesar ever had, but somehow or other, whenever danger
+approaches, my cowardly legs will run away with it.’
+
+“So with the opposite party--they take the public money into their hands
+for the most laudable purpose that wise heads and honest hearts can
+dictate; but before they can possibly get it out again, their rascally,
+vulnerable heels will run away with them.”
+
+
+
+
+WANTED TO BURN HIM DOWN TO THE STUMP.
+
+Preston King once introduced A. J. Bleeker to the President, and the
+latter, being an applicant for office, was about to hand Mr. Lincoln his
+vouchers, when he was asked to read them. Bleeker had not read very far
+when the President disconcerted him by the exclamation, “Stop a minute!
+You remind me exactly of the man who killed the dog; in fact, you are
+just like him.”
+
+“In what respect?” asked Bleeker, not feeling he had received a
+compliment.
+
+“Well,” replied the President, “this man had made up his mind to kill
+his dog, an ugly brute, and proceeded to knock out his brains with a
+club. He continued striking the dog after the latter was dead until a
+friend protested, exclaiming, ‘You needn’t strike him any more; the dog
+is dead; you killed him at the first blow.’
+
+“‘Oh, yes,’ said he, ‘I know that; but I believe in punishment after
+death.’ So, I see, you do.”
+
+Bleeker acknowledged it was possible to overdo a good thing, and
+then came back at the President with an anecdote of a good priest who
+converted an Indian from heathenism to Christianity; the only difficulty
+he had with him was to get him to pray for his enemies. “This Indian
+had been taught to overcome and destroy all his friends he didn’t like,”
+ said Bleeker, “but the priest told him that while that might be the
+Indian method, it was not the doctrine of Christianity or the Bible.
+‘Saint Paul distinctly says,’ the priest told him, ‘If thine enemy
+hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.’
+
+“The Indian shook his head at this, but when the priest added, ‘For
+in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head,’ Poor Lo was
+overcome with emotion, fell on his knees, and with outstretched hands
+and uplifted eyes invoked all sorts of blessings on the heads of all his
+enemies, supplicating for pleasant hunting-grounds, a large supply of
+squaws, lots of papooses, and all other Indian comforts.
+
+“Finally the good priest interrupted him (as you did me, Mr. President),
+exclaiming, ‘Stop, my son! You have discharged your Christian duty, and
+have done more than enough.’
+
+“‘Oh, no, father,’ replied the Indian; ‘let me pray! I want to burn him
+down to the stump!”
+
+
+
+
+HAD A “KICK” COMING.
+
+During the war, one of the Northern Governors, who was able, earnest
+and untiring in aiding the administration, but always complaining,
+sent dispatch after dispatch to the War Office, protesting against
+the methods used in raising troops. After reading all his papers,
+the President said, in a cheerful and reassuring tone to the
+Adjutant-General:
+
+“Never mind, never mind; those dispatches don’t mean anything. Just go
+right ahead. The Governor is like a boy I once saw at a launching. When
+everything was ready, they picked out a boy and sent him under the ship
+to knock away the trigger and let her go.
+
+“At the critical moment everything depended on the boy. He had to do the
+job well by a direct, vigorous blow, and then lie flat and keep still
+while the boat slid over him.
+
+“The boy did everything right, but he yelled as if he were being
+murdered from the time he got under the keel until he got out. I thought
+the hide was all scraped off his back, but he wasn’t hurt at all.
+
+“The master of the yard told me that this boy was always chosen for that
+job; that he did his work well; that he never had been hurt, but that he
+always squealed in that way.
+
+“That’s just the way with Governor--. Make up your mind that he is not
+hurt, and that he is doing the work right, and pay no attention to his
+squealing. He only wants to make you understand how hard his task is,
+and that he is on hand performing it.”
+
+
+
+
+THE CASE OF BETSY ANN DOUGHERTY.
+
+Many requests and petitions made to Mr. Lincoln when he was President
+were ludicrous and trifling, but he always entered into them with that
+humor-loving spirit that was such a relief from the grave duties of his
+great office.
+
+Once a party of Southerners called on him in behalf of one Betsy Ann
+Dougherty. The spokesman, who was an ex-Governor, said:
+
+“Mr. President, Betsy Ann Dougherty is a good woman. She lived in my
+county and did my washing for a long time. Her husband went off and
+joined the rebel army, and I wish you would give her a protection
+paper.” The solemnity of this appeal struck Mr. Lincoln as uncommonly
+ridiculous.
+
+The two men looked at each other--the Governor desperately earnest, and
+the President masking his humor behind the gravest exterior. At last
+Mr. Lincoln asked, with inimitable gravity, “Was Betsy Ann a good
+washerwoman?” “Oh, yes, sir, she was, indeed.”
+
+“Was your Betsy Ann an obliging woman?” “Yes, she was certainly very
+kind,” responded the Governor, soberly. “Could she do other things than
+wash?” continued Mr. Lincoln with the same portentous gravity.
+
+“Oh, yes; she was very kind--very.”
+
+“Where is Betsy Ann?”
+
+“She is now in New York, and wants to come back to Missouri, but she is
+afraid of banishment.”
+
+“Is anybody meddling with her?”
+
+“No; but she is afraid to come back unless you will give her a
+protection paper.”
+
+Thereupon Mr. Lincoln wrote on a visiting card the following:
+
+“Let Betsy Ann Dougherty alone as long as she behaves herself.
+
+“A. LINCOLN.”
+
+He handed this card to her advocate, saying, “Give this to Betsy Ann.”
+
+“But, Mr. President, couldn’t you write a few words to the officers that
+would insure her protection?”
+
+“No,” said Mr. Lincoln, “officers have no time now to read letters. Tell
+Betsy Ann to put a string in this card and hang it around her neck. When
+the officers see this, they will keep their hands off your Betsy Ann.”
+
+
+
+
+HAD TO WEAR A WOODEN SWORD.
+
+Captain “Abe” Lincoln and his company (in the Black Hawk War) were
+without any sort of military knowledge, and both were forced to acquire
+such knowledge by attempts at drilling. Which was the more awkward, the
+“squad” or the commander, it would have been difficult to decide.
+
+In one of Lincoln’s earliest military problems was involved the process
+of getting his company “endwise” through a gate. Finally he shouted,
+“This company is dismissed for two minutes, when it will fall in again
+on the other side of the gate!”
+
+Lincoln was one of the first of his company to be arraigned for
+unmilitary conduct. Contrary to the rules he fired a gun “within the
+limits,” and had his sword taken from him. The next infringement of
+rules was by some of the men, who stole a quantity of liquor, drank it,
+and became unfit for duty, straggling out of the ranks the next day, and
+not getting together again until late at night.
+
+For allowing this lawlessness the captain was condemned to wear a wooden
+sword for two days. These were merely interesting but trivial incidents
+of the campaign. Lincoln was from the very first popular with his men,
+although one of them told him to “go to the devil.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” STIRRING THE “BLACK” COALS.
+
+Under the caption, “The American Difficulty,” “Punch” printed on May
+11th, 1861, the cartoon reproduced here. The following text was placed
+beneath the illustration: PRESIDENT ABE: “What a nice White House this
+would be, if it were not for the blacks!” It was the idea in England,
+and, in fact, in all the countries on the European continent, that
+the War of the Rebellion was fought to secure the freedom of the negro
+slaves. Such was not the case. The freedom of the slaves was one of
+the necessary consequences of the Civil War, but not the cause of that
+bloody four years’ conflict. The War was the result of the secession of
+the states of the South from the Union, and President “Abe’s” main aim
+was to compel the seceding states to resume their places in the Federal
+Union of states.
+
+The blacks did not bother President “Abe” in the least as he knew he
+would be enabled to give them their freedom when the proper time came.
+He had the project of freeing them in his mind long before he issued his
+Emancipation Proclamation, the delay in promulgating that document
+being due to the fact that he did not wish to estrange the hundreds of
+thousands of patriots of the border states who were fighting for the
+preservation of the Union, and not for the freedom of the negro slaves.
+President “Abe” had patience, and everything came out all right in the
+end.
+
+
+
+
+GETTING RID OF AN ELEPHANT.
+
+Charles A. Dana, who was Assistant Secretary of War under Mr. Stanton,
+relates the following: A certain Thompson had been giving the government
+considerable trouble. Dana received information that Thompson was about
+to escape to Liverpool.
+
+Calling upon Stanton, Dana was referred to Mr. Lincoln.
+
+“The President was at the White House, business hours were over, Lincoln
+was washing his hands. ‘Hallo, Dana,’ said he, as I opened the door,
+‘what is it now?’ ‘Well, sir,’ I said, ‘here is the Provost Marshal of
+Portland, who reports that Jacob Thompson is to be in town to-night,
+and inquires what orders we have to give.’ ‘What does Stanton say?’
+he asked. ‘Arrest him,’ I replied. ‘Well,’ he continued, drawling his
+words, ‘I rather guess not. When you have an elephant on your hands, and
+he wants to run away, better let him run.’”
+
+
+
+
+GROTESQUE, YET FRIGHTFUL.
+
+The nearest Lincoln ever came to a fight was when he was in the vicinity
+of the skirmish at Kellogg’s Grove, in the Black Hawk War. The rangers
+arrived at the spot after the engagement and helped bury the five men
+who were killed.
+
+Lincoln told Noah Brooks, one of his biographers, that he “remembered
+just how those men looked as we rode up the little hill where their camp
+was. The red light of the morning sun was streaming upon them as they
+lay, heads toward us, on the ground. And every man had a round, red spot
+on the top of his head about as big as a dollar, where the redskins had
+taken his scalp. It was frightful, but it was grotesque; and the red
+sunlight seemed to paint everything all over.”
+
+Lincoln paused, as if recalling the vivid picture, and added, somewhat
+irrelevantly, “I remember that one man had on buckskin breeches.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” WAS NO DUDE.
+
+Always indifferent in matters of dress, Lincoln cut but small figure in
+social circles, even in the earliest days of Illinois. His trousers were
+too short, his hat too small, and, as a rule, the buttons on the back of
+his coat were nearer his shoulder blades than his waist.
+
+No man was richer than his fellows, and there was no aristocracy;
+the women wore linsey-woolsey of home manufacture, and dyed them in
+accordance with the tastes of the wearers; calico was rarely seen, and a
+woman wearing a dress of that material was the envy of her sisters.
+
+There being no shoemakers the women wore moccasins, and the men made
+their own boots. A hunting shirt, leggins made of skins, buckskin
+breeches, dyed green, constituted an apparel no maiden could withstand.
+
+
+
+
+CHARACTERISTIC OF LINCOLN.
+
+One man who knew Lincoln at New Salem, says the first time he saw him he
+was lying on a trundle-bed covered with books and papers and rocking a
+cradle with his foot.
+
+The whole scene was entirely characteristic--Lincoln reading and
+studying, and at the same time helping his landlady by quieting her
+child.
+
+A gentleman who knew Mr. Lincoln well in early manhood says: “Lincoln at
+this period had nothing but plenty of friends.”
+
+After the customary hand-shaking on one occasion in the White House at
+Washington several gentlemen came forward and asked the President for
+his autograph. One of them gave his name as “Cruikshank.” “That reminds
+me,” said Mr. Lincoln, “of what I used to be called when a young
+man--‘Long-shanks!’”
+
+
+
+
+“PLOUGH ALL ‘ROUND HIM.”
+
+Governor Blank went to the War Department one day in a towering rage:
+
+“I suppose you found it necessary to make large concessions to him, as
+he returned from you perfectly satisfied,” suggested a friend.
+
+“Oh, no,” the President replied, “I did not concede anything. You have
+heard how that Illinois farmer got rid of a big log that was too big to
+haul out, too knotty to split, and too wet and soggy to burn.
+
+“‘Well, now,’ said he, in response to the inquiries of his neighbors
+one Sunday, as to how he got rid of it, ‘well, now, boys, if you won’t
+divulge the secret, I’ll tell you how I got rid of it--I ploughed around
+it.’
+
+“Now,” remarked Lincoln, in conclusion, “don’t tell anybody, but that’s
+the way I got rid of Governor Blank. I ploughed all round him, but it
+took me three mortal hours to do it, and I was afraid every minute he’d
+see what I was at.”
+
+
+
+
+“I’VE LOST MY APPLE.”
+
+During a public “reception,” a farmer from one of the border counties
+of Virginia told the President that the Union soldiers, in passing his
+farm, had helped themselves not only to hay, but his horse, and he
+hoped the President would urge the proper officer to consider his claim
+immediately.
+
+Mr. Lincoln said that this reminded him of an old acquaintance of his,
+“Jack” Chase, a lumberman on the Illinois, a steady, sober man, and the
+best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick to take the logs over
+the rapids; but he was skilful with a raft, and always kept her straight
+in the channel. Finally a steamer was put on, and “Jack” was made
+captain of her. He always used to take the wheel, going through the
+rapids. One day when the boat was plunging and wallowing along the
+boiling current, and “Jack’s” utmost vigilance was being exercised to
+keep her in the narrow channel, a boy pulled his coat-tail and hailed
+him with:
+
+“Say, Mister Captain! I wish you would just stop your boat a
+minute--I’ve lost my apple overboard!”
+
+
+
+
+LOST HIS CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER.
+
+Mr. Lincoln prepared his first inaugural address in a room over a
+store in Springfield. His only reference works were Henry Clay’s
+great compromise speech of 1850, Andrew Jackson’s Proclamation against
+Nullification, Webster’s great reply to Hayne, and a copy of the
+Constitution.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, to be inaugurated, the inaugural
+address was placed in a special satchel and guarded with special care.
+At Harrisburg the satchel was given in charge of Robert T. Lincoln, who
+accompanied his father. Before the train started from Harrisburg the
+precious satchel was missing. Robert thought he had given it to a waiter
+at the hotel, but a long search failed to reveal the missing satchel
+with its precious document. Lincoln was annoyed, angry, and finally in
+despair. He felt certain that the address was lost beyond recovery, and,
+as it only lacked ten days until the inauguration, he had no time to
+prepare another. He had not even preserved the notes from which the
+original copy had been written.
+
+Mr. Lincoln went to Ward Lamon, his former law partner, then one of his
+bodyguards, and informed him of the loss in the following words:
+
+“Lamon, I guess I have lost my certificate of moral character, written
+by myself. Bob has lost my gripsack containing my inaugural address.” Of
+course, the misfortune reminded him of a story.
+
+“I feel,” said Mr. Lincoln, “a good deal as the old member of the
+Methodist Church did when he lost his wife at the camp meeting, and
+went up to an old elder of the church and asked him if he could tell him
+whereabouts in h--l his wife was. In fact, I am in a worse fix than my
+Methodist friend, for if it were only a wife that were missing, mine
+would be sure to bob up somewhere.”
+
+The clerk at the hotel told Mr. Lincoln that he would probably find his
+missing satchel in the baggage-room. Arriving there, Mr. Lincoln saw a
+satchel which he thought was his, and it was passed out to him. His key
+fitted the lock, but alas! when it was opened the satchel contained
+only a soiled shirt, some paper collars, a pack of cards and a bottle of
+whisky. A few minutes later the satchel containing the inaugural address
+was found among the pile of baggage.
+
+The recovery of the address also reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story, which
+is thus narrated by Ward Lamon in his “Recollections of Abraham Lincoln”:
+
+The loss of the address and the search for it was the subject of a great
+deal of amusement. Mr. Lincoln said many funny things in connection with
+the incident. One of them was that he knew a fellow once who had saved
+up fifteen hundred dollars, and had placed it in a private banking
+establishment. The bank soon failed, and he afterward received ten per
+cent of his investment. He then took his one hundred and fifty dollars
+and deposited it in a savings bank, where he was sure it would be safe.
+In a short time this bank also failed, and he received at the final
+settlement ten per cent on the amount deposited. When the fifteen
+dollars was paid over to him, he held it in his hand and looked at it
+thoughtfully; then he said, “Now, darn you, I have got you reduced to a
+portable shape, so I’ll put you in my pocket.” Suiting the action to the
+word, Mr. Lincoln took his address from the bag and carefully placed
+it in the inside pocket of his vest, but held on to the satchel with
+as much interest as if it still contained his “certificate of moral
+character.”
+
+
+
+
+NOTE PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT.
+
+The great English funny paper, London “Punch,” printed this cartoon on
+September 27th, 1862. It is intended to convey the idea that Lincoln,
+having asserted that the war would be over in ninety days, had not
+redeemed his word: The text under the Cartoon in Punch was:
+
+MR. SOUTH TO MR. NORTH: “Your ‘ninety-day’ promissory note isn’t taken
+up yet, sirree!”
+
+The tone of the cartoon is decidedly unfriendly. The North finally took
+up the note, but the South had to pay it. “Punch” was not pleased
+with the result, but “Mr. North” did not care particularly what this
+periodical thought about it. The United States, since then, has been
+prepared to take up all of its obligations when due, but it must be
+acknowledged that at the time this cartoon was published the outlook was
+rather dark and gloomy. Lincoln did not despair, however; but although
+business was in rather bad shape for a time, the financial skies finally
+cleared, business was resumed at the old stand, and Uncle Sam’s credit
+is now as good, or better, than other nations’ cash in hand.
+
+
+
+
+DOG WAS A “LEETLE BIT AHEAD.”
+
+Lincoln could not sympathize with those Union generals who were prone to
+indulge in high-sounding promises, but whose performances did not by any
+means come up to their predictions as to what they would do if they ever
+met the enemy face to face. He said one day, just after one of these
+braggarts had been soundly thrashed by the Confederates:
+
+“These fellows remind me of the fellow who owned a dog which, so he
+said, just hungered and thirsted to combat and eat up wolves. It was a
+difficult matter, so the owner declared, to keep that dog from devoting
+the entire twenty-four hours of each day to the destruction of his
+enemies. He just ‘hankered’ to get at them.
+
+“One day a party of this dog-owner’s friends thought to have some sport.
+These friends heartily disliked wolves, and were anxious to see the dog
+eat up a few thousand. So they organized a hunting party and invited
+the dog-owner and the dog to go with them. They desired to be personally
+present when the wolf-killing was in progress.
+
+“It was noticed that the dog-owner was not over-enthusiastic in the
+matter; he pleaded a ‘business engagement,’ but as he was the most
+notorious and torpid of the town loafers, and wouldn’t have recognized a
+‘business engagement’ had he met it face to face, his excuse was treated
+with contempt. Therefore he had to go.
+
+“The dog, however, was glad enough to go, and so the party started out.
+Wolves were in plenty, and soon a pack was discovered, but when the
+‘wolf-hound’ saw the ferocious animals he lost heart, and, putting his
+tail between his legs, endeavored to slink away. At last--after many
+trials--he was enticed into the small growth of underbrush where the
+wolves had secreted themselves, and yelps of terror betrayed the fact
+that the battle was on.
+
+“Away flew the wolves, the dog among them, the hunting party following
+on horseback. The wolves seemed frightened, and the dog was restored to
+public favor. It really looked as if he had the savage creatures on the
+run, as he was fighting heroically when last sighted.
+
+“Wolves and dog soon disappeared, and it was not until the party arrived
+at a distant farmhouse that news of the combatants was gleaned.
+
+“‘Have you seen anything of a wolf-dog and a pack of wolves around here?’
+was the question anxiously put to the male occupant of the house, who
+stood idly leaning upon the gate.
+
+“‘Yep,’ was the short answer.
+
+“‘How were they going?’
+
+“‘Purty fast.’
+
+“‘What was their position when you saw them?’
+
+“‘Well,’ replied the farmer, in a most exasperatingly deliberate way,
+‘the dog was a leetle bit ahead.’
+
+“Now, gentlemen,” concluded the President, “that’s the position in which
+you’ll find most of these bragging generals when they get into a fight
+with the enemy. That’s why I don’t like military orators.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE’S” FIGHT WITH NEGROES.
+
+When Lincoln was nineteen years of age, he went to work for a Mr.
+Gentry, and, in company with Gentry’s son, took a flatboat load of
+provisions to New Orleans. At a plantation six miles below Baton Rouge,
+while the boat was tied up to the shore in the dead hours of the night,
+and Abe and Allen were fast asleep in the bed, they were startled by
+footsteps on board. They knew instantly that it was a gang of negroes
+come to rob and perhaps murder them. Allen, thinking to frighten the
+negroes, called out, “Bring guns, Lincoln, and shoot them!” Abe came
+without the guns, but fell among the negroes with a huge bludgeon and
+belabored them most cruelly, following them onto the bank. They rushed
+back to their boat and hastily put out into the stream. It is said that
+Lincoln received a scar in this tussle which he carried with him to his
+grave. It was on this trip that he saw the workings of slavery for the
+first time. The sight of New Orleans was like a wonderful panorama
+to his eyes, for never before had he seen wealth, beauty, fashion
+and culture. He returned home with new and larger ideas and stronger
+opinions of right and justice.
+
+
+
+
+NOISE LIKE A TURNIP.
+
+“Every man has his own peculiar and particular way of getting at
+and doing things,” said President Lincoln one day, “and he is often
+criticised because that way is not the one adopted by others. The great
+idea is to accomplish what you set out to do. When a man is successful
+in whatever he attempts, he has many imitators, and the methods used are
+not so closely scrutinized, although no man who is of good intent will
+resort to mean, underhanded, scurvy tricks.
+
+“That reminds me of a fellow out in Illinois, who had better luck in
+getting prairie chickens than any one in the neighborhood. He had a
+rusty old gun no other man dared to handle; he never seemed to exert
+himself, being listless and indifferent when out after game, but he
+always brought home all the chickens he could carry, while some of
+the others, with their finely trained dogs and latest improved
+fowling-pieces, came home alone.
+
+“‘How is it, Jake?’ inquired one sportsman, who, although a good shot,
+and knew something about hunting, was often unfortunate, ‘that you never
+come home without a lot of birds?’
+
+“Jake grinned, half closed his eyes, and replied: ‘Oh, I don’t know that
+there’s anything queer about it. I jes’ go ahead an’ git ‘em.’
+
+“‘Yes, I know you do; but how do you do it?’
+
+“‘You’ll tell.’
+
+“‘Honest, Jake, I won’t say a word. Hope to drop dead this minute.’
+
+“‘Never say nothing, if I tell you?’
+
+“‘Cross my heart three times.’
+
+“This reassured Jake, who put his mouth close to the ear of his eager
+questioner, and said, in a whisper:
+
+“‘All you got to do is jes’ to hide in a fence corner an’ make a noise
+like a turnip. That’ll bring the chickens every time.’”
+
+
+
+
+WARDING OFF GOD’S VENGEANCE.
+
+When Lincoln was a candidate for re-election to the Illinois Legislature
+in 1836, a meeting was advertised to be held in the court-house in
+Springfield, at which candidates of opposing parties were to speak. This
+gave men of spirit and capacity a fine opportunity to show the stuff of
+which they were made.
+
+George Forquer was one of the most prominent citizens; he had been a
+Whig, but became a Democrat--possibly for the reason that by means of
+the change he secured the position of Government land register, from
+President Andrew Jackson. He had the largest and finest house in
+the city, and there was a new and striking appendage to it, called
+a lightning-rod! The meeting was very large. Seven Whig and seven
+Democratic candidates spoke.
+
+Lincoln closed the discussion. A Kentuckian (Joshua F. Speed), who had
+heard Henry Clay and other distinguished Kentucky orators, stood near
+Lincoln, and stated afterward that he “never heard a more effective
+speaker;... the crowd seemed to be swayed by him as he pleased.” What
+occurred during the closing portion of this meeting must be given in
+full, from Judge Arnold’s book:
+
+“Forquer, although not a candidate, asked to be heard for the Democrats,
+in reply to Lincoln. He was a good speaker, and well known throughout
+the county. His special task that day was to attack and ridicule the
+young countryman from Salem.
+
+“Turning to Lincoln, who stood within a few feet of him, he said:
+‘This young man must be taken down, and I am truly sorry that the task
+devolves upon me.’ He then proceeded, in a very overbearing way, and
+with an assumption of great superiority, to attack Lincoln and his
+speech. He was fluent and ready with the rough sarcasm of the stump, and
+he went on to ridicule the person, dress and arguments of Lincoln
+with so much success that Lincoln’s friends feared that he would be
+embarrassed and overthrown.”
+
+“The Clary’s Grove boys were present, and were restrained with difficulty
+from ‘getting up a fight’ in behalf of their favorite (Lincoln), they
+and all his friends feeling that the attack was ungenerous and unmanly.
+
+“Lincoln, however, stood calm, but his flashing eye and pale cheek
+indicated his indignation. As soon as Forquer had closed he took
+the stand, and first answered his opponent’s arguments fully and
+triumphantly. So impressive were his words and manner that a hearer
+(Joshua F. Speed) believes that he can remember to this day and repeat
+some of the expressions.
+
+“Among other things he said: ‘The gentleman commenced his speech by
+saying that “this young man,” alluding to me, “must be taken down.” I
+am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and the trades of a
+politician, but,’ said he, pointing to Forquer, ‘live long or die young,
+I would rather die now than, like the gentleman, change my politics,
+and with the change receive an office worth $3,000 a year, and then,’
+continued he, ‘feel obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house, to
+protect a guilty conscience from an offended God!’”
+
+
+
+
+JEFF DAVIS AND CHARLES THE FIRST.
+
+Jefferson Davis insisted on being recognized by his official title as
+commander or President in the regular negotiation with the Government.
+This Mr. Lincoln would not consent to.
+
+Mr. Hunter thereupon referred to the correspondence between King Charles
+the First and his Parliament as a precedent for a negotiation between
+a constitutional ruler and rebels. Mr. Lincoln’s face then wore that
+indescribable expression which generally preceded his hardest hits, and
+he remarked: “Upon questions of history, I must refer you to Mr. Seward,
+for he is posted in such things, and I don’t profess to be; but my only
+distinct recollection of the matter is, that Charles lost his head.”
+
+
+
+
+LOVED SOLDIERS’ HUMOR.
+
+Lincoln loved anything that savored of wit or humor among the soldiers.
+He used to relate two stories to show, he said, that neither death nor
+danger could quench the grim humor of the American soldier:
+
+“A soldier of the Army of the Potomac was being carried to the rear of
+battle with both legs shot off, who, seeing a pie-woman, called out,
+‘Say, old lady, are them pies sewed or pegged?’
+
+“And there was another one of the soldiers at the battle of
+Chancellorsville, whose regiment, waiting to be called into the fight,
+was taking coffee. The hero of the story put to his lips a crockery
+mug which he had carried with care through several campaigns. A stray
+bullet, just missing the tinker’s head, dashed the mug into fragments
+and left only the handle on his finger. Turning his head in that
+direction, he scowled, ‘Johnny, you can’t do that again!’”
+
+
+
+
+BAD TIME FOR A BARBECUE.
+
+Captain T. W. S. Kidd of Springfield was the crier of the court in the
+days when Mr. Lincoln used to ride the circuit.
+
+“I was younger than he,” says Captain Kidd, “but he had a sort of
+admiration for me, and never failed to get me into his stories. I was a
+story-teller myself in those days, and he used to laugh very heartily at
+some of the stories I told him.
+
+“Now and then he got me into a good deal of trouble. I was a Democrat,
+and was in politics more or less. A good many of our Democratic voters
+at that time were Irishmen. They came to Illinois in the days of the
+old canal, and did their honest share in making that piece of internal
+improvement an accomplished fact.
+
+“One time Mr. Lincoln told the story of one of those important young
+fellows--not an Irishman--who lived in every town, and have the cares
+of state on their shoulders. This young fellow met an Irishman on the
+street, and called to him, officiously: ‘Oh, Mike, I’m awful glad I
+met you. We’ve got to do something to wake up the boys. The campaign is
+coming on, and we’ve got to get out voters. We’ve just had a meeting up
+here, and we’re going to have the biggest barbecue that ever was heard
+of in Illinois. We are going to roast two whole oxen, and we’re going to
+have Douglas and Governor Cass and some one from Kentucky, and all the
+big Democratic guns, and we’re going to have a great big time.’
+
+“‘By dad, that’s good!’ says the Irishman. ‘The byes need stirrin’ up.’
+
+“‘Yes, and you’re on one of the committees, and you want to hustle
+around and get them waked up, Mike.’
+
+“‘When is the barbecue to be?’ asked Mike.
+
+“‘Friday, two weeks.’
+
+“‘Friday, is it? Well, I’ll make a nice committeeman, settin’ the
+barbecue on a day with half of the Dimocratic party of Sangamon county
+can’t ate a bite of mate. Go on wid ye.’
+
+“Lincoln told that story in one of his political speeches, and when the
+laugh was over he said: ‘Now, gentlemen, I know that story is true, for
+Tom Kidd told it to me.’ And then the Democrats would make trouble for
+me for a week afterward, and I’d have to explain.”
+
+
+
+
+HE’D SEE IT AGAIN.
+
+About two years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency he
+went to Bloomington, Illinois, to try a case of some importance. His
+opponent--who afterward reached a high place in his profession--was a
+young man of ability, sensible but sensitive, and one to whom the loss
+of a case was a great blow. He therefore studied hard and made much
+preparation.
+
+This particular case was submitted to the jury late at night, and,
+although anticipating a favorable verdict, the young attorney spent a
+sleepless night in anxiety. Early next morning he learned, to his great
+chagrin, that he had lost the case.
+
+Lincoln met him at the court-house some time after the jury had come in,
+and asked him what had become of his case.
+
+With lugubrious countenance and in a melancholy tone the young man
+replied, “It’s gone to hell.”
+
+“Oh, well,” replied Lincoln, “then you will see it again.”
+
+
+
+
+CALL ANOTHER WITNESS.
+
+When arguing a case in court, Mr. Lincoln never used a word which the
+dullest juryman could not understand. Rarely, if ever, did a Latin term
+creep into his arguments. A lawyer, quoting a legal maxim one day
+in court, turned to Lincoln, and said: “That is so, is it not, Mr.
+Lincoln?”
+
+“If that’s Latin.” Lincoln replied, “you had better call another
+witness.”
+
+
+
+
+A CONTEST WITH LITTLE “TAD.”
+
+Mr. Carpenter, the artist, relates the following incident: “Some
+photographers came up to the White House to make some stereoscopic
+studies for me of the President’s office. They requested a dark closet
+in which to develop the pictures, and, without a thought that I was
+infringing upon anybody’s rights, I took them to an unoccupied room of
+which little ‘Tad’ had taken possession a few days before, and, with
+the aid of a couple of servants, had fitted up a miniature theater, with
+stage, curtains, orchestra, stalls, parquette and all. Knowing that the
+use required would interfere with none of his arrangements, I led the
+way to this apartment.
+
+“Everything went on well, and one or two pictures had been taken, when
+suddenly there was an uproar. The operator came back to the office and
+said that ‘Tad’ had taken great offense at the occupation of his room
+without his consent, and had locked the door, refusing all admission.
+
+“The chemicals had been taken inside, and there was no way of getting at
+them, he having carried off the key. In the midst of this conversation
+‘Tad’ burst in, in a fearful passion. He laid all the blame upon
+me--said that I had no right to use his room, and the men should not go
+in even to get their things. He had locked the door and they should not
+go there again--‘they had no business in his room!’
+
+“Mr. Lincoln was sitting for a photograph, and was still in the chair.
+He said, very mildly, ‘Tad, go and unlock the door.’ Tad went off
+muttering into his mother’s room, refusing to obey. I followed him into
+the passage, but no coaxing would pacify him. Upon my return to the
+President, I found him still patiently in the chair, from which he had
+not risen. He said: ‘Has not the boy opened the door?’ I replied that we
+could do nothing with him--he had gone off in a great pet. Mr. Lincoln’s
+lips came together firmly, and then, suddenly rising, he strode across
+the passage with the air of one bent on punishment, and disappeared
+in the domestic apartments. Directly he returned with the key to the
+theater, which he unlocked himself.
+
+“‘Tad,’ said he, half apologetically, ‘is a peculiar child. He was
+violently excited when I went to him. I said, “Tad, do you know that you
+are making your father a great deal of trouble?” He burst into tears,
+instantly giving me up the key.’”
+
+
+
+
+REMINDED HIM OF “A LITTLE STORY.”
+
+When Lincoln’s attention was called to the fact that, at one time in
+his boyhood, he had spelled the name of the Deity with a small “g,” he
+replied:
+
+“That reminds me of a little story. It came about that a lot of
+Confederate mail was captured by the Union forces, and, while it was
+not exactly the proper thing to do, some of our soldiers opened several
+letters written by the Southerners at the front to their people at home.
+
+“In one of these missives the writer, in a postscript, jotted down this
+assertion:
+
+“‘We’ll lick the Yanks termorrer, if goddlemity (God Almighty) spares
+our lives.’
+
+“That fellow was in earnest, too, as the letter was written the day
+before the second battle of Manassas.”
+
+
+
+
+“FETCHED SEVERAL SHORT ONES.”
+
+“The first time I ever remember seeing ‘Abe’ Lincoln,” is the testimony
+of one of his neighbors, “was when I was a small boy and had gone with
+my father to attend some kind of an election. One of the neighbors,
+James Larkins, was there.
+
+“Larkins was a great hand to brag on anything he owned. This time it was
+his horse. He stepped up before ‘Abe,’ who was in a crowd, and commenced
+talking to him, boasting all the while of his animal.
+
+“‘I have got the best horse in the country,’ he shouted to his young
+listener. ‘I ran him nine miles in exactly three minutes, and he never
+fetched a long breath.’
+
+“‘I presume,’ said ‘Abe,’ rather dryly, ‘he fetched a good many short
+ones, though.’”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN LUGS THE OLD MAN.
+
+On May 3rd, 1862, “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper” printed this
+cartoon, over the title of “Sandbag Lincoln and the Old Man of the Sea,
+Secretary of the Navy Welles.” It was intended to demonstrate that the
+head of the Navy Department was incompetent to manage the affairs of the
+Navy; also that the Navy was not doing as good work as it might.
+
+When this cartoon was published, the United States Navy had cleared and
+had under control the Mississippi River as far south as Memphis;
+had blockaded all the cotton ports of the South; had assisted in the
+reduction of a number of Confederate forts; had aided Grant at Fort
+Donelson and the battle of Shiloh; the Monitor had whipped the ironclad
+terror, Merrimac (the Confederates called her the Virginia); Admiral
+Farragut’s fleet had compelled the surrender of the city of New Orleans,
+the great forts which had defended it, and the Federal Government
+obtained control of the lower Mississippi.
+
+“The Old Man of the Sea” was therefore, not a drag or a weight upon
+President Lincoln, and the Navy was not so far behind in making a good
+record as the picture would have the people of the world believe. It was
+not long after the Monitor’s victory that the United States Navy was
+the finest that ever plowed the seas. The building of the Monitor also
+revolutionized naval warfare.
+
+
+
+
+McCLELLAN WAS “INTRENCHING.”
+
+About a week after the Chicago Convention, a gentleman from New York
+called upon the President, in company with the Assistant Secretary of
+War, Mr. Dana.
+
+In the course of conversation, the gentleman said: “What do you think,
+Mr. President, is the reason General McClellan does not reply to the
+letter from the Chicago Convention?”
+
+“Oh!” replied Mr. Lincoln, with a characteristic twinkle of the eye, “he
+is intrenching!”
+
+
+
+
+MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT, ANYWAY.
+
+From the day of his nomination by the Chicago convention, gifts poured
+in upon Lincoln. Many of these came in the form of wearing apparel. Mr.
+George Lincoln, of Brooklyn, who brought to Springfield, in January,
+1861, a handsome silk hat to the President-elect, the gift of a New
+York hatter, told some friends that in receiving the hat Lincoln laughed
+heartily over the gifts of clothing, and remarked to Mrs. Lincoln:
+“Well, wife, if nothing else comes out of this scrape, we are going to
+have some new clothes, are we not?”
+
+
+
+
+VICIOUS OXEN HAVE SHORT HORNS.
+
+In speaking of the many mean and petty acts of certain members of
+Congress, the President, while talking on the subject one day with
+friends, said:
+
+“I have great sympathy for these men, because of their temper and their
+weakness; but I am thankful that the good Lord has given to the vicious
+ox short horns, for if their physical courage were equal to their
+vicious disposition, some of us in this neck of the woods would get
+hurt.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S NAME FOR “WEEPING WATER.”
+
+“I was speaking one time to Mr. Lincoln,” said Governor Saunders, “of
+Nebraska, of a little Nebraskan settlement on the Weeping Water, a
+stream in our State.”
+
+“‘Weeping Water!’ said he.
+
+“Then with a twinkle in his eye, he continued.
+
+“‘I suppose the Indians out there call Minneboohoo, don’t they? They
+ought to, if Laughing Water is Minnehaha in their language.’”
+
+
+
+
+PETER CARTWRIGHT’S DESCRIPTION OF LINCOLN.
+
+Peter Cartwright, the famous and eccentric old Methodist preacher, who
+used to ride a church circuit, as Mr. Lincoln and others did the court
+circuit, did not like Lincoln very well, probably because Mr. Lincoln
+was not a member of his flock, and once defeated the preacher for
+Congress. This was Cartwright’s description of Lincoln: “This Lincoln is
+a man six feet four inches tall, but so angular that if you should
+drop a plummet from the center of his head it would cut him three times
+before it touched his feet.”
+
+
+
+
+NO DEATHS IN HIS HOUSE.
+
+A gentleman was relating to the President how a friend of his had been
+driven away from New Orleans as a Unionist, and how, on his expulsion,
+when he asked to see the writ by which he was expelled, the deputation
+which called on him told him the Government would do nothing illegal,
+and so they had issued no illegal writs, and simply meant to make him go
+of his own free will.
+
+“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, “that reminds me of a hotel-keeper down at St.
+Louis, who boasted that he never had a death in his hotel, for whenever
+a guest was dying in his house he carried him out to die in the gutter.”
+
+
+
+
+PAINTED HIS PRINCIPLES.
+
+The day following the adjournment of the Baltimore Convention, at which
+President Lincoln was renominated, various political organizations
+called to pay their respects to the President. While the Philadelphia
+delegation was being presented, the chairman of that body, in
+introducing one of the members, said:
+
+“Mr. President, this is Mr. S., of the second district of our State,--a
+most active and earnest friend of yours and the cause. He has, among
+other things, been good enough to paint, and present to our league
+rooms, a most beautiful portrait of yourself.”
+
+President Lincoln took the gentleman’s hand in his, and shaking it
+cordially said, with a merry voice, “I presume, sir, in painting your
+beautiful portrait, you took your idea of me from my principles and not
+from my person.”
+
+
+
+
+DIGNIFYING THE STATUTE.
+
+Lincoln was married--he balked at the first date set for the ceremony
+and did not show up at all--November 4, 1842, under most happy auspices.
+The officiating clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Dresser, used the Episcopal
+church service for marriage. Lincoln placed the ring upon the bride’s
+finger, and said, “With this ring I now thee wed, and with all my
+worldly goods I thee endow.”
+
+Judge Thomas C. Browne, who was present, exclaimed, “Good gracious,
+Lincoln! the statute fixes all that!”
+
+“Oh, well,” drawled Lincoln, “I just thought I’d add a little dignity to
+the statute.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CAMPAIGN MOTTOES.
+
+The joint debates between Lincoln and Douglas were attended by crowds
+of people, and the arrival of both at the places of speaking were in the
+nature of a triumphal procession. In these processions there were many
+banners bearing catch-phrases and mottoes expressing the sentiment of the
+people on the candidates and the issues.
+
+The following were some of the mottoes on the Lincoln banners:
+
+     +----------------------------------------------------------+
+     |Westward the star of empire takes its way;                |
+     |The girls link on to Lincoln, their mothers were for Clay.|
+     +----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+                 +----------------------+
+                 |Abe, the Giant-Killer.|
+                 +----------------------+
+
+            +---------------------------------+
+            |Edgar County for the Tall Sucker.|
+            +---------------------------------+
+
+            +----------------------------------+
+            |Free Territories and Free Men,    |
+            |  Free Pulpits and Free Preachers,|
+            |Free Press and a Free Pen,        |
+            |  Free Schools and Free Teachers. |
+            +----------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+GIVING AWAY THE CASE.
+
+Between the first election and inauguration of Mr. Lincoln the disunion
+sentiment grew rapidly in the South, and President Buchanan’s failure to
+stop the open acts of secession grieved Mr. Lincoln sorely. Mr. Lincoln
+had a long talk with his friend, Judge Gillespie, over the state of
+affairs. One incident of the conversation is thus narrated by the Judge:
+
+“When I retired, it was the master of the house and chosen ruler of the
+country who saw me to my room. ‘Joe,’ he said, as he was about to leave
+me, ‘I am reminded and I suppose you will never forget that trial down
+in Montgomery county, where the lawyer associated with you gave away the
+whole case in his opening speech. I saw you signaling to him, but you
+couldn’t stop him.
+
+“‘Now, that’s just the way with me and Buchanan. He is giving away the
+case, and I have nothing to say, and can’t stop him. Good-night.’”
+
+
+
+
+POSING WITH A BROOMSTICK.
+
+Mr. Leonard Volk, the artist, relates that, being in Springfield when
+Lincoln’s nomination for President was announced, he called upon Mr.
+Lincoln, whom he found looking smiling and happy. “I exclaimed, ‘I
+am the first man from Chicago, I believe, who has had the honor of
+congratulating you on your nomination for President.’ Then those two
+great hands took both of mine with a grasp never to be forgotten,
+and while shaking, I said, ‘Now that you will doubtless be the next
+President of the United States, I want to make a statue of you, and
+shall try my best to do you justice.’
+
+“Said he, ‘I don’t doubt it, for I have come to the conclusion that you
+are an honest man,’ and with that greeting, I thought my hands in a fair
+way of being crushed.
+
+“On the Sunday following, by agreement, I called to make a cast of Mr.
+Lincoln’s hands. I asked him to hold something in his hands, and told
+him a stick would do. Thereupon he went to the woodshed, and I heard the
+saw go, and he soon returned to the dining-room, whittling off the end
+of a piece of broom handle. I remarked to him that he need not whittle
+off the edges. ‘Oh, well,’ said he, ‘I thought I would like to have it
+nice.’”
+
+
+
+
+“BOTH LENGTH AND BREADTH.”
+
+During Lincoln’s first and only term in Congress--he was elected in
+1846--he formed quite a cordial friendship with Stephen A. Douglas, a
+member of the United States Senate from Illinois, and the beaten one in
+the contest as to who should secure the hand of Miss Mary Todd. Lincoln
+was the winner; Douglas afterwards beat him for the United States
+Senate, but Lincoln went to the White House.
+
+During all of the time that they were rivals in love and in politics
+they remained the best of friends personally. They were always glad to
+see each other, and were frequently together. The disparity in their
+size was always the more noticeable upon such occasions, and they well
+deserved their nicknames of “Long Abe” and the “Little Giant.” Lincoln
+was the tallest man in the National House of Representatives, and
+Douglas the shortest (and perhaps broadest) man the Senate, and when
+they appeared on the streets together much merriment was created.
+Lincoln, when joked about the matter, replied, in a very serious tone,
+“Yes, that’s about the length and breadth of it.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” RECITES A SONG.
+
+Lincoln couldn’t sing, and he also lacked the faculty of musical
+adaptation. He had a liking for certain ballads and songs, and while he
+memorized and recited their lines, someone else did the singing. Lincoln
+often recited for the delectation of his friends, the following, the
+authorship of which is unknown:
+
+  The first factional fight in old Ireland, they say,
+  Was all on account of St. Patrick’s birthday;
+  It was somewhere about midnight without any doubt,
+  And certain it is, it made a great rout.
+
+  On the eighth day of March, as some people say,
+  St. Patrick at midnight he first saw the day;
+  While others assert ‘twas the ninth he was born--
+  ‘Twas all a mistake--between midnight and morn.
+
+  Some blamed the baby, some blamed the clock;
+  Some blamed the doctor, some the crowing cock.
+  With all these close questions sure no one could know,
+  Whether the babe was too fast or the clock was too slow.
+
+  Some fought for the eighth, for the ninth some would die;
+  He who wouldn’t see right would have a black eye.
+  At length these two factions so positive grew,
+  They each had a birthday, and Pat he had two.
+
+  Till Father Mulcahay who showed them their sins,
+  He said none could have two birthdays but as twins.
+  “Now boys, don’t be fighting for the eight or the nine;
+  Don’t quarrel so always, now why not combine.”
+
+  Combine eight with nine. It is the mark;
+  Let that be the birthday. Amen! said the clerk.
+  So all got blind drunk, which completed their bliss,
+  And they’ve kept up the practice from that day to this.
+
+
+
+
+“MANAGE TO KEEP HOUSE.”
+
+Senator John Sherman, of Ohio, introduced his brother, William T.
+Sherman (then a civilian) to President Lincoln in March, 1861. Sherman
+had offered his services, but, as in the case of Grant, they had been
+refused.
+
+After the Senator had transacted his business with the President, he
+said: “Mr. President, this is my brother, Colonel Sherman, who is just
+up from Louisiana; he may give you some information you want.”
+
+To this Lincoln replied, as reported by Senator Sherman himself: “Ah!
+How are they getting along down there?”
+
+Sherman answered: “They think they are getting along swimmingly; they
+are prepared for war.”
+
+To which Lincoln responded: “Oh, well, I guess we’ll manage to keep the
+house.”
+
+“Tecump,” whose temper was not the mildest, broke out on “Brother John”
+ as soon as they were out of the White House, cursed the politicians
+roundly, and wound up with, “You have got things in a h--l of a fix, and
+you may get out as best you can.”
+
+Sherman was one of the very few generals who gave Lincoln little or no
+worry.
+
+
+
+
+GRANT “TUMBLED” RIGHT AWAY.
+
+General Grant told this story about Lincoln some years after the War:
+
+“Just after receiving my commission as lieutenant-general the President
+called me aside to speak to me privately. After a brief reference to
+the military situation, he said he thought he could illustrate what he
+wanted to say by a story. Said he:
+
+“‘At one time there was a great war among the animals, and one side had
+great difficulty in getting a commander who had sufficient confidence in
+himself. Finally they found a monkey by the name of Jocko, who said he
+thought he could command their army if his tail could be made a little
+longer. So they got more tail and spliced it on to his caudal appendage.
+
+“‘He looked at it admiringly, and then said he thought he ought to
+have still more tail. This was added, and again he called for more. The
+splicing process was repeated many times until they had coiled Jocko’s
+tail around the room, filling all the space.
+
+“‘Still he called for more tail, and, there being no other place to coil
+it, they began wrapping it around his shoulders. He continued his call
+for more, and they kept on winding the additional tail around him until
+its weight broke him down.’
+
+“I saw the point, and, rising from my chair, replied, ‘Mr. President, I
+will not call for any more assistance unless I find it impossible to do
+with what I already have.’”
+
+
+
+
+“DON’T KILL HIM WITH YOUR FIST.”
+
+Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln’s time in
+Washington, was a powerful man; his strength was phenomenal, and a
+blow from his fist was like unto that coming from the business end of a
+sledge.
+
+Lamon tells this story, the hero of which is not mentioned by name, but
+in all probability his identity can be guessed:
+
+“On one occasion, when the fears of the loyal element of the city
+(Washington) were excited to fever-heat, a free fight near the old
+National Theatre occurred about eleven o’clock one night. An officer,
+in passing the place, observed what was going on, and seeing the great
+number of persons engaged, he felt it to be his duty to command the
+peace.
+
+“The imperative tone of his voice stopped the fighting for a moment, but
+the leader, a great bully, roughly pushed back the officer and told him
+to go away or he would whip him. The officer again advanced and said,
+‘I arrest you,’ attempting to place his hand on the man’s shoulder, when
+the bully struck a fearful blow at the officer’s face.
+
+“This was parried, and instantly followed by a blow from the fist of the
+officer, striking the fellow under the chin and knocking him senseless.
+Blood issued from his mouth, nose and ears. It was believed that the
+man’s neck was broken. A surgeon was called, who pronounced the case a
+critical one, and the wounded man was hurried away on a litter to the
+hospital.
+
+“There the physicians said there was concussion of the brain, and that
+the man would die. All the medical skill that the officer could procure
+was employed in the hope of saving the life of the man. His
+conscience smote him for having, as he believed, taken the life of a
+fellow-creature, and he was inconsolable.
+
+“Being on terms of intimacy with the President, about two o’clock that
+night the officer went to the White House, woke up Mr. Lincoln, and
+requested him to come into his office, where he told him his story. Mr.
+Lincoln listened with great interest until the narrative was completed,
+and then asked a few questions, after which he remarked:
+
+“‘I am sorry you had to kill the man, but these are times of war, and
+a great many men deserve killing. This one, according to your story,
+is one of them; so give yourself no uneasiness about the matter. I will
+stand by you.’
+
+“‘That is not why I came to you. I knew I did my duty, and had no fears
+of your disapproval of what I did,’ replied the officer; and then he
+added: ‘Why I came to you was, I felt great grief over the unfortunate
+affair, and I wanted to talk to you about it.’
+
+“Mr. Lincoln then said, with a smile, placing his hand on the officer’
+shoulder: ‘You go home now and get some sleep; but let me give you this
+piece of advice--hereafter, when you have occasion to strike a man,
+don’t hit him with your fist; strike him with a club, a crowbar, or with
+something that won’t kill him.’”
+
+
+
+
+COULD BE ARBITRARY.
+
+Lincoln could be arbitrary when occasion required. This is the letter he
+wrote to one of the Department heads:
+
+“You must make a job of it, and provide a place for the bearer of this,
+Elias Wampole. Make a job of it with the collector and have it done. You
+can do it for me, and you must.”
+
+There was no delay in taking action in this matter. Mr. Wampole, or
+“Eli,” as he was thereafter known, “got there.”
+
+
+
+
+A GENERAL BUSTIFICATION.
+
+Many amusing stories are told of President Lincoln and his gloves. At
+about the time of his third reception he had on a tight-fitting pair of
+white kids, which he had with difficulty got on. He saw approaching in
+the distance an old Illinois friend named Simpson, whom he welcomed with
+a genuine Sangamon county (Illeenoy) shake, which resulted in bursting
+his white kid glove, with an audible sound. Then, raising his brawny
+hand up before him, looking at it with an indescribable expression, he
+said, while the whole procession was checked, witnessing this scene:
+
+“Well, my old friend, this is a general bustification. You and I were
+never intended to wear these things. If they were stronger they might do
+well enough to keep out the cold, but they are a failure to shake hands
+with between old friends like us. Stand aside, Captain, and I’ll see you
+shortly.”
+
+Simpson stood aside, and after the unwelcome ceremony was terminated he
+rejoined his old Illinois friend in familiar intercourse.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING QUARTERMASTERS.
+
+H. C. Whitney wrote in 1866: “I was in Washington in the Indian service
+for a few days before August, 1861, and I merely said to President
+Lincoln one day: ‘Everything is drifting into the war, and I guess you
+will have to put me in the army.’
+
+“The President looked up from his work and said, good-humoredly:
+‘I’m making generals now; in a few days I will be making quartermasters,
+and then I’ll fix you.’”
+
+
+
+
+NO POSTMASTERS IN HIS POCKET.
+
+In the “Diary of a Public Man” appears this jocose anecdote:
+
+“Mr. Lincoln walked into the corridor with us; and, as he bade us
+good-by and thanked Blank for what he had told him, he again brightened
+up for a moment and asked him in an abrupt kind of way, laying his hand
+as he spoke with a queer but not uncivil familiarity on his shoulder,
+‘You haven’t such a thing as a postmaster in your pocket, have you?’
+
+“Blank stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in alarm, as
+if he suspected a sudden attack of insanity; then Mr. Lincoln went on:
+
+‘You see it seems to me kind of unnatural that you shouldn’t have at
+least a postmaster in your pocket. Everybody I’ve seen for days past has
+had foreign ministers and collectors, and all kinds, and I thought you
+couldn’t have got in here without having at least a postmaster get into
+your pocket!’”
+
+
+
+
+HE “SKEWED” THE LINE.
+
+When a surveyor, Mr. Lincoln first platted the town of Petersburg, Ill.
+Some twenty or thirty years afterward the property-owners along one
+of the outlying streets had trouble in fixing their boundaries. They
+consulted the official plat and got no relief. A committee was sent
+to Springfield to consult the distinguished surveyor, but he failed to
+recall anything that would give them aid, and could only refer them to
+the record. The dispute therefore went into the courts. While the trial
+was pending, an old Irishman named McGuire, who had worked for some
+farmer during the summer, returned to town for the winter. The case
+being mentioned in his presence, he promptly said: “I can tell you all
+about it. I helped carry the chain when Abe Lincoln laid out this
+town. Over there where they are quarreling about the lines, when he was
+locating the street, he straightened up from his instrument and said:
+‘If I run that street right through, it will cut three or four feet off
+the end of ----‘s house. It’s all he’s got in the world and he never
+could get another. I reckon it won’t hurt anything out here if I skew
+the line a little and miss him.”’
+
+The line was “skewed,” and hence the trouble, and more testimony
+furnished as to Lincoln’s abounding kindness of heart, that would not
+willingly harm any human being.
+
+
+
+
+“WHEREAS,” HE STOLE NOTHING.
+
+One of the most celebrated courts-martial during the War was that
+of Franklin W. Smith and his brother, charged with defrauding the
+government. These men bore a high character for integrity. At this time,
+however, courts-martial were seldom invoked for any other purpose than
+to convict the accused, and the Smiths shared the usual fate of persons
+whose cases were submitted to such arbitrament. They were kept in
+prison, their papers seized, their business destroyed, and their
+reputations ruined, all of which was followed by a conviction.
+
+The finding of the court was submitted to the President, who, after a
+careful investigation, disapproved the judgment, and wrote the following
+endorsement upon the papers:
+
+“Whereas, Franklin W. Smith had transactions with the Navy Department to
+the amount of a million and a quarter of dollars; and:
+
+“Whereas, he had a chance to steal at least a quarter of a million
+and was only charged with stealing twenty-two hundred dollars, and the
+question now is about his stealing one hundred, I don’t believe he stole
+anything at all.
+
+“Therefore, the record and the findings are disapproved, declared null
+and void, and the defendants are fully discharged.”
+
+
+
+
+NOT LIKE THE POPE’S BULL.
+
+President Lincoln, after listening to the arguments and appeals of a
+committee which called upon him at the White House not long before the
+Emancipation Proclamation was issued, said:
+
+“I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will see must
+necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope’s bull against the comet.”
+
+
+
+
+COULD HE TELL?
+
+A “high” private of the One Hundred and Fortieth Infantry Regiment,
+Pennsylvania Volunteers, wounded at Chancellorsville, was taken to
+Washington. One day, as he was becoming convalescent, a whisper ran down
+the long row of cots that the President was in the building and would
+soon pass by. Instantly every boy in blue who was able arose, stood
+erect, hands to the side, ready to salute his Commander-in-Chief.
+
+The Pennsylvanian stood six feet seven inches in his stockings. Lincoln
+was six feet four. As the President approached this giant towering above
+him, he stopped in amazement, and casting his eyes from head to foot
+and from foot to head, as if contemplating the immense distance from one
+extremity to the other, he stood for a moment speechless.
+
+At length, extending his hand, he exclaimed, “Hello, comrade, do you
+know when your feet get cold?”
+
+
+
+
+DARNED UNCOMFORTABLE SITTING.
+
+“Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper” of March 2nd, 1861, two days
+previous to the inauguration of President-elect Lincoln, contained the
+caricature reproduced here. It was intended to convey the idea that
+the National Administration would thereafter depend upon the support
+of bayonets to uphold it, and the text underneath the picture ran as
+follows:
+
+OLD ABE: “Oh, it’s all well enough to say that I must support the
+dignity of my high office by force--but it’s darned uncomfortable
+sitting, I can tell yer.”
+
+This journal was not entirely friendly to the new Chief Magistrate, but
+it could not see into the future. Many of the leading publications of
+the East, among them some of those which condemned slavery and were
+opposed to secession, did not believe Lincoln was the man for the
+emergency, but instead of doing what they could do to help him along,
+they attacked him most viciously. No man, save Washington, was more
+brutally lied about than Lincoln, but he bore all the slurs and thrusts,
+not to mention the open, cruel antagonism of those who should have been
+his warmest friends, with a fortitude and patience few men have ever
+shown. He was on the right road, and awaited the time when his course
+should receive the approval it merited.
+
+
+
+
+“WHAT’S-HIS-NAME” GOT THERE.
+
+General James B. Fry told a good one on Secretary of War Stanton,
+who was worsted in a contention with the President. Several
+brigadier-generals were to be selected, and Lincoln maintained that
+“something must be done in the interest of the Dutch.” Many complaints
+had come from prominent men, born in the Fatherland, but who were
+fighting for the Union.
+
+“Now, I want Schimmelpfennig given one of those brigadierships.”
+
+Stanton was stubborn and headstrong, as usual, but his manner and tone
+indicated that the President would have his own way in the end. However,
+he was not to be beaten without having made a fight.
+
+“But, Mr. President,” insisted the Iron War Secretary, “it may be that
+this Mr. Schim--what’s-his-name--has no recommendations showing his
+fitness. Perhaps he can’t speak English.”
+
+“That doesn’t matter a bit, Stanton,” retorted Lincoln, “he may be deaf
+and dumb for all I know, but whatever language he speaks, if any, we can
+furnish troops who will understand what he says. That name of his will
+make up for any differences in religion, politics or understanding, and
+I’ll take the risk of his coming out all right.”
+
+Then, slamming his great hand upon the Secretary’s desk, he said,
+“Schim-mel-fen-nig must be appointed.”
+
+And he was, there and then.
+
+
+
+
+A REALLY GREAT GENERAL.
+
+“Do you know General A--?” queried the President one day to a friend who
+had “dropped in” at the White House.
+
+“Certainly; but you are not wasting any time thinking about him, are
+you?” was the rejoinder.
+
+“You wrong him,” responded the President, “he is a really great man, a
+philosopher.”
+
+“How do you make that out? He isn’t worth the powder and ball necessary
+to kill him so I have heard military men say,” the friend remarked.
+
+“He is a mighty thinker,” the President returned, “because he has
+mastered that ancient and wise admonition, ‘Know thyself;’ he has formed
+an intimate acquaintance with himself, knows as well for what he is
+fitted and unfitted as any man living. Without doubt he is a remarkable
+man. This War has not produced another like him.”
+
+“How is it you are so highly pleased with General A---- all at once?”
+
+“For the reason,” replied Mr. Lincoln, with a merry twinkle of the
+eye, “greatly to my relief, and to the interests of the country, he has
+resigned. The country should express its gratitude in some substantial
+way.”
+
+
+
+
+“SHRUNK UP NORTH.”
+
+There was no member of the Cabinet from the South when Attorney-General
+Bates handed in his resignation, and President Lincoln had a great deal
+of trouble in making a selection. Finally Titian F. Coffey consented to
+fill the vacant place for a time, and did so until the appointment of
+Mr. Speed.
+
+In conversation with Mr. Coffey the President quaintly remarked:
+
+“My Cabinet has shrunk up North, and I must find a Southern man. I
+suppose if the twelve Apostles were to be chosen nowadays, the shrieks
+of locality would have to be heeded.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN ADOPTED THE SUGGESTION.
+
+It is not generally known that President Lincoln adopted a suggestion
+made by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase in regard to the
+Emancipation Proclamation, and incorporated it in that famous document.
+
+After the President had read it to the members of the Cabinet he
+asked if he had omitted anything which should be added or inserted to
+strengthen it. It will be remembered that the closing paragraph of the
+Proclamation reads in this way:
+
+“And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted
+by the Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and
+the gracious favor of Almighty God!” President Lincoln’s draft of the
+paper ended with the word “mankind,” and the words, “and the gracious
+favor of Almighty God,” were those suggested by Secretary Chase.
+
+
+
+
+SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.
+
+It was the President’s overweening desire to accommodate all persons
+who came to him soliciting favors, but the opportunity was never offered
+until an untimely and unthinking disease, which possessed many of the
+characteristics of one of the most dreaded maladies, confined him to his
+bed at the White House.
+
+The rumor spread that the President was afflicted with this disease,
+while the truth was that it was merely a very mild attack of varioloid.
+The office-seekers didn’t know the facts, and for once the Executive
+Mansion was clear of them.
+
+One day, a man from the West, who didn’t read the papers, but wanted the
+postoffice in his town, called at the White House. The President,
+being then practically a well man, saw him. The caller was engaged in
+a voluble endeavor to put his capabilities in the most favorable light,
+when the President interrupted him with the remark that he would be
+compelled to make the interview short, as his doctor was due.
+
+“Why, Mr. President, are you sick?” queried the visitor.
+
+“Oh, nothing much,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “but the physician says he
+fears the worst.”
+
+“What worst, may I ask?”
+
+“Smallpox,” was the answer; “but you needn’t be scared. I’m only in the
+first stages now.”
+
+The visitor grabbed his hat, sprang from his chair, and without a word
+bolted for the door.
+
+“Don’t be in a hurry,” said the President placidly; “sit down and talk
+awhile.”
+
+“Thank you, sir; I’ll call again,” shouted the Westerner, as he
+disappeared through the opening in the wall.
+
+“Now, that’s the way with people,” the President said, when relating
+the story afterward. “When I can’t give them what they want, they’re
+dissatisfied, and say harsh things about me; but when I’ve something to
+give to everybody they scamper off.”
+
+
+
+
+TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS.
+
+An applicant for a sutlership in the army relates this story: “In the
+winter of 1864, after serving three years in the Union Army, and being
+honorably discharged, I made application for the post sutlership at
+Point Lookout. My father being interested, we made application to Mr.
+Stanton, the Secretary of War. We obtained an audience, and were ushered
+into the presence of the most pompous man I ever met. As I entered he
+waved his hand for me to stop at a given distance from him, and then put
+these questions, viz.:
+
+“‘Did you serve three years in the army?’
+
+“‘I did, sir.’
+
+“‘Were you honorably discharged?’
+
+“‘I was, sir.’
+
+“‘Let me see your discharge.’
+
+“I gave it to him. He looked it over, then said:
+
+‘Were you ever wounded?’ I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg,
+May 5, 1861.
+
+“He then said: ‘I think we can give this position to a soldier who has
+lost an arm or leg, he being more deserving; and he then said I looked
+hearty and healthy enough to serve three years more. He would not give
+me a chance to argue my case.
+
+“The audience was at an end. He waved his hand to me. I was then
+dismissed from the august presence of the Honorable Secretary of War.
+
+“My father was waiting for me in the hallway, who saw by my countenance
+that I was not successful. I said to my father:
+
+“‘Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us more satisfaction.’
+
+“He said it would do me no good, but we went over. Mr. Lincoln’s
+reception room was full of ladies and gentlemen when we entered.
+
+“My turn soon came. Lincoln turned to my father and said:
+
+“‘Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possible with your
+business, as it is growing late.’
+
+“My father then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him. Lincoln
+then said:
+
+“‘Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your business as quickly as
+possible.’
+
+“There was but one chair by Lincoln, so he motioned my father to sit,
+while I stood. My father stated the business to him as stated above. He
+then said:
+
+“‘Have you seen Mr. Stanton?’
+
+“We told him yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then said:
+
+“‘Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stanton’s business; I cannot interfere with
+him; he attends to all these matters and I am sorry I cannot help you.’
+
+“He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to revive our
+spirits. He succeeded well with my father, who was a Lincoln man, and
+who was a staunch Republican.
+
+“Mr. Lincoln then said:
+
+“‘Now, gentlemen, I will tell you, what it is; I have thousands of
+applications like this every day, but we cannot satisfy all for this
+reason, that these positions are like office seekers--there are too many
+pigs for the teats.’
+
+“The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed their
+handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But the joke of ‘Old Abe’
+put us all in a good humor. We then left the presence of the greatest
+and most just man who ever lived to fill the Presidential chair.’”
+
+
+
+
+GREELEY CARRIES LINCOLN TO THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
+
+No sooner was Abraham Lincoln made the candidate for the Presidency of
+the Republican Party, in 1860, than the opposition began to lampoon and
+caricature him. In the cartoon here reproduced, which is given the title
+of:
+
+“The Republican Party Going to the Right House,” Lincoln is represented
+as entering the Lunatic Asylum, riding on a rail, carried by
+Horace Greeley, the great Abolitionist; Lincoln, followed by his
+“fellow-cranks,” is assuring the latter that the millennium is “going to
+begin,” and that all requests will be granted.
+
+Lincoln’s followers are depicted as those men and women composing the
+“free love” element; those who want religion abolished; negroes, who
+want it understood that the white man has no rights his black brother is
+bound to respect; women suffragists, who demand that men be made subject
+to female authority; tramps, who insist upon free lodging-houses;
+criminals, who demand the right to steal from all they meet; and toughs,
+who want the police forces abolished, so that “the b’hoys” can “run
+wid de masheen,” and have “a muss” whenever they feel like it, without
+interference by the authorities.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST TIME HE SAW DOUGLAS.
+
+Speaking of his last meeting with Judge Douglas, Mr. Lincoln said:
+“One day Douglas came rushing in and said he had just got a telegraph
+dispatch from some friends in Illinois urging him to come out and help
+set things right in Egypt, and that he would go, or stay in Washington,
+just where I thought he could do the most good.
+
+“I told him to do as he chose, but that probably he could do best in
+Illinois. Upon that he shook hands with me, and hurried away to catch
+the next train. I never saw him again.”
+
+
+
+
+HURT HIS LEGS LESS.
+
+Lincoln was one of the attorneys in a case of considerable importance,
+court being held in a very small and dilapidated schoolhouse out in the
+country; Lincoln was compelled to stoop very much in order to enter
+the door, and the seats were so low that he doubled up his legs like a
+jackknife.
+
+Lincoln was obliged to sit upon a school bench, and just in front of him
+was another, making the distance between him and the seat in front of
+him very narrow and uncomfortable.
+
+His position was almost unbearable, and in order to carry out his
+preference which he secured as often as possible, and that was “to sit
+as near to the jury as convenient,” he took advantage of his discomfort
+and finally said to the Judge on the “bench”:
+
+“Your Honor, with your permission, I’ll sit up nearer to the gentlemen
+of the jury, for it hurts my legs less to rub my calves against the
+bench than it does to skin my shins.”
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE SHY OR GRAMMAR.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln had prepared his brief letter accepting the
+Presidential nomination he took it to Dr. Newton Bateman, the State
+Superintendent of Education.
+
+“Mr. Schoolmaster,” he said, “here is my letter of acceptance. I am
+not very strong on grammar and I wish you to see if it is all right. I
+wouldn’t like to have any mistakes in it.”.
+
+The doctor took the letter and after reading it, said:
+
+“There is only one change I should suggest, Mr. Lincoln, you have
+written ‘It shall be my care to not violate or disregard it in any
+part,’ you should have written ‘not to violate.’ Never split an
+infinitive, is the rule.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln took the manuscript, regarding it a moment with a puzzled
+air, “So you think I better put those two little fellows end to end, do
+you?” he said as he made the change.
+
+
+
+
+HIS FIRST SATIRICAL WRITING.
+
+Reuben and Charles Grigsby were married in Spencer county, Indiana, on
+the same day to Elizabeth Ray and Matilda Hawkins, respectively. They
+met the next day at the home of Reuben Grigsby, Sr., and held a double
+infare, to which most of the county was invited, with the exception of
+the Lincolns. This Abraham duly resented, and it resulted in his
+first attempt at satirical writing, which he called “The Chronicles of
+Reuben.”
+
+The manuscript was lost, and not recovered until 1865, when a house
+belonging to one of the Grigsbys was torn down. In the loft a boy found
+a roll of musty old papers, and was intently reading them, when he was
+asked what he was doing.
+
+“Reading a portion of the Scriptures that haven’t been revealed yet,”
+ was the response. This was Lincoln’s “Chronicles,” which is herewith
+given:
+
+“THE CHRONICLES OF REUBEN.”
+
+“Now, there was a man whose name was Reuben, and the same was very
+great in substance, in horses and cattle and swine, and a very great
+household.
+
+“It came to pass when the sons of Reuben grew up that they were desirous
+of taking to themselves wives, and, being too well known as to honor
+in their own country, they took a journey into a far country and there
+procured for themselves wives.
+
+“It came to pass also that when they were about to make the return home
+they sent a messenger before them to bear the tidings to their parents.
+
+“These, inquiring of the messenger what time their sons and wives would
+come, made a great feast and called all their kinsmen and neighbors in,
+and made great preparation.
+
+“When the time drew nigh, they sent out two men to meet the grooms and
+their brides, with a trumpet to welcome them, and to accompany them.
+
+“When they came near unto the house of Reuben, the father, the messenger
+came before them and gave a shout, and the whole multitude ran out with
+shouts of joy and music, playing on all kinds of instruments.
+
+“Some were playing on harps, some on viols, and some blowing on rams’
+horns.
+
+“Some also were casting dust and ashes toward Heaven, and chief among
+them all was Josiah, blowing his bugle and making sounds so great the
+neighboring hills and valleys echoed with the resounding acclamation.
+
+“When they had played and their harps had sounded till the grooms and
+brides approached the gates, Reuben, the father, met them and welcomed
+them to his house.
+
+“The wedding feast being now ready, they were all invited to sit down
+and eat, placing the bridegrooms and their brides at each end of the
+table.
+
+“Waiters were then appointed to serve and wait on the guests. When all
+had eaten and were full and merry, they went out again and played and
+sung till night.
+
+“And when they had made an end of feasting and rejoicing the multitude
+dispersed, each going to his own home.
+
+“The family then took seats with their waiters to converse while
+preparations were being made in two upper chambers for the brides and
+grooms.
+
+“This being done, the waiters took the two brides upstairs, placing one
+in a room at the right hand of the stairs and the other on the left.
+
+“The waiters came down, and Nancy, the mother, then gave directions to
+the waiters of the bridegrooms, and they took them upstairs, but placed
+them in the wrong rooms.
+
+“The waiters then all came downstairs.
+
+“But the mother, being fearful of a mistake, made inquiry of the
+waiters, and learning the true facts, took the light and sprang
+upstairs.
+
+“It came to pass she ran to one of the rooms and exclaimed, ‘O Lord,
+Reuben, you are with the wrong wife.’
+
+“The young men, both alarmed at this, ran out with such violence against
+each other, they came near knocking each other down.
+
+“The tumult gave evidence to those below that the mistake was certain.
+
+“At last they all came down and had a long conversation about who made
+the mistake, but it could not be decided.
+
+“So ended the chapter.”
+
+The original manuscript of “The Chronicles of Reuben” was last in the
+possession of Redmond Grigsby, of Rockport, Indiana. A newspaper which
+had obtained a copy of the “Chronicles,” sent a reporter to interview
+Elizabeth Grigsby, or Aunt Betsy, as she was called, and asked her about
+the famous manuscript and the mistake made at the double wedding.
+
+“Yes, they did have a joke on us,” said Aunt Betsy. “They said my man
+got into the wrong room and Charles got into my room. But it wasn’t so.
+Lincoln just wrote that for mischief. Abe and my man often laughed about
+that.”
+
+
+
+
+LIKELY TO DO IT.
+
+An officer, having had some trouble with General Sherman, being very
+angry, presented himself before Mr. Lincoln, who was visiting the camp,
+and said, “Mr. President, I have a cause of grievance. This morning I
+went to General Sherman and he threatened to shoot me.”
+
+“Threatened to shoot you?” asked Mr. Lincoln. “Well, (in a stage
+whisper) if I were you I would keep away from him; if he threatens to
+shoot, I would not trust him, for I believe he would do it.”
+
+
+
+
+“THE ENEMY ARE ‘OURN’”
+
+Early in the Presidential campaign of 1864, President Lincoln said one
+night to a late caller at the White House:
+
+“We have met the enemy and they are ‘ourn!’ I think the cabal of
+obstructionists ‘am busted.’ I feel certain that, if I live, I am going
+to be re-elected. Whether I deserve to be or not, it is not for me
+to say; but on the score even of remunerative chances for speculative
+service, I now am inspired with the hope that our disturbed country
+further requires the valuable services of your humble servant. ‘Jordan
+has been a hard road to travel,’ but I feel now that, notwithstanding
+the enemies I have made and the faults I have committed, I’ll be dumped
+on the right side of that stream.
+
+“I hope, however, that I may never have another four years of such
+anxiety, tribulation and abuse. My only ambition is and has been to put
+down the rebellion and restore peace, after which I want to resign
+my office, go abroad, take some rest, study foreign governments, see
+something of foreign life, and in my old age die in peace with all of
+the good of God’s creatures.”
+
+
+
+
+“AND--HERE I AM!”
+
+An old acquaintance of the President visited him in Washington. Lincoln
+desired to give him a place. Thus encouraged, the visitor, who was an
+honest man, but wholly inexperienced in public affairs or business,
+asked for a high office, Superintendent of the Mint.
+
+The President was aghast, and said: “Good gracious! Why didn’t he ask to
+be Secretary of the Treasury, and have done with it?”
+
+Afterward, he said: “Well, now, I never thought Mr.---- had anything
+more than average ability, when we were young men together. But, then, I
+suppose he thought the same thing about me, and--here I am!”
+
+
+
+
+SAFE AS LONG AS THEY WERE GOOD.
+
+At the celebrated Peace Conference, whereat there was much “pow-wow”
+ and no result, President Lincoln, in response to certain remarks by the
+Confederate commissioners, commented with some severity upon the conduct
+of the Confederate leaders, saying they had plainly forfeited all right
+to immunity from punishment for their treason.
+
+Being positive and unequivocal in stating his views concerning
+individual treason, his words were of ominous import. There was a pause,
+during which Commissioner Hunter regarded the speaker with a steady,
+searching look. At length, carefully measuring his words, Mr. Hunter
+said:
+
+“Then, Mr. President, if we understand you correctly, you think that
+we of the Confederacy have committed treason; are traitors to your
+Government; have forfeited our rights, and are proper subjects for the
+hangman. Is not that about what your words imply?”
+
+“Yes,” replied President Lincoln, “you have stated the proposition
+better than I did. That is about the size of it!”
+
+Another pause, and a painful one succeeded, and then Hunter, with a
+pleasant smile remarked:
+
+“Well, Mr. Lincoln, we have about concluded that we shall not be hanged
+as long as you are President--if we behave ourselves.”
+
+And Hunter meant what he said.
+
+
+
+
+“SMELT NO ROYALTY IN OUR CARRIAGE.”
+
+On one occasion, in going to meet an appointment in the southern part of
+the Sucker State--that section of Illinois called Egypt--Lincoln, with
+other friends, was traveling in the “caboose” of a freight train, when
+the freight was switched off the main track to allow a special train to
+pass.
+
+Lincoln’s more aristocratic rival (Stephen A. Douglas) was being
+conveyed to the same town in this special. The passing train was
+decorated with banners and flags, and carried a band of music, which was
+playing “Hail to the Chief.”
+
+As the train whistled past, Lincoln broke out in a fit of laughter, and
+said: “Boys, the gentleman in that car evidently smelt no royalty in our
+carriage.”
+
+
+
+
+HELL A MILE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
+
+Ward Lamon told this story of President Lincoln, whom he found one day
+in a particularly gloomy frame of mind. Lamon said:
+
+“The President remarked, as I came in, ‘I fear I have made Senator Wade,
+of Ohio, my enemy for life.’
+
+“‘How?’ I asked.
+
+“‘Well,’ continued the President, ‘Wade was here just now urging me
+to dismiss Grant, and, in response to something he said, I remarked,
+“Senator, that reminds me of a story.”’
+
+“‘What did Wade say?’ I inquired of the President.
+
+“‘He said, in a petulant way,’ the President responded, ‘“It is with
+you, sir, all story, story! You are the father of every military blunder
+that has been made during the war. You are on your road to hell, sir,
+with this government, by your obstinacy, and you are not a mile off this
+minute.”’
+
+“‘What did you say then?’
+
+“I good-naturedly said to him,’ the President replied, ‘“Senator, that
+is just about from here to the Capitol, is it not?” He was very angry,
+grabbed up his hat and cane, and went away.’”
+
+
+
+
+HIS “GLASS HACK”
+
+President Lincoln had not been in the White House very long before Mrs.
+Lincoln became seized with the idea that a fine new barouche was about
+the proper thing for “the first lady in the land.” The President did not
+care particularly about it one way or the other, and told his wife to
+order whatever she wanted.
+
+Lincoln forgot all about the new vehicle, and was overcome with
+astonishment one afternoon when, having acceded to Mrs. Lincoln’s desire
+to go driving, he found a beautiful barouche standing in front of the
+door of the White House.
+
+His wife watched him with an amused smile, but the only remark he made
+was, “Well, Mary, that’s about the slickest ‘glass hack’ in town, isn’t
+it?”
+
+
+
+
+LEAVE HIM KICKING.
+
+Lincoln, in the days of his youth, was often unfaithful to his Quaker
+traditions. On the day of election in 1840, word came to him that one
+Radford, a Democratic contractor, had taken possession of one of the
+polling places with his workmen, and was preventing the Whigs from
+voting. Lincoln started off at a gait which showed his interest in the
+matter in hand.
+
+He went up to Radford and persuaded him to leave the polls, remarking
+at the same time: “Radford, you’ll spoil and blow, if you live much
+longer.”
+
+Radford’s prudence prevented an actual collision, which, it is said,
+Lincoln regretted. He told his friend Speed he wanted Radford to show
+fight so that he might “knock him down and leave him kicking.”
+
+
+
+
+“WHO COMMENCED THIS FUSS?”
+
+President Lincoln was at all times an advocate of peace, provided it
+could be obtained honorably and with credit to the United States. As
+to the cause of the Civil War, which side of Mason and Dixon’s line was
+responsible for it, who fired the first shots, who were the aggressors,
+etc., Lincoln did not seem to bother about; he wanted to preserve the
+Union, above all things. Slavery, he was assured, was dead, but he
+thought the former slaveholders should be recompensed.
+
+To illustrate his feelings in the matter he told this story:
+
+“Some of the supporters of the Union cause are opposed to accommodate or
+yield to the South in any manner or way because the Confederates began
+the war; were determined to take their States out of the Union, and,
+consequently, should be held responsible to the last stage for whatever
+may come in the future. Now this reminds me of a good story I heard
+once, when I lived in Illinois.
+
+“A vicious bull in a pasture took after everybody who tried to cross the
+lot, and one day a neighbor of the owner was the victim. This man was a
+speedy fellow and got to a friendly tree ahead of the bull, but not in
+time to climb the tree. So he led the enraged animal a merry race around
+the tree, finally succeeding in seizing the bull by the tail.
+
+“The bull, being at a disadvantage, not able to either catch the man or
+release his tail, was mad enough to eat nails; he dug up the earth with
+his feet, scattered gravel all around, bellowed until you could hear
+him for two miles or more, and at length broke into a dead run, the man
+hanging onto his tail all the time.
+
+“While the bull, much out of temper, was legging it to the best of his
+ability, his tormentor, still clinging to the tail, asked, ‘Darn you,
+who commenced this fuss?’
+
+“It’s our duty to settle this fuss at the earliest possible moment, no
+matter who commenced it. That’s my idea of it.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE’S” LITTLE JOKE.
+
+When General W. T. Sherman, November 12th, 1864, severed all
+communication with the North and started for Savannah with his
+magnificent army of sixty thousand men, there was much anxiety for
+a month as to his whereabouts. President Lincoln, in response to an
+inquiry, said: “I know what hole Sherman went in at, but I don’t know
+what hole he’ll come out at.”
+
+Colonel McClure had been in consultation with the President one day,
+about two weeks after Sherman’s disappearance, and in this connection
+related this incident:
+
+“I was leaving the room, and just as I reached the door the President
+turned around, and, with a merry twinkling of the eye, inquired,
+‘McClure, wouldn’t you like to hear something from Sherman?’
+
+“The inquiry electrified me at the instant, as it seemed to imply that
+Lincoln had some information on the subject. I immediately answered,
+‘Yes, most of all, I should like to hear from Sherman.’
+
+“To this President Lincoln answered, with a hearty laugh: ‘Well, I’ll be
+hanged if I wouldn’t myself.’”
+
+
+
+
+WHAT SUMMER THOUGHT.
+
+Although himself a most polished, even a fastidious, gentleman, Senator
+Sumner never allowed Lincoln’s homely ways to hide his great qualities.
+He gave him a respect and esteem at the start which others accorded only
+after experience. The Senator was most tactful, too, in his dealings
+with Mrs. Lincoln, and soon had a firm footing in the household. That he
+was proud of this, perhaps a little boastful, there is no doubt.
+
+Lincoln himself appreciated this. “Sumner thinks he runs me,” he said,
+with an amused twinkle, one day.
+
+
+
+
+A USELESS DOG.
+
+When Hood’s army had been scattered into fragments, President Lincoln,
+elated by the defeat of what had so long been a menacing force on the
+borders of Tennessee was reminded by its collapse of the fate of a
+savage dog belonging to one of his neighbors in the frontier settlements
+in which he lived in his youth. “The dog,” he said, “was the terror of
+the neighborhood, and its owner, a churlish and quarrelsome fellow, took
+pleasure in the brute’s forcible attitude.
+
+“Finally, all other means having failed to subdue the creature, a man
+loaded a lump of meat with a charge of powder, to which was attached a
+slow fuse; this was dropped where the dreaded dog would find it, and the
+animal gulped down the tempting bait.
+
+“There was a dull rumbling, a muffled explosion, and fragments of the
+dog were seen flying in every direction. The grieved owner, picking up
+the shattered remains of his cruel favorite, said: ‘He was a good dog,
+but as a dog, his days of usefulness are over.’ Hood’s army was a good
+army,” said Lincoln, by way of comment, “and we were all afraid of it,
+but as an army, its usefulness is gone.”
+
+
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE “INFLUENCE” STORY.
+
+Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington, called one day on
+General Halleck, then Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, and,
+presuming upon a familiar acquaintance in California a few years since,
+solicited a pass outside of our lines to see a brother in Virginia,
+not thinking that he would meet with a refusal, as both his brother and
+himself were good Union men.
+
+“We have been deceived too often,” said General Halleck, “and I regret I
+can’t grant it.”
+
+Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of with
+the same result. Finally, he obtained an interview with Mr. Lincoln, and
+stated his case.
+
+“Have you applied to General Halleck?” inquired the President.
+
+“Yes, and met with a flat refusal,” said Judge B.
+
+“Then you must see Stanton,” continued the President.
+
+“I have, and with the same result,” was the reply.
+
+“Well, then,” said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, “I can do nothing; for you
+must know that I have very little influence with this Administration,
+although I hope to have more with the next.”
+
+
+
+
+FELT SORRY FOR BOTH.
+
+Many ladies attended the famous debates between Lincoln and Douglas, and
+they were the most unprejudiced listeners. “I can recall only one fact
+of the debates,” says Mrs. William Crotty, of Seneca, Illinois, “that
+I felt so sorry for Lincoln while Douglas was speaking, and then to my
+surprise I felt so sorry for Douglas when Lincoln replied.”
+
+The disinterested to whom it was an intellectual game, felt the power
+and charm of both men.
+
+
+
+
+WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
+
+“What made the deepest impression upon you?” inquired a friend one day,
+“when you stood in the presence of the Falls of Niagara, the greatest of
+natural wonders?”
+
+“The thing that struck me most forcibly when I saw the Falls,” Lincoln
+responded, with characteristic deliberation, “was, where in the world
+did all that water come from?”
+
+
+
+
+“LONG ABE” FOUR YEARS LONGER.
+
+The second election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency of the United
+States was the reward of his courage and genius bestowed upon him by the
+people of the Union States. General George B. McClellan was his opponent
+in 1864 upon the platform that “the War is a failure,” and carried but
+three States--New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. The States which did
+not think the War was a failure were those in New England, New York,
+Pennsylvania, all the Western commonwealths, West Virginia, Tennessee,
+Louisiana, Arkansas and the new State of Nevada, admitted into the Union
+on October 31st. President Lincoln’s popular majority over McClellan,
+who never did much toward making the War a success, was more than four
+hundred thousand. Underneath the cartoon reproduced here, from “Harper’s
+Weekly” of November 26th, 1864, were the words, “Long Abraham Lincoln a
+Little Longer.”
+
+But the beloved President’s time upon earth was not to be much longer,
+as he was assassinated just one month and ten days after his second
+inauguration. Indeed, the words, “a little longer,” printed below the
+cartoon, were strangely prophetic, although not intended to be such.
+
+The people of the United States had learned to love “Long Abe,” their
+affection being of a purely personal nature, in the main. No other Chief
+Executive was regarded as so sincerely the friend of the great mass of
+the inhabitants of the Republic as Lincoln. He was, in truth, one of
+“the common people,” having been born among them, and lived as one of
+them.
+
+Lincoln’s great height made him an easy subject for the cartoonist, and
+they used it in his favor as well as against him.
+
+
+
+
+“ALL SICKER’N YOUR MAN.”
+
+A Commissioner to the Hawaiian Islands was to be appointed, and eight
+applicants had filed their papers, when a delegation from the South
+appeared at the White House on behalf of a ninth. Not only was their
+man fit--so the delegation urged--but was also in bad health, and a
+residence in that balmy climate would be of great benefit to him.
+
+The President was rather impatient that day, and before the members of
+the delegation had fairly started in, suddenly closed the interview with
+this remark:
+
+“Gentlemen, I am sorry to say that there are eight other applicants for
+that place, and they are all ‘sicker’n’ your man.”
+
+
+
+
+EASIER TO EMPTY THE POTOMAC.
+
+An officer of low volunteer rank persisted in telling and re-telling his
+troubles to the President on a summer afternoon when Lincoln was tired
+and careworn.
+
+After listening patiently, he finally turned upon the man, and, looking
+wearily out upon the broad Potomac in the distance, said in a peremptory
+tone that ended the interview:
+
+“Now, my man, go away, go away. I cannot meddle in your case. I could as
+easily bail out the Potomac River with a teaspoon as attend to all the
+details of the army.”
+
+
+
+
+HE WANTED A STEADY HAND.
+
+When the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln by Secretary
+Seward, for the President’s signature, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped
+it in the ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held it
+a moment, then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little
+hesitation, he again took up the pen and went through the same movement
+as before. Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward and said:
+
+“I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning, and my right
+arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be
+for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I
+sign the Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say,
+‘He hesitated.’”
+
+He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and slowly, firmly
+wrote “Abraham Lincoln,” with which the whole world is now familiar.
+
+He then looked up, smiled, and said, “That will do.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN SAW STANTON ABOUT IT.
+
+Mr. Lovejoy, heading a committee of Western men, discussed an important
+scheme with the President, and the gentlemen were then directed to
+explain it to Secretary of War Stanton.
+
+Upon presenting themselves to the Secretary, and showing the President’s
+order, the Secretary said: “Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind?”
+
+“He did, sir.”
+
+“Then he is a d--d fool,” said the angry Secretary.
+
+“Do you mean to say that the President is a d--d fool?” asked Lovejoy,
+in amazement.
+
+“Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that.”
+
+The bewildered Illinoisan betook himself at once to the President and
+related the result of the conference.
+
+“Did Stanton say I was a d--d fool?” asked Lincoln at the close of the
+recital.
+
+“He did, sir, and repeated it.”
+
+After a moment’s pause, and looking up, the President said: “If Stanton
+said I was a d--d fool, then I must be one, for he is nearly always
+right, and generally says what he means. I will slip over and see him.”
+
+
+
+
+MRS. LINCOLN’S SURPRISE.
+
+A good story is told of how Mrs. Lincoln made a little surprise for her
+husband.
+
+In the early days it was customary for lawyers to go from one county to
+another on horseback, a journey which often required several weeks.
+On returning from one of these trips, late one night, Mr. Lincoln
+dismounted from his horse at the familiar corner and then turned to go
+into the house, but stopped; a perfectly unknown structure was before
+him. Surprised, and thinking there must be some mistake, he went across
+the way and knocked at a neighbor’s door. The family had retired, and so
+called out:
+
+“Who’s there?”
+
+“Abe Lincoln,” was the reply. “I am looking for my house. I thought it
+was across the way, but when I went away a few weeks ago there was only
+a one-story house there and now there is a two-story house in its place.
+I think I must be lost.”
+
+The neighbors then explained that Mrs. Lincoln had added another story
+during his absence. And Mr. Lincoln laughed and went to his remodeled
+house.
+
+
+
+
+MENACE TO THE GOVERNMENT.
+
+The persistence of office-seekers nearly drove President Lincoln wild.
+They slipped in through the half-opened doors of the Executive Mansion;
+they dogged his steps if he walked; they edged their way through the
+crowds and thrust their papers in his hands when he rode; and, taking it
+all in all, they well-nigh worried him to death.
+
+He once said that if the Government passed through the Rebellion without
+dismemberment there was the strongest danger of its falling a prey to
+the rapacity of the office-seeking class.
+
+“This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live without
+work, will finally test the strength of our institutions,” were the
+words he used.
+
+
+
+
+TROOPS COULDN’T FLY OVER IT.
+
+On April 20th a delegation from Baltimore appeared at the White House
+and begged the President that troops for Washington be sent around and
+not through Baltimore.
+
+President Lincoln replied, laughingly: “If I grant this concession, you
+will be back tomorrow asking that no troops be marched ‘around’ it.”
+
+The President was right. That afternoon, and again on Sunday and Monday,
+committees sought him, protesting that Maryland soil should not be
+“polluted” by the feet of soldiers marching against the South.
+
+The President had but one reply: “We must have troops, and as they can
+neither crawl under Maryland nor fly over it, they must come across it.”
+
+
+
+
+PAT WAS “FORNINST THE GOVERNMENT.”
+
+The Governor-General of Canada, with some of his principal officers,
+visited President Lincoln in the summer of 1864.
+
+They had been very troublesome in harboring blockade runners, and they
+were said to have carried on a large trade from their ports with the
+Confederates. Lincoln treated his guests with great courtesy.
+
+After a pleasant interview, the Governor, alluding to the coming
+Presidential election said, jokingly, but with a grain of sarcasm: “I
+understand Mr. President, that everybody votes in this country. If we
+remain until November, can we vote?”
+
+“You remind me,” replied the President, “of a countryman of yours, a
+green emigrant from Ireland. Pat arrived on election day, and perhaps
+was as eager as your Excellency to vote, and to vote early, and late and
+often.
+
+“So, upon landing at Castle Garden, he hastened to the nearest voting
+place, and as he approached, the judge who received the ballots
+inquired, ‘Who do you want to vote for? On which side are you?’ Poor Pat
+was embarrassed; he did not know who were the candidates. He stopped,
+scratched his head, then, with the readiness of his countrymen, he said:
+
+“‘I am forninst the Government, anyhow. Tell me, if your Honor plase:
+which is the rebellion side, and I’ll tell you haw I want to vote. In
+ould Ireland, I was always on the rebellion side, and, by Saint Patrick,
+I’ll do that same in America.’ Your Excellency,” said Mr. Lincoln,
+“would, I should think, not be at all at a loss on which side to vote!”
+
+
+
+
+“CAN’T SPARE THIS MAN.”
+
+One night, about eleven o’clock, Colonel A. K. McClure, whose intimacy
+with President Lincoln was so great that he could obtain admittance to
+the Executive Mansion at any and all hours, called at the White House to
+urge Mr. Lincoln to remove General Grant from command.
+
+After listening patiently for a long time, the President, gathering
+himself up in his chair, said, with the utmost earnestness:
+
+“I can’t spare this man; he fights!”
+
+In relating the particulars of this interview, Colonel McClure said:
+
+“That was all he said, but I knew that it was enough, and that Grant was
+safe in Lincoln’s hands against his countless hosts of enemies. The only
+man in all the nation who had the power to save Grant was Lincoln,
+and he had decided to do it. He was not influenced by any personal
+partiality for Grant, for they had never met.
+
+“It was not until after the battle of Shiloh, fought on the 6th and
+7th of April, 1862, that Lincoln was placed in a position to exercise a
+controlling influence in shaping the destiny of Grant. The first reports
+from the Shiloh battle-field created profound alarm throughout the
+entire country, and the wildest exaggerations were spread in a floodtide
+of vituperation against Grant.
+
+“The few of to-day who can recall the inflamed condition of public
+sentiment against Grant caused by the disastrous first day’s battle
+at Shiloh will remember that he was denounced as incompetent for his
+command by the public journals of all parties in the North, and with
+almost entire unanimity by Senators and Congressmen, regardless of
+political affinities.
+
+“I appealed to Lincoln for his own sake to remove Grant at once, and
+in giving my reasons for it I simply voiced the admittedly overwhelming
+protest from the loyal people of the land against Grant’s continuance in
+command.
+
+“I did not forget that Lincoln was the one man who never allowed
+himself to appear as wantonly defying public sentiment. It seemed to
+me impossible for him to save Grant without taking a crushing load of
+condemnation upon himself; but Lincoln was wiser than all those
+around him, and he not only saved Grant, but he saved him by such
+well-concerted effort that he soon won popular applause from those who
+were most violent in demanding Grant’s dismissal.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS TEETH CHATTERED.
+
+During the Lincoln-Douglas joint debates of 1858, the latter accused
+Lincoln of having, when in Congress, voted against the appropriation
+for supplies to be sent the United States soldiers in Mexico. In reply,
+Lincoln said: “This is a perversion of the facts. I was opposed to the
+policy of the administration in declaring war against Mexico; but
+when war was declared I never failed to vote for the support of
+any proposition looking to the comfort of our poor fellows who were
+maintaining the dignity of our flag in a war that I thought unnecessary
+and unjust.”
+
+He gradually became more and more excited; his voice thrilled and his
+whole frame shook. Sitting on the stand was O. B. Ficklin, who had
+served in Congress with Lincoln in 1847. Lincoln reached back, took
+Ficklin by the coat-collar, back of his neck, and in no gentle manner
+lifted him from his seat as if he had been a kitten, and roared:
+“Fellow-citizens, here is Ficklin, who was at that time in Congress with
+me, and he knows it is a lie.”
+
+He shook Ficklin until his teeth chattered. Fearing he would shake
+Ficklin’s head off, Ward Lamon grasped Lincoln’s hand and broke his
+grip.
+
+After the speaking was over, Ficklin, who had warm personal friendship
+with him, said: “Lincoln, you nearly shook all the Democracy out of me
+to-day.”
+
+
+
+
+“AARON GOT HIS COMMISSION.”
+
+President Lincoln was censured for appointing one that had zealously
+opposed his second term.
+
+He replied: “Well, I suppose Judge E., having been disappointed before,
+did behave pretty ugly, but that wouldn’t make him any less fit for the
+place; and I think I have Scriptural authority for appointing him.
+
+“You remember when the Lord was on Mount Sinai getting out a commission
+for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the mountain making a
+false god for the people to worship. Yet Aaron got his commission, you
+know.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND THE MINISTERS.
+
+At the time of Lincoln’s nomination, at Chicago, Mr. Newton Bateman,
+Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois, occupied
+a room adjoining and opening into the Executive Chamber at Springfield.
+Frequently this door was open during Mr. Lincoln’s receptions, and
+throughout the seven months or more of his occupation he saw him nearly
+every day. Often, when Mr. Lincoln was tired, he closed the door against
+all intruders, and called Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk. On
+one of these occasions, Mr. Lincoln took up a book containing canvass
+of the city of Springfield, in which he lived, showing the candidate
+for whom each citizen had declared it his intention to vote in the
+approaching election. Mr. Lincoln’s friends had, doubtless at his own
+request, placed the result of the canvass in his hands. This was towards
+the close of October, and only a few days before election. Calling Mr.
+Bateman to a seat by his side, having previously locked all the doors,
+he said:
+
+“Let us look over this book; I wish particularly to see how the
+ministers if Springfield are going to vote.” The leaves were turned, one
+by one, and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln frequently asked if
+this one and that one was not a minister, or an elder, or a member of
+such and such a church, and sadly expressed his surprise on receiving an
+affirmative answer. In that manner he went through the book, and then he
+closed it, and sat silently for some minutes regarding a memorandum in
+pencil which lay before him. At length he turned to Mr. Bateman, with a
+face full of sadness, and said:
+
+“Here are twenty-three ministers of different denominations, and all
+of them are against me but three, and here are a great many prominent
+members of churches, a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bateman,
+I am not a Christian--God knows I would be one--but I have carefully
+read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book,” and he drew forth
+a pocket New Testament.
+
+“These men well know,” he continued, “that I am for freedom in the
+Territories, freedom everywhere, as free as the Constitution and the
+laws will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this,
+and yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human
+bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me; I do
+not understand it at all.”
+
+Here Mr. Lincoln paused--paused for long minutes, his features
+surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked up and down the
+reception-room in the effort to retain or regain his self-possession.
+Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling voice and cheeks wet with
+tears:
+
+“I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see
+the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place
+and work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing,
+but Truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty
+is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them
+that a house divided against itself cannot stand; and Christ and Reason
+say the same, and they will find it so.
+
+“Douglas doesn’t care whether slavery is voted up or down, but God
+cares, and humanity cares, and I care; and with God’s help I shall
+not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come, and I shall be
+vindicated; and these men will find they have not read their Bible
+right.”
+
+Much of this was uttered as if he were speaking to himself, and with
+a sad, earnest solemnity of manner impossible to be described. After a
+pause he resumed:
+
+“Doesn’t it seem strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of this
+contest? No revelation could make it plainer to me that slavery or the
+Government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as
+I look at it, but for this rock on which I stand” (alluding to the
+Testament which he still held in his hand), “especially with the
+knowledge of how these ministers are going to vote. It seems as if God
+had borne with this thing (slavery) until the teachers of religion have
+come to defend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character
+and sanction; and now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of
+wrath will be poured out.”
+
+Everything he said was of a peculiarly deep, tender, and religious tone,
+and all was tinged with a touching melancholy. He repeatedly referred to
+his conviction that the day of wrath was at hand, and that he was to be
+an actor in the terrible struggle which would issue in the overthrow of
+slavery, although he might not live to see the end.
+
+After further reference to a belief in the Divine Providence and the
+fact of God in history, the conversation turned upon prayer. He freely
+stated his belief in the duty, privilege, and efficacy of prayer, and
+intimated, in no unmistakable terms, that he had sought in that way
+Divine guidance and favor. The effect of this conversation upon the
+mind of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lincoln profoundly
+respected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln had, in a quiet way,
+found a path to the Christian standpoint--that he had found God,
+and rested on the eternal truth of God. As the two men were about to
+separate, Mr. Bateman remarked:
+
+“I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this
+class of subjects; certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the
+sentiments you have expressed to me.”
+
+He replied quickly: “I know they are, but I think more on these subjects
+than upon all others, and I have done so for years; and I am willing you
+should know it.”
+
+
+
+
+HARDTACK BETTER THAN GENERALS.
+
+Secretary of War Stanton told the President the following story, which
+greatly amused the latter, as he was especially fond of a joke at the
+expense of some high military or civil dignitary.
+
+Stanton had little or no sense of humor.
+
+When Secretary Stanton was making a trip up the Broad River in North
+Carolina, in a tugboat, a Federal picket yelled out, “What have you got
+on board of that tug?”
+
+The severe and dignified answer was, “The Secretary of War and
+Major-General Foster.”
+
+Instantly the picket roared back, “We’ve got Major-Generals enough up
+here. Why don’t you bring us up some hardtack?”
+
+
+
+
+GOT THE PREACHER.
+
+A story told by a Cabinet member tended to show how accurately Lincoln
+could calculate political results in advance--a faculty which remained
+with him all his life.
+
+“A friend, who was a Democrat, had come to him early in the canvass and
+told him he wanted to see him elected, but did not like to vote against
+his party; still he would vote for him, if the contest was to be so
+close that every vote was needed.
+
+“A short time before the election Lincoln said to him: ‘I have got the
+preacher, and I don’t want your vote.’”
+
+
+
+
+BIG JOKE ON HALLECK.
+
+When General Halleck was Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, with
+headquarters at Washington, President Lincoln unconsciously played a big
+practical joke upon that dignified officer. The President had spent
+the night at the Soldiers’ Home, and the next morning asked Captain
+Derickson, commanding the company of Pennsylvania soldiers, which was
+the Presidential guard at the White House and the Home--wherever the
+President happened to be--to go to town with him.
+
+Captain Derickson told the story in a most entertaining way:
+
+“When we entered the city, Mr. Lincoln said he would call at General
+Halleck’s headquarters and get what news had been received from the
+army during the night. I informed him that General Cullum, chief aid to
+General Halleck, was raised in Meadville, and that I knew him when I was
+a boy.
+
+“He replied, ‘Then we must see both the gentlemen.’ When the carriage
+stopped, he requested me to remain seated, and said he would bring the
+gentlemen down to see me, the office being on the second floor. In a
+short time the President came down, followed by the other gentlemen.
+When he introduced them to me, General Cullum recognized and seemed
+pleased to see me.
+
+“In General Halleck I thought I discovered a kind of quizzical look,
+as much as to say, ‘Isn’t this rather a big joke to ask the
+Commander-in-Chief of the army down to the street to be introduced to a
+country captain?’”
+
+
+
+
+STORIES BETTER THAN DOCTORS.
+
+A gentleman, visiting a hospital at Washington, heard an occupant of one
+of the beds laughing and talking about the President, who had been there
+a short time before and gladdened the wounded with some of his stories.
+The soldier seemed in such good spirits that the gentleman inquired:
+
+“You must be very slightly wounded?”
+
+“Yes,” replied the brave fellow, “very slightly--I have only lost one
+leg, and I’d be glad enough to lose the other, if I could hear some more
+of ‘Old Abe’s’ stories.”
+
+
+
+
+SHORT, BUT EXCITING.
+
+William B. Wilson, employed in the telegraph office at the War
+Department, ran over to the White House one day to summon Mr. Lincoln.
+He described the trip back to the War Department in this manner:
+
+“Calling one of his two younger boys to join him, we then started from
+the White House, between stately trees, along a gravel path which led to
+the rear of the old War Department building. It was a warm day, and Mr.
+Lincoln wore as part of his costume a faded gray linen duster which hung
+loosely around his long gaunt frame; his kindly eye was beaming with
+good nature, and his ever-thoughtful brow was unruffled.
+
+“We had barely reached the gravel walk before he stooped over, picked up
+a round smooth pebble, and shooting it off his thumb, challenged us to
+a game of ‘followings,’ which we accepted. Each in turn tried to hit
+the outlying stone, which was being constantly projected onward by
+the President. The game was short, but exciting; the cheerfulness
+of childhood, the ambition of young manhood, and the gravity of the
+statesman were all injected into it.
+
+“The game was not won until the steps of the War Department were
+reached. Every inch of progression was toughly contested, and when the
+President was declared victor, it was only by a hand span. He appeared
+to be as much pleased as if he had won a battle.”
+
+
+
+
+MR. BULL DIDN’T GET HIS COTTON.
+
+Because of the blockade, by the Union fleets, of the Southern cotton
+ports, England was deprived of her supply of cotton, and scores of
+thousands of British operatives were thrown out of employment by the
+closing of the cotton mills at Manchester and other cities in Great
+Britain. England (John Bull) felt so badly about this that the British
+wanted to go to war on account of it, but when the United States eagle
+ruffled up its wings the English thought over the business and concluded
+not to fight.
+
+“Harper’s Weekly” of May 16th, 1863, contained the cartoon we reproduce,
+which shows John Bull as manifesting much anxiety regarding the cotton
+he had bought from the Southern planters, but which the latter could not
+deliver. Beneath the cartoon is this bit of dialogue between John
+Bull and President Lincoln: MR. BULL (confiding creature): “Hi want my
+cotton, bought at fi’pence a pound.”
+
+MR. LINCOLN: “Don’t know anything about it, my dear sir. Your friends,
+the rebels, are burning all the cotton they can find, and I confiscate
+the rest. Good-morning, John!”
+
+As President Lincoln has a big fifteen-inch gun at his side, the black
+muzzle of which is pressed tightly against Mr. Bull’s waistcoat, the
+President, to all appearances, has the best of the argument “by a long
+shot.” Anyhow, Mr. Bull had nothing more to say, but gave the cotton
+matter up as a bad piece of business, and pocketed the loss.
+
+
+
+
+STICK TO AMERICAN PRINCIPLES.
+
+President Lincoln’s first conclusion (that Mason and Slidell should be
+released) was the real ground on which the Administration submitted. “We
+must stick to American principles concerning the rights of neutrals.” It
+was to many, as Secretary of the Treasury Chase declared it was to him,
+“gall and wormwood.” James Russell Lowell’s verse expressed best the
+popular feeling:
+
+We give the critters back, John, Cos Abram thought ‘twas right; It
+warn’t your bullyin’ clack, John, Provokin’ us to fight.
+
+The decision raised Mr. Lincoln immeasurably in the view of thoughtful
+men, especially in England.
+
+
+
+
+USED “RUDE TACT.”
+
+General John C. Fremont, with headquarters at St. Louis, astonished the
+country by issuing a proclamation declaring, among other things, that
+the property, real and personal, of all the persons in the State of
+Missouri who should take up arms against the United States, or who
+should be directly proved to have taken an active part with its enemies
+in the field, would be confiscated to public use and their slaves, if
+they had any, declared freemen.
+
+The President was dismayed; he modified that part of the proclamation
+referring to slaves, and finally replaced Fremont with General Hunter.
+
+Mrs. Fremont (daughter of Senator T. H. Benton), her husband’s real
+chief of staff, flew to Washington and sought Mr. Lincoln. It was
+midnight, but the President gave her an audience. Without waiting for an
+explanation, she violently charged him with sending an enemy to Missouri
+to look into Fremont’s case, and threatening that if Fremont desired to
+he could set up a government for himself.
+
+“I had to exercise all the rude tact I have to avoid quarreling with
+her,” said Mr. Lincoln afterwards.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” ON A WOODPILE.
+
+Lincoln’s attempt to make a lawyer of himself under adverse and
+unpromising circumstances--he was a bare-footed farm-hand--excited
+comment. And it was not to be wondered. One old man, who was yet alive
+as late as 1901, had often employed Lincoln to do farm work for him, and
+was surprised to find him one day sitting barefoot on the summit of a
+woodpile and attentively reading a book.
+
+“This being an unusual thing for farm-hands in that early day to do,”
+ said the old man, when relating the story, “I asked him what he was
+reading.
+
+“‘I’m not reading,’ he answered. ‘I’m studying.’
+
+“‘Studying what?’ I inquired.
+
+“‘Law, sir,’ was the emphatic response.
+
+“It was really too much for me, as I looked at him sitting there proud
+as Cicero. ‘Great God Almighty!’ I exclaimed, and passed on.” Lincoln
+merely laughed and resumed his “studies.”
+
+
+
+
+TAKING DOWN A DANDY.
+
+In a political campaign, Lincoln once replied to Colonel Richard Taylor,
+a self-conceited, dandified man, who wore a gold chain and ruffled
+shirt. His party at that time was posing as the hard-working bone and
+sinew of the land, while the Whigs were stigmatized as aristocrats,
+ruffled-shirt gentry. Taylor making a sweeping gesture, his overcoat
+became torn open, displaying his finery. Lincoln in reply said, laying
+his hand on his jeans-clad breast:
+
+“Here is your aristocrat, one of your silk-stocking gentry, at your
+service.” Then, spreading out his hands, bronzed and gaunt with toil:
+“Here is your rag-basin with lily-white hands. Yes, I suppose, according
+to my friend Taylor, I am a bloated aristocrat.”
+
+
+
+
+WHEN OLD ABE GOT MAD.
+
+Soon after hostilities broke out between the North and South, Congress
+appointed a Committee on the Conduct of the War. This committee beset
+Mr. Lincoln and urged all sorts of measures. Its members were aggressive
+and patriotic, and one thing they determined upon was that the Army of
+the Potomac should move. But it was not until March that they became
+convinced that anything would be done.
+
+One day early in that month, Senator Chandler, of Michigan, a member of
+the committee, met George W. Julian. He was in high glee. “‘Old’ Abe is
+mad,” said Julian, “and the War will now go on.”
+
+
+
+
+WANTED TO “BORROW” THE ARMY.
+
+During one of the periods when things were at a standstill, the
+Washington authorities, being unable to force General McClellan to
+assume an aggressive attitude, President Lincoln went to the general’s
+headquarters to have a talk with him, but for some reason he was unable
+to get an audience.
+
+Mr. Lincoln returned to the White House much disturbed at his failure
+to see the commander of the Union forces, and immediately sent for two
+general officers, to have a consultation. On their arrival, he told
+them he must have some one to talk to about the situation, and as he
+had failed to see General McClellan, he wished their views as to the
+possibility or probability of commencing active operations with the Army
+of the Potomac.
+
+“Something’s got to be done,” said the President, emphatically, “and
+done right away, or the bottom will fall out of the whole thing. Now, if
+McClellan doesn’t want to use the army for awhile, I’d like to borrow it
+from him and see if I can’t do something or other with it.
+
+“If McClellan can’t fish, he ought at least to be cutting bait at a time
+like this.”
+
+
+
+
+YOUNG “SUCKER” VISITORS.
+
+After Mr. Lincoln’s nomination for the Presidency, the Executive
+Chamber, a large, fine room in the State House at Springfield, was set
+apart for him, where he met the public until after his election.
+
+As illustrative of the nature of many of his calls, the following
+incident was related by Mr. Holland, an eye-witness: “Mr. Lincoln being
+in conversation with a gentleman one day, two raw, plainly-dressed young
+‘Suckers’ entered the room, and bashfully lingered near the door. As
+soon as he observed them, and saw their embarrassment, he rose and
+walked to them, saying: ‘How do you do, my good fellows? What can I do
+for you? Will you sit down?’ The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of
+the two, declined to sit, and explained the object of the call thus:
+He had had a talk about the relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his
+companion, and had asserted his belief that they were of exactly the
+same height. He had come in to verify his judgment. Mr. Lincoln smiled,
+went and got his cane, and, placing the end of it upon the wall, said”
+ ‘Here, young man, come under here.’ “The young man came under the
+cane as Mr. Lincoln held it, and when it was perfectly adjusted to his
+height, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+“‘Now, come out, and hold the cane.’
+
+“This he did, while Mr. Lincoln stood under. Rubbing his head back and
+forth to see that it worked easily under the measurement, he stepped
+out, and declared to the sagacious fellow who was curiously looking on,
+that he had guessed with remarkable accuracy--that he and the young man
+were exactly the same height. Then he shook hands with them and sent
+them on their way. Mr. Lincoln would just as soon have thought of
+cutting off his right hand as he would have thought of turning those
+boys away with the impression that they had in any way insulted his
+dignity.”
+
+
+
+
+“AND YOU DON’T WEAR HOOPSKIRTS.”
+
+An Ohio Senator had an appointment with President Lincoln at six
+o’clock, and as he entered the vestibule of the White House his
+attention was attracted toward a poorly clad young woman, who was
+violently sobbing. He asked her the cause of her distress. She said she
+had been ordered away by the servants, after vainly waiting many hours
+to see the President about her only brother, who had been condemned to
+death. Her story was this:
+
+She and her brother were foreigners, and orphans. They had been in this
+country several years. Her brother enlisted in the army, but, through
+bad influences, was induced to desert. He was captured, tried and
+sentenced to be shot--the old story.
+
+The poor girl had obtained the signatures of some persons who had
+formerly known him, to a petition for a pardon, and alone had come
+to Washington to lay the case before the President. Thronged as the
+waiting-rooms always were, she had passed the long hours of two days
+trying in vain to get an audience, and had at length been ordered away.
+
+The gentleman’s feelings were touched. He said to her that he had come
+to see the President, but did not know as he should succeed. He told
+her, however, to follow him upstairs, and he would see what could be
+done for her.
+
+Just before reaching the door, Mr. Lincoln came out, and, meeting his
+friend, said good-humoredly, “Are you not ahead of time?” The gentleman
+showed him his watch, with the hand upon the hour of six.
+
+“Well,” returned Mr. Lincoln, “I have been so busy to-day that I
+have not had time to get a lunch. Go in and sit down; I will be back
+directly.”
+
+The gentleman made the young woman accompany him into the office, and
+when they were seated, said to her: “Now, my good girl, I want you to
+muster all the courage you have in the world. When the President comes
+back, he will sit down in that armchair. I shall get up to speak to him,
+and as I do so you must force yourself between us, and insist upon his
+examination of your papers, telling him it is a case of life and death,
+and admits of no delay.” These instructions were carried out to the
+letter. Mr. Lincoln was at first somewhat surprised at the apparent
+forwardness of the young woman, but observing her distressed appearance,
+he ceased conversation with his friend, and commenced an examination of
+the document she had placed in his hands.
+
+Glancing from it to the face of the petitioner, whose tears had broken
+forth afresh, he studied its expression for a moment, and then his eye
+fell upon her scanty but neat dress. Instantly his face lighted up.
+
+“My poor girl,” said he, “you have come here with no Governor, or
+Senator, or member of Congress to plead your cause. You seem honest and
+truthful; and you don’t wear hoopskirts--and I will be whipped but I
+will pardon your brother.” And he did.
+
+
+
+
+LIEUTENANT TAD LINCOLN’S SENTINELS.
+
+President Lincoln’s favorite son, Tad, having been sportively
+commissioned a lieutenant in the United States Army by Secretary
+Stanton, procured several muskets and drilled the men-servants of the
+house in the manual of arms without attracting the attention of his
+father. And one night, to his consternation, he put them all on duty,
+and relieved the regular sentries, who, seeing the lad in full uniform,
+or perhaps appreciating the joke, gladly went to their quarters. His
+brother objected; but Tad insisted upon his rights as an officer. The
+President laughed but declined to interfere, but when the lad had lost
+his little authority in his boyish sleep, the Commander-in-Chief of the
+Army and Navy of the United States went down and personally discharged
+the sentries his son had put on the post.
+
+
+
+
+DOUGLAS HELD LINCOLN’S HAT.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln delivered his first inaugural he was introduced by his
+friend, United States Senator E. D. Baker, of Oregon. He carried a cane
+and a little roll--the manuscript of his inaugural address. There was
+moment’s pause after the introduction, as he vainly looked for a spot
+where he might place his high silk hat.
+
+Stephen A. Douglas, the political antagonist of his whole public life,
+the man who had pressed him hardest in the campaign of 1860, was seated
+just behind him. Douglas stepped forward quickly, and took the hat which
+Mr. Lincoln held helplessly in his hand.
+
+“If I can’t be President,” Douglas whispered smilingly to Mrs. Brown,
+a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln and a member of the President’s party, “I at
+least can hold his hat.”
+
+
+
+
+THE DEAD MAN SPOKE.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once said in a speech: “Fellow-citizens, my friend, Mr.
+Douglas, made the startling announcement to-day that the Whigs are all
+dead.
+
+“If that be so, fellow-citizens, you will now experience the novelty of
+hearing a speech from a dead man; and I suppose you might properly say,
+in the language of the old hymn:
+
+“‘Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound.’”
+
+
+
+
+MILITARY SNAILS NOT SPEEDY.
+
+President Lincoln--as he himself put it in conversation one day with a
+friend--“fairly ached” for his generals to “get down to business.” These
+slow generals he termed “snails.”
+
+Grant, Sherman and Sheridan were his favorites, for they were
+aggressive. They did not wait for the enemy to attack. Too many of the
+others were “lingerers,” as Lincoln called them. They were magnificent
+in defense, and stubborn and brave, but their names figured too much on
+the “waiting list.”
+
+The greatest fault Lincoln found with so many of the commanders on the
+Union side was their unwillingness to move until everything was exactly
+to their liking.
+
+Lincoln could not understand why these leaders of Northern armies
+hesitated.
+
+
+
+
+OUTRAN THE JACK-RABBIT.
+
+When the Union forces were routed in the first battle of Bull Run, there
+were many civilians present, who had gone out from Washington to witness
+the battle. Among the number were several Congressmen. One of these was
+a tall, long-legged fellow, who wore a long-tailed coat and a high plug
+hat. When the retreat began, this Congressman was in the lead of the
+entire crowd fleeing toward Washington. He outran all the rest, and was
+the first man to arrive in the city. No person ever made such good use
+of long legs as this Congressman. His immense stride carried him yards
+at every bound. He went over ditches and gullies at a single leap, and
+cleared a six-foot fence with a foot to spare. As he went over the fence
+his plug hat blew off, but he did not pause. With his long coat-tails
+flying in the wind, he continued straight ahead for Washington.
+
+Many of those behind him were scared almost to death, but the flying
+Congressman was such a comical figure that they had to laugh in spite of
+their terror.
+
+Mr. Lincoln enjoyed the description of how this Congressman led the race
+from Bull’s Run, and laughed at it heartily.
+
+“I never knew but one fellow who could run like that,” he said, “and
+he was a young man out in Illinois. He had been sparking a girl, much
+against the wishes of her father. In fact, the old man took such a
+dislike to him that he threatened to shoot him if he ever caught him
+around his premises again.
+
+“One evening the young man learned that the girl’s father had gone
+to the city, and he ventured out to the house. He was sitting in the
+parlor, with his arm around Betsy’s waist, when he suddenly spied the
+old man coming around the corner of the house with a shotgun. Leaping
+through a window into the garden, he started down a path at the top
+of his speed. He was a long-legged fellow, and could run like greased
+lightning. Just then a jack-rabbit jumped up in the path in front of
+him. In about two leaps he overtook the rabbit. Giving it a kick that
+sent it high in the air, he exclaimed: ‘Git out of the road, gosh dern
+you, and let somebody run that knows how.’
+
+“I reckon,” said Mr. Lincoln, “that the long-legged Congressman, when he
+saw the rebel muskets, must have felt a good deal like that young fellow
+did when he saw the old man’s shot-gun.”
+
+“FOOLING” THE PEOPLE.
+
+Lincoln was a strong believer in the virtue of dealing honestly with the
+people.
+
+“If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens,” he said
+to a caller at the White House, “you can never regain their respect and
+esteem.
+
+“It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can
+even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the
+people all the time.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE, YOU CAN’T PLAY THAT ON ME.”
+
+The night President-elect Lincoln arrived at Washington, one man was
+observed watching Lincoln very closely as he walked out of the railroad
+station. Standing a little to one side, the man looked very sharply at
+Lincoln, and, as the latter passed, seized hold of his hand, and said in
+a loud tone of voice, “Abe, you can’t play that on me!”
+
+Ward Lamon and the others with Lincoln were instantly alarmed, and would
+have struck the stranger had not Lincoln hastily said, “Don’t strike
+him! It is Washburne. Don’t you know him?”
+
+Mr. Seward had given Congressman Washburne a hint of the time the train
+would arrive, and he had the right to be at the station when the
+train steamed in, but his indiscreet manner of loudly addressing the
+President-elect might have led to serious consequences to the latter.
+
+
+
+
+HIS “BROAD” STORIES.
+
+Mrs. Rose Linder Wilkinson, who often accompanied her father, Judge
+Linder, in the days when he rode circuit with Mr. Lincoln, tells the
+following story:
+
+“At night, as a rule, the lawyers spent awhile in the parlor, and
+permitted the women who happened to be along to sit with them. But after
+half an hour or so we would notice it was time for us to leave them. I
+remember traveling the circuit one season when the young wife of one of
+the lawyers was with him. The place was so crowded that she and I were
+made to sleep together. When the time came for banishing us from the
+parlor, we went up to our room and sat there till bed-time, listening
+to the roars that followed each ether swiftly while those lawyers
+down-stairs told stories and laughed till the rafters rang.
+
+“In the morning Mr. Lincoln said to me: ‘Rose, did we disturb your sleep
+last night?’ I answered, ‘No, I had no sleep’--which was not entirely
+true but the retort amused him. Then the young lawyer’s wife complained
+to him that we were not fairly used. We came along with them, young
+women, and when they were having the best time we were sent away like
+children to go to bed in the dark.
+
+“‘But, Madame,’ said Mr. Lincoln, ‘you would not enjoy the things we
+laugh at.’ And then he entered into a discussion on what have been
+termed his ‘broad’ stories. He deplored the fact that men seemed to
+remember them longer and with less effort than any others.
+
+“My father said: ‘But, Lincoln, I don’t remember the “broad” part of
+your stories so much as I do the moral that is in them,’ and it was a
+thing in which they were all agreed.”
+
+
+
+
+SORRY FOR THE HORSES.
+
+When President Lincoln heard of the Confederate raid at Fairfax, in
+which a brigadier-general and a number of valuable horses were captured,
+he gravely observed:
+
+“Well, I am sorry for the horses.”
+
+“Sorry for the horses, Mr. President!” exclaimed the Secretary of
+War, raising his spectacles and throwing himself back in his chair in
+astonishment.
+
+“Yes,” replied Mr., Lincoln, “I can make a brigadier-general in five
+minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten horses.”
+
+
+
+
+MILD REBUKE TO A DOCTOR.
+
+Dr. Jerome Walker, of Brooklyn, told how Mr. Lincoln once administered
+to him a mild rebuke. The doctor was showing Mr. Lincoln through the
+hospital at City Point.
+
+“Finally, after visiting the wards occupied by our invalid and
+convalescing soldiers,” said Dr. Walker, “we came to three wards
+occupied by sick and wounded Southern prisoners. With a feeling of
+patriotic duty, I said: ‘Mr. President, you won’t want to go in there;
+they are only rebels.’
+
+“I will never forget how he stopped and gently laid his large hand upon
+my shoulder and quietly answered, ‘You mean Confederates!’ And I have
+meant Confederates ever since.
+
+“There was nothing left for me to do after the President’s remark but to
+go with him through these three wards; and I could not see but that he
+was just as kind, his hand-shakings just as hearty, his interest just as
+real for the welfare of the men, as when he was among our own soldiers.”
+
+
+
+
+COLD MOLASSES WAS SWIFTER.
+
+“Old Pap,” as the soldiers called General George H. Thomas, was
+aggravatingly slow at a time when the President wanted him to “get
+a move on”; in fact, the gallant “Rock of Chickamauga” was evidently
+entered in a snail-race.
+
+“Some of my generals are so slow,” regretfully remarked Lincoln one day,
+“that molasses in the coldest days of winter is a race horse compared to
+them.
+
+“They’re brave enough, but somehow or other they get fastened in a fence
+corner, and can’t figure their way out.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CALLS MEDILL A COWARD.
+
+Joseph Medill, for many years editor of the Chicago Tribune, not long
+before his death, told the following story regarding the “talking to”
+ President Lincoln gave himself and two other Chicago gentlemen who went
+to Washington to see about reducing Chicago’s quota of troops after the
+call for extra men was made by the President in 1864:
+
+“In 1864, when the call for extra troops came, Chicago revolted. She had
+already sent 22,000 troops up to that time, and was drained. When the
+call came there were no young men to go, and no aliens except what were
+bought. The citizens held a mass meeting and appointed three persons, of
+whom I was one, to go to Washington and ask Stanton to give Cook County
+a new enrollment. On reaching Washington, we went to Stanton with our
+statement. He refused entirely to give us the desired aid. Then we went
+to Lincoln. ‘I cannot do it,’ he said, ‘but I will go with you to the
+War Department, and Stanton and I will hear both sides.’
+
+“So we all went over to the War Department together. Stanton and General
+Frye were there, and they, of course, contended that the quota should
+not be changed. The argument went on for some time, and was finally
+referred to Lincoln, who had been sitting silently listening.
+
+“I shall never forget how he suddenly lifted his head and turned on us a
+black and frowning face.
+
+“‘Gentlemen,’ he said, in a voice full of bitterness, ‘after Boston,
+Chicago has been the chief instrument in bringing war on this country.
+The Northwest has opposed the South as New England has opposed the
+South. It is you who are largely responsible for making blood flow as it
+has.
+
+“‘You called for war until we had it. You called for Emancipation, and
+I have given it to you. Whatever you have asked, you have had. Now you
+come here begging to be let off from the call for men, which I have
+made to carry out the war which you demanded. You ought to be ashamed of
+yourselves. I have a right to expect better things of you.
+
+“‘Go home and raise your six thousand extra men. And you, Medill, you
+are acting like a coward. You and your Tribune have had more influence
+than any paper in the Northwest in making this war. You can influence
+great masses, and yet you cry to be spared at a moment when your cause
+is suffering. Go home and send us those men!’
+
+“I couldn’t say anything. It was the first time I ever was whipped, and
+I didn’t have an answer. We all got up and went out, and when the door
+closed one of my colleagues said:
+
+“‘Well, gentlemen, the old man is right. We ought to be ashamed of
+ourselves. Let us never say anything about this, but go home and raise
+the men.’
+
+“And we did--six thousand men--making twenty-eight thousand in the War
+from a city of one hundred and fifty-six thousand. But there might have
+been crape on every door, almost, in Chicago, for every family had lost
+a son or a husband. I lost two brothers. It was hard for the mothers.”
+
+
+
+
+THEY DIDN’T BUILD IT.
+
+In 1862 a delegation of New York millionaires waited upon President
+Lincoln to request that he furnish a gunboat for the protection of New
+York harbor.
+
+Mr. Lincoln, after listening patiently, said: “Gentlemen, the credit of
+the Government is at a very low ebb; greenbacks are not worth more than
+forty or fifty cents on the dollar; it is impossible for me, in the
+present condition of things, to furnish you a gunboat, and, in this
+condition of things, if I was worth half as much as you, gentlemen, are
+represented to be, and as badly frightened as you seem to be, I would
+build a gunboat and give it to the Government.”
+
+
+
+
+STANTON’S ABUSE OF LINCOLN.
+
+President Lincoln’s sense of duty to the country, together with his keen
+judgment of men, often led to the appointment of persons unfriendly to
+him. Some of these appointees were, as well, not loyal to the National
+Government, for that matter.
+
+Regarding Secretary of War Stanton’s attitude toward Lincoln, Colonel A.
+K. McClure, who was very close to President Lincoln, said:
+
+“After Stanton’s retirement from the Buchanan Cabinet when Lincoln
+was inaugurated, he maintained the closest confidential relations with
+Buchanan, and wrote him many letters expressing the utmost contempt for
+Lincoln, the Cabinet, the Republican Congress, and the general policy of
+the Administration.
+
+“These letters speak freely of the ‘painful imbecility of Lincoln,’
+of the ‘venality and corruption’ which ran riot in the government, and
+expressed the belief that no better condition of things was possible
+‘until Jeff Davis turns out the whole concern.’
+
+“He was firmly impressed for some weeks after the battle of Bull Run
+that the government was utterly overthrown, as he repeatedly refers to
+the coming of Davis into the National Capital.
+
+“In one letter he says that ‘in less than thirty days Davis will be in
+possession of Washington;’ and it is an open secret that Stanton advised
+the revolutionary overthrow of the Lincoln government, to be replaced by
+General McClellan as military dictator. These letters, bad as they are,
+are not the worst letters written by Stanton to Buchanan. Some of
+them were so violent in their expressions against Lincoln and the
+administration that they have been charitably withheld from the
+public, but they remain in the possession of the surviving relatives of
+President Buchanan.
+
+“Of course, Lincoln had no knowledge of the bitterness exhibited by
+Stanton to himself personally and to his administration, but if he had
+known the worst that Stanton ever said or wrote about him, I doubt
+not that he would have called him to the Cabinet in January, 1862. The
+disasters the army suffered made Lincoln forgetful of everything but the
+single duty of suppressing the rebellion.
+
+“Lincoln was not long in discovering that in his new Secretary of War he
+had an invaluable but most troublesome Cabinet officer, but he saw
+only the great and good offices that Stanton was performing for the
+imperilled Republic.
+
+“Confidence was restored in financial circles by the appointment of
+Stanton, and his name as War Minister did more to strengthen the faith
+of the people in the government credit than would have been probable
+from the appointment of any other man of that day.
+
+“He was a terror to all the hordes of jobbers and speculators and
+camp-followers whose appetites had been whetted by a great war, and he
+enforced the strictest discipline throughout our armies.
+
+“He was seldom capable of being civil to any officer away from the army
+on leave of absence unless he had been summoned by the government for
+conference or special duty, and he issued the strictest orders from time
+to time to drive the throng of military idlers from the capital and
+keep them at their posts. He was stern to savagery in his enforcement of
+military law. The wearied sentinel who slept at his post found no mercy
+in the heart of Stanton, and many times did Lincoln’s humanity overrule
+his fiery minister.
+
+“Any neglect of military duty was sure of the swiftest punishment, and
+seldom did he make even just allowance for inevitable military disaster.
+He had profound, unfaltering faith in the Union cause, and, above all,
+he had unfaltering faith in himself.
+
+“He believed that he was in all things except in name Commander-in-Chief
+of the armies and the navy of the nation, and it was with unconcealed
+reluctance that he at times deferred to the authority of the President.”
+
+
+
+
+THE NEGRO AND THE CROCODILE.
+
+In one of his political speeches, Judge Douglas made use of the
+following figure of speech: “As between the crocodile and the negro,
+I take the side of the negro; but as between the negro and the white
+man--I would go for the white man every time.”
+
+Lincoln, at home, noted that; and afterwards, when he had occasion
+to refer to the remark, he said: “I believe that this is a sort of
+proposition in proportion, which may be stated thus: ‘As the negro is
+to the white man, so is the crocodile to the negro; and as the negro may
+rightfully treat the crocodile as a beast or reptile, so the white man
+may rightfully treat the negro as a beast or reptile.’”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WAS READY TO FIGHT.
+
+On one occasion, Colonel Baker was speaking in a court-house, which had
+been a storehouse, and, on making some remarks that were offensive to
+certain political rowdies in the crowd, they cried: “Take him off the
+stand!”
+
+Immediate confusion followed, and there was an attempt to carry the
+demand into execution. Directly over the speaker’s head was an old
+skylight, at which it appeared Mr. Lincoln had been listening to the
+speech. In an instant, Mr. Lincoln’s feet came through the skylight,
+followed by his tall and sinewy frame, and he was standing by Colonel
+Baker’s side. He raised his hand and the assembly subsided into silence.
+“Gentlemen,” said Mr. Lincoln, “let us not disgrace the age and country
+in which we live. This is a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed.
+Mr. Baker has a right to speak, and ought to be permitted to do so. I am
+here to protect him, and no man shall take him from this stand if I can
+prevent it.” The suddenness of his appearance, his perfect calmness and
+fairness, and the knowledge that he would do what he had promised to do,
+quieted all disturbance, and the speaker concluded his remarks without
+difficulty.
+
+
+
+
+IT WAS UP-HILL WORK.
+
+Two young men called on the President from Springfield, Illinois.
+Lincoln shook hands with them, and asked about the crops, the weather,
+etc.
+
+Finally one of the young men said, “Mother is not well, and she sent me
+up to inquire of you how the suit about the Wells property is getting
+on.”
+
+Lincoln, in the same even tone with which he had asked the question,
+said: “Give my best wishes and respects to your mother, and tell her I
+have so many outside matters to attend to now that I have put that case,
+and others, in the hands of a lawyer friend of mine, and if you will
+call on him (giving name and address) he will give you the information
+you want.”
+
+After they had gone, a friend, who was present, said: “Mr. Lincoln, you
+did not seem to know the young men?”
+
+He laughed and replied: “No, I had never seen them before, and I had to
+beat around the bush until I found who they were. It was up-hill work,
+but I topped it at last.”
+
+
+
+
+LEE’S SLIM ANIMAL.
+
+President Lincoln wrote to General Hooker on June 5, 1863, warning
+Hooker not to run any risk of being entangled on the Rappahannock “like
+an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs, front and
+rear, without a fair chance to give one way or kick the other.” On the
+10th he warned Hooker not to go south of the Rappahannock upon Lee’s
+moving north of it. “I think Lee’s army and not Richmond is your true
+objective power. If he comes toward the upper Potomac, follow on his
+flank, and on the inside track, shortening your lines while he lengthens
+his. Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. If he stay where he is,
+fret him, and fret him.”
+
+On the 14th again he says: “So far as we can make out here, the enemy
+have Milroy surrounded at Winchester, and Tyler at Martinsburg. If they
+could hold out for a few days, could you help them? If the head of Lee’s
+army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the flank road between
+Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim
+somewhere; could you not break him?”
+
+
+
+
+“MRS. NORTH AND HER ATTORNEY.”
+
+In the issue of London “Punch” of September 24th, 1864, President
+Lincoln is pictured as sitting at a table in his law office, while in a
+chair to his right is a client, Mrs. North. The latter is a fine client
+for any attorney to have on his list, being wealthy and liberal, but as
+the lady is giving her counsel, who has represented her in a legal way
+for four years, notice that she proposes to put her legal business in
+the hands of another lawyer, the dejected look upon the face of Attorney
+Lincoln is easily accounted for. “Punch” puts these words in the lady’s
+mouth:
+
+MRS. NORTH: “You see, Mr. Lincoln, we have failed utterly in our course
+of action; I want peace, and so, if you cannot effect an amicable
+arrangement, I must put the case into other hands.”
+
+In this cartoon, “Punch” merely reflected the idea, or sentiment,
+current in England in 1864, that the North was much dissatisfied with
+the War policy of President Lincoln; and would surely elect General
+McClellan to succeed the Westerner in the White House. At the election
+McClellan carried but one Northern State--New Jersey, where he was
+born--President Lincoln sweeping the country like a prairie fire.
+
+“Punch” had evidently been deceived by some bold, bad man, who wanted a
+little spending money, and sold the prediction to the funny journal with
+a certificate of character attached, written by--possibly--a member of
+the Horse Marines. “Punch,” was very much disgusted to find that its
+credulity and faith in mankind had been so imposed upon, especially when
+the election returns showed that “the-War-is-a-failure” candidate ran
+so slowly that Lincoln passed him as easily as though the Democratic
+nominee was tied to a post.
+
+
+
+
+SATISFACTION TO THE SOUL.
+
+In the far-away days when “Abe” went to school in Indiana, they had
+exercises, exhibitions and speaking-meetings in the schoolhouse or the
+church, and “Abe” was the “star.” His father was a Democrat, and at that
+time “Abe” agreed with his parent. He would frequently make political
+and other speeches to the boys and explain tangled questions.
+
+Booneville was the county seat of Warrick county, situated about fifteen
+miles from Gentryville. Thither “Abe” walked to be present at the
+sittings of the court, and listened attentively to the trials and the
+speeches of the lawyers.
+
+One of the trials was that of a murderer. He was defended by Mr.
+John Breckinridge, and at the conclusion of his speech “Abe” was so
+enthusiastic that he ventured to compliment him. Breckinridge looked at
+the shabby boy, thanked him, and passed on his way.
+
+Many years afterwards, in 1862, Breckinridge called on the President,
+and he was told, “It was the best speech that I, up to that time, had
+ever heard. If I could, as I then thought, make as good a speech as
+that, my soul would be satisfied.”
+
+
+
+
+WITHDREW THE COLT.
+
+Mr. Alcott, of Elgin, Ill., tells of seeing Mr. Lincoln coming away from
+church unusually early one Sunday morning. “The sermon could not have
+been more than half way through,” says Mr. Alcott. “‘Tad’ was slung
+across his left arm like a pair of saddlebags, and Mr. Lincoln was
+striding along with long, deliberate steps toward his home. On one of
+the street corners he encountered a group of his fellow-townsmen. Mr.
+Lincoln anticipated the question which was about to be put by the group,
+and, taking his figure of speech from practices with which they were
+only too familiar, said: ‘Gentlemen, I entered this colt, but he kicked
+around so I had to withdraw him.”’
+
+
+
+
+“TAD” GOT HIS DOLLAR.
+
+No matter who was with the President, or how intently absorbed, his
+little son “Tad” was always welcome. He almost always accompanied his
+father.
+
+Once, on the way to Fortress Monroe, he became very troublesome.
+The President was much engaged in conversation with the party who
+accompanied him, and he at length said:
+
+“‘Tad,’ if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any more until we
+get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you a dollar.”
+
+The hope of reward was effectual for awhile in securing silence, but,
+boylike, “Tad” soon forgot his promise, and was as noisy as ever. Upon
+reaching their destination, however, he said, very promptly: “Father,
+I want my dollar.” Mr. Lincoln looked at him half-reproachfully for an
+instant, and then, taking from his pocketbook a dollar note, he said
+“Well, my son, at any rate, I will keep my part of the bargain.”
+
+
+
+
+TELLS AN EDITOR ABOUT NASBY.
+
+Henry J. Raymond, the famous New York editor, thus tells of Mr.
+Lincoln’s fondness for the Nasby letters:
+
+“It has been well said by a profound critic of Shakespeare, and it
+occurs to me as very appropriate in this connection, that the spirit
+which held the woe of Lear and the tragedy of “Hamlet” would have broken
+had it not also had the humor of the “Merry Wives of Windsor” and the
+merriment of the “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
+
+“This is as true of Mr. Lincoln as it was of Shakespeare. The capacity
+to tell and enjoy a good anecdote no doubt prolonged his life.
+
+“The Saturday evening before he left Washington to go to the front, just
+previous to the capture of Richmond, I was with him from seven o’clock
+till nearly twelve. It had been one of his most trying days. The
+pressure of office-seekers was greater at this juncture than I ever knew
+it to be, and he was almost worn out.
+
+“Among the callers that evening was a party composed of two Senators,
+a Representative, an ex-Lieutenant-Governor of a Western State, and
+several private citizens. They had business of great importance,
+involving the necessity of the President’s examination of voluminous
+documents. Pushing everything aside, he said to one of the party:
+
+“‘Have you seen the Nasby papers?’
+
+“‘No, I have not,’ was the reply; ‘who is Nasby?’
+
+“‘There is a chap out in Ohio,’ returned the President, ‘who has been
+writing a series of letters in the newspapers over the signature of
+Petroleum V. Nasby. Some one sent me a pamphlet collection of them the
+other day. I am going to write to “Petroleum” to come down here, and I
+intend to tell him if he will communicate his talent to me, I will swap
+places with him!’
+
+“Thereupon he arose, went to a drawer in his desk, and, taking out
+the ‘Letters,’ sat down and read one to the company, finding in their
+enjoyment of it the temporary excitement and relief which another man
+would have found in a glass of wine. The instant he had ceased, the book
+was thrown aside, his countenance relapsed into its habitual serious
+expression, and the business was entered upon with the utmost
+earnestness.”
+
+
+
+
+LONG AND SHORT OF IT.
+
+On the occasion of a serenade, the President was called for by the crowd
+assembled. He appeared at a window with his wife (who was somewhat below
+the medium height), and made the following “brief remarks”:
+
+“Here I am, and here is Mrs. Lincoln. That’s the long and the short of
+it.”
+
+
+
+
+MORE PEGS THAN HOLES.
+
+Some gentlemen were once finding fault with the President because
+certain generals were not given commands.
+
+“The fact is,” replied President Lincoln, “I have got more pegs than I
+have holes to put them in.”
+
+
+
+
+“WEBSTER COULDN’T HAVE DONE MORE.”
+
+Lincoln “got even” with the Illinois Central Railroad Company, in 1855,
+in a most substantial way, at the same time secured sweet revenge for an
+insult, unwarranted in every way, put upon him by one of the officials
+of that corporation.
+
+Lincoln and Herndon defended the Illinois Central Railroad in an action
+brought by McLean County, Illinois, in August, 1853, to recover taxes
+alleged to be due the county from the road. The Legislature had granted
+the road immunity from taxation, and this was a case intended to test
+the constitutionality of the law. The road sent a retainer fee of $250.
+
+In the lower court the case was decided in favor of the railroad. An
+appeal to the Supreme Court followed, was argued twice, and finally
+decided in favor of the road. This last decision was rendered some time
+in 1855. Lincoln then went to Chicago and presented the bill for legal
+services. Lincoln and Herndon only asked for $2,000 more.
+
+The official to whom he was referred, after looking at the bill,
+expressed great surprise.
+
+“Why, sir,” he exclaimed, “this is as much as Daniel Webster himself
+would have charged. We cannot allow such a claim.”
+
+“Why not?” asked Lincoln.
+
+“We could have hired first-class lawyers at that figure,” was the
+response.
+
+“We won the case, didn’t we?” queried Lincoln.
+
+“Certainly,” replied the official.
+
+“Daniel Webster, then,” retorted Lincoln in no amiable tone, “couldn’t
+have done more,” and “Abe” walked out of the official’s office.
+
+Lincoln withdrew the bill, and started for home. On the way he stopped
+at Bloomington, where he met Grant Goodrich, Archibald Williams, Norman
+B. Judd, O. H. Browning, and other attorneys, who, on learning of his
+modest charge for the valuable services rendered the railroad, induced
+him to increase the demand to $5,000, and to bring suit for that sum.
+
+This was done at once. On the trial six lawyers certified that the bill
+was reasonable, and judgment for that sum went by default; the judgment
+was promptly paid, and, of course, his partner, Herndon, got “your half
+Billy,” without delay.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MET CLAY.
+
+When a member of Congress, Lincoln went to Lexington, Kentucky, to hear
+Henry Clay speak. The Westerner, a Kentuckian by birth, and destined
+to reach the great goal Clay had so often sought, wanted to meet the
+“Millboy of the Slashes.” The address was a tame affair, as was the
+personal greeting when Lincoln made himself known. Clay was courteous,
+but cold. He may never have heard of the man, then in his presence, who
+was to secure, without solicitation, the prize which he for many years
+had unsuccessfully sought. Lincoln was disenchanted; his ideal was
+shattered. One reason why Clay had not realized his ambition had become
+apparent.
+
+Clay was cool and dignified; Lincoln was cordial and hearty. Clay’s hand
+was bloodless and frosty, with no vigorous grip in it; Lincoln’s was
+warm, and its clasp was expressive of kindliness and sympathy.
+
+
+
+
+REMINDED “ABE” OF A LITTLE JOKE.
+
+President Lincoln had a little joke at the expense of General George B.
+McClellan, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in opposition
+to the Westerner in 1864. McClellan was nominated by the Democratic
+National Convention, which assembled at Chicago, but after he had
+been named, and also during the campaign, the military candidate was
+characteristically slow in coming to the front.
+
+President Lincoln had his eye upon every move made by General McClellan
+during the campaign, and when reference was made one day, in his
+presence, to the deliberation and caution of the New Jerseyite,
+Mr. Lincoln remarked, with a twinkle in his eye, “Perhaps he is
+intrenching.”
+
+The cartoon we reproduce appeared in “Harper’s Weekly,” September 17th,
+1864, and shows General McClellan, with his little spade in hand, being
+subjected to the scrutiny of the President--the man who gave McClellan,
+when the latter was Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, every
+opportunity in the world to distinguish himself. There is a smile on the
+face of “Honest Abe,” which shows conclusively that he does not regard
+his political opponent as likely to prove formidable in any way.
+President Lincoln “sized up” McClellan in 1861-2, and knew, to a
+fraction, how much of a man he was, what he could do, and how he went
+about doing it. McClellan was no politician, while the President was the
+shrewdest of political diplomats.
+
+
+
+
+HIS DIGNITY SAVED HIM.
+
+When Washington had become an armed camp, and full of soldiers,
+President Lincoln and his Cabinet officers drove daily to one or another
+of these camps. Very often his outing for the day was attending some
+ceremony incident to camp life: a military funeral, a camp wedding, a
+review, a flag-raising. He did not often make speeches. “I have made a
+great many poor speeches,” he said one day, in excusing himself, “and
+I now feel relieved that my dignity does not permit me to be a public
+speaker.”
+
+
+
+
+THE MAN HE WAS LOOKING FOR
+
+Judge Kelly, of Pennsylvania, who was one of the committee to advise
+Lincoln of his nomination, and who was himself a great many feet high,
+had been eyeing Lincoln’s lofty form with a mixture of admiration and
+possibly jealousy.
+
+This had not escaped Lincoln, and as he shook hands with the judge he
+inquired, “What is your height?”
+
+“Six feet three. What is yours, Mr. Lincoln?”
+
+“Six feet four.”
+
+“Then,” said the judge, “Pennsylvania bows to Illinois. My dear man, for
+years my heart has been aching for a President that I could look up to,
+and I’ve at last found him.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS CABINET CHANCES POOR.
+
+Mr. Jeriah Bonham, in describing a visit he paid Lincoln at his room in
+the State House at Springfield, where he found him quite alone, except
+that two of his children, one of whom was “Tad,” were with him.
+
+“The door was open.
+
+“We walked in and were at once recognized and seated--the two boys still
+continuing their play about the room. “Tad” was spinning his top; and
+Lincoln, as we entered, had just finished adjusting the string for him
+so as to give the top the greatest degree of force. He remarked that he
+was having a little fun with the boys.”
+
+At another time, at Lincoln’s residence, “Tad” came into the room, and,
+putting his hand to his mouth, and his mouth to his father’s ear, said,
+in a boy’s whisper: “Ma says come to supper.”
+
+All heard the announcement; and Lincoln, perceiving this, said: “You
+have heard, gentlemen, the announcement concerning the interesting state
+of things in the dining-room. It will never do for me, if elected, to
+make this young man a member of my Cabinet, for it is plain he cannot be
+trusted with secrets of state.”
+
+THE GENERAL WAS “HEADED IN”
+
+A Union general, operating with his command in West Virginia, allowed
+himself and his men to be trapped, and it was feared his force would be
+captured by the Confederates. The President heard the report read by the
+operator, as it came over the wire, and remarked:
+
+“Once there was a man out West who was ‘heading’ a barrel, as they used
+to call it. He worked like a good fellow in driving down the hoops, but
+just about the time he thought he had the job done, the head would fall
+in. Then he had to do the work all over again.
+
+“All at once a bright idea entered his brain, and he wondered how it
+was he hadn’t figured it out before. His boy, a bright, smart lad, was
+standing by, very much interested in the business, and, lifting the young
+one up, he put him inside the barrel, telling him to hold the head in
+its proper place, while he pounded down the hoops on the sides. This
+worked like a charm, and he soon had the ‘heading’ done.
+
+“Then he realized that his boy was inside the barrel, and how to get him
+out he couldn’t for his life figure out. General Blank is now inside the
+barrel, ‘headed in,’ and the job now is to get him out.”
+
+
+
+
+SUGAR-COATED.
+
+Government Printer Defrees, when one of the President’s messages
+was being printed, was a good deal disturbed by the use of the term
+“sugar-coated,” and finally went to Mr. Lincoln about it.
+
+Their relations to each other being of the most intimate character, he
+told the President frankly that he ought to remember that a message
+to Congress was a different affair from a speech at a mass meeting in
+Illinois; that the messages became a part of history, and should be
+written accordingly.
+
+“What is the matter now?” inquired the President.
+
+“Why,” said Defrees, “you have used an undignified expression in the
+message”; and, reading the paragraph aloud, he added, “I would alter the
+structure of that, if I were you.”
+
+“Defrees,” replied the President, “that word expresses exactly my
+idea, and I am not going to change it. The time will never come in this
+country when people won’t know exactly what ‘sugar-coated’ means.”
+
+
+
+
+COULD MAKE “RABBIT-TRACKS.”
+
+When a grocery clerk at New Salem, the annual election came around. A
+Mr. Graham was clerk, but his assistant was absent, and it was necessary
+to find a man to fill his place. Lincoln, a “tall young man,” had
+already concentrated on himself the attention of the people of the town,
+and Graham easily discovered him. Asking him if he could write, “Abe”
+ modestly replied, “I can make a few rabbit-tracks.” His rabbit-tracks
+proving to be legible and even graceful, he was employed.
+
+The voters soon discovered that the new assistant clerk was honest and
+fair, and performed his duties satisfactorily, and when, the work done,
+he began to “entertain them with stories,” they found that their town
+had made a valuable personal and social acquisition.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PROTECTED CURRENCY ISSUES.
+
+Marshal Ward Lamon was in President Lincoln’s office in the White House
+one day, and casually asked the President if he knew how the currency
+of the country was made. Greenbacks were then under full headway of
+circulation, these bits of paper being the representatives of United
+State money.
+
+“Our currency,” was the President’s answer, “is made, as the lawyers
+would put it, in their legal way, in the following manner, to-wit:
+The official engraver strikes off the sheets, passes them over to the
+Register of the Currency, who, after placing his earmarks upon them,
+signs the same; the Register turns them over to old Father Spinner, who
+proceeds to embellish them with his wonderful signature at the bottom;
+Father Spinner sends them to Secretary of the Treasury Chase, and he, as
+a final act in the matter, issues them to the public as money--and may
+the good Lord help any fellow that doesn’t take all he can honestly get
+of them!”
+
+Taking from his pocket a $5 greenback, with a twinkle in his eye,
+the President then said: “Look at Spinner’s signature! Was there ever
+anything like it on earth? Yet it is unmistakable; no one will ever be
+able to counterfeit it!”
+
+Lamon then goes on to say:
+
+“‘But,’ I said, ‘you certainly don’t suppose that Spinner actually wrote
+his name on that bill, do you?’
+
+“‘Certainly, I do; why not?’ queried Mr. Lincoln.
+
+“I then asked, ‘How much of this currency have we afloat?’
+
+“He remained thoughtful for a moment, and then stated the amount.
+
+“I continued: ‘How many times do you think a man can write a signature
+like Spinner’s in the course of twenty-four hours?’
+
+“The beam of hilarity left the countenance of the President at once.
+He put the greenback into his vest pocket, and walked the floor; after
+awhile he stopped, heaved a long breath and said: ‘This thing frightens
+me!’ He then rang for a messenger and told him to ask the Secretary of
+the Treasury to please come over to see him.
+
+“Mr. Chase soon put in an appearance; President Lincoln stated the cause
+of his alarm, and asked Mr. Chase to explain in detail the operations,
+methods, system of checks, etc., in his office, and a lengthy discussion
+followed, President Lincoln contending there were not sufficient
+safeguards afforded in any degree in the money-making department, and
+Secretary Chase insisting that every protection was afforded he could
+devise.”
+
+Afterward the President called the attention of Congress to this
+important question, and devices were adopted whereby a check was put
+upon the issue of greenbacks that no spurious ones ever came out of the
+Treasury Department, at least. Counterfeiters were busy, though, but
+this was not the fault of the Treasury.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S APOLOGY TO GRANT.
+
+“General Grant is a copious worker and fighter,” President Lincoln wrote
+to General Burnside in July, 1863, “but a meagre writer or telegrapher.”
+
+Grant never wrote a report until the battle was over.
+
+President Lincoln wrote a letter to General Grant on July 13th, 1863,
+which indicated the strength of the hold the successful fighter had upon
+the man in the White House.
+
+It ran as follows:
+
+“I do not remember that you and I ever met personally.
+
+“I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost
+inestimable service you have done the country.
+
+“I write to say a word further.
+
+“When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should
+do what you finally did--march the troops across the neck, run the
+batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any
+faith, except a general hope, that you knew better than I, that the
+Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed.
+
+“When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and vicinity, I
+thought you should go down the river and join General Banks; and when
+you turned northward, east of Big Black, I feared it was a mistake.
+
+“I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and
+I was wrong.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN SAID “BY JING.”
+
+
+
+
+Lincoln never used profanity, except when he quoted it to illustrate a
+point in a story. His favorite expressions when he spoke with emphasis
+were “By dear!” and “By jing!”
+
+Just preceding the Civil War he sent Ward Lamon on a ticklish mission to
+South Carolina.
+
+When the proposed trip was mentioned to Secretary Seward, he opposed it,
+saying, “Mr. President, I fear you are sending Lamon to his grave. I am
+afraid they will kill him in Charleston, where the people are excited
+and desperate. We can’t spare Lamon, and we shall feel badly if anything
+happens to him.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln said in reply: “I have known Lamon to be in many a close
+place, and he has never, been in one that he didn’t get out of, somehow.
+By jing! I’ll risk him. Go ahead, Lamon, and God bless you! If you
+can’t bring back any good news, bring a palmetto.” Lamon brought back a
+palmetto branch, but no promise of peace.
+
+
+
+
+IT TICKLED THE LITTLE WOMAN.
+
+Lincoln had been in the telegraph office at Springfield during the
+casting of the first and second ballots in the Republican National
+Convention at Chicago, and then left and went over to the office of the
+State Journal, where he was sitting conversing with friends while the
+third ballot was being taken.
+
+In a few moments came across the wires the announcement of the result.
+The superintendent of the telegraph company wrote on a scrap of paper:
+“Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated on the third ballot,” and a boy ran with
+the message to Lincoln.
+
+He looked at it in silence, amid the shouts of those around him; then
+rising and putting it in his pocket, he said quietly: “There’s a little
+woman down at our house would like to hear this; I’ll go down and tell
+her.”
+
+
+
+
+“SHALL ALL FALL TOGETHER.”
+
+After Lincoln had finished that celebrated speech in “Egypt” (as a
+section of Southern Illinois was formerly designated), in the course
+of which he seized Congressman Ficklin by the coat collar and shook him
+fiercely, he apologized. In return, Ficklin said Lincoln had “nearly
+shaken the Democracy out of him.” To this Lincoln replied:
+
+“That reminds me of what Paul said to Agrippa, which, in language and
+substance, was about this: ‘I would to God that such Democracy as you
+folks here in Egypt have were not only almost, but altogether, shaken
+out of, not only you, but all that heard me this day, and that you would
+all join in assisting in shaking off the shackles of the bondmen by all
+legitimate means, so that this country may be made free as the good Lord
+intended it.’”
+
+Said Ficklin in rejoinder: “Lincoln, I remember of reading somewhere in
+the same book from which you get your Agrippa story, that Paul, whom
+you seem to desire to personate, admonished all servants (slaves) to be
+obedient to them that are their masters according to the flesh, in fear
+and trembling.
+
+“It would seem that neither our Savior nor Paul saw the iniquity of
+slavery as you and your party do. But you must not think that where you
+fail by argument to convince an old friend like myself and win him over
+to your heterodox abolition opinions, you are justified in resorting to
+violence such as you practiced on me to-day.
+
+“Why, I never had such a shaking up in the whole course of my life.
+Recollect that that good old book that you quote from somewhere says in
+effect this: ‘Woe be unto him who goeth to Egypt for help, for he shall
+fall. The holpen shall fall, and they shall all fall together.’”
+
+
+
+
+DEAD DOG NO CURE.
+
+Lincoln’s quarrel with Shields was his last personal encounter. In
+later years it became his duty to give an official reprimand to a young
+officer who had been court-martialed for a quarrel with one of his
+associates. The reprimand is probably the gentlest on record:
+
+“Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can
+spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all
+the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss
+of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than
+equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own.
+
+“Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in contesting for
+the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite.”
+
+
+
+
+“THOROUGH” IS A GOOD WORD.
+
+Some one came to the President with a story about a plot to accomplish
+some mischief in the Government. Lincoln listened to what was a very
+superficial and ill-formed story, and then said: “There is one
+thing that I have learned, and that you have not. It is only one
+word--‘thorough.’”
+
+Then, bringing his hand down on the table with a thump to emphasize his
+meaning, he added, “thorough!”
+
+
+
+
+THE CABINET WAS A-SETTIN’.
+
+Being in Washington one day, the Rev. Robert Collyer thought he’d take a
+look around. In passing through the grounds surrounding the White House,
+he cast a glance toward the Presidential residence, and was astonished
+to see three pairs of feet resting on the ledge of an open window in one
+of the apartments of the second story. The divine paused for a moment,
+calmly surveyed the unique spectacle, and then resumed his walk toward
+the War Department.
+
+Seeing a laborer at work not far from the Executive Mansion, Mr.
+Collyer asked him what it all meant. To whom did the feet belong, and,
+particularly, the mammoth ones? “You old fool,” answered the workman,
+“that’s the Cabinet, which is a-settin’, an’ them thar big feet belongs
+to ‘Old Abe.’”
+
+
+
+
+A BULLET THROUGH HIS HAT.
+
+A soldier tells the following story of an attempt upon the life of Mr.
+Lincoln “One night I was doing sentinel duty at the entrance to the
+Soldiers’ Home. This was about the middle of August, 1864. About eleven
+o’clock I heard a rifle shot, in the direction of the city, and shortly
+afterwards I heard approaching hoof-beats. In two or three minutes a
+horse came dashing up. I recognized the belated President. The President
+was bareheaded. The President simply thought that his horse had taken
+fright at the discharge of the firearms.
+
+“On going back to the place where the shot had been heard, we found
+the President’s hat. It was a plain silk hat, and upon examination we
+discovered a bullet hole through the crown.
+
+“The next day, upon receiving the hat, the President remarked that it
+was made by some foolish marksman, and was not intended for him; but
+added that he wished nothing said about the matter.
+
+“The President said, philosophically: ‘I long ago made up my mind that
+if anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. Besides, in this case, it
+seems to me, the man who would succeed me would be just as objectionable
+to my enemies--if I have any.’
+
+“One dark night, as he was going out with a friend, he took along a
+heavy cane, remarking, good-naturedly: ‘Mother (Mrs. Lincoln) has got a
+notion into her head that I shall be assassinated, and to please her I
+take a cane when I go over to the War Department at night--when I don’t
+forget it.’”
+
+
+
+
+NO KIND TO GET TO HEAVEN ON.
+
+Two ladies from Tennessee called at the White House one day and begged
+Mr. Lincoln to release their husbands, who were rebel prisoners at
+Johnson’s Island. One of the fair petitioners urged as a reason for the
+liberation of her husband that he was a very religious man, and rang the
+changes on this pious plea.
+
+“Madam,” said Mr. Lincoln, “you say your husband is a religious man.
+Perhaps I am not a good judge of such matters, but in my opinion the
+religion that makes men rebel and fight against their government is not
+the genuine article; nor is the religion the right sort which reconciles
+them to the idea of eating their bread in the sweat of other men’s
+faces. It is not the kind to get to heaven on.”
+
+Later, however, the order of release was made, President Lincoln
+remarking, with impressive solemnity, that he would expect the ladies
+to subdue the rebellious spirit of their husbands, and to that end he
+thought it would be well to reform their religion. “True patriotism,”
+ said he, “is better than the wrong kind of piety.”
+
+
+
+
+THE ONLY REAL PEACEMAKER.
+
+During the Presidential campaign of 1864 much ill-feeling was displayed
+by the opposition to President Lincoln. The Democratic managers issued
+posters of large dimensions, picturing the Washington Administration as
+one determined to rule or ruin the country, while the only salvation for
+the United States was the election of McClellan.
+
+We reproduce one of these 1864 campaign posters on this page, the title
+of which is, “The True Issue; or ‘That’s What’s the Matter.’”
+
+The dominant idea or purpose of the cartoon-poster was to demonstrate
+McClellan’s availability. Lincoln, the Abolitionist, and Davis, the
+Secessionist, are pictured as bigots of the worst sort, who were
+determined that peace should not be restored to the distracted country,
+except upon the lines laid down by them. McClellan, the patriotic
+peacemaker, is shown as the man who believed in the preservation of the
+Union above all things--a man who had no fads nor vagaries.
+
+This peacemaker, McClellan, standing upon “the War-is-a-failure”
+ platform, is portrayed as a military chieftain, who would stand no
+nonsense; who would compel Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Davis to cease their
+quarreling; who would order the soldiers on both sides to quit their
+blood-letting and send the combatants back to the farm, workshop and
+counting-house; and the man whose election would restore order out of
+chaos, and make everything bright and lovely.
+
+
+
+
+THE APPLE WOMAN’S PASS.
+
+One day when President Lincoln was receiving callers a buxom Irish woman
+came into the office, and, standing before the President, with her hands
+on her hips, said:
+
+“Mr. Lincoln, can’t I sell apples on the railroad?”
+
+President Lincoln replied: “Certainly, madam, you can sell all you
+wish.”
+
+“But,” she said, “you must give me a pass, or the soldiers will not let
+me.”
+
+President Lincoln then wrote a few lines and gave them to her.
+
+“Thank you, sir; God bless you!” she exclaimed as she departed joyfully.
+
+
+
+
+SPLIT RAILS BY THE YARD.
+
+It was in the spring of 1830 that “Abe” Lincoln, “wearing a jean jacket,
+shrunken buckskin trousers, a coonskin cap, and driving an ox-team,”
+ became a citizen of Illinois. He was physically and mentally equipped
+for pioneer work. His first desire was to obtain a new and decent suit
+of clothes, but, as he had no money, he was glad to arrange with Nancy
+Miller to make him a pair of trousers, he to split four hundred fence
+rails for each yard of cloth--fourteen hundred rails in all. “Abe” got
+the clothes after awhile.
+
+It was three miles from his father’s cabin to her wood-lot, where he
+made the forest ring with the sound of his ax. “Abe” had helped his
+father plow fifteen acres of land, and split enough rails to fence it,
+and he then helped to plow fifty acres for another settler.
+
+
+
+
+THE QUESTION OF LEGS.
+
+Whenever the people of Lincoln’s neighborhood engaged in dispute;
+whenever a bet was to be decided; when they differed on points of
+religion or politics; when they wanted to get out of trouble, or desired
+advice regarding anything on the earth, below it, above it, or under the
+sea, they went to “Abe.”
+
+Two fellows, after a hot dispute lasting some hours, over the problem
+as to how long a man’s legs should be in proportion to the size of his
+body, stamped into Lincoln’s office one day and put the question to him.
+
+Lincoln listened gravely to the arguments advanced by both contestants,
+spent some time in “reflecting” upon the matter, and then, turning
+around in his chair and facing the disputants, delivered his opinion
+with all the gravity of a judge sentencing a fellow-being to death.
+
+“This question has been a source of controversy,” he said, slowly
+and deliberately, “for untold ages, and it is about time it should be
+definitely decided. It has led to bloodshed in the past, and there is no
+reason to suppose it will not lead to the same in the future.
+
+“After much thought and consideration, not to mention mental worry and
+anxiety, it is my opinion, all side issues being swept aside, that a
+man’s lower limbs, in order to preserve harmony of proportion, should be
+at least long enough to reach from his body to the ground.”
+
+
+
+
+TOO MANY WIDOWS ALREADY.
+
+A Union officer in conversation one day told this story:
+
+“The first week I was with my command there were twenty-four deserters
+sentenced by court-martial to be shot, and the warrants for their
+execution were sent to the President to be signed. He refused.
+
+“I went to Washington and had an interview. I said:
+
+“‘Mr. President, unless these men are made an example of, the army
+itself is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty to the many.’
+
+“He replied: ‘Mr. General, there are already too many weeping widows in
+the United States. For God’s sake, don’t ask me to add to the number,
+for I won’t do it.’”
+
+
+
+
+GOD NEEDED THAT CHURCH.
+
+In the early stages of the war, after several battles had been fought,
+Union troops seized a church in Alexandria, Va., and used it as a
+hospital.
+
+A prominent lady of the congregation went to Washington to see Mr.
+Lincoln and try to get an order for its release.
+
+“Have you applied to the surgeon in charge at Alexandria?” inquired Mr.
+Lincoln.
+
+“Yes, sir, but I can do nothing with him,” was the reply.
+
+“Well, madam,” said Mr. Lincoln, “that is an end of it, then. We put him
+there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose
+that he knows better what should be done under the circumstances than I
+do.”
+
+The lady’s face showed her keen disappointment. In order to learn her
+sentiment, Mr. Lincoln asked:
+
+“How much would you be willing to subscribe toward building a hospital
+there?”
+
+She said that the war had depreciated Southern property so much that she
+could afford to give but little.
+
+“This war is not over yet,” said Mr. Lincoln, “and there will likely
+be another fight very soon. That church may be very useful in which to
+house our wounded soldiers. It is my candid opinion that God needs that
+church for our wounded fellows; so, madam, I can do nothing for you.”
+
+
+
+
+THE MAN DOWN SOUTH.
+
+An amusing instance of the President’s preoccupation of mind occurred
+at one of his levees, when he was shaking hands with a host of visitors
+passing him in a continuous stream.
+
+An intimate acquaintance received the usual conventional hand-shake and
+salutation, but perceiving that he was not recognized, kept his ground
+instead of moving on, and spoke again, when the President, roused to
+a dim consciousness that something unusual had happened, perceived
+who stood before him, and, seizing his friend’s hand, shook it again
+heartily, saying:
+
+“How do you do? How do you do? Excuse me for not noticing you. I was
+thinking of a man down South.”
+
+“The man down South” was General W. T. Sherman, then on his march to the
+sea.
+
+
+
+
+COULDN’T LET GO THE HOG.
+
+When Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania described the terrible butchery at
+the battle of Fredericksburg, Mr. Lincoln was almost broken-hearted.
+
+The Governor regretted that his description had so sadly affected the
+President. He remarked: “I would give all I possess to know how to
+rescue you from this terrible war.” Then Mr. Lincoln’s wonderful
+recuperative powers asserted themselves and this marvelous man was
+himself.
+
+Lincoln’s whole aspect suddenly changed, and he relieved his mind by
+telling a story.
+
+“This reminds me, Governor,” he said, “of an old farmer out in Illinois
+that I used to know.
+
+“He took it into his head to go into hog-raising. He sent out to Europe
+and imported the finest breed of hogs he could buy.
+
+“The prize hog was put in a pen, and the farmer’s two mischievous boys,
+James and John, were told to be sure not to let it out. But James, the
+worst of the two, let the brute out the next day. The hog went straight
+for the boys, and drove John up a tree, then the hog went for the seat
+of James’ trousers, and the only way the boy could save himself was by
+holding on to the hog’s tail.
+
+“The hog would not give up his hunt, nor the boy his hold! After they
+had made a good many circles around the tree, the boy’s courage began to
+give out, and he shouted to his brother, ‘I say, John, come down, quick,
+and help me let go this hog!’
+
+“Now, Governor, that is exactly my case. I wish some one would come and
+help me to let the hog go.”
+
+
+
+
+THE CABINET LINCOLN WANTED.
+
+Judge Joseph Gillespie, of Chicago, was a firm friend of Mr. Lincoln,
+and went to Springfield to see him shortly before his departure for the
+inauguration.
+
+“It was,” said judge Gillespie, “Lincoln’s Gethsemane. He feared he was
+not the man for the great position and the great events which confronted
+him. Untried in national affairs, unversed in international diplomacy,
+unacquainted with the men who were foremost in the politics of the
+nation, he groaned when he saw the inevitable War of the Rebellion
+coming on. It was in humility of spirit that he told me he believed that
+the American people had made a mistake in selecting him.
+
+“In the course of our conversation he told me if he could select his
+cabinet from the old bar that had traveled the circuit with him in
+the early days, he believed he could avoid war or settle it without a
+battle, even after the fact of secession.
+
+“‘But, Mr. Lincoln,’ said I, ‘those old lawyers are all Democrats.’
+
+“‘I know it,’ was his reply. ‘But I would rather have Democrats whom I
+know than Republicans I don’t know.’”
+
+
+
+
+READY FOR “BUTCHER-DAY.”
+
+Leonard Swett told this eminently characteristic story:
+
+“I remember one day being in his room when Lincoln was sitting at his
+table with a large pile of papers before him, and after a pleasant talk
+he turned quite abruptly and said: ‘Get out of the way, Swett; to-morrow
+is butcher-day, and I must go through these papers and see if I cannot
+find some excuse to let these poor fellows off.’
+
+“The pile of papers he had were the records of courts-martial of men who
+on the following day were to be shot.”
+
+
+
+
+“THE BAD BIRD AND THE MUDSILL.”
+
+It took quite a long time, as well as the lives of thousands of men, to
+say nothing of the cost in money, to take Richmond, the Capital City of
+the Confederacy. In this cartoon, taken from “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated
+Newspaper,” of February 21, 1863, Jeff Davis is sitting upon the
+Secession eggs in the “Richmond” nest, smiling down upon President
+Lincoln, who is up to his waist in the Mud of Difficulties.
+
+The President finally waded through the morass, in which he had become
+immersed, got to the tree, climbed its trunk, reached the limb, upon
+which the “bad bird” had built its nest, threw the mother out, destroyed
+the eggs of Secession and then took the nest away with him, leaving the
+“bad bird” without any home at all.
+
+The “bad bird” had its laugh first, but the last laugh belonged to the
+“mudsill,” as the cartoonist was pleased to call the President of the
+United States. It is true that the President got his clothes and hat all
+covered with mud, but as the job was a dirty one, as well as one that
+had to be done, the President didn’t care. He was able to get another
+suit of clothes, as well as another hat, but the “bad bird” couldn’t,
+and didn’t, get another nest.
+
+The laugh was on the “bad bird” after all.
+
+
+
+
+GAVE THE SOLDIER HIS FISH.
+
+Once, when asked what he remembered about the war with Great Britain,
+Lincoln replied: “Nothing but this: I had been fishing one day and
+caught a little fish, which I was taking home. I met a soldier in the
+road, and, having been always told at home that we must be good to the
+soldiers, I gave him my fish.”
+
+This must have been about 1814, when “Abe” was five years of age.
+
+
+
+
+A PECULIAR LAWYER.
+
+Lincoln was once associate counsel for a defendant in a murder case.
+He listened to the testimony given by witness after witness against his
+client, until his honest heart could stand it no longer; then, turning
+to his associate, he said: “The man is guilty; you defend him--I can’t,”
+ and when his associate secured a verdict of acquittal, Lincoln refused
+to share the fee to the extent of one cent.
+
+Lincoln would never advise clients to enter into unwise or unjust
+lawsuits, always preferring to refuse a retainer rather than be a party
+to a case which did not commend itself to his sense of justice.
+
+
+
+
+IF THEY’D ONLY “SKIP.”
+
+General Creswell called at the White House to see the President the day
+of the latter’s assassination. An old friend, serving in the Confederate
+ranks, had been captured by the Union troops and sent to prison. He
+had drawn an affidavit setting forth what he knew about the man,
+particularly mentioning extenuating circumstances.
+
+Creswell found the President very happy. He was greeted with: “Creswell,
+old fellow, everything is bright this morning. The War is over. It has
+been a tough time, but we have lived it out,--or some of us have,” and
+he dropped his voice a little on the last clause of the sentence. “But
+it is over; we are going to have good times now, and a united country.”
+
+General Creswell told his story, read his affidavit, and said, “I know
+the man has acted like a fool, but he is my friend, and a good fellow;
+let him out; give him to me, and I will be responsible that he won’t
+have anything more to do with the rebs.”
+
+“Creswell,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “you make me think of a lot of young
+folks who once started out Maying. To reach their destination, they had
+to cross a shallow stream, and did so by means of an old flatboat. When
+the time came to return, they found to their dismay that the old scow
+had disappeared. They were in sore trouble, and thought over all manner
+of devices for getting over the water, but without avail.
+
+“After a time, one of the boys proposed that each fellow should pick up
+the girl he liked best and wade over with her. The masterly proposition
+was carried out, until all that were left upon the island was a little
+short chap and a great, long, gothic-built, elderly lady.
+
+“Now, Creswell, you are trying to leave me in the same predicament. You
+fellows are all getting your own friends out of this scrape; and you
+will succeed in carrying off one after another, until nobody but Jeff
+Davis and myself will be left on the island, and then I won’t know what
+to do. How should I feel? How should I look, lugging him over?
+
+“I guess the way to avoid such an embarrassing situation is to let them
+all out at once.”
+
+He made a somewhat similar illustration at an informal Cabinet meeting,
+at which the disposition of Jefferson Davis and other prominent
+Confederates was discussed. Each member of the Cabinet gave his
+opinion; most of them were for hanging the traitors, or for some severe
+punishment. President Lincoln said nothing.
+
+Finally, Joshua F. Speed, his old and confidential friend, who had
+been invited to the meeting, said, “I have heard the opinion of your
+Ministers, and would like to hear yours.”
+
+“Well, Josh,” replied President Lincoln, “when I was a boy in Indiana,
+I went to a neighbor’s house one morning and found a boy of my own size
+holding a coon by a string. I asked him what he had and what he was
+doing.
+
+“He says, ‘It’s a coon. Dad cotched six last night, and killed all but
+this poor little cuss. Dad told me to hold him until he came back, and
+I’m afraid he’s going to kill this one too; and oh, “Abe,” I do wish he
+would get away!’
+
+“‘Well, why don’t you let him loose?’
+
+“‘That wouldn’t be right; and if I let him go, Dad would give me h--.
+But if he got away himself, it would be all right.’
+
+“Now,” said the President, “if Jeff Davis and those other fellows will
+only get away, it will be all right. But if we should catch them, and I
+should let them go, ‘Dad would give me h--!’”
+
+
+
+
+FATHER OF THE “GREENBACK.”
+
+Don Piatt, a noted journalist of Washington, told the story of the first
+proposition to President Lincoln to issue interest-bearing notes as
+currency, as follows:
+
+“Amasa Walker, a distinguished financier of New England, suggested that
+notes issued directly from the Government to the people, as currency,
+should bear interest. This for the purpose, not only of making the notes
+popular, but for the purpose of preventing inflation, by inducing people
+to hoard the notes as an investment when the demands of trade would fail
+to call them into circulation as a currency.
+
+“This idea struck David Taylor, of Ohio, with such force that he sought
+Mr. Lincoln and urged him to put the project into immediate execution.
+The President listened patiently, and at the end said, ‘That is a good
+idea, Taylor, but you must go to Chase. He is running that end of the
+machine, and has time to consider your proposition.’
+
+“Taylor sought the Secretary of the Treasury, and laid before him Amasa
+Walker’s plan. Secretary Chase heard him through in a cold, unpleasant
+manner, and then said: ‘That is all very well, Mr. Taylor; but there is
+one little obstacle in the way that makes the plan impracticable, and
+that is the Constitution.’
+
+“Saying this, he turned to his desk, as if dismissing both Mr. Taylor
+and his proposition at the same moment.
+
+“The poor enthusiast felt rebuked and humiliated. He returned to the
+President, however, and reported his defeat. Mr. Lincoln looked at
+the would-be financier with the expression at times so peculiar to
+his homely face, that left one in doubt whether he was jesting or in
+earnest. ‘Taylor!’ he exclaimed, ‘go back to Chase and tell him not
+to bother himself about the Constitution. Say that I have that sacred
+instrument here at the White House, and I am guarding it with great
+care.’
+
+“Taylor demurred to this, on the ground that Secretary Chase showed by
+his manner that he knew all about it, and didn’t wish to be bored by any
+suggestion.
+
+“‘We’ll see about that,’ said the President, and taking a card from the
+table, he wrote upon it:
+
+“‘The Secretary of the Treasury will please consider Mr. Taylor’s
+proposition. We must have money, and I think this a good way to get it.
+
+“‘A. LINCOLN.’”
+
+
+
+
+MAJOR ANDERSON’S BAD MEMORY.
+
+Among the men whom Captain Lincoln met in the Black Hawk campaign were
+Lieutenant-Colonel Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, President
+of the Confederacy, and Lieutenant Robert Anderson, all of the United
+States Army.
+
+Judge Arnold, in his “Life of Abraham Lincoln,” relates that Lincoln and
+Anderson did not meet again until some time in 1861. After Anderson had
+evacuated Fort Sumter, on visiting Washington, he called at the White
+House to pay his respects to the President. Lincoln expressed his thanks
+to Anderson for his conduct at Fort Sumter, and then said:
+
+“Major, do you remember of ever meeting me before?”
+
+“No, Mr. President, I have no recollection of ever having had that
+pleasure.”
+
+“My memory is better than yours,” said Lincoln; “you mustered me into
+the service of the United States in 1832, at Dixon’s Ferry, in the Black
+Hawk war.”
+
+
+
+
+NO VANDERBILT.
+
+In February, 1860, not long before his nomination for the Presidency,
+Lincoln made several speeches in Eastern cities. To an Illinois
+acquaintance, whom he met at the Astor House, in New York, he said: “I
+have the cottage at Springfield, and about three thousand dollars in
+money. If they make me Vice-President with Seward, as some say they
+will, I hope I shall be able to increase it to twenty thousand, and that
+is as much as any man ought to want.”
+
+
+
+
+SQUASHED A BRUTAL LIE.
+
+In September, 1864, a New York paper printed the following brutal story:
+
+“A few days after the battle of Antietam, the President was driving
+over the field in an ambulance, accompanied by Marshal Lamon, General
+McClellan and another officer. Heavy details of men were engaged in
+the task of burying the dead. The ambulance had just reached the
+neighborhood of the old stone bridge, where the dead were piled
+highest, when Mr. Lincoln, suddenly slapping Marshal Lamon on the knee,
+exclaimed: ‘Come, Lamon, give us that song about “Picayune Butler”;
+McClellan has never heard it.’
+
+“‘Not now, if you please,’ said General McClellan, with a shudder; ‘I
+would prefer to hear it some other place and time.’”
+
+President Lincoln refused to pay any attention to the story, would
+not read the comments made upon it by the newspapers, and would permit
+neither denial nor explanation to be made. The National election was
+coming on, and the President’s friends appealed to him to settle the
+matter for once and all. Marshal Lamon was particularly insistent, but
+the President merely said:
+
+“Let the thing alone. If I have not established character enough to
+give the lie to this charge, I can only say that I am mistaken in my
+own estimate of myself. In politics, every man must skin his own skunk.
+These fellows are welcome to the hide of this one. Its body has already
+given forth its unsavory odor.”
+
+But Lamon would not “let the thing alone.” He submitted to Lincoln a
+draft of what he conceived to be a suitable explanation, after reading
+which the President said:
+
+“Lamon, your ‘explanation’ is entirely too belligerent in tone for so
+grave a matter. There is a heap of ‘cussedness’ mixed up with your usual
+amiability, and you are at times too fond of a fight. If I were you, I
+would simply state the facts as they were. I would give the statement as
+you have here, without the pepper and salt. Let me try my hand at it.”
+
+The President then took up a pen and wrote the following, which was
+copied and sent out as Marshal Lamon’s refutation of the shameless
+slander:
+
+“The President has known me intimately for nearly twenty years, and has
+often heard me sing little ditties. The battle of Antietam was fought on
+the 17th day of September, 1862. On the first day of October, just
+two weeks after the battle, the President, with some others, including
+myself, started from Washington to visit the Army, reaching Harper’s
+Ferry at noon of that day.
+
+“In a short while General McClellan came from his headquarters near the
+battleground, joined the President, and with him reviewed the troops
+at Bolivar Heights that afternoon, and at night returned to his
+headquarters, leaving the President at Harper’s Ferry.
+
+“On the morning of the second, the President, with General Sumner,
+reviewed the troops respectively at Loudon Heights and Maryland Heights,
+and at about noon started to General McClellan’s headquarters, reaching
+there only in time to see very little before night.
+
+“On the morning of the third all started on a review of the Third Corps
+and the cavalry, in the vicinity of the Antietam battle-ground. After
+getting through with General Burnside’s corps, at the suggestion of
+General McClellan, he and the President left their horses to be led, and
+went into an ambulance to go to General Fitz John Porter’s corps, which
+was two or three miles distant.
+
+“I am not sure whether the President and General McClellan were in the
+same ambulance, or in different ones; but myself and some others were
+in the same with the President. On the way, and on no part of the
+battleground, and on what suggestions I do not remember, the President
+asked me to sing the little sad song that follows (“Twenty Years Ago,
+Tom”), which he had often heard me sing, and had always seemed to like
+very much.
+
+“After it was over, some one of the party (I do not think it was the
+President) asked me to sing something else; and I sang two or three
+little comic things, of which ‘Picayune Butler’ was one. Porter’s corps
+was reached and reviewed; then the battle-ground was passed over, and
+the most noted parts examined; then, in succession, the cavalry and
+Franklin’s corps were reviewed, and the President and party returned
+to General McClellan’s headquarters at the end of a very hard, hot and
+dusty day’s work.
+
+“Next day (the 4th), the President and General McClellan visited such
+of the wounded as still remained in the vicinity, including the
+now lamented General Richardson; then proceeded to and examined the
+South-Mountain battle-ground, at which point they parted, General
+McClellan returning to his camp, and the President returning to
+Washington, seeing, on the way, General Hartsoff, who lay wounded at
+Frederick Town.
+
+“This is the whole story of the singing and its surroundings. Neither
+General McClellan nor any one else made any objections to the singing;
+the place was not on the battle-field; the time was sixteen days after
+the battle; no dead body was seen during the whole time the President
+was absent from Washington, nor even a grave that had not been rained on
+since the time it was made.”
+
+
+
+
+“ONE WAR AT A TIME.”
+
+Nothing in Lincoln’s entire career better illustrated the surprising
+resources of his mind than his manner of dealing with “The Trent
+Affair.” The readiness and ability with which he met this perilous
+emergency, in a field entirely new to his experience, was worthy the
+most accomplished diplomat and statesman. Admirable, also, was his cool
+courage and self-reliance in following a course radically opposed to
+the prevailing sentiment throughout the country and in Congress, and
+contrary to the advice of his own Cabinet.
+
+Secretary of the Navy Welles hastened to approve officially the act of
+Captain Wilkes in apprehending the Confederate Commissioners Mason and
+Slidell, Secretary Stanton publicly applauded, and even Secretary
+of State Seward, whose long public career had made him especially
+conservative, stated that he was opposed to any concession or surrender
+of Mason and Slidell.
+
+But Lincoln, with great sagacity, simply said, “One war at a time.”
+
+
+
+
+PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S LAST PUBLIC ADDRESS.
+
+The President made his last public address on the evening of April 11th,
+1865, to a gathering at the White House. Said he:
+
+“We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart.
+
+“The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the
+principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace,
+whose joyous expression cannot be restrained.
+
+“In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not
+be forgotten.
+
+“Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing be
+overlooked; their honors must not be parceled out with others.
+
+“I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting
+the good news to you; but no part of the honor, for plan or execution,
+is mine.
+
+“To General Grant, his skillful officers and brave men, all belongs.”
+
+
+
+
+NO OTHERS LIKE THEM.
+
+One day an old lady from the country called on President Lincoln, her
+tanned face peering up to his through a pair of spectacles. Her errand
+was to present Mr. Lincoln a pair of stockings of her own make a yard
+long. Kind tears came to his eyes as she spoke to him, and then,
+holding the stockings one in each hand, dangling wide apart for
+general inspection, he assured her that he should take them with him to
+Washington, where (and here his eyes twinkled) he was sure he should not
+be able to find any like them.
+
+Quite a number of well-known men were in the room with the President
+when the old lady made her presentation. Among them was George S.
+Boutwell, who afterwards became Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+The amusement of the company was not at all diminished by Mr. Boutwell’s
+remark, that the lady had evidently made a very correct estimate of Mr.
+Lincoln’s latitude and longitude.
+
+
+
+
+CASH WAS AT HAND.
+
+Lincoln was appointed postmaster at New Salem by President Jackson. The
+office was given him because everybody liked him, and because he was the
+only man willing to take it who could make out the returns. Lincoln was
+pleased, because it gave him a chance to read every newspaper taken
+in the vicinity. He had never been able to get half the newspapers he
+wanted before.
+
+Years after the postoffice had been discontinued and Lincoln had
+become a practicing lawyer at Springfield, an agent of the Postoffice
+Department entered his office and inquired if Abraham Lincoln was
+within. Lincoln responded to his name, and was informed that the
+agent had called to collect the balance due the Department since the
+discontinuance of the New Salem office.
+
+A shade of perplexity passed over Lincoln’s face, which did not escape
+the notice of friends present. One of them said at once:
+
+“Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help you.”
+
+He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled out from a pile of books
+a little old trunk, and, returning to the table, asked the agent how
+much the amount of his debt was.
+
+The sum was named, and then Lincoln opened the trunk, pulled out a
+little package of coin wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted out the
+exact sum, amounting to more than seventeen dollars.
+
+After the agent had left the room, he remarked quietly that he had never
+used any man’s money but his own. Although this sum had been in his
+hands during all those years, he had never regarded it as available,
+even for any temporary use of his own.
+
+
+
+
+WELCOMED THE LITTLE GIRLS.
+
+At a Saturday afternoon reception at the White House, many persons
+noticed three little girls, poorly dressed, the children of some
+mechanic or laboring man, who had followed the visitors into the White
+House to gratify their curiosity. They passed around from room to room,
+and were hastening through the reception-room, with some trepidation,
+when the President called to them:
+
+“Little girls, are you going to pass me without shaking hands?”
+
+Then he bent his tall, awkward form down, and shook each little girl
+warmly by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was spellbound by the
+incident, so simple in itself.
+
+
+
+
+“DON’T SWAP HORSES”
+
+Uncle Sam was pretty well satisfied with his horse, “Old Abe,” and, as
+shown at the Presidential election of 1864, made up his mind to keep
+him, and not “swap” the tried and true animal for a strange one.
+“Harper’s Weekly” of November 12th, 1864, had a cartoon which
+illustrated how the people of the United States felt about the matter
+better than anything published at the time. We reproduce it on this
+page. Beneath the picture was this text:
+
+JOHN BULL: “Why don’t you ride the other horse a bit? He’s the best
+animal.” (Pointing to McClellan in the bushes at the rear.)
+
+BROTHER JONATHAN: “Well, that may be; but the fact is, OLD ABE is just
+where I can put my finger on him; and as for the other--though they say
+he’s some when out in the scrub yonder--I never know where to find him.”
+
+
+
+
+MOST VALUABLE POLITICAL ATTRIBUTE.
+
+“One time I remember I asked Mr. Lincoln what attribute he considered
+most valuable to the successful politician,” said Captain T. W. S. Kidd,
+of Springfield.
+
+“He laid his hand on my shoulder and said, very earnestly:
+
+“‘To be able to raise a cause which shall produce an effect, and then
+fight the effect.’
+
+“The more you think about it, the more profound does it become.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” RESENTED THE INSULT.
+
+A cashiered officer, seeking to be restored through the power of the
+executive, became insolent, because the President, who believed the man
+guilty, would not accede to his repeated requests, at last said, “Well,
+Mr. President, I see you are fully determined not to do me justice!”
+
+This was too aggravating even for Mr. Lincoln; rising he suddenly seized
+the disgraced officer by the coat collar, and marched him forcibly to
+the door, saying as he ejected him into the passage:
+
+“Sir, I give you fair warning never to show your face in this room
+again. I can bear censure, but not insult. I never wish to see your face
+again.”
+
+
+
+
+ONE MAN ISN’T MISSED.
+
+Salmon P. Chase, when Secretary of the Treasury, had a disagreement with
+other members of the Cabinet, and resigned.
+
+The President was urged not to accept it, as “Secretary Chase is to-day
+a national necessity,” his advisers said.
+
+“How mistaken you are!” Lincoln quietly observed. “Yet it is not
+strange; I used to have similar notions. No! If we should all be turned
+out to-morrow, and could come back here in a week, we should find our
+places filled by a lot of fellows doing just as well as we did, and in
+many instances better.
+
+“Now, this reminds me of what the Irishman said. His verdict was that
+‘in this country one man is as good as another; and, for the matter
+of that, very often a great deal better.’ No; this Government does not
+depend upon the life of any man.”
+
+
+
+
+“STRETCHED THE FACTS.”
+
+George B. Lincoln, a prominent merchant of Brooklyn, was traveling
+through the West in 1855-56, and found himself one night in a town on
+the Illinois River, by the name of Naples. The only tavern of the place
+had evidently been constructed with reference to business on a small
+scale. Poor as the prospect seemed, Mr. Lincoln had no alternative but
+to put up at the place.
+
+The supper-room was also used as a lodging-room. Mr. Lincoln told his
+host that he thought he would “go to bed.”
+
+“Bed!” echoed the landlord. “There is no bed for you in this house
+unless you sleep with that man yonder. He has the only one we have to
+spare.”
+
+“Well,” returned Mr. Lincoln, “the gentleman has possession, and perhaps
+would not like a bed-fellow.”
+
+Upon this a grizzly head appeared out of the pillows, and said:
+
+“What is your name?”
+
+“They call me Lincoln at home,” was the reply.
+
+“Lincoln!” repeated the stranger; “any connection of our Illinois
+Abraham?”
+
+“No,” replied Mr. Lincoln. “I fear not.”
+
+“Well,” said the old gentleman, “I will let any man by the name of
+‘Lincoln’ sleep with me, just for the sake of the name. You have heard
+of Abe?” he inquired.
+
+“Oh, yes, very often,” replied Mr. Lincoln. “No man could travel far
+in this State without hearing of him, and I would be very glad to claim
+connection if I could do so honestly.”
+
+“Well,” said the old gentleman, “my name is Simmons. ‘Abe’ and I used
+to live and work together when young men. Many a job of woodcutting and
+rail-splitting have I done up with him. Abe Lincoln was the likeliest
+boy in God’s world. He would work all day as hard as any of us and study
+by firelight in the log-house half the night; and in this way he made
+himself a thorough, practical surveyor. Once, during those days, I was
+in the upper part of the State, and I met General Ewing, whom President
+Jackson had sent to the Northwest to make surveys. I told him about Abe
+Lincoln, what a student he was, and that I wanted he should give him a
+job. He looked over his memorandum, and, holding out a paper, said:
+
+“‘There is County must be surveyed; if your friend can do the work
+properly, I shall be glad to have him undertake it--the compensation
+will be six hundred dollars.’
+
+“Pleased as I could be, I hastened to Abe, after I got home, with an
+account of what I had secured for him. He was sitting before the fire
+in the log-cabin when I told him; and what do you think was his answer?
+When I finished, he looked up very quietly, and said:
+
+“‘Mr. Simmons, I thank you very sincerely for your kindness, but I don’t
+think I will undertake the job.’
+
+“‘In the name of wonder,’ said I, ‘why? Six hundred does not grow upon
+every bush out here in Illinois.’
+
+“‘I know that,’ said Abe, ‘and I need the money bad enough, Simmons,
+as you know; but I have never been under obligation to a Democratic
+Administration, and I never intend to be so long as I can get my living
+another way. General Ewing must find another man to do his work.’”
+
+A friend related this story to the President one day, and asked him if
+it were true.
+
+“Pollard Simmons!” said Lincoln. “Well do I remember him. It is correct
+about our working together, but the old man must have stretched the
+facts somewhat about the survey of the county. I think I should have
+been very glad of the job at the time, no matter what Administration was
+in power.”
+
+
+
+
+IT LENGTHENED THE WAR.
+
+President Lincoln said, long before the National political campaign of
+1864 had opened:
+
+“If the unworthy ambition of politicians and the jealousy that exists in
+the army could be repressed, and all unite in a common aim and a common
+endeavor, the rebellion would soon be crushed.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS THEORY OF THE REBELLION.
+
+The President once explained to a friend the theory of the Rebellion by
+the aid of the maps before him.
+
+Running his long fore-finger down the map, he stopped at Virginia.
+
+“We must drive them away from here” (Manassas Gap), he said, “and clear
+them out of this part of the State so that they cannot threaten us here
+(Washington) and get into Maryland.
+
+“We must keep up a good and thorough blockade of their ports. We must
+march an army into East Tennessee and liberate the Union sentiment
+there. Finally we must rely on the people growing tired and saying to
+their leaders, ‘We have had enough of this thing, we will bear it no
+longer.’”
+
+Such was President Lincoln’s plan for heading off the Rebellion in the
+summer of 1861. How it enlarged as the War progressed, from a call for
+seventy thousand volunteers to one for five hundred thousand men and
+$500,000,000 is a matter of well-known history.
+
+
+
+
+RAN AWAY WHEN VICTORIOUS.
+
+Three or four days after the battle of Bull Run, some gentlemen who had
+been on the field called upon the President.
+
+He inquired very minutely regarding all the circumstances of the affair,
+and, after listening with the utmost attention, said, with a touch of
+humor: “So it is your notion that we whipped the rebels and then ran
+away from them!”
+
+
+
+
+WANTED STANTON SPANKED.
+
+Old Dennis Hanks was sent to Washington at one time by persons
+interested in securing the release from jail of several men accused of
+being copperheads. It was thought Old Dennis might have some influence
+with the President.
+
+The latter heard Dennis’ story and then said: “I will send for Mr.
+Stanton. It is his business.”
+
+Secretary Stanton came into the room, stormed up and down, and said the
+men ought to be punished more than they were. Mr. Lincoln sat quietly in
+his chair and waited for the tempest to subside, and then quietly said
+to Stanton he would like to have the papers next day.
+
+When he had gone, Dennis said:
+
+“‘Abe,’ if I was as big and as ugly as you are, I would take him over my
+knee and spank him.”
+
+The President replied: “No, Stanton is an able and valuable man for this
+Nation, and I am glad to bear his anger for the service he can give the
+Nation.”
+
+
+
+
+STANTON WAS OUT OF TOWN.
+
+The quaint remark of the President to an applicant, “My dear sir, I have
+not much influence with the Administration,” was one of Lincoln’s little
+jokes.
+
+Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, once replied to an order from the
+President to give a colonel a commission in place of the resigning
+brigadier:
+
+“I shan’t do it, sir! I shan’t do it! It isn’t the way to do it, sir,
+and I shan’t do it. I don’t propose to argue the question with you,
+sir.”
+
+A few days after, the friend of the applicant who had presented the
+order to Secretary Stanton called upon the President and related his
+reception. A look of vexation came over the face of the President, and
+he seemed unwilling to talk of it, and desired the friend to see him
+another day. He did so, when he gave his visitor a positive order for
+the promotion. The latter told him he would not speak to Secretary
+Stanton again until he apologized.
+
+“Oh,” said the President, “Stanton has gone to Fortress Monroe, and Dana
+is acting. He will attend to it for you.”
+
+This he said with a manner of relief, as if it was a piece of good luck
+to find a man there who would obey his orders.
+
+The nomination was sent to the Senate and confirmed.
+
+
+
+
+IDENTIFIED THE COLORED MAN.
+
+Many applications reached Lincoln as he passed to and from the White
+House and the War Department. One day as he crossed the park he was
+stopped by a negro, who told him a pitiful story. The President wrote
+him out a check, which read. “Pay to colored man with one leg five
+dollars.”
+
+
+
+
+OFFICE SEEKERS WORSE THAN WAR.
+
+When the Republican party came into power, Washington swarmed with
+office-seekers. They overran the White House and gave the President
+great annoyance. The incongruity of a man in his position, and with
+the very life of the country at stake, pausing to appoint postmasters,
+struck Mr. Lincoln forcibly. “What is the matter, Mr. Lincoln,” said
+a friend one day, when he saw him looking particularly grave and
+dispirited. “Has anything gone wrong at the front?” “No,” said the
+President, with a tired smile. “It isn’t the war; it’s the postoffice at
+Brownsville, Missouri.”
+
+
+
+
+HE “SET ‘EM UP.”
+
+Immediately after Mr. Lincoln’s nomination for President at the Chicago
+Convention, a committee, of which Governor Morgan, of New York, was
+chairman, visited him in Springfield, Ill., where he was officially
+informed of his nomination.
+
+After this ceremony had passed, Mr. Lincoln remarked to the company that
+as a fit ending to an interview so important and interesting as that
+which had just taken place, he supposed good manners would require that
+he should treat the committee with something to drink; and opening
+the door that led into the rear, he called out, “Mary! Mary!” A girl
+responded to the call, to whom Mr. Lincoln spoke a few words in an
+undertone, and, closing the door, returned again and talked with his
+guests. In a few minutes the maid entered, bearing a large waiter,
+containing several glass tumblers, and a large pitcher, and placed them
+upon the center-table. Mr. Lincoln arose, and, gravely addressing the
+company, said: “Gentlemen, we must pledge our mutual health in the most
+healthy beverage that God has given to man--it is the only beverage I
+have ever used or allowed my family to use, and I cannot conscientiously
+depart from it on the present occasion. It is pure Adam’s ale from the
+spring.” And, taking the tumbler, he touched it to his lips, and pledged
+them his highest respects in a cup of cold water. Of course, all his
+guests admired his consistency, and joined in his example.
+
+
+
+
+WASN’T STANTON’S SAY.
+
+A few days before the President’s death, Secretary Stanton tendered
+his resignation as Secretary of War. He accompanied the act with a most
+heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lincoln’s constant friendship and faithful
+devotion to the country, saying, also, that he, as Secretary, had
+accepted the position to hold it only until the war should end, and that
+now he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary’s words, and, tearing in
+pieces the paper containing the resignation, and throwing his arms about
+the Secretary, he said:
+
+“Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public servant, and
+it is not for you to say when you will no longer be needed here.”
+
+Several friends of both parties were present on the occasion, and there
+was not a dry eye that witnessed the scene.
+
+
+
+
+“JEFFY” THREW UP THE SPONGE.
+
+When the War was fairly on, many people were astonished to find that
+“Old Abe” was a fighter from “way back.” No one was the victim of
+greater amazement than Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate
+States of America. Davis found out that “Abe” was not only a hard
+hitter, but had staying qualities of a high order. It was a fight to
+a “finish” with “Abe,” no compromises being accepted. Over the title,
+“North and South,” the issue of “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper”
+ of December 24th, 1864, contained the cartoon, see reproduce on this
+page. Underneath the picture were the lines:
+
+“Now, Jeffy, when you think you have had enough of this, say so, and
+I’ll leave off.” (See President’s message.) In his message to Congress,
+December 6th,
+
+President Lincoln said: “No attempt at negotiation with the insurgent
+leader could result in any good. He would accept of nothing short of the
+severance of the Union.”
+
+Therefore, Father Abraham, getting “Jeffy’s” head “in chancery,”
+ proceeded to change the appearance and size of the secessionist’s
+countenance, much to the grief and discomfort of the Southerner. It was
+Lincoln’s idea to re-establish the Union, and he carried out his purpose
+to the very letter. But he didn’t “leave off” until “Jeffy” cried
+“enough.”
+
+
+
+
+DIDN’T KNOW GRANT’S PREFERENCE.
+
+In October, 1864, President Lincoln, while he knew his re-election to
+the White House was in no sense doubtful, knew that if he lost New
+York and with it Pennsylvania on the home vote, the moral effect of
+his triumph would be broken and his power to prosecute the war and make
+peace would be greatly impaired. Colonel A. K. McClure was with Lincoln
+a good deal of the time previous to the November election, and tells
+this story:
+
+“His usually sad face was deeply shadowed with sorrow when I told him
+that I saw no reasonable prospect of carrying Pennsylvania on the home
+vote, although we had about held our own in the hand-to-hand conflict
+through which we were passing.
+
+“‘Well, what is to be done?’ was Lincoln’s inquiry, after the whole
+situation had been presented to him. I answered that the solution of the
+problem was a very simple and easy one--that Grant was idle in front of
+Petersburg; that Sheridan had won all possible victories in the Valley;
+and that if five thousand Pennsylvania soldiers could be furloughed home
+from each army, the election could be carried without doubt.
+
+“Lincoln’s face’ brightened instantly at the suggestion, and I saw that
+he was quite ready to execute it. I said to him: ‘Of course, you can
+trust want to make the suggestion to him to furlough five thousand
+Pennsylvania troops for two weeks?’
+
+“‘To my surprise, Lincoln made no answer, and the bright face of a few
+moments before was instantly shadowed again. I was much disconcerted,
+as I supposed that Grant was the one man to whom Lincoln could turn with
+absolute confidence as his friend. I then said, with some earnestness:
+‘Surely, Mr. President, you can trust Grant with a confidential
+suggestion to furlough Pennsylvania troops?’
+
+“Lincoln remained silent and evidently distressed at the proposition I
+was pressing upon him. After a few moments, and speaking with emphasis,
+I said: ‘It can’t be possible that Grant is not your friend; he can’t be
+such an ingrate?’
+
+“Lincoln hesitated for some time, and then answered in these words:
+‘Well, McClure, I have no reason to believe that Grant prefers my
+election to that of McClellan.’
+
+“I believe Lincoln was mistaken in his distrust of Grant.”
+
+
+
+
+JUSTICE vs. NUMBERS.
+
+Lincoln was constantly bothered by members of delegations of
+“goody-goodies,” who knew all about running the War, but had no inside
+information as to what was going on. Yet, they poured out their advice
+in streams, until the President was heartily sick of the whole business,
+and wished the War would find some way to kill off these nuisances.
+
+“How many men have the Confederates now in the field?” asked one of
+these bores one day.
+
+“About one million two hundred thousand,” replied the President.
+
+“Oh, my! Not so many as that, surely, Mr. Lincoln.”
+
+“They have fully twelve hundred thousand, no doubt of it. You see, all
+of our generals when they get whipped say the enemy outnumbers them
+from three or five to one, and I must believe them. We have four hundred
+thousand men in the field, and three times four make twelve,--don’t you
+see it? It is as plain to be seen as the nose on a man’s face; and at
+the rate things are now going, with the great amount of speculation and
+the small crop of fighting, it will take a long time to overcome twelve
+hundred thousand rebels in arms.
+
+“If they can get subsistence they have everything else, except a just
+cause. Yet it is said that ‘thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel
+just.’ I am willing, however, to risk our advantage of thrice in justice
+against their thrice in numbers.”
+
+
+
+
+NO FALSE PRIDE IN LINCOLN.
+
+General McClellan had little or no conception of the greatness of
+Abraham Lincoln. As time went on, he began to show plainly his contempt
+of the President, frequently allowing him to wait in the ante-room of
+his house while he transacted business with others. This discourtesy was
+so open that McClellan’s staff noticed it, and newspaper correspondents
+commented on it. The President was too keen not to see the situation,
+but he was strong enough to ignore it. It was a battle he wanted from
+McClellan, not deference.
+
+“I will hold McClellan’s horse, if he will only bring us success,” he
+said one day.
+
+
+
+
+EXTRA MEMBER OF THE CABINET.
+
+G. H. Giddings was selected as the bearer of a message from the
+President to Governor Sam Houston, of Texas. A conflict had arisen there
+between the Southern party and the Governor, Sam Houston, and on March
+18 the latter had been deposed. When Mr. Lincoln heard of this, he
+decided to try to get a message to the Governor, offering United States
+support if he would put himself at the head of the Union party of the
+State.
+
+Mr. Giddings thus told of his interview with the President:
+
+“He said to me that the message was of such importance that, before
+handing it to me, he would read it to me. Before beginning to read he
+said, ‘This is a confidential and secret message. No one besides my
+Cabinet and myself knows anything about it, and we are all sworn to
+secrecy. I am going to swear you in as one of my Cabinet.’
+
+“And then he said to me in a jocular way, ‘Hold up your right hand,’
+which I did.
+
+“‘Now,’ said he, consider yourself a member of my Cabinet.”’
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN WAS ABUSED.
+
+With the possible exception of President Washington, whose political
+opponents did not hesitate to rob the vocabulary of vulgarity and
+wickedness whenever they desired to vilify the Chief Magistrate, Lincoln
+was the most and “best” abused man who ever held office in the United
+States. During the first half of his initial term there was no epithet
+which was not applied to him.
+
+One newspaper in New York habitually characterized him as “that hideous
+baboon at the other end of the avenue,” and declared that “Barnum should
+buy and exhibit him as a zoological curiosity.”
+
+Although the President did not, to all appearances, exhibit annoyance
+because of the various diatribes printed and spoken, yet the fact is
+that his life was so cruelly embittered by these and other expressions
+quite as virulent, that he often declared to those most intimate with
+him, “I would rather be dead than, as President, thus abused in the
+house of my friends.”
+
+
+
+
+HOW “FIGHTING JOE” WAS APPOINTED.
+
+General “Joe” Hooker, the fourth commander of the noble but unfortunate
+Army of the Potomac, was appointed to that position by President Lincoln
+in January, 1863. General Scott, for some reason, disliked Hooker
+and would not appoint him. Hooker, after some months of discouraging
+waiting, decided to return to California, and called to pay his respects
+to President Lincoln. He was introduced as Captain Hooker, and to the
+surprise of the President began the following speech:
+
+“Mr. President, my friend makes a mistake. I am not Captain Hooker, but
+was once Lieutenant-Colonel Hooker of the regular army. I was lately
+a farmer in California, but since the Rebellion broke out I have been
+trying to get into service, but I find I am not wanted.
+
+“I am about to return home; but before going, I was anxious to pay my
+respects to you, and express my wishes for your personal welfare and
+success in quelling this Rebellion. And I want to say to you a word
+more.
+
+“I was at Bull Run the other day, Mr. President, and it is no vanity
+in me to say, I am a darned sight better general than you had on the
+field.”
+
+This was said, not in the tone of a braggart, but of a man who knew what
+he was talking about. Hooker did not return to California, but in a
+few weeks Captain Hooker received from the President a commission as
+Brigadier-General Hooker.
+
+
+
+
+KEPT HIS COURAGE UP.
+
+The President, like old King Saul, when his term was about to expire,
+was in a quandary concerning a further lease of the Presidential office.
+He consulted again the “prophetess” of Georgetown, immortalized by his
+patronage.
+
+She retired to an inner chamber, and, after raising and consulting more
+than a dozen of distinguished spirits from Hades, she returned to the
+reception-parlor, where the chief magistrate awaited her, and declared
+that General Grant would capture Richmond, and that “Honest Old Abe”
+ would be next President.
+
+She, however, as the report goes, told him to beware of Chase.
+
+
+
+
+A FORTUNE-TELLER’S PREDICTION.
+
+Lincoln had been born and reared among people who were believers in
+premonitions and supernatural appearances all his life, and he once
+declared to his friends that he was “from boyhood superstitious.”
+
+He at one time said to Judge Arnold that “the near approach of the
+important events of his life were indicated by a presentiment or a
+strange dream, or in some other mysterious way it was impressed upon him
+that something important was to occur.” This was earlier than 1850.
+
+It is said that on his second visit to New Orleans, Lincoln and his
+companion, John Hanks, visited an old fortune-teller--a voodoo negress.
+Tradition says that “during the interview she became very much excited,
+and after various predictions, exclaimed: ‘You will be President, and
+all the negroes will be free.’”
+
+That the old voodoo negress should have foretold that the visitor would
+be President is not at all incredible. She doubtless told this to many
+aspiring lads, but Lincoln, so it is avowed took the prophecy seriously.
+
+
+
+
+TOO MUCH POWDER.
+
+So great was Lincoln’s anxiety for the success of the Union arms that he
+considered no labor on his part too arduous, and spent much of his time
+in looking after even the small details.
+
+Admiral Dahlgren was sent for one morning by the President, who said
+“Well, captain, here’s a letter about some new powder.”
+
+After reading the letter he showed the sample of powder, and remarked
+that he had burned some of it, and did not believe it was a good
+article--here was too much residuum.
+
+“I will show you,” he said; and getting a small piece of paper, placed
+thereupon some of the powder, then went to the fire and with the tongs
+picked up a coal, which he blew, clapped it on the powder, and after the
+resulting explosion, added, “You see there is too much left there.”
+
+
+
+
+SLEEP STANDING UP.
+
+McClellan was a thorn in Lincoln’s side--“always up in the air,” as
+the President put it--and yet he hesitated to remove him. “The Young
+Napoleon” was a good organizer, but no fighter. Lincoln sent him
+everything necessary in the way of men, ammunition, artillery and
+equipments, but he was forever unready.
+
+Instead of making a forward movement at the time expected, he would
+notify the President that he must have more men. These were given him as
+rapidly as possible, and then would come a demand for more horses, more
+this and that, usually winding up with a demand for still “more men.”
+
+Lincoln bore it all in patience for a long time, but one day, when he
+had received another request for more men, he made a vigorous protest.
+
+“If I gave McClellan all the men he asks for,” said the President, “they
+couldn’t find room to lie down. They’d have to sleep standing up.”
+
+
+
+
+SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT ANOTHER BATTLE.
+
+General Meade, after the great victory at Gettysburg, was again face to
+face with General Lee shortly afterwards at Williamsport, and even the
+former’s warmest friends agree that he might have won in another battle,
+but he took no action. He was not a “pushing” man like Grant. It
+was this negligence on the part of Meade that lost him the rank of
+Lieutenant-General, conferred upon General Sheridan.
+
+A friend of Meade’s, speaking to President Lincoln and intimating that
+Meade should have, after that battle, been made Commander-in-Chief of
+the Union Armies, received this reply from Lincoln:
+
+“Now, don’t misunderstand me about General Meade. I am profoundly
+grateful down to the bottom of my boots for what he did at Gettysburg,
+but I think that if I had been General Meade I would have fought another
+battle.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN UPBRAIDED LAMON.
+
+In one of his reminiscences of Lincoln, Ward Lamon tells how keenly the
+President-elect always regretted the “sneaking in act” when he made the
+celebrated “midnight ride,” which he took under protest, and landed him
+in Washington known to but a few. Lamon says:
+
+“The President was convinced that he committed a grave mistake in
+listening to the solicitations of a ‘professional spy’ and of friends
+too easily alarmed, and frequently upbraided me for having aided him
+to degrade himself at the very moment in all his life when his behavior
+should have exhibited the utmost dignity and composure.
+
+“Neither he nor the country generally then understood the true facts
+concerning the dangers to his life. It is now an acknowledged fact that
+there never was a moment from the day he crossed the Maryland line, up
+to the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by
+violence, and that his life was spared until the night of the 14th of
+April, 1865, only through the ceaseless and watchful care of the guards
+thrown around him.”
+
+
+
+
+MARKED OUT A FEW WORDS.
+
+President Lincoln was calm and unmoved when England and France were
+blustering and threatening war. At Lincoln’s instance Secretary of State
+Seward notified the English Cabinet and the French Emperor that as
+ours was merely a family quarrel of a strictly private and confidential
+nature, there was no call for meddling; also that they would have a war
+on their hands in a very few minutes if they didn’t keep their hands
+off.
+
+Many of Seward’s notes were couched in decidedly peppery terms, some
+expressions being so tart that President Lincoln ran his pen through
+them.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN SILENCES SEWARD.
+
+General Farnsworth told the writer nearly twenty years ago that, being
+in the War Office one day, Secretary Stanton told him that at the last
+Cabinet meeting he had learned a lesson he should never forget, and
+thought he had obtained an insight into Mr. Lincoln’s wonderful power
+over the masses. The Secretary said a Cabinet meeting was called to
+consider our relations with England in regard to the Mason-Slidell
+affair. One after another of the Cabinet presented his views, and Mr.
+Seward read an elaborate diplomatic dispatch, which he had prepared.
+
+Finally Mr. Lincoln read what he termed “a few brief remarks upon the
+subject,” and asked the opinions of his auditors. They unanimously
+agreed that our side of the question needed no more argument than was
+contained in the President’s “few brief remarks.”
+
+Mr. Seward said he would be glad to adopt the remarks, and, giving them
+more of the phraseology usual in diplomatic circles, send them to Lord
+Palmerston, the British premier.
+
+“Then,” said Secretary Stanton, “came the demonstration. The President,
+half wheeling in his seat, threw one leg over the chair-arm, and,
+holding the letter in his hand, said, ‘Seward, do you suppose Palmerston
+will understand our position from that letter, just as it is?’
+
+“‘Certainly, Mr. President.’
+
+“‘Do you suppose the London Times will?’
+
+“‘Certainly.’
+
+“‘Do you suppose the average Englishman of affairs will?’
+
+“‘Certainly; it cannot be mistaken in England.’
+
+“‘Do you suppose that a hackman out on his box (pointing to the street)
+will understand it?’
+
+“‘Very readily, Mr. President.’
+
+“‘Very well, Seward, I guess we’ll let her slide just as she is.’
+
+“And the letter did ‘slide,’ and settled the whole business in a manner
+that was effective.”
+
+
+
+
+BROUGHT THE HUSBAND UP.
+
+One morning President Lincoln asked Major Eckert, on duty at the White
+House, “Who is that woman crying out in the hall? What is the matter
+with her?”
+
+Eckert said it was a woman who had come a long distance expecting to go
+down to the army to see her husband. An order had gone out a short time
+before to allow no women in the army, except in special cases.
+
+Mr. Lincoln sat moodily for a moment after hearing this story, and
+suddenly looking up, said, “Let’s send her down. You write the order,
+Major.”
+
+Major Eckert hesitated a moment, and replied, “Would it not be better
+for Colonel Hardie to write the order?”
+
+“Yes,” said Mr. Lincoln, “that is better; let Hardie write it.”
+
+The major went out, and soon returned, saying, “Mr. President, would
+it not be better in this case to let the woman’s husband come to
+Washington?”
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s face lighted up with pleasure. “Yes, yes,” was the
+President’s answer in a relieved tone; “that’s the best way; bring him
+up.”
+
+The order was written, and the man was sent to Washington.
+
+
+
+
+NO WAR WITHOUT BLOOD-LETTING.
+
+“You can’t carry on war without blood-letting,” said Lincoln one day.
+
+The President, although almost feminine in his kind-heartedness, knew
+not only this, but also that large bodies of soldiers in camp were at
+the mercy of diseases of every sort, the result being a heavy casualty
+list.
+
+Of the (estimated) half-million men of the Union armies who gave up
+their lives in the War of the Rebellion--1861-65--fully seventy-five
+per cent died of disease. The soldiers killed upon the field of battle
+constituted a comparatively small proportion of the casualties.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S TWO DIFFICULTIES.
+
+London “Punch” caricatured President Lincoln in every possible way,
+holding him and the Union cause up to the ridicule of the world so far
+as it could. On August 23rd, 1862, its cartoon entitled “Lincoln’s Two
+Difficulties” had the text underneath: LINCOLN: “What? No money! No
+men!” “Punch” desired to create the impression that the Washington
+Government was in a bad way, lacking both money and men for the purpose
+of putting down the Rebellion; that the United States Treasury was
+bankrupt, and the people of the North so devoid of patriotism that they
+would not send men for the army to assist in destroying the Confederacy.
+The truth is, that when this cartoon was printed the North had five
+hundred thousand men in the field, and, before the War closed, had
+provided fully two million and a half troops. The report of the
+Secretary of the Treasury which showed the financial affairs and
+situation of the United States up to July, 1862. The receipts of
+the National Government for the year ending June 30th, 1862, were
+$10,000,000 in excess of the expenditures, although the War was costing
+the country $2,000,000 per day; the credit of the United States was
+good, and business matters were in a satisfactory state. The Navy, by
+August 23rd, 1862, had received eighteen thousand additional men,
+and was in fine shape; the people of the North stood ready to supply
+anything the Government needed, so that, all things taken together, the
+“Punch” cartoon was not exactly true, as the facts and figures
+abundantly proved.
+
+
+
+
+WHITE ELEPHANT ON HIS HANDS.
+
+An old and intimate friend from Springfield called on President Lincoln
+and found him much depressed.
+
+The President was reclining on a sofa, but rising suddenly he said to
+his friend:
+
+“You know better than any man living that from my boyhood up my ambition
+was to be President. I am President of one part of this divided country
+at least; but look at me! Oh, I wish I had never been born!
+
+“I’ve a white elephant on my hands--one hard to manage. With a fire
+in my front and rear to contend with, the jealousies of the military
+commanders, and not receiving that cordial co-operative support from
+Congress that could reasonably be expected with an active and formidable
+enemy in the field threatening the very life-blood of the Government, my
+position is anything but a bed of roses.”
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LINCOLN AND GRANT CLASHED.
+
+Ward Lamon, one of President Lincoln’s law partners, and his most
+intimate friend in Washington, has this to relate:
+
+“I am not aware that there was ever a serious discord or
+misunderstanding between Mr. Lincoln and General Grant, except on a
+single occasion. From the commencement of the struggle, Lincoln’s policy
+was to break the backbone of the Confederacy by depriving it of its
+principal means of subsistence.
+
+“Cotton was its vital aliment; deprive it of this, and the rebellion
+must necessarily collapse. The Hon. Elihu B. Washburne from the outset
+was opposed to any contraband traffic with the Confederates.
+
+“Lincoln had given permits and passes through the lines to two
+persons--Mr. Joseph Mattox of Maryland and General Singleton of
+Illinois--to enable them to bring cotton and other Southern products
+from Virginia. Washburne heard of it, called immediately on Mr. Lincoln,
+and, after remonstrating with him on the impropriety of such a demarche,
+threatened to have General Grant countermand the permits if they were
+not revoked.
+
+“Naturally, both became excited. Lincoln declared that he did not
+believe General Grant would take upon himself the responsibility of such
+an act. ‘I will show you, sir; I will show you whether Grant will do it
+or not,’ responded Mr. Washburne, as he abruptly withdrew.
+
+“By the next boat, subsequent to this interview, the Congressman left
+Washington for the headquarters of General Grant. He returned shortly
+afterward to the city, and so likewise did Mattox and Singleton. Grant
+had countermanded the permits.
+
+“Under all the circumstances, it was, naturally, a source of exultation
+to Mr. Washburne and his friends, and of corresponding surprise and
+mortification to the President. The latter, however, said nothing
+further than this:
+
+“‘I wonder when General Grant changed his mind on this subject? He was
+the first man, after the commencement of this War, to grant a permit for
+the passage of cotton through the lines, and that to his own father.’
+
+“The President, however, never showed any resentment toward General
+Grant.
+
+“In referring afterwards to the subject, the President said: ‘It made
+me feel my insignificance keenly at the moment; but if my friends
+Washburne, Henry Wilson and others derive pleasure from so unworthy a
+victory over me, I leave them to its full enjoyment.’
+
+“This ripple on the otherwise unruffled current of their intercourse did
+not disturb the personal relations between Lincoln and Grant; but there
+was little cordiality between the President and Messrs. Washburne and
+Wilson afterwards.”
+
+
+
+
+WON JAMES GORDON BENNETT’S SUPPORT.
+
+The story as to how President Lincoln won the support of James Gordon
+Bennett, Sr., founder of the New York Herald, is a most interesting one.
+It was one of Lincoln’s shrewdest political acts, and was brought about
+by the tender, in an autograph letter, of the French Mission to Bennett.
+
+The New York Times was the only paper in the metropolis which supported
+him heartily, and President Lincoln knew how important it was to have
+the support of the Herald. He therefore, according to the way Colonel
+McClure tells it, carefully studied how to bring its editor into close
+touch with himself.
+
+The outlook for Lincoln’s re-election was not promising. Bennett had
+strongly advocated the nomination of General McClellan by the Democrats,
+and that was ominous of hostility to Lincoln; and when McClellan was
+nominated he was accepted on all sides as a most formidable candidate.
+
+It was in this emergency that Lincoln’s political sagacity served him
+sufficiently to win the Herald to his cause, and it was done by the
+confidential tender of the French Mission. Bennett did not break over to
+Lincoln at once, but he went by gradual approaches.
+
+His first step was to declare in favor of an entirely new candidate,
+which was an utter impossibility. He opened a “leader” in the Herald on
+the subject in this way: “Lincoln has proved a failure; McClellan
+has proved a failure; Fremont has proved a failure; let us have a new
+candidate.”
+
+Lincoln, McClellan and Fremont were then all in the field as nominated
+candidates, and the Fremont defection was a serious threat to Lincoln.
+Of course, neither Lincoln nor McClellan declined, and the Herald,
+failing to get the new man it knew to be an impossibility, squarely
+advocated Lincoln’s re-election.
+
+Without consulting any one, and without any public announcement:
+whatever, Lincoln wrote to Bennett, asking him to accept the mission to
+France. The offer was declined. Bennett valued the offer very much more
+than the office, and from that day until the day of the President’s
+death he was one of Lincoln’s most appreciative friends and hearty
+supporters on his own independent line.
+
+
+
+
+STOOD BY THE “SILENT MAN.”
+
+Once, in reply to a delegation, which visited the White House, the
+members of which were unusually vociferous in their demands that the
+Silent Man (as General Grant was called) should be relieved from duty,
+the President remarked:
+
+“What I want and what the people want is generals who will fight battles
+and win victories.
+
+“Grant has done this, and I propose to stand by him.”
+
+This declaration found its way into the newspapers, and Lincoln was
+upheld by the people of the North, who, also, wanted “generals who will
+fight battles and win victories.”
+
+
+
+
+A VERY BRAINY NUBBIN.
+
+President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward met Alexander H.
+Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, on February 2nd, 1865, on
+the River Queen, at Fortress Monroe. Stephens was enveloped in overcoats
+and shawls, and had the appearance of a fair-sized man. He began to take
+off one wrapping after another, until the small, shriveled old man stood
+before them.
+
+Lincoln quietly said to Seward: “This is the largest shucking for so
+small a nubbin that I ever saw.”
+
+President Lincoln had a friendly conference, but presented his ultimatum
+that the one and only condition of peace was that Confederates “must
+cease their resistance.”
+
+
+
+
+SENT TO HIS “FRIENDS.”
+
+During the Civil War, Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, had shown
+himself, in the National House of Representatives and elsewhere, one
+of the bitterest and most outspoken of all the men of that class which
+insisted that “the war was a failure.” He declared that it was the
+design of “those in power to establish a despotism,” and that they had
+“no intention of restoring the Union.” He denounced the conscription
+which had been ordered, and declared that men who submitted to be
+drafted into the army were “unworthy to be called free men.” He spoke of
+the President as “King Lincoln.”
+
+Such utterances at this time, when the Government was exerting itself to
+the utmost to recruit the armies, were dangerous, and Vallandigham was
+arrested, tried by court-martial at Cincinnati, and sentenced to be
+placed in confinement during the war.
+
+General Burnside, in command at Cincinnati, approved the sentence,
+and ordered that he be sent to Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor; but the
+President ordered that he be sent “beyond our lines into those of
+his friends.” He was therefore escorted to the Confederate lines in
+Tennessee, thence going to Richmond. He did not meet with a very cordial
+reception there, and finally sought refuge in Canada.
+
+Vallandigham died in a most peculiar way some years after the close of
+the War, and it was thought by many that his death was the result of
+premeditation upon his part.
+
+
+
+
+GO DOWN WITH COLORS FLYING.
+
+In August, 1864, the President called for five hundred thousand
+more men. The country was much depressed. The Confederates had, in
+comparatively small force, only a short time before, been to the very
+gates of Washington, and returned almost unharmed.
+
+The Presidential election was impending. Many thought another call for
+men at such a time would insure, if not destroy, Mr. Lincoln’s chances
+for re-election. A friend said as much to him one day, after the
+President had told him of his purpose to make such a call.
+
+“As to my re-election,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “it matters not. We must
+have the men. If I go down, I intend to go, like the Cumberland, with my
+colors flying!”
+
+
+
+
+ALL WERE TRAGEDIES.
+
+The cartoon reproduced below was published in “Harper’s Weekly” on
+January 31st, 1863, the explanatory text, underneath, reading in this
+way:
+
+MANAGER LINCOLN: “Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to say that the tragedy
+entitled ‘The Army of the Potomac’ has been withdrawn on account of
+quarrels among the leading performers, and I have substituted three
+new and striking farces, or burlesques, one, entitled ‘The Repulse of
+Vicksburg,’ by the well-known favorite, E. M. Stanton, Esq., and
+the others, ‘The Loss of the Harriet Lane,’ and ‘The Exploits of the
+Alabama’--a very sweet thing in farces, I assure you--by the veteran
+composer, Gideon Welles. (Unbounded applause by the Copperheads).”
+
+In July, after this cartoon appeared, the Army of the Potomac defeated
+Lee at Gettysburg, and sounded the death-knell of the Confederacy;
+General Hooker, with his corps from this Army opened the Tennessee
+River, thus affording some relief to the Union troops in Chattanooga;
+Hooker’s men also captured Lookout Mountain, and assisted in taking
+Missionary Ridge.
+
+General Grant converted the farce “The Repulse of Vicksburg” into a
+tragedy for the Copperheads, taking that stronghold on July 4th, and
+Captain Winslow, with the Union man-of-war Kearsarge, meeting the
+Confederate privateer Alabama, off the coast of France, near Cherbourg,
+fought the famous ship to a finish and sunk her. Thus the tragedy of
+“The Army of the Potomac” was given after all, and Playwright Stanton
+and Composer Welles were vindicated, their compositions having been
+received by the public with great favor.
+
+
+
+
+“HE’S THE BEST OF US.”
+
+Secretary of State Seward did not appreciate President Lincoln’s ability
+until he had been associated with him for quite a time, but he was
+awakened to a full realization of the greatness of the Chief Executive
+“all of a sudden.”
+
+Having submitted “Some Thoughts for the President’s Consideration”--a
+lengthy paper intended as an outline of the policy, both domestic and
+foreign, the Administration should pursue--he was not more surprised
+at the magnanimity and kindness of President Lincoln’s reply than the
+thorough mastery of the subject displayed by the President.
+
+A few months later, when the Secretary had begun to understand Mr.
+Lincoln, he was quick and generous to acknowledge his power.
+
+“Executive force and vigor are rare qualities,” he wrote to Mrs. Seward.
+“The President is the best of us.”
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN “COMPOSED.”
+
+Superintendent Chandler, of the Telegraph Office in the War Department,
+once told how President Lincoln wrote telegrams. Said he:
+
+“Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. His method of
+composition was slow and laborious. It was evident that he thought out
+what he was going to say before he touched his pen to the paper. He
+would sit looking out of the window, his left elbow on the table, his
+hand scratching his temple, his lips moving, and frequently he spoke the
+sentence aloud or in a half whisper.
+
+“After he was satisfied that he had the proper expression, he would
+write it out. If one examines the originals of Mr. Lincoln’s telegrams
+and letters, he will find very few erasures and very little interlining.
+This was because he had them definitely in his mind before writing them.
+
+“In this he was the exact opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with
+feverish haste, often scratching out words, and interlining frequently.
+Sometimes he would seize a sheet which he had filled, and impatiently
+tear it into pieces.”
+
+
+
+
+HAMLIN MIGHT DO IT.
+
+Several United States Senators urged President Lincoln to muster
+Southern slaves into the Union Army. Lincoln replied:
+
+“Gentlemen, I have put thousands of muskets into the hands of loyal
+citizens of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Western North Carolina. They have
+said they could defend themselves, if they had guns. I have given them
+the guns. Now, these men do not believe in mustering-in the negro. If I
+do it, these thousands of muskets will be turned against us. We should
+lose more than we should gain.”
+
+Being still further urged, President Lincoln gave them this answer:
+
+“Gentlemen,” he said, “I can’t do it. I can’t see it as you do. You may
+be right, and I may be wrong; but I’ll tell you what I can do; I can
+resign in favor of Mr. Hamlin. Perhaps Mr. Hamlin could do it.”
+
+The matter ended there, for the time being.
+
+
+
+
+THE GUN SHOT BETTER.
+
+The President took a lively interest in all new firearm improvements and
+inventions, and it sometimes happened that, when an inventor could get
+nobody else in the Government to listen to him, the President would
+personally test his gun. A former clerk in the Navy Department tells an
+incident illustrative.
+
+He had stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one
+striding up and down the hall muttering: “I do wonder if they have gone
+already and left the building all alone.” Looking out, the clerk was
+surprised to see the President.
+
+“Good evening,” said Mr. Lincoln. “I was just looking for that man who
+goes shooting with me sometimes.”
+
+The clerk knew Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain messenger of the
+Ordnance Department who had been accustomed to going with him to test
+weapons, but as this man had gone home, the clerk offered his services.
+Together they went to the lawn south of the White House, where Mr.
+Lincoln fixed up a target cut from a sheet of white Congressional
+notepaper.
+
+“Then pacing off a distance of about eighty or a hundred feet,” writes
+the clerk, “he raised the rifle to a level, took a quick aim, and drove
+the round of seven shots in quick succession, the bullets shooting all
+around the target like a Gatling gun and one striking near the center.
+
+“‘I believe I can make this gun shoot better,’ said Mr. Lincoln, after
+we had looked at the result of the first fire. With this he took from
+his vest pocket a small wooden sight which he had whittled from a pine
+stick, and adjusted it over the sight of the carbine. He then shot two
+rounds, and of the fourteen bullets nearly a dozen hit the paper!”
+
+
+
+
+LENIENT WITH McCLELLAN.
+
+General McClellan, aside from his lack of aggressiveness, fretted
+the President greatly with his complaints about military matters, his
+obtrusive criticism regarding political matters, and especially at his
+insulting declaration to the Secretary of War, dated June 28th, 1862,
+just after his retreat to the James River.
+
+General Halleck was made Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces in July,
+1862, and September 1st McClellan was called to Washington. The day
+before he had written his wife that “as a matter of self-respect,
+I cannot go there.” President Lincoln and General Halleck called at
+McClellan’s house, and the President said: “As a favor to me, I wish
+you would take command of the fortifications of Washington and all the
+troops for the defense of the capital.”
+
+Lincoln thought highly of McClellan’s ability as an organizer and
+his strength in defense, yet any other President would have had him
+court-martialed for using this language, which appeared in McClellan’s
+letter of June 28th:
+
+“If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to
+you or to any other person in Washington. You have done your best to
+sacrifice this army.”
+
+This letter, although addressed to the Secretary of War, distinctly
+embraced the President in the grave charge of conspiracy to defeat
+McClellan’s army and sacrifice thousands of the lives of his soldiers.
+
+
+
+
+DIDN’T WANT A MILITARY REPUTATION.
+
+Lincoln was averse to being put up as a military hero.
+
+When General Cass was a candidate for the Presidency his friends sought
+to endow him with a military reputation.
+
+Lincoln, at that time a representative in Congress, delivered a speech
+before the House, which, in its allusion to Mr. Cass, was exquisitely
+sarcastic and irresistibly humorous:
+
+“By the way, Mr. Speaker,” said Lincoln, “do you know I am a military
+hero?
+
+“Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled, and came
+away.
+
+“Speaking of General Cass’s career reminds me of my own.
+
+“I was not at Stillman’s defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass to
+Hull’s surrender; and like him I saw the place very soon afterwards.
+
+“It is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break,
+but I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion.
+
+“If General Cass went in advance of me picking whortleberries, I guess I
+surpassed him in charging upon the wild onion.
+
+“If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had
+a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes, and although I never
+fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say that I was often very
+hungry.”
+
+Lincoln concluded by saying that if he ever turned Democrat and should
+run for the Presidency, he hoped they would not make fun of him by
+attempting to make him a military hero.
+
+
+
+
+“SURRENDER NO SLAVE.”
+
+About March, 1862, General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at Fortress
+Monroe, advised President Lincoln that he had determined to regard all
+slaves coming into his camps as contraband of war, and to employ their
+labor under fair compensation, and Secretary of War Stanton replied to
+him, in behalf of the President, approving his course, and saying,
+“You are not to interfere between master and slave on the one hand, nor
+surrender slaves who may come within your lines.”
+
+This was a significant milestone of progress to the great end that was
+thereafter to be reached.
+
+
+
+
+CONSCRIPTING DEAD MEN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln being found fault with for making another “call,” said that
+if the country required it, he would continue to do so until the matter
+stood as described by a Western provost marshal, who says:
+
+“I listened a short time since to a butternut-clad individual, who
+succeeded in making good his escape, expatiate most eloquently on
+the rigidness with which the conscription was enforced south of the
+Tennessee River. His response to a question propounded by a citizen ran
+somewhat in this wise:
+
+“‘Do they conscript close over the river?’
+
+“‘Stranger, I should think they did! They take every man who hasn’t been
+dead more than two days!’
+
+“If this is correct, the Confederacy has at least a ghost of a chance
+left.”
+
+And of another, a Methodist minister in Kansas, living on a small
+salary, who was greatly troubled to get his quarterly instalment. He at
+last told the non-paying trustees that he must have his money, as he was
+suffering for the necessaries of life.
+
+“Money!” replied the trustees; “you preach for money? We thought you
+preached for the good of souls!”
+
+“Souls!” responded the reverend; “I can’t eat souls; and if I could it
+would take a thousand such as yours to make a meal!”
+
+“That soul is the point, sir,” said the President.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S REJECTED MANUSCRIPT.
+
+On February 5th, 1865, President Lincoln formulated a message to
+Congress, proposing the payment of $400,000,000 to the South as
+compensation for slaves lost by emancipation, and submitted it to his
+Cabinet, only to be unanimously rejected.
+
+Lincoln sadly accepted the decision, and filed away the manuscript
+message, together with this indorsement thereon, to which his signature
+was added: “February 5, 1865. To-day these papers, which explain
+themselves, were drawn up and submitted to the Cabinet unanimously
+disapproved by them.”
+
+When the proposed message was disapproved, Lincoln soberly asked: “How
+long will the war last?”
+
+To this none could make answer, and he added: “We are spending now, in
+carrying on the war, $3,000,000 a day, which will amount to all this
+money, besides all the lives.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A STORY WRITER.
+
+In his youth, Mr. Lincoln once got an idea for a thrilling, romantic
+story. One day, in Springfield, he was sitting with his feet on the
+window sill, chatting with an acquaintance, when he suddenly changed the
+drift of the conversation by saying: “Did you ever write out a story in
+your mind? I did when I was a little codger. One day a wagon with a lady
+and two girls and a man broke down near us, and while they were fixing
+up, they cooked in our kitchen. The woman had books and read us stories,
+and they were the first I had ever heard. I took a great fancy to one
+of the girls; and when they were gone I thought of her a great deal,
+and one day when I was sitting out in the sun by the house I wrote out
+a story in my mind. I thought I took my father’s horse and followed
+the wagon, and finally I found it, and they were surprised to see me. I
+talked with the girl, and persuaded her to elope with me; and that night
+I put her on my horse, and we started off across the prairie. After
+several hours we came to a camp; and when we rode up we found it was the
+one we had left a few hours before, and went in. The next night we tried
+again, and the same thing happened--the horse came back to the same
+place; and then we concluded that we ought not to elope. I stayed until
+I had persuaded her father to give her to me. I always meant to write
+that story out and publish it, and I began once; but I concluded that it
+was not much of a story. But I think that was the beginning of love with
+me.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S IDEAS ON CROSSING A RIVER WHEN HE GOT TO IT.
+
+Lincoln’s reply to a Springfield (Illinois) clergyman, who asked him
+what was to be his policy on the slavery question was most apt:
+
+“Well, your question is rather a cool one, but I will answer it by
+telling you a story:
+
+“You know Father B., the old Methodist preacher? and you know Fox River
+and its freshets?
+
+“Well, once in the presence of Father B., a young Methodist was worrying
+about Fox River, and expressing fears that he should be prevented from
+fulfilling some of his appointments by a freshet in the river.
+
+“Father B. checked him in his gravest manner. Said he:
+
+“‘Young man, I have always made it a rule in my life not to cross Fox
+River till I get to it.’
+
+“And,” said the President, “I am not going to worry myself over the
+slavery question till I get to it.”
+
+A few days afterward a Methodist minister called on the President, and
+on being presented to him, said, simply:
+
+“Mr. President, I have come to tell you that I think we have got to Fox
+River!”
+
+Lincoln thanked the clergyman, and laughed heartily.
+
+
+
+
+PRESIDENT NOMINATED FIRST.
+
+The day of Lincoln’s second nomination for the Presidency he forgot
+all about the Republican National Convention, sitting at Baltimore,
+and wandered over to the War Department. While there, a telegram came
+announcing the nomination of Johnson as Vice-President.
+
+“What,” said Lincoln to the operator, “do they nominate a Vice-President
+before they do a President?”
+
+“Why,” replied the astonished official, “have you not heard of your own
+nomination? It was sent to the White House two hours ago.”
+
+“It is all right,” replied the President; “I shall probably find it on
+my return.”
+
+
+
+
+“THEM GILLITEENS.”
+
+The illustrated newspapers of the United States and England had a good
+deal of fun, not only with President Lincoln, but the latter’s Cabinet
+officers and military commanders as well. It was said by these
+funny publications that the President had set up a guillotine in his
+“back-yard,” where all those who offended were beheaded with both
+neatness, and despatch. “Harper’s Weekly” of January 3rd, 1863,
+contained a cartoon labeled “Those Guillotines; a Little Incident at the
+White House,” the personages figuring in the “incident” being Secretary
+of War Stanton and a Union general who had been unfortunate enough to
+lose a battle to the Confederates. Beneath the cartoon was the following
+dialogue:
+
+SERVANT: “If ye plase, sir, them Gilliteens has arrove.” MR. LINCOLN:
+“All right, Michael. Now, gentlemen, will you be kind enough to step out
+in the back-yard?”
+
+The hair and whiskers of Secretary of War Stanton are ruffled and awry,
+and his features are not calm and undisturbed, indicating that he has
+an idea of what’s the matter in that back-yard; the countenance of the
+officer in the rear of the Secretary of War wears rather an anxious, or
+worried, look, and his hair isn’t combed smoothly, either.
+
+President Lincoln’s frequent changes among army commanders--before
+he found Grant, Sherman and Sheridan--afforded an opportunity the
+caricaturists did not neglect, and some very clever cartoons were the
+consequence.
+
+
+
+
+“CONSIDER THE SYMPATHY OF LINCOLN.”
+
+Consider the sympathy of Abraham Lincoln. Do you know the story of
+William Scott, private? He was a boy from a Vermont farm.
+
+There had been a long march, and the night succeeding it he had stood on
+picket. The next day there had been another long march, and that night
+William Scott had volunteered to stand guard in the place of a sick
+comrade who had been drawn for the duty.
+
+It was too much for William Scott. He was too tired. He had been found
+sleeping on his beat.
+
+The army was at Chain Bridge. It was in a dangerous neighborhood.
+Discipline must be kept.
+
+William Scott was apprehended, tried by court-martial, sentenced to
+be shot. News of the case was carried to Lincoln. William Scott was a
+prisoner in his tent, expecting to be shot next day.
+
+But the flaps of his tent were parted, and Lincoln stood before him.
+Scott said:
+
+“The President was the kindest man I had ever seen; I knew him at once
+by a Lincoln medal I had long worn.
+
+“I was scared at first, for I had never before talked with a great man;
+but Mr. Lincoln was so easy with me, so gentle, that I soon forgot my
+fright.
+
+“He asked me all about the people at home, the neighbors, the farm, and
+where I went to school, and who my schoolmates were. Then he asked
+me about mother and how she looked; and I was glad I could take her
+photograph from my bosom and show it to him.
+
+“He said how thankful I ought to be that my mother still lived, and how,
+if he were in my place, he would try to make her a proud mother, and
+never cause her a sorrow or a tear.
+
+“I cannot remember it all, but every word was so kind.
+
+“He had said nothing yet about that dreadful next morning; I thought it
+must be that he was so kind-hearted that he didn’t like to speak of it.
+
+“But why did he say so much about my mother, and my not causing her a
+sorrow or a tear, when I knew that I must die the next morning?
+
+“But I supposed that was something that would have to go unexplained;
+and so I determined to brace up and tell him that I did not feel a bit
+guilty, and ask him wouldn’t he fix it so that the firing party would
+not be from our regiment.
+
+“That was going to be the hardest of all--to die by the hands of my
+comrades.
+
+“Just as I was going to ask him this favor, he stood up, and he says to
+me:
+
+“‘My boy, stand up here and look me in the face.’
+
+“I did as he bade me.
+
+“‘My boy,’ he said, ‘you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I believe
+you when you tell me that you could not keep awake.
+
+“‘I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment.
+
+“‘But I have been put to a good deal of trouble on your account.
+
+“‘I have had to come up here from Washington when I have got a great
+deal to do; and what I want to know is, how are you going to pay my
+bill?’
+
+“There was a big lump in my throat; I could scarcely speak. I had
+expected to die, you see, and had kind of got used to thinking that way.
+
+“To have it all changed in a minute! But I got it crowded down, and
+managed to say:
+
+“‘I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln! I hope I am as grateful as ever a man can
+be to you for saving my life.
+
+“‘But it comes upon me sudden and unexpected like. I didn’t lay out for
+it at all; but there is some way to pay you, and I will find it after a
+little.
+
+“‘There is the bounty in the savings bank; I guess we could borrow some
+money on the mortgage of the farm.’
+
+“‘There was my pay was something, and if he would wait until pay-day
+I was sure the boys would help; so I thought we could make it up if it
+wasn’t more than five or six hundred dollars.
+
+“‘But it is a great deal more than that,’ he said.
+
+“Then I said I didn’t just see how, but I was sure I would find some
+way--if I lived.
+
+“Then Mr. Lincoln put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my face
+as if he was sorry, and said; “‘My boy, my bill is a very large one.
+Your friends cannot pay it, nor your bounty, nor the farm, nor all your
+comrades!
+
+“‘There is only one man in all the world who can pay it, and his name is
+William Scott!
+
+“‘If from this day William Scott does his duty, so that, if I was there
+when he comes to die, he can look me in the face as he does now, and
+say, I have kept my promise, and I have done my duty as a soldier, then
+my debt will be paid.
+
+“‘Will you make that promise and try to keep it?”
+
+The promise was given. Thenceforward there never was such a soldier as
+William Scott.
+
+This is the record of the end. It was after one of the awful battles of
+the Peninsula. He was shot all to pieces. He said:
+
+“Boys, I shall never see another battle. I supposed this would be my
+last. I haven’t much to say.
+
+“You all know what you can tell them at home about me.
+
+“I have tried to do the right thing! If any of you ever have the chance
+I wish you would tell President Lincoln that I have never forgotten the
+kind words he said to me at the Chain Bridge; that I have tried to be a
+good soldier and true to the flag; that I should have paid my whole
+debt to him if I had lived; and that now, when I know that I am dying,
+I think of his kind face, and thank him again, because he gave me the
+chance to fall like a soldier in battle, and not like a coward, by the
+hands of my comrades.”
+
+What wonder that Secretary Stanton said, as he gazed upon the tall form
+and kindly face as he lay there, smitten down by the assassin’s bullet,
+“There lies the most perfect ruler of men who ever lived.”
+
+
+
+
+SAVED A LIFE.
+
+One day during the Black Hawk War a poor old Indian came into the camp
+with a paper of safe conduct from General Lewis Cass in his possession.
+The members of Lincoln’s company were greatly exasperated by late Indian
+barbarities, among them the horrible murder of a number of women and
+children, and were about to kill him; they said the safe-conduct paper
+was a forgery, and approached the old savage with muskets cocked to
+shoot him.
+
+Lincoln rushed forward, struck up the weapons with his hands, and
+standing in front of the victim, declared to the Indian that he should
+not be killed. It was with great difficulty that the men could be kept
+from their purpose, but the courage and firmness of Lincoln thwarted
+them.
+
+Lincoln was physically one of the bravest of men, as his company
+discovered.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PLAYED BALL.
+
+Frank P. Blair, of Chicago, tells an incident, showing Mr. Lincoln’s
+love for children and how thoroughly he entered into all of their
+sports:
+
+“During the war my grandfather, Francis P. Blair, Sr., lived at Silver
+Springs, north of Washington, seven miles from the White House. It was a
+magnificent place of four or five hundred acres, with an extensive lawn
+in the rear of the house. The grandchildren gathered there frequently.
+
+“There were eight or ten of us, our ages ranging from eight to twelve
+years. Although I was but seven or eight years of age, Mr. Lincoln’s
+visits were of such importance to us boys as to leave a clear impression
+on my memory. He drove out to the place quite frequently. We boys, for
+hours at a time played ‘town ball’ on the vast lawn, and Mr. Lincoln
+would join ardently in the sport. I remember vividly how he ran with the
+children; how long were his strides, and how far his coat-tails stuck
+out behind, and how we tried to hit him with the ball, as he ran the
+bases. He entered into the spirit of the play as completely as any of
+us, and we invariably hailed his coming with delight.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS PASSES TO RICHMOND NOT HONORED.
+
+A man called upon the President and solicited a pass for Richmond.
+
+“Well,” said the President, “I would be very happy to oblige, if my
+passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the past
+two years, given passes to two hundred and fifty thousand men to go to
+Richmond, and not one has got there yet.”
+
+The applicant quietly and respectfully withdrew on his tiptoes.
+
+
+
+
+“PUBLIC HANGMAN” FOR THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A certain United States Senator, who believed that every man who
+believed in secession should be hanged, asked the President what he
+intended to do when the War was over.
+
+“Reconstruct the machinery of this Government,” quickly replied Lincoln.
+
+“You are certainly crazy,” was the Senator’s heated response. “You
+talk as if treason was not henceforth to be made odious, but that
+the traitors, cutthroats and authors of this War should not only go
+unpunished, but receive encouragement to repeat their treason with
+impunity! They should be hanged higher than Haman, sir! Yes, higher than
+any malefactor the world has ever known!”
+
+The President was entirely unmoved, but, after a moment’s pause, put a
+question which all but drove his visitor insane.
+
+“Now, Senator, suppose that when this hanging arrangement has been
+agreed upon, you accept the post of Chief Executioner. If you will take
+the office, I will make you a brigadier general and Public Hangman for
+the United States. That would just about suit you, wouldn’t it?”
+
+“I am a gentleman, sir,” returned the Senator, “and I certainly thought
+you knew me better than to believe me capable of doing such dirty work.
+You are jesting, Mr. President.”
+
+The President was extremely patient, exhibiting no signs of ire, and to
+this bit of temper on the part of the Senator responded:
+
+“You speak of being a gentleman; yet you forget that in this free
+country all men are equal, the vagrant and the gentleman standing on the
+same ground when it comes to rights and duties, particularly in time
+of war. Therefore, being a gentleman, as you claim, and a law-abiding
+citizen, I trust, you are not exempt from doing even the dirty work at
+which your high spirit revolts.”
+
+This was too much for the Senator, who quitted the room abruptly, and
+never again showed his face in the White House while Lincoln occupied
+it.
+
+“He won’t bother me again,” was the President’s remark as he departed.
+
+
+
+
+FEW, BUT BOISTEROUS.
+
+Lincoln was a very quiet man, and went about his business in a quiet
+way, making the least noise possible. He heartily disliked those
+boisterous people who were constantly deluging him with advice, and
+shouting at the tops of their voices whenever they appeared at the White
+House. “These noisy people create a great clamor,” said he one day, in
+conversation with some personal friends, “and remind me, by the way, of
+a good story I heard out in Illinois while I was practicing, or trying
+to practice, some law there. I will say, though, that I practiced more
+law than I ever got paid for.
+
+“A fellow who lived just out of town, on the bank of a large marsh,
+conceived a big idea in the money-making line. He took it to a prominent
+merchant, and began to develop his plans and specifications. ‘There are
+at least ten million frogs in that marsh near me, an’ I’ll just arrest a
+couple of carloads of them and hand them over to you. You can send them
+to the big cities and make lots of money for both of us. Frogs’ legs are
+great delicacies in the big towns, an’ not very plentiful. It won’t
+take me more’n two or three days to pick ‘em. They make so much noise
+my family can’t sleep, and by this deal I’ll get rid of a nuisance and
+gather in some cash.’
+
+“The merchant agreed to the proposition, promised the fellow he would
+pay him well for the two carloads. Two days passed, then three, and
+finally two weeks were gone before the fellow showed up again, carrying
+a small basket. He looked weary and ‘done up,’ and he wasn’t talkative
+a bit. He threw the basket on the counter with the remark, ‘There’s your
+frogs.’
+
+“‘You haven’t two carloads in that basket, have you?’ inquired the
+merchant.
+
+“‘No,’ was the reply, ‘and there ain’t no two carloads in all this
+blasted world.’
+
+“‘I thought you said there were at least ten millions of ‘em in
+that marsh near you, according to the noise they made,’ observed the
+merchant. ‘Your people couldn’t sleep because of ‘em.’
+
+“‘Well,’ said the fellow, ‘accordin’ to the noise they made, there was,
+I thought, a hundred million of ‘em, but when I had waded and swum that
+there marsh day and night fer two blessed weeks, I couldn’t harvest
+but six. There’s two or three left yet, an’ the marsh is as noisy as it
+uster be. We haven’t catched up on any of our lost sleep yet. Now, you
+can have these here six, an’ I won’t charge you a cent fer ‘em.’
+
+“You can see by this little yarn,” remarked the President, “that these
+boisterous people make too much noise in proportion to their numbers.”
+
+
+
+
+KEEP PEGGING AWAY.
+
+Being asked one time by an “anxious” visitor as to what he would do
+in certain contingencies--provided the rebellion was not subdued after
+three or four years of effort on the part of the Government?
+
+“Oh,” replied the President, “there is no alternative but to keep
+‘pegging’ away!”
+
+
+
+
+BEWARE OF THE TAIL.
+
+After the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation, Governor Morgan, of
+New York, was at the White House one day, when the President said:
+
+“I do not agree with those who say that slavery is dead. We are like
+whalers who have been long on a chase--we have at last got the harpoon
+into the monster, but we must now look how we steer, or, with one ‘flop’
+of his tail, he will yet send us all into eternity!”
+
+
+
+
+“LINCOLN’S DREAM.”
+
+President Lincoln was depicted as a headsman in a cartoon printed in
+“Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper,” on February 14, 1863, the title
+of the picture being “Lincoln’s Dreams; or, There’s a Good Time Coming.”
+
+The cartoon, reproduced here, represents, on the right, the Union
+Generals who had been defeated by the Confederates in battle, and had
+suffered decapitation in consequence--McDowell, who lost at Bull Run;
+McClellan, who failed to take Richmond, when within twelve miles of that
+city and no opposition, comparatively; and Burnside, who was so badly
+whipped at Fredericksburg. To the left of the block, where the President
+is standing with the bloody axe in his hand, are shown the members
+of the Cabinet--Secretary of State Seward, Secretary of War Stanton,
+Secretary of the Navy Welles, and others--each awaiting his turn. This
+part of the “Dream” was never realized, however, as the President did
+not decapitate any of his Cabinet officers.
+
+It was the idea of the cartoonist to hold Lincoln up as a man who would
+not countenance failure upon the part of subordinates, but visit the
+severest punishment upon those commanders who did not win victories.
+After Burnside’s defeat at Fredericksburg, he was relieved by Hooker,
+who suffered disaster at Chancellorsville; Hooker was relieved by Meade,
+who won at Gettysburg, but was refused promotion because he did not
+follow up and crush Lee; Rosecrans was all but defeated at Chickamauga,
+and gave way to Grant, who, of all the Union commanders, had never
+suffered defeat. Grant was Lincoln’s ideal fighting man, and the “Old
+Commander” was never superseded.
+
+
+
+
+THERE WAS NO NEED OF A STORY.
+
+Dr. Hovey, of Dansville, New York, thought he would call and see the
+President.
+
+Upon arriving at the White House he found the President on horseback,
+ready for a start.
+
+Approaching him, he said:
+
+“President Lincoln, I thought I would call and see you before leaving
+the city, and hear you tell a story.”
+
+The President greeted him pleasantly, and asked where he was from.
+
+“From Western New York.”
+
+“Well, that’s a good enough country without stories,” replied the
+President, and off he rode.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN A MAN OF SIMPLE HABITS.
+
+Lincoln’s habits at the White House were as simple as they were at his
+old home in Illinois.
+
+He never alluded to himself as “President,” or as occupying “the
+Presidency.”
+
+His office he always designated as “the place.”
+
+“Call me Lincoln,” said he to a friend; “Mr. President” had become so
+very tiresome to him.
+
+“If you see a newsboy down the street, send him up this way,” said he to
+a passenger, as he stood waiting for the morning news at his gate.
+
+Friends cautioned him about exposing himself so openly in the midst of
+enemies; but he never heeded them.
+
+He frequently walked the streets at night, entirely unprotected; and
+felt any check upon his movements a great annoyance.
+
+He delighted to see his familiar Western friends; and he gave them
+always a cordial welcome.
+
+He met them on the old footing, and fell at once into the accustomed
+habits of talk and story-telling.
+
+An old acquaintance, with his wife, visited Washington. Mr. and Mrs.
+Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the Presidential carriage.
+
+It should be stated in advance that the two men had probably never seen
+each other with gloves on in their lives, unless when they were used as
+protection from the cold.
+
+The question of each--Lincoln at the White House, and his friend at the
+hotel--was, whether he should wear gloves.
+
+Of course the ladies urged gloves; but Lincoln only put his in his
+pocket, to be used or not, according to the circumstances.
+
+When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, to take in their
+friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his wife’s persuasions,
+very handsomely gloved.
+
+The moment he took his seat he began to draw off the clinging kids,
+while Lincoln began to draw his on!
+
+“No! no! no!” protested his friend, tugging at his gloves. “It is none
+of my doings; put up your gloves, Mr. Lincoln.”
+
+So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and had their ride
+after their old fashion.
+
+
+
+
+HIS LAST SPEECH.
+
+President Lincoln was reading the draft of a speech. Edward, the
+conservative but dignified butler of the White House, was seen
+struggling with Tad and trying to drag him back from the window from
+which was waving a Confederate flag, captured in some fight and given to
+the boy. Edward conquered and Tad, rushing to find his father, met him
+coming forward to make, as it proved, his last speech.
+
+The speech began with these words, “We meet this evening, not in sorrow,
+but in gladness of heart.” Having his speech written in loose leaves,
+and being compelled to hold a candle in the other hand, he would let the
+loose leaves drop to the floor one by one. “Tad” picked them up as they
+fell, and impatiently called for more as they fell from his father’s
+hand.
+
+
+
+
+FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW BEFORE.
+
+President Lincoln, while entertaining a few select friends, is said to
+have related the following anecdote of a man who knew too much:
+
+He was a careful, painstaking fellow, who always wanted to be absolutely
+exact, and as a result he frequently got the ill-will of his less
+careful superiors.
+
+During the administration of President Jackson there was a singular
+young gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in Washington.
+
+His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a neighbor
+of the President, on which account the old hero had a kind feeling for
+him, and always got him out of difficulties with some of the higher
+officials, to whom his singular interference was distasteful.
+
+Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the General
+Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to Major H., a
+high official, in answer to an application made by an old gentleman in
+Virginia or Pennsylvania, for the establishment of a new postoffice.
+
+The writer of the letter said the application could not be granted, in
+consequence of the applicant’s “proximity” to another office.
+
+When the letter came into G.’s hand to copy, being a great stickler for
+plainness, he altered “proximity” to “nearness to.”
+
+Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+
+“Why,” replied G., “because I don’t think the man would understand what
+you mean by proximity.”
+
+“Well,” said Major H., “try him; put in the ‘proximity’ again.”
+
+In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which he very
+indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty in the second
+war for independence, and he should like to have the name of the
+scoundrel who brought the charge of proximity or anything else wrong
+against him.
+
+“There,” said G., “did I not say so?”
+
+G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the
+Postmaster-General, said to him: “I don’t want you any longer; you know
+too much.”
+
+Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+
+This time G.’s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very busy
+writing, when a stranger called in and asked him where the Patent Office
+was.
+
+“I don’t know,” said G.
+
+“Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?” said the stranger.
+
+“No,” said G.
+
+“Nor the President’s house?”
+
+“No.”
+
+The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+
+“No,” replied G.
+
+“Do you live in Washington, sir?”
+
+“Yes, sir,” said G.
+
+“Good Lord! and don’t you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+President’s house and Capitol are?”
+
+“Stranger,” said G., “I was turned out of the postoffice for knowing too
+much. I don’t mean to offend in that way again.
+
+“I am paid for keeping this book.
+
+“I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything more
+you may take my head.”
+
+“Good morning,” said the stranger.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN BELIEVED IN EDUCATION.
+
+“That every man may receive at least a moderate education, and thereby
+be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by
+which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears
+to be an object of vital importance; even on this account alone, to say
+nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being
+able to read the Scriptures and other works, both of a religious and
+moral nature, for themselves.
+
+“For my part, I desire to see the time when education, by its means,
+morality, sobriety, enterprise and integrity, shall become much more
+general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power
+to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might
+have a tendency to accelerate the happy period.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN ON THE DRED SCOTT DECISION.
+
+In a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 26th, 1857, Lincoln referred
+to the decision of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, of the United States
+Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, in this manner:
+
+“The Chief justice does not directly assert, but plainly assumes as a
+fact, that the public estimate of the black man is more favorable now
+than it was in the days of the Revolution.
+
+“In those days, by common consent, the spread of the black man’s bondage
+in the new countries was prohibited; but now Congress decides that it
+will not continue the prohibition, and the Supreme Court decides that it
+could not if it would.
+
+“In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all,
+and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of
+the negro universal and eternal, it is assailed and sneered at, and
+constructed and hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise
+from their graves, they could not at all recognize it.
+
+“All the powers of earth seem combining against the slave; Mammon is
+after him, ambition follows, philosophy follows, and the theology of the
+day is fast joining the cry.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MADE MANY NOTABLE SPEECHES.
+
+Abraham Lincoln made many notable addresses and speeches during his
+career previous to the time of his election to the Presidency.
+
+However, beautiful in thought and expression as they were, they were not
+appreciated by those who heard and read them until after the people
+of the United States and the world had come to understand the man who
+delivered them.
+
+Lincoln had the rare and valuable faculty of putting the most sublime
+feeling into his speeches; and he never found it necessary to incumber
+his wisest, wittiest and most famous sayings with a weakening mass of
+words.
+
+He put his thoughts into the simplest language, so that all might
+comprehend, and he never said anything which was not full of the deepest
+meaning.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT AILED THE BOYS.
+
+Mr. Roland Diller, who was one of Mr. Lincoln’s neighbors in
+Springfield, tells the following:
+
+“I was called to the door one day by the cries of children in the
+street, and there was Mr. Lincoln, striding by with two of his boys,
+both of whom were wailing aloud. ‘Why, Mr. Lincoln, what’s the matter
+with the boys?’ I asked.
+
+“‘Just what’s the matter with the whole world,’ Lincoln replied. ‘I’ve
+got three walnuts, and each wants two.’”
+
+
+
+
+TAD’S CONFEDERATE FLAG.
+
+One of the prettiest incidents in the closing days of the Civil War
+occurred when the troops, ‘marching home again,’ passed in grand form,
+if with well-worn uniforms and tattered bunting, before the White House.
+
+Naturally, an immense crowd had assembled on the streets, the lawns,
+porches, balconies, and windows, even those of the executive mansion
+itself being crowded to excess. A central figure was that of the
+President, Abraham Lincoln, who, with bared head, unfurled and waved our
+Nation’s flag in the midst of lusty cheers.
+
+But suddenly there was an unexpected sight.
+
+A small boy leaned forward and sent streaming to the air the banner of
+the boys in gray. It was an old flag which had been captured from the
+Confederates, and which the urchin, the President’s second son, Tad, had
+obtained possession of and considered an additional triumph to unfurl on
+this all-important day.
+
+Vainly did the servant who had followed him to the window plead with
+him to desist. No, Master Tad, Pet of the White House, was not to be
+prevented from adding to the loyal demonstration of the hour.
+
+To his surprise, however, the crowd viewed it differently. Had it
+floated from any other window in the capital that day, no doubt it would
+have been the target of contempt and abuse; but when the President,
+understanding what had happened, turned, with a smile on his grand,
+plain face, and showed his approval by a gesture and expression, cheer
+after cheer rent the air.
+
+
+
+
+CALLED BLESSINGS ON THE AMERICAN WOMEN.
+
+President Lincoln attended a Ladies’ Fair for the benefit of the Union
+soldiers, at Washington, March 16th, 1864.
+
+In his remarks he said:
+
+“I appear to say but a word.
+
+“This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily upon all
+classes of people, but the most heavily upon the soldiers. For it has
+been said, ‘All that a man hath will he give for his life,’ and, while
+all contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life at stake,
+and often yields it up in his country’s cause.
+
+“The highest merit, then, is due the soldiers.
+
+“In this extraordinary war extraordinary developments have manifested
+themselves such as have not been seen in former wars; and among these
+manifestations nothing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the
+relief of suffering soldiers and their families, and the chief agents in
+these fairs are the women of America!
+
+“I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy; I have never
+studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that if
+all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the
+world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would
+not do them justice for their conduct during the war.
+
+“I will close by saying, God bless the women of America!”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S “ORDER NO. 252.”
+
+After the United States had enlisted former negro slaves as soldiers to
+fight alongside the Northern troops for the maintenance of the integrity
+of the Union, so great was the indignation of the Confederate Government
+that President Davis declared he would not recognize blacks captured in
+battle and in uniform as prisoners of war. This meant that he would have
+them returned to their previous owners, have them flogged and fined for
+running away from their masters, or even shot if he felt like it. This
+attitude of the President of the Confederate States of America led to
+the promulgation of President Lincoln’s famous “Order No. 252,” which,
+in effect, was a notification to the commanding officers of the Southern
+forces that if negro prisoners of war were not treated as such, the
+Union commanders would retaliate. “Harper’s Weekly” of August 15th,
+1863, contained a clever cartoon, which we reproduce, representing
+President Lincoln holding the South by the collar, while “Old
+Abe” shouts the following words of warning to Jeff Davis, who,
+cat-o’-nine-tails in hand, is in pursuit of a terrified little negro
+boy:
+
+MR. LINCOLN: “Look here, Jeff Davis! If you lay a finger on that boy, to
+hurt him, I’ll lick this ugly cub of yours within an inch of his life!”
+
+Much to the surprise of the Confederates, the negro soldiers fought
+valiantly; they were fearless when well led, obeyed orders without
+hesitation, were amenable to discipline, and were eager and anxious, at
+all times, to do their duty. In battle they were formidable opponents,
+and in using the bayonet were the equal of the best trained troops. The
+Southerners hated them beyond power of expression.
+
+
+
+
+TALKED TO THE NEGROES OF RICHMOND.
+
+The President walked through the streets of Richmond--without a guard
+except a few seamen--in company with his son “Tad,” and Admiral Porter,
+on April 4th, 1865, the day following the evacuation of the city.
+
+Colored people gathered about him on every side, eager to see and thank
+their liberator. Mr. Lincoln addressed the following remarks to one of
+these gatherings:
+
+“My poor friends, you are free--free as air. You can cast off the name
+of slave and trample upon it; it will come to you no more.
+
+“Liberty is your birthright. God gave it to you as He gave it to others,
+and it is a sin that you have been deprived of it for so many years.
+
+“But you must try to deserve this priceless boon. Let the world see that
+you merit it, and are able to maintain it by your good work.
+
+“Don’t let your joy carry you into excesses; learn the laws, and obey
+them. Obey God’s commandments, and thank Him for giving you liberty, for
+to Him you owe all things.
+
+“There, now, let me pass on; I have but little time to spare.
+
+“I want to see the Capitol, and must return at once to Washington to
+secure to you that liberty which you seem to prize so highly.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” ADDED A SAVING CLAUSE.
+
+Lincoln fell in love with Miss Mary S. Owens about 1833 or so, and,
+while she was attracted toward him she was not passionately fond of him.
+
+Lincoln’s letter of proposal of marriage, sent by him to Miss Owens,
+while singular, unique, and decidedly unconventional, was certainly not
+very ardent. He, after the fashion of the lawyer, presented the matter
+very cautiously, and pleaded his own cause; then presented her side
+of the case, advised her not “to do it,” and agreed to abide by her
+decision.
+
+Miss Owens respected Lincoln, but promptly rejected him--really very
+much to “Abe’s” relief.
+
+
+
+
+HOW “JACK” WAS “DONE UP.”
+
+Not far from New Salem, Illinois, at a place called Clary’s Grove, a
+gang of frontier ruffians had established headquarters, and the champion
+wrestler of “The Grove” was “Jack” Armstrong, a bully of the worst type.
+
+Learning that Abraham was something of a wrestler himself, “Jack” sent
+him a challenge. At that time and in that community a refusal would have
+resulted in social and business ostracism, not to mention the stigma of
+cowardice which would attach.
+
+It was a great day for New Salem and “The Grove” when Lincoln and
+Armstrong met. Settlers within a radius of fifty miles flocked to the
+scene, and the wagers laid were heavy and many. Armstrong proved a
+weakling in the hands of the powerful Kentuckian, and “Jack’s” adherents
+were about to mob Lincoln when the latter’s friends saved him from
+probable death by rushing to the rescue.
+
+
+
+
+ANGELS COULDN’T SWEAR IT RIGHT.
+
+The President was once speaking about an attack made on him by the
+Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War for a certain alleged
+blunder in the Southwest--the matter involved being one which had
+fallen directly under the observation of the army officer to whom he was
+talking, who possessed official evidence completely upsetting all the
+conclusions of the Committee.
+
+“Might it not be well for me,” queried the officer, “to set this matter
+right in a letter to some paper, stating the facts as they actually
+transpired?”
+
+“Oh, no,” replied the President, “at least, not now. If I were to try to
+read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as
+well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how the
+very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the
+end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to
+anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten thousand angels swearing I
+was right would make no difference.”
+
+
+
+
+“MUST GO, AND GO TO STAY.”
+
+Ward Hill Lamon was President Lincoln’s Cerberus, his watch dog,
+guardian, friend, companion and confidant. Some days before Lincoln’s
+departure for Washington to be inaugurated, he wrote to Lamon at
+Bloomington, that he desired to see him at once. He went to Springfield,
+and Lincoln said:
+
+“Hill, on the 11th I go to Washington, and I want you to go along with
+me. Our friends have already asked me to send you as Consul to Paris.
+You know I would cheerfully give you anything for which our friends may
+ask or which you may desire, but it looks as if we might have war.
+
+“In that case I want you with me. In fact, I must have you. So get
+yourself ready and come along. It will be handy to have you around. If
+there is to be a fight, I want you to help me to do my share of it, as
+you have done in times past. You must go, and go to stay.”
+
+This is Lamon’s version of it.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WASN’T BUYING NOMINATIONS.
+
+To a party who wished to be empowered to negotiate reward for promises
+of influence in the Chicago Convention, 1860, Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+“No, gentlemen; I have not asked the nomination, and I will not now buy
+it with pledges.
+
+“If I am nominated and elected, I shall not go into the Presidency as
+the tool of this man or that man, or as the property of any factor or
+clique.”
+
+
+
+
+HE ENVIED THE SOLDIER AT THE FRONT.
+
+After some very bad news had come in from the army in the field, Lincoln
+remarked to Schuyler Colfax:
+
+“How willingly would I exchange places to-day with the soldier who
+sleeps on the ground in the Army of the Potomac!”
+
+
+
+
+DON’T TRUST TOO FAR
+
+In the campaign of 1852, Lincoln, in reply to Douglas’ speech, wherein
+he spoke of confidence in Providence, replied: “Let us stand by our
+candidate (General Scott) as faithfully as he has always stood by our
+country, and I much doubt if we do not perceive a slight abatement of
+Judge Douglas’ confidence in Providence as well as the people. I suspect
+that confidence is not more firmly fixed with the judge than it was with
+the old woman whose horse ran away with her in a buggy. She said she
+‘trusted in Providence till the britchen broke,’ and then she ‘didn’t
+know what in airth to do.’”
+
+
+
+
+HE’D “RISK THE DICTATORSHIP.”
+
+Lincoln’s great generosity to his leaders was shown when, in January,
+1863, he assigned “Fighting Joe” Hooker to the command of the Army of
+the Potomac. Hooker had believed in a military dictatorship, and it was
+an open secret that McClellan might have become such had he possessed
+the nerve. Lincoln, however, was not bothered by this prattle, as he
+did not think enough of it to relieve McClellan of his command. The
+President said to Hooker:
+
+“I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying
+that both the army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it
+was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command.
+Only those generals who gain success can be dictators.
+
+“What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the
+dictatorship.”
+
+Lincoln also believed Hooker had not given cordial support to General
+Burnside when he was in command of the army. In Lincoln’s own peculiarly
+plain language, he told Hooker that he had done “a great wrong to the
+country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer.”
+
+
+
+
+“MAJOR GENERAL, I RECKON.”
+
+At one time the President had the appointment of a large additional
+number of brigadier and major generals. Among the immense number of
+applications, Mr. Lincoln came upon one wherein the claims of a certain
+worthy (not in the service at all), “for a generalship” were glowingly
+set forth. But the applicant didn’t specify whether he wanted to be
+brigadier or major general.
+
+The President observed this difficulty, and solved it by a lucid
+indorsement. The clerk, on receiving the paper again, found written
+across its back, “Major General, I reckon. A. Lincoln.”
+
+
+
+
+WOULD SEE THE TRACKS.
+
+Judge Herndon, Lincoln’s law partner, said that he never saw Lincoln
+more cheerful than on the day previous to his departure from Springfield
+for Washington, and Judge Gillespie, who visited him a few days earlier,
+found him in excellent spirits.
+
+“I told him that I believed it would do him good to get down to
+Washington,” said Herndon.
+
+“I know it will,” Lincoln replied. “I only wish I could have got there
+to lock the door before the horse was stolen. But when I get to the
+spot, I can find the tracks.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” GAVE HER A “SURE TIP.”
+
+If all the days Lincoln attended school were added together, they would
+not make a single year’s time, and he never studied grammar or geography
+or any of the higher branches. His first teacher in Indiana was Hazel
+Dorsey, who opened a school in a log schoolhouse a mile and a half
+from the Lincoln cabin. The building had holes for windows, which were
+covered over with greased paper to admit light. The roof was just high
+enough for a man to stand erect. It did not take long to demonstrate
+that “Abe” was superior to any scholar in his class. His next teacher
+was Andrew Crawford, who taught in the winter of 1822-3, in the same
+little schoolhouse. “Abe” was an excellent speller, and it is said that
+he liked to show off his knowledge, especially if he could help out
+his less fortunate schoolmates. One day the teacher gave out the word
+“defied.” A large class was on the floor, but it seemed that no one
+would be able to spell it. The teacher declared he would keep the whole
+class in all day and night if “defied” was not spelled correctly.
+
+When the word came around to Katy Roby, she was standing where she
+could see young “Abe.” She started, “d-e-f,” and while trying to decide
+whether to spell the word with an “i” or a “y,” she noticed that Abe had
+his finger on his eye and a smile on his face, and instantly took the
+hint. She spelled the word correctly and school was dismissed.
+
+
+
+
+THE PRESIDENT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF HIM.
+
+Lincoln never forgot anyone or anything.
+
+At one of the afternoon receptions at the White House a stranger shook
+hands with him, and, as he did so, remarked casually, that he was
+elected to Congress about the time Mr. Lincoln’s term as representative
+expired, which happened many years before.
+
+“Yes,” said the President, “You are from--” (mentioning the State).
+“I remember reading of your election in a newspaper one morning on a
+steamboat going down to Mount Vernon.”
+
+At another time a gentleman addressed him, saying, “I presume, Mr.
+President, you have forgotten me?”
+
+“No,” was the prompt reply; “your name is Flood. I saw you last, twelve
+years ago, at--” (naming the place and the occasion).
+
+“I am glad to see,” he continued, “that the Flood goes on.”
+
+Subsequent to his re-election a deputation of bankers from various
+sections were introduced one day by the Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+After a few moments of general conversation, Lincoln turned to one of
+them and said:
+
+“Your district did not give me so strong a vote at the last election as
+it did in 1860.”
+
+“I think, sir, that you must be mistaken,” replied the banker. “I have
+the impression that your majority was considerably increased at the last
+election.”
+
+“No,” rejoined the President, “you fell off about six hundred votes.”
+
+Then taking down from the bookcase the official canvass of 1860 and
+1864, he referred to the vote of the district named, and proved to be
+quite right in his assertion.
+
+
+
+
+ONLY HALF A MAN.
+
+As President Lincoln, arm in arm with ex-President Buchanan, entered the
+Capitol, and passed into the Senate Chamber, filled to overflowing with
+Senators, members of the Diplomatic Corps, and visitors, the contrast
+between the two men struck every observer.
+
+“Mr. Buchanan was so withered and bowed with age,” wrote George W.
+Julian, of Indiana, who was among the spectators, “that in contrast with
+the towering form of Mr. Lincoln he seemed little more than half a man.”
+
+
+
+
+GRANT CONGRATULATED LINCOLN.
+
+As soon as the result of the Presidential election of 1864 was known,
+General Grant telegraphed from City Point his congratulations, and added
+that “the election having passed off quietly... is a victory worth more
+to the country than a battle won.”
+
+
+
+
+“BRUTUS AND CAESAR.”
+
+London “Punch” persistently maintained throughout the War for the Union
+that the question of what to do with the blacks was the most bothersome
+of all the problems President Lincoln had to solve. “Punch” thought the
+Rebellion had its origin in an effort to determine whether there should
+or should not be slavery in the United States, and was fought with this
+as the main end in view. “Punch” of August 15th, 1863, contained the
+cartoon reproduced on this page, the title being “Brutus and Caesar.”
+
+President Lincoln was pictured as Brutus, while the ghost of Caesar,
+which appeared in the tent of the American Brutus during the dark hours
+of the night, was represented in the shape of a husky and anything but
+ghost-like African, whose complexion would tend to make the blackest
+tar look like skimmed milk in comparison. This was the text below the
+cartoon: (From the American Edition of Shakespeare.) The Tent of Brutus
+(Lincoln). Night. Enter the Ghost of Caesar.
+
+BRUTUS: “Wall, now! Do tell! Who’s you?”
+
+CAESAR: “I am dy ebil genus, Massa Linking. Dis child am awful
+impressional!”
+
+“Punch’s” cartoons were decidedly unfriendly in tone toward President
+Lincoln, some of them being not only objectionable in the display of bad
+taste, but offensive and vulgar. It is true that after the assassination
+of the President, “Punch,” in illustrations, paid marked and deserved
+tribute to the memory of the Great Emancipator, but it had little that
+was good to say of him while he was among the living and engaged in
+carrying out the great work for which he was destined to win eternal
+fame.
+
+
+
+
+HOW STANTON GOT INTO THE CABINET.
+
+President Lincoln, well aware of Stanton’s unfriendliness, was surprised
+when Secretary of the Treasury Chase told him that Stanton had expressed
+the opinion that the arrest of the Confederate Commissioners, Mason and
+Slidell, was legal and justified by international law. The President
+asked Secretary Chase to invite Stanton to the White House, and Stanton
+came. Mr. Lincoln thanked him for the opinion he had expressed, and
+asked him to put it in writing.
+
+Stanton complied, the President read it carefully, and, after putting
+it away, astounded Stanton by offering him the portfolio of War.
+Stanton was a Democrat, had been one of the President’s most persistent
+vilifiers, and could not realize, at first, that Lincoln meant what he
+said. He managed, however to say:
+
+“I am both surprised and embarrassed, Mr. President, and would ask a
+couple of days to consider this most important matter.”
+
+Lincoln fully understood what was going on in Stanton’s mind, and then
+said:
+
+“This is a very critical period in the life of the nation, Mr. Stanton,
+as you are well aware, and I well know you are as much interested in
+sustaining the government as myself or any other man. This is no time to
+consider mere party issues. The life of the nation is in danger. I
+need the best counsellors around me. I have every confidence in your
+judgment, and have concluded to ask you to become one of my counsellors.
+The office of the Secretary of War will soon be vacant, and I am anxious
+to have you take Mr. Cameron’s place.”
+
+Stanton decided to accept.
+
+“ABE” LIKE HIS FATHER.
+
+“Abe” Lincoln’s father was never at loss for an answer. An old neighbor
+of Thomas Lincoln--“Abe’s” father--was passing the Lincoln farm one day,
+when he saw “Abe’s” father grubbing up some hazelnut bushes, and said to
+him: “Why, Grandpap, I thought you wanted to sell your farm?”
+
+“And so I do,” he replied, “but I ain’t goin’ to let my farm know it.”
+
+“‘Abe’s’ jes’ like his father,” the old ones would say.
+
+
+
+
+“NO MOON AT ALL.”
+
+One of the most notable of Lincoln’s law cases was that in which he
+defended William D. Armstrong, charged with murder. The case was one
+which was watched during its progress with intense interest, and it had
+a most dramatic ending.
+
+The defendant was the son of Jack and Hannah Armstrong. The father was
+dead, but Hannah, who had been very motherly and helpful to Lincoln
+during his life at New Salem, was still living, and asked Lincoln to
+defend him. Young Armstrong had been a wild lad, and was often in bad
+company.
+
+The principal witness had sworn that he saw young Armstrong strike the
+fatal blow, the moon being very bright at the time.
+
+Lincoln brought forward the almanac, which showed that at the time
+the murder was committed there was no moon at all. In his argument,
+Lincoln’s speech was so feelingly made that at its close all the men
+in the jury-box were in tears. It was just half an hour when the jury
+returned a verdict of acquittal.
+
+Lincoln would accept no fee except the thanks of the anxious mother.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” A SUPERB MIMIC.
+
+Lincoln’s reading in his early days embraced a wide range. He was
+particularly fond of all stories containing fun, wit and humor, and
+every one of these he came across he learned by heart, thus adding to
+his personal store.
+
+He improved as a reciter and retailer of the stories he had read and
+heard, and as the reciter of tales of his own invention, and he had
+ready and eager auditors.
+
+Judge Herndon, in his “Abraham Lincoln,” relates that as a mimic Lincoln
+was unequalled. An old neighbor said: “His laugh was striking. Such
+awkward gestures belonged to no other man. They attracted universal
+attention, from the old and sedate down to the schoolboy. Then, in a few
+moments, he was as calm and thoughtful as a judge on the bench, and as
+ready to give advice on the most important matters; fun and gravity grew
+on him alike.”
+
+
+
+
+WHY HE WAS CALLED “HONEST ABE.”
+
+During the year Lincoln was in Denton Offutt’s store at New Salem, that
+gentleman, whose business was somewhat widely and unwisely spread about
+the country, ceased to prosper in his finances and finally failed. The
+store was shut up, the mill was closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of
+business.
+
+The year had been one of great advance, in many respects. He had made
+new and valuable acquaintances, read many books, mastered the grammar of
+his own tongue, won multitudes of friends, and became ready for a step
+still further in advance.
+
+Those who could appreciate brains respected him, and those whose ideas
+of a man related to his muscles were devoted to him. It was while he
+was performing the work of the store that he acquired the sobriquet
+of “Honest Abe”--a characterization he never dishonored, and an
+abbreviation that he never outgrew.
+
+He was judge, arbitrator, referee, umpire, authority, in all disputes,
+games and matches of man-flesh, horse-flesh, a pacificator in all
+quarrels; everybody’s friend; the best-natured, the most sensible, the
+best-informed, the most modest and unassuming, the kindest, gentlest,
+roughest, strongest, best fellow in all New Salem and the region round
+about.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE’S” NAME REMAINED ON THE SIGN.
+
+Enduring friendship and love of old associations were prominent
+characteristics of President Lincoln. When about to leave Springfield
+for Washington, he went to the dingy little law office which had
+sheltered his saddest hours.
+
+He sat down on the couch, and said to his law partner, Judge Herndon:
+
+“Billy, you and I have been together for more than twenty years, and
+have never passed a word. Will you let my name stay on the old sign
+until I come back from Washington?”
+
+The tears started to Herndon’s eyes. He put out his hand. “Mr. Lincoln,”
+ said he, “I never will have any other partner while you live”; and to
+the day of assassination, all the doings of the firm were in the name of
+“Lincoln & Herndon.”
+
+
+
+
+VERY HOMELY AT FIRST SIGHT.
+
+Early in January, 1861, Colonel Alex. K. McClure, of Philadelphia,
+received a telegram from President-elect Lincoln, asking him (McClure)
+to visit him at Springfield, Illinois. Colonel McClure described his
+disappointment at first sight of Lincoln in these words:
+
+“I went directly from the depot to Lincoln’s house and rang the bell,
+which was answered by Lincoln himself opening the door. I doubt whether
+a wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting him.
+
+“Tall, gaunt, ungainly, ill clad, with a homeliness of manner that was
+unique in itself, I confess that my heart sank within me as I remembered
+that this was the man chosen by a great nation to become its ruler in
+the gravest period of its history.
+
+“I remember his dress as if it were but yesterday--snuff-colored and
+slouchy pantaloons, open black vest, held by a few brass buttons;
+straight or evening dresscoat, with tightly fitting sleeves to
+exaggerate his long, bony arms, and all supplemented by an awkwardness
+that was uncommon among men of intelligence.
+
+“Such was the picture I met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We sat
+down in his plainly furnished parlor, and were uninterrupted during the
+nearly four hours that I remained with him, and little by little, as
+his earnestness, sincerity and candor were developed in conversation, I
+forgot all the grotesque qualities which so confounded me when I first
+greeted him.”
+
+
+
+
+THE MAN TO TRUST.
+
+“If a man is honest in his mind,” said Lincoln one day, long before he
+became President, “you are pretty safe in trusting him.”
+
+
+
+
+“WUZ GOIN’ TER BE ‘HITCHED.”’
+
+“Abe’s” nephew--or one of them--related a story in connection with
+Lincoln’s first love (Anne Rutledge), and his subsequent marriage to
+Miss Mary Todd. This nephew was a plain, every-day farmer, and
+thought everything of his uncle, whose greatness he quite thoroughly
+appreciated, although he did not pose to any extreme as the relative of
+a President of the United States.
+
+Said he one day, in telling his story:
+
+“Us child’en, w’en we heerd Uncle ‘Abe’ wuz a-goin’ to be married, axed
+Gran’ma ef Uncle ‘Abe’ never hed hed a gal afore, an’ she says, sez she,
+‘Well, “Abe” wuz never a han’ nohow to run ‘round visitin’ much, or go
+with the gals, neither, but he did fall in love with a Anne Rutledge,
+who lived out near Springfield, an’ after she died he’d come home an’
+ev’ry time he’d talk ‘bout her, he cried dreadful. He never could talk
+of her nohow ‘thout he’d jes’ cry an’ cry, like a young feller.’
+
+“Onct he tol’ Gran’ma they wuz goin’ ter be hitched, they havin’
+promised each other, an’ thet is all we ever heered ‘bout it. But, so
+it wuz, that arter Uncle ‘Abe’ hed got over his mournin’, he wuz married
+ter a woman w’ich hed lived down in Kentuck.
+
+“Uncle ‘Abe’ hisself tol’ us he wuz married the nex’ time he come up ter
+our place, an’ w’en we ast him why he didn’t bring his wife up to see
+us, he said: ‘She’s very busy and can’t come.’
+
+“But we knowed better’n that. He wuz too proud to bring her up, ’cause
+nothin’ would suit her, nohow. She wuzn’t raised the way we wuz, an’ wuz
+different from us, and we heerd, tu, she wuz as proud as cud be.
+
+“No, an’ he never brought none uv the child’en, neither.
+
+“But then, Uncle ‘Abe,’ he wuzn’t to blame. We never thought he wuz
+stuck up.”
+
+
+
+
+HE PROPOSED TO SAVE THE UNION.
+
+Replying to an editorial written by Horace Greeley, the President wrote:
+
+“My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or to
+destroy slavery.
+
+“If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it.
+
+“If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I
+could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do
+that.
+
+“What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it
+helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not
+believe it would help to save the Union.
+
+“I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the
+cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the
+cause.”
+
+
+
+
+THE SAME OLD RUM.
+
+One of President Lincoln’s friends, visiting at the White House, was
+finding considerable fault with the constant agitation in Congress
+of the slavery question. He remarked that, after the adoption of the
+Emancipation policy, he had hoped for something new.
+
+“There was a man down in Maine,” said the President, in reply, “who
+kept a grocery store, and a lot of fellows used to loaf around for
+their toddy. He only gave ‘em New England rum, and they drank pretty
+considerable of it. But after awhile they began to get tired of that,
+and kept asking for something new--something new--all the time. Well,
+one night, when the whole crowd were around, the grocer brought out his
+glasses, and says he, ‘I’ve got something New for you to drink, boys,
+now.’
+
+“‘Honor bright?’ said they.
+
+“‘Honor bright,’ says he, and with that he sets out a jug. ‘Thar’ says
+he, ‘that’s something new; it’s New England rum!’ says he.
+
+“Now,” remarked the President, in conclusion, “I guess we’re a good deal
+like that crowd, and Congress is a good deal like that store-keeper!”
+
+
+
+
+SAVED LINCOLN’S LIFE
+
+When Mr. Lincoln was quite a small boy he met with an accident that
+almost cost him his life. He was saved by Austin Gollaher, a young
+playmate. Mr. Gollaher lived to be more than ninety years of age, and
+to the day of his death related with great pride his boyhood association
+with Lincoln.
+
+“Yes,” Mr. Gollaher once said, “the story that I once saved Abraham
+Lincoln’s life is true. He and I had been going to school together for a
+year or more, and had become greatly attached to each other. Then school
+disbanded on account of there being so few scholars, and we did not see
+each other much for a long while.
+
+“One Sunday my mother visited the Lincolns, and I was taken along. ‘Abe’
+and I played around all day. Finally, we concluded to cross the creek
+to hunt for some partridges young Lincoln had seen the day before.
+The creek was swollen by a recent rain, and, in crossing on the narrow
+footlog, ‘Abe’ fell in. Neither of us could swim. I got a long pole and
+held it out to ‘Abe,’ who grabbed it. Then I pulled him ashore.
+
+“He was almost dead, and I was badly scared. I rolled and pounded him
+in good earnest. Then I got him by the arms and shook him, the water
+meanwhile pouring out of his mouth. By this means I succeeded in
+bringing him to, and he was soon all right.
+
+“Then a new difficulty confronted us. If our mothers discovered our
+wet clothes they would whip us. This we dreaded from experience, and
+determined to avoid. It was June, the sun was very warm, and we soon
+dried our clothing by spreading it on the rocks about us. We promised
+never to tell the story, and I never did until after Lincoln’s tragic
+end.”
+
+
+
+
+WOULD NOT RECALL A SINGLE WORD.
+
+In conversation with some friends at the White House on New Year’s
+evening, 1863, President Lincoln said, concerning his Emancipation
+Proclamation:
+
+“The signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand was tired, but my
+resolution was firm.
+
+“I told them in September, if they did not return to their allegiance,
+and cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at this pillar of their
+strength.
+
+“And now the promise shall be kept, and not one word of it will I ever
+recall.”
+
+
+
+
+OLD BROOM BEST AFTER ALL.
+
+During the time the enemies of General Grant were making their bitterest
+attacks upon him, and demanding that the President remove him from
+command, “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper,” of June 13, 1863, came
+out with the cartoon reproduced. The text printed under the picture was
+to the following effect:
+
+OLD ABE: “Greeley be hanged! I want no more new brooms. I begin to think
+that the worst thing about my old ones was in not being handled right.”
+
+The old broom the President holds in his right hand is labeled “Grant.”
+ The latter had captured Fort Donelson, defeated the Confederates at
+Shiloh, Iuka, Port Gibson, and other places, and had Vicksburg in his
+iron grasp. When the demand was made that Lincoln depose Grant, the
+President answered, “I can’t spare this man; he fights!” Grant never
+lost a battle and when he found the enemy he always fought him.
+McClellan, Burnside, Pope and Hooker had been found wanting, so Lincoln
+pinned his faith to Grant. As noted in the cartoon, Horace Greeley,
+editor of the New York Tribune, Thurlow Weed, and others wanted Lincoln
+to try some other new brooms, but President Lincoln was wearied with
+defeats, and wanted a few victories to offset them. Therefore; he stood
+by Grant, who gave him victories.
+
+
+
+
+GOD WITH A LITTLE “g.”
+
+     Abraham Lincoln
+       his hand and pen
+     he will be good
+       but god Knows When
+
+These lines were found written in young Lincoln’s own hand at the bottom
+of a page whereon he had been ciphering. Lincoln always wrote a clear,
+regular “fist.” In this instance he evidently did not appreciate the
+sacredness of the name of the Deity, when he used a little “g.”
+
+Lincoln once said he did not remember the time when he could not write.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE’S” LOG.
+
+It was the custom in Sangamon for the “menfolks” to gather at noon and
+in the evening, when resting, in a convenient lane near the mill. They
+had rolled out a long peeled log, on which they lounged while they
+whittled and talked.
+
+Lincoln had not been long in Sangamon before he joined this circle. At
+once he became a favorite by his jokes and good-humor. As soon as
+he appeared at the assembly ground the men would start him to
+story-telling. So irresistibly droll were his “yarns” that whenever he’d
+end up in his unexpected way the boys on the log would whoop and roll
+off. The result of the rolling off was to polish the log like a mirror.
+The men, recognizing Lincoln’s part in this polishing, christened their
+seat “Abe’s log.”
+
+Long after Lincoln had disappeared from Sangamon, “Abe’s log” remained,
+and until it had rotted away people pointed it out, and repeated the
+droll stories of the stranger.
+
+
+
+
+IT WAS A FINE FIZZLE.
+
+President Lincoln, in company with General Grant, was inspecting the
+Dutch Gap Canal at City Point. “Grant, do you know what this reminds
+me of? Out in Springfield, Ill., there was a blacksmith who, not having
+much to do, took a piece of soft iron and attempted to weld it into an
+agricultural implement, but discovered that the iron would not hold out;
+then he concluded it would make a claw hammer; but having too much iron,
+attempted to make an ax, but decided after working awhile that there was
+not enough iron left. Finally, becoming disgusted, he filled the forge
+full of coal and brought the iron to a white heat; then with his tongs
+he lifted it from the bed of coals, and thrusting it into a tub of water
+near by, exclaimed: ‘Well, if I can’t make anything else of you, I will
+make a fizzle, anyhow.’” “I was afraid that was about what we had done
+with the Dutch Gap Canal,” said General Grant.
+
+
+
+
+A TEETOTALER.
+
+When Lincoln was in the Black Hawk War as captain, the volunteer
+soldiers drank in with delight the jests and stories of the tall
+captain. Aesop’s Fables were given a new dress, and the tales of the
+wild adventures that he had brought from Kentucky and Indiana were many,
+but his inspiration was never stimulated by recourse to the whisky jug.
+
+When his grateful and delighted auditors pressed this on him he had one
+reply: “Thank you, I never drink it.”
+
+
+
+
+NOT TO “OPEN SHOP” THERE.
+
+President Lincoln was passing down Pennsylvania avenue in Washington one
+day, when a man came running after him, hailed him, and thrust a bundle
+of papers in his hands.
+
+It angered him not a little, and he pitched the papers back, saying,
+“I’m not going to open shop here.”
+
+
+
+
+WE HAVE LIBERTY OF ALL KINDS.
+
+Lincoln delivered a remarkable speech at Springfield, Illinois, when but
+twenty-eight years of age, upon the liberty possessed by the people of
+the United States.
+
+In part, he said:
+
+“In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the
+American people, find our account running under date of the nineteenth
+century of the Christian era.
+
+“We find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion
+of the earth as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and
+salubrity of climate.
+
+“We find ourselves under the government of a system of political
+institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and
+religious liberty than any of which history of former times tells us.
+
+“We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal
+inheritors of these fundamental blessings.
+
+“We toiled not in the acquisition or establishment of them; they are a
+legacy bequeathed to us by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now
+lamented and departed race of ancestors.
+
+“Theirs was the task (and nobly did they perform it) to possess
+themselves, us, of this goodly land, to uprear upon its hills and
+valleys a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; ‘tis ours to
+transmit these--the former unprofaned by the foot of an intruder, the
+latter undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by usurpation--to the
+generation that fate shall permit the world to know.
+
+“This task, gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to
+posterity--all imperatively require us faithfully to perform.
+
+“How, then, shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect the
+approach of danger?
+
+“Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the ocean
+and crush us at a blow?
+
+“Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa, combined, with all
+the treasures of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest,
+with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not, by force, take a drink from
+the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand
+years.
+
+“At what point, then, is this approach of danger to be expected?
+
+“I answer, if ever it reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot
+come from abroad.
+
+“If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and
+finisher.
+
+“As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by
+suicide.
+
+“I hope I am not over-wary; but, if I am not, there is even now
+something of ill-omen amongst us.
+
+“I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country, the
+disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions in lieu of
+the sober judgment of courts, and the worse than savage mobs for the
+executive ministers of justice.
+
+“This disposition is awfully fearful in any community, and that it now
+exists in ours, though grating to our feelings to admit it, it would be
+a violation of truth and an insult to deny.
+
+“Accounts of outrages committed by mobs form the every-day news of the
+times.
+
+“They have pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana; they are
+neither peculiar to the eternal snows of the former, nor the burning sun
+of the latter.
+
+“They are not the creatures of climate, neither are they confined to the
+slave-holding or non-slave-holding States.
+
+“Alike they spring up among the pleasure-hunting Southerners and the
+order-loving citizens of the land of steady habits.
+
+“Whatever, then, their cause may be, it is common to the whole country.
+
+“Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they may
+undertake, may ever be found, whose ambition would aspire to nothing
+beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or Presidential chair; but
+such belong not to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle.
+
+“What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a
+Napoleon? Never!
+
+“Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto
+unexplored.
+
+“It seeks no distinction in adding story to story upon the monuments of
+fame, erected to the memory of others.
+
+“It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief.
+
+“It scorns to tread in the footpaths of any predecessor, however
+illustrious.
+
+“It thirsts and burns for distinction, and, if possible, it will have
+it, whether at the expense of emancipating the slaves or enslaving
+freemen.
+
+“Another reason which once was, but which to the same extent is now no
+more, has done much in maintaining our institutions thus far.
+
+“I mean the powerful influence which the interesting scenes of the
+Revolution had upon the passions of the people, as distinguished from
+their judgment.
+
+“But these histories are gone. They can be read no more forever. They
+were a fortress of strength.
+
+“But what the invading foeman could never do, the silent artillery of
+time has done, the levelling of the walls.
+
+“They were a forest of giant oaks, but the all-resisting hurricane swept
+over them and left only here and there a lone trunk, despoiled of its
+verdure, shorn of its foliage, unshading and unshaded, to murmur in a
+few more gentle breezes and to combat with its mutilated limbs a few
+more rude storms, then to sink and be no more.
+
+“They were the pillars of the temple of liberty, and now that they have
+crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, the descendants, supply
+the places with pillars hewn from the same solid quarry of sober reason.
+
+“Passion has helped us, but can do so no more. It will in future be our
+enemy.
+
+“Reason--cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason--must furnish all the
+materials for our support and defense.
+
+“Let those materials be molded into general intelligence, sound
+morality, and, in particular, a reverence for the Constitution and the
+laws; and then our country shall continue to improve, and our nation,
+revering his name, and permitting no hostile foot to pass or desecrate
+his resting-place, shall be the first to hear the last trump that shall
+awaken our Washington.
+
+“Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest as the rock of its
+basis, and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution,
+‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’”
+
+
+
+
+TOM CORWINS’S LATEST STORY.
+
+One of Mr. Lincoln’s warm friends was Dr. Robert Boal, of Lacon,
+Illinois. Telling of a visit he paid to the White House soon after Mr.
+Lincoln’s inauguration, he said: “I found him the same Lincoln as a
+struggling lawyer and politician that I did in Washington as President
+of the United States, yet there was a dignity and self-possession about
+him in his high official authority. I paid him a second call in the
+evening. He had thrown off his reserve somewhat, and would walk up and
+down the room with his hands to his sides and laugh at the joke he was
+telling, or at one that was told to him. I remember one story he told to
+me on this occasion.
+
+“Tom Corwin, of Ohio, had been down to Alexandria, Va., that day and
+had come back and told Lincoln a story which pleased him so much that
+he broke out in a hearty laugh and said: ‘I must tell you Tom Corwin’s
+latest. Tom met an old man at Alexandria who knew George Washington, and
+he told Tom that George Washington often swore. Now, Corwin’s father had
+always held the father of our country up as a faultless person and told
+his son to follow in his footsteps.
+
+“‘“Well,” said Corwin, “when I heard that George Washington was addicted
+to the vices and infirmities of man, I felt so relieved that I just
+shouted for joy.”’”
+
+
+
+
+“CATCH ‘EM AND CHEAT ‘EM.”
+
+The lawyers on the circuit traveled by Lincoln got together one night
+and tried him on the charge of accepting fees which tended to lower
+the established rates. It was the understood rule that a lawyer should
+accept all the client could be induced to pay. The tribunal was known as
+“The Ogmathorial Court.”
+
+Ward Lamon, his law partner at the time, tells about it:
+
+“Lincoln was found guilty and fined for his awful crime against the
+pockets of his brethren of the bar. The fine he paid with great good
+humor, and then kept the crowd of lawyers in uproarious laughter until
+after midnight.
+
+“He persisted in his revolt, however, declaring that with his consent
+his firm should never during its life, or after its dissolution, deserve
+the reputation enjoyed by those shining lights of the profession, ‘Catch
+‘em and Cheat ‘em.’”
+
+
+
+
+A JURYMAN’S SCORN.
+
+Lincoln had assisted in the prosecution of a man who had robbed his
+neighbor’s hen roosts. Jogging home along the highway with the foreman
+of the jury that had convicted the hen stealer, he was complimented by
+Lincoln on the zeal and ability of the prosecution, and remarked: “Why,
+when the country was young, and I was stronger than I am now, I didn’t
+mind packing off a sheep now and again, but stealing hens!” The good
+man’s scorn could not find words to express his opinion of a man who
+would steal hens.
+
+
+
+
+HE “BROKE” TO WIN.
+
+A lawyer, who was a stranger to Mr. Lincoln, once expressed to General
+Linder the opinion that Mr. Lincoln’s practice of telling stories to the
+jury was a waste of time.
+
+“Don’t lay that flattering unction to your soul,” Linder answered;
+“Lincoln is like Tansey’s horse, he ‘breaks to win.’”
+
+
+
+
+WANTED HER CHILDREN BACK.
+
+On the 3rd of January, 1863, “Harper’s Weekly” appeared with a cartoon
+representing Columbia indignantly demanding of President Lincoln and
+Secretary of War Stanton that they restore to her those of her sons
+killed in battle. Below the picture is the reading matter:
+
+COLUMBIA: “Where are my 15,000 sons--murdered at Fredericksburg?”
+
+LINCOLN: “This reminds me of a little joke--”
+
+COLUMBIA: “Go tell your joke at Springfield!!”
+
+The battle of Fredericksburg was fought on December 13th, 1862, between
+General Burnside, commanding the Army of the Potomac, and General Lee’s
+force. The Union troops, time and again, assaulted the heights where
+the Confederates had taken position, but were driven back with frightful
+losses. The enemy, being behind breastworks, suffered comparatively
+little. At the beginning of the fight the Confederate line was broken,
+but the result of the engagement was disastrous to the Union cause.
+Burnside had one thousand one hundred and fifty-two killed, nine
+thousand one hundred and one wounded, and three thousand two hundred
+and thirty-four missing, a total of thirteen thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-one. General Lee’s losses, all told, were not much more than
+five thousand men.
+
+Burnside had succeeded McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac,
+mainly, it was said, through the influence of Secretary of War Stanton.
+Three months before, McClellan had defeated Lee at Antietam, the
+bloodiest battle of the War, Lee’s losses footing up more than thirteen
+thousand men. At Fredericksburg, Burnside had about one hundred and
+twenty thousand men; at Antietam, McClellan had about eighty thousand.
+It has been maintained that Burnside should not have fought this battle,
+the chances of success being so few.
+
+
+
+
+SIX FEET FOUR AT SEVENTEEN.
+
+“Abe’s” school teacher, Crawford, endeavored to teach his pupils some of
+the manners of the “polite society” of Indiana--1823 or so. This was a
+part of his system:
+
+One of the pupils would retire, and then come in as a stranger, and
+another pupil would have to introduce him to all the members of the
+school n what was considered “good manners.”
+
+As “Abe” wore a linsey-woolsey shirt, buckskin breeches which were too
+short and very tight, and low shoes, and was tall and awkward, he no
+doubt created considerable merriment when his turn came. He was growing
+at a fearful rate; he was fifteen years of age, and two years later
+attained his full height of six feet four inches.
+
+
+
+
+HAD RESPECT FOR THE EGGS.
+
+Early in 1831, “Abe” was one of the guests of honor at a boat-launching,
+he and two others having built the craft. The affair was a notable one,
+people being present from the territory surrounding. A large party came
+from Springfield with an ample supply of whisky, to give the boat and
+its builders a send-off. It was a sort of bipartisan mass-meeting, but
+there was one prevailing spirit, that born of rye and corn. Speeches
+were made in the best of feeling, some in favor of Andrew Jackson and
+some in favor of Henry Clay. Abraham Lincoln, the cook, told a number
+of funny stories, and it is recorded that they were not of too refined a
+character to suit the taste of his audience. A sleight-of-hand performer
+was present, and among other tricks performed, he fried some eggs
+in Lincoln’s hat. Judge Herndon says, as explanatory to the delay in
+passing up the hat for the experiment, Lincoln drolly observed: “It was
+out of respect for the eggs, not care for my hat.”
+
+
+
+
+HOW WAS THE MILK UPSET?
+
+William G. Greene, an old-time friend of Lincoln, was a student at
+Illinois College, and one summer brought home with him, on a vacation,
+Richard Yates (afterwards Governor of Illinois) and some other boys,
+and, in order to entertain them, took them up to see Lincoln.
+
+He found him in his usual position and at his usual occupation--flat on
+his back, on a cellar door, reading a newspaper. This was the manner in
+which a President of the United States and a Governor of Illinois became
+acquainted with each other.
+
+Greene says Lincoln repeated the whole of Burns, and a large quantity of
+Shakespeare for the entertainment of the college boys, and, in return,
+was invited to dine with them on bread and milk. How he managed to upset
+his bowl of milk is not a matter of history, but the fact is that he
+did so, as is the further fact that Greene’s mother, who loved
+Lincoln, tried to smooth over the accident and relieve the young man’s
+embarrassment.
+
+
+
+
+“PULLED FODDER” FOR A BOOK.
+
+Once “Abe” borrowed Weems’ “Life of Washington” from Joseph Crawford, a
+neighbor. “Abe” devoured it; read it and re-read it, and when asleep put
+it by him between the logs of the wall. One night a rain storm wet it
+through and ruined it.
+
+“I’ve no money,” said “Abe,” when reporting the disaster to Crawford,
+“but I’ll work it out.”
+
+“All right,” was Crawford’s response; “you pull fodder for three days,
+an’ the book is your’n.”
+
+“Abe” pulled the fodder, but he never forgave Crawford for putting so
+much work upon him. He never lost an opportunity to crack a joke at his
+expense, and the name “Blue-nose Crawford” “Abe” applied to him stuck to
+him throughout his life.
+
+
+
+
+PRAISES HIS RIVAL FOR OFFICE.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for the Legislature, it was the
+practice at that date in Illinois for two rival candidates to travel
+over the district together. The custom led to much good-natured raillery
+between them; and in such contests Lincoln was rarely, if ever, worsted.
+He could even turn the generosity of a rival to account by his whimsical
+treatment.
+
+On one occasion, says Mr. Weir, a former resident of Sangamon county, he
+had driven out from Springfield in company with a political opponent
+to engage in joint debate. The carriage, it seems, belonged to his
+opponent. In addressing the gathering of farmers that met them, Lincoln
+was lavish in praise of the generosity of his friend.
+
+“I am too poor to own a carriage,” he said, “but my friend has
+generously invited me to ride with him. I want you to vote for me if you
+will; but if not then vote for my opponent, for he is a fine man.”
+
+His extravagant and persistent praise of his opponent appealed to the
+sense of humor in his rural audience, to whom his inability to own a
+carriage was by no means a disqualification.
+
+
+
+
+ONE THING “ABE” DIDN’T LOVE.
+
+Lincoln admitted that he was not particularly energetic when it came to
+real hard work.
+
+“My father,” said he one day, “taught me how to work, but not to love
+it. I never did like to work, and I don’t deny it. I’d rather read, tell
+stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh--anything but work.”
+
+
+
+
+THE MODESTY OF GENIUS.
+
+The opening of the year 1860 found Mr. Lincoln’s name freely mentioned
+in connection with the Republican nomination for the Presidency. To be
+classed with Seward, Chase, McLean, and other celebrities, was enough to
+stimulate any Illinois lawyer’s pride; but in Mr. Lincoln’s case, if it
+had any such effect, he was most artful in concealing it. Now and then,
+some ardent friend, an editor, for example, would run his name up to the
+masthead, but in all cases he discouraged the attempt.
+
+“In regard to the matter you spoke of,” he answered one man who proposed
+his name, “I beg you will not give it a further mention. Seriously, I do
+not think I am fit for the Presidency.”
+
+
+
+
+WHY SHE MARRIED HIM.
+
+There was a “social” at Lincoln’s house in Springfield, and “Abe”
+ introduced his wife to Ward Lamon, his law partner. Lamon tells the
+story in these words:
+
+“After introducing me to Mrs. Lincoln, he left us in conversation. I
+remarked to her that her husband was a great favorite in the eastern
+part of the State, where I had been stopping.
+
+“‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘he is a great favorite everywhere. He is to be
+President of the United States some day; if I had not thought so I never
+would have married him, for you can see he is not pretty.
+
+“‘But look at him, doesn’t he look as if he would make a magnificent
+President?’”
+
+
+
+
+NIAGARA FALLS.
+
+(Written By Abraham Lincoln.)
+
+The following article on Niagara Falls, in Mr. Lincoln’s handwriting,
+was found among his papers after his death:
+
+“Niagara Falls! By what mysterious power is it that millions and
+millions are drawn from all parts of the world to gaze upon Niagara
+Falls? There is no mystery about the thing itself. Every effect is just
+as any intelligent man, knowing the causes, would anticipate without
+seeing it. If the water moving onward in a great river reaches a point
+where there is a perpendicular jog of a hundred feet in descent in
+the bottom of the river, it is plain the water will have a violent
+and continuous plunge at that point. It is also plain, the water, thus
+plunging, will foam and roar, and send up a mist continuously, in
+which last, during sunshine, there will be perpetual rainbows. The mere
+physical of Niagara Falls is only this. Yet this is really a very small
+part of that world’s wonder. Its power to excite reflection and emotion
+is its great charm. The geologist will demonstrate that the plunge, or
+fall, was once at Lake Ontario, and has worn its way back to its present
+position; he will ascertain how fast it is wearing now, and so get
+a basis for determining how long it has been wearing back from Lake
+Ontario, and finally demonstrate by it that this world is at least
+fourteen thousand years old. A philosopher of a slightly different turn
+will say, ‘Niagara Falls is only the lip of the basin out of which pours
+all the surplus water which rains down on two or three hundred thousand
+square miles of the earth’s surface.’ He will estimate with approximate
+accuracy that five hundred thousand tons of water fall with their full
+weight a distance of a hundred feet each minute--thus exerting a force
+equal to the lifting of the same weight, through the same space, in the
+same time.
+
+“But still there is more. It calls up the indefinite past. When Columbus
+first sought this continent--when Christ suffered on the cross--when
+Moses led Israel through the Red Sea--nay, even when Adam first came
+from the hand of his Maker; then, as now, Niagara was roaring here. The
+eyes of that species of extinct giants whose bones fill the mounds of
+America have gazed on Niagara, as ours do now. Contemporary with the
+first race of men, and older than the first man, Niagara is strong and
+fresh to-day as ten thousand years ago. The Mammoth and Mastodon, so
+long dead that fragments of their monstrous bones alone testify that
+they ever lived, have gazed on Niagara--in that long, long time never
+still for a single moment (never dried), never froze, never slept, never
+rested.”
+
+
+
+
+MADE IT HOT FOR LINCOLN.
+
+A lady relative, who lived for two years with the Lincolns, said that
+Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of lying on the floor with the back of a
+chair for a pillow when he read.
+
+One evening, when in this position in the hall, a knock was heard at the
+front door, and, although in his shirtsleeves, he answered the call. Two
+ladies were at the door, whom he invited into the parlor, notifying them
+in his open, familiar way, that he would “trot the women folks out.”
+
+Mrs. Lincoln, from an adjoining room, witnessed the ladies’ entrance,
+and, overhearing her husband’s jocose expression, her indignation was
+so instantaneous she made the situation exceedingly interesting for him,
+and he was glad to retreat from the house. He did not return till very
+late at night, and then slipped quietly in at a rear door.
+
+
+
+
+WOULDN’T HOLD TITLE AGAINST HIM.
+
+During the rebellion the Austrian Minister to the United States
+Government introduced to the President a count, a subject of the
+Austrian government, who was desirous of obtaining a position in the
+American army.
+
+Being introduced by the accredited Minister of Austria he required no
+further recommendation to secure the appointment; but, fearing that his
+importance might not be fully appreciated by the republican President,
+the count was particular in impressing the fact upon him that he bore
+that title, and that his family was ancient and highly respectable.
+
+President Lincoln listened with attention, until this unnecessary
+commendation was mentioned; then, with a merry twinkle in his eye, he
+tapped the aristocratic sprig of hereditary nobility on the shoulder in
+the most fatherly way, as if the gentleman had made a confession of some
+unfortunate circumstance connected with his lineage, for which he was in
+no way responsible, and said:
+
+“Never mind, you shall be treated with just as much consideration for all
+that. I will see to it that your bearing a title shan’t hurt you.”
+
+
+
+
+ONLY ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
+
+A young man living in Kentucky had been enticed into the rebel army.
+After a few months he became disgusted, and managed to make his way
+back home. Soon after his arrival, the Union officer in command of the
+military stationed in the town had him arrested as a rebel spy, and,
+after a military trial he was condemned to be hanged.
+
+President Lincoln was seen by one of his friends from Kentucky, who
+explained his errand and asked for mercy. “Oh, yes, I understand; some
+one has been crying, and worked upon your feelings, and you have come
+here to work on mine.”
+
+His friend then went more into detail, and assured him of his belief in
+the truth of the story. After some deliberation, Mr. Lincoln, evidently
+scarcely more than half convinced, but still preferring to err on the
+side of mercy, replied:
+
+“If a man had more than one life, I think a little hanging would not
+hurt this one; but after he is once dead we cannot bring him back, no
+matter how sorry we may be; so the boy shall be pardoned.”
+
+And a reprieve was given on the spot.
+
+
+
+
+COULDN’T LOCATE HIS BIRTHPLACE.
+
+While the celebrated artist, Hicks, was engaged in painting Mr.
+Lincoln’s portrait, just after the former’s first nomination for the
+Presidency, he asked the great statesman if he could point out the
+precise spot where he was born.
+
+Lincoln thought the matter over for a day or two, and then gave the
+artist the following memorandum:
+
+“Springfield, Ill., June 14, 1860
+
+“I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin county, Kentucky, at a
+point within the now county of Larue, a mile or a mile and a half from
+where Rodgen’s mill now is. My parents being dead, and my own memory not
+serving, I know no means of identifying the precise locality. It was on
+Nolen Creek.
+
+“A. LINCOLN.”
+
+
+
+
+“SAMBO” WAS “AFEARED.”
+
+In his message to Congress in December, 1864, just after his
+re-election, President Lincoln, in his message of December 6th, let
+himself out, in plain, unmistakable terms, to the effect that the
+freedmen should never be placed in bondage again. “Frank Leslie’s
+Illustrated Newspaper” of December 24th, 1864, printed the cartoon we
+herewith reproduce, the text underneath running in this way:
+
+UNCLE ABE: “Sambo, you are not handsome, any more than myself, but as
+to sending you back to your old master, I’m not the man to do it--and,
+what’s more, I won’t.” (Vice President’s message.)
+
+Congress, at the previous sitting, had neglected to pass the resolution
+for the Constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery, but, on the 31st
+of January, 1865, the resolution was finally adopted, and the United
+States Constitution soon had the new feature as one of its clauses, the
+necessary number of State Legislatures approving it. President Lincoln
+regarded the passage of this resolution by Congress as most important,
+as the amendment, in his mind, covered whatever defects a rigid
+construction of the Constitution might find in his Emancipation
+Proclamation.
+
+After the latter was issued, negroes were allowed to enlist in the Army,
+and they fought well and bravely. After the War, in the reorganization
+of the Regular Army, four regiments of colored men were provided
+for--the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth
+Infantry. In the cartoon, Sambo has evidently been asking “Uncle Abe” as
+to the probability or possibility of his being again enslaved.
+
+
+
+
+WHEN MONEY MIGHT BE USED.
+
+Some Lincoln enthusiast in Kansas, with much more pretensions than
+power, wrote him in March, 1860 proposing to furnish a Lincoln
+delegation from that State to the Chicago Convention, and suggesting
+that Lincoln should pay the legitimate expenses of organizing, electing,
+and taking to the convention the promised Lincoln delegates.
+
+To this Lincoln replied that “in the main, the use of money is wrong,
+but for certain objects in a political contest the use of some is both
+right and indispensable.” And he added: “If you shall be appointed a
+delegate to Chicago, I will furnish $100 to bear the expenses of the
+trip.”
+
+He heard nothing further from the Kansas man until he saw an
+announcement in the newspapers that Kansas had elected delegates and
+instructed them for Seward.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” WAS NO BEAUTY.
+
+Lincoln’s military service in the Back Hawk war had increased his
+popularity at New Salem, and he was put up as a candidate for the
+Legislature.
+
+A. Y. Ellis describes his personal appearance at this time as follows:
+“He wore a mixed jean coat, claw-hammer style, short in the sleeves and
+bob-tailed; in fact, it was so short in the tail that he could not sit
+on it; flax and tow linen pantaloons and a straw hat. I think he wore a
+vest, but do not remember how it looked; he wore pot-metal boots.”
+
+
+
+
+“HE’S JUST BEAUTIFUL.”
+
+Lincoln’s great love for children easily won their confidence.
+
+A little girl, who had been told that the President was very homely, was
+taken by her father to see the President at the White House.
+
+Lincoln took her upon his knee and chatted with her for a moment in his
+merry way, when she turned to her father and exclaimed:
+
+“Oh, Pa! he isn’t ugly at all; he’s just beautiful!”
+
+
+
+
+BIG ENOUGH HOG FOR HIM.
+
+To a curiosity-seeker who desired a permit to pass the lines to
+visit the field of Bull Run, after the first battle, Lincoln made the
+following reply:
+
+“A man in Cortlandt county raised a porker of such unusual size that
+strangers went out of their way to see it.
+
+“One of them the other day met the old gentleman and inquired about the
+animal.
+
+“‘Wall, yes,’ the old fellow said, ‘I’ve got such a critter, mi’ty big
+un; but I guess I’ll have to charge you about a shillin’ for lookin’ at
+him.’
+
+“The stranger looked at the old man for a minute or so, pulled out the
+desired coin, handed it to him and started to go off. ‘Hold on,’ said
+the other, ‘don’t you want to see the hog?’
+
+“‘No,’ said the stranger; ‘I have seen as big a hog as I want to see!’
+
+“And you will find that fact the case with yourself, if you should
+happen to see a few live rebels there as well as dead ones.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE” OFFERS A SPEECH FOR SOMETHING TO EAT.
+
+When Lincoln’s special train from Springfield to Washington reached the
+Illinois State line, there was a stop for dinner. There was such a crowd
+that Lincoln could scarcely reach the dining-room. “Gentlemen,” said he,
+as he surveyed the crowd, “if you will make me a little path, so that I
+can get through and get something to eat, I will make you a speech when
+I get back.”
+
+
+
+
+THEY UNDERSTOOD EACH OTHER.
+
+When complaints were made to President Lincoln by victims of
+Secretary of War Stanton’s harshness, rudeness, and refusal to be
+obliging--particularly in cases where Secretary Stanton had refused
+to honor Lincoln’s passes through the lines--the President would often
+remark to this effect “I cannot always be sure that permits given by
+me ought to be granted. There is an understanding between myself and
+Stanton that when I send a request to him which cannot consistently be
+granted, he is to refuse to honor it. This he sometimes does.”
+
+
+
+
+FEW FENCE RAILS LEFT.
+
+“There won’t be a tar barrel left in Illinois to-night,” said Senator
+Stephen A. Douglas, in Washington, to his Senatorial friends, who asked
+him, when the news of the nomination of Lincoln reached them, “Who is
+this man Lincoln, anyhow?”
+
+Douglas was right. Not only the tar barrels, but half the fences of the
+State of Illinois went up in the fire of rejoicing.
+
+
+
+
+THE “GREAT SNOW” OF 1830-31.
+
+In explanation of Lincoln’s great popularity, D. W. Bartlett, in his
+“Life and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln,” published in 1860 makes this
+statement of “Abe’s” efficient service to his neighbors in the “Great
+Snow” of 1830-31:
+
+“The deep snow which occurred in 1830-31 was one of the chief troubles
+endured by the early settlers of central and southern Illinois. Its
+consequences lasted through several years. The people were ill-prepared
+to meet it, as the weather had been mild and pleasant--unprecedentedly
+so up to Christmas--when a snow-storm set in which lasted two days,
+something never before known even among the traditions of the Indians,
+and never approached in the weather of any winter since.
+
+“The pioneers who came into the State (then a territory) in 1800 say the
+average depth of snow was never, previous to 1830, more than knee-deep
+to an ordinary man, while it was breast-high all that winter.
+It became crusted over, so as, in some cases, to bear teams. Cattle
+and horses perished, the winter wheat was killed, the meager stock of
+provisions ran out, and during the three months’ continuance of the
+snow, ice and continuous cold weather the most wealthy settlers came
+near starving, while some of the poor ones actually did. It was in the
+midst of such scenes that Abraham Lincoln attained his majority, and
+commenced his career of bold and manly independence.....
+
+“Communication between house and house was often entirely obstructed for
+teams, so that the young and strong men had to do all the traveling on
+foot; carrying from one neighbor what of his store he could spare to
+another, and bringing back in return something of his store sorely
+needed. Men living five, ten, twenty and thirty miles apart were called
+‘neighbors’ then. Young Lincoln was always ready to perform these acts
+of humanity, and was foremost in the counsels of the settlers when their
+troubles seemed gathering like a thick cloud about them.”
+
+
+
+
+CREDITOR PAID DEBTORS DEBT.
+
+A certain rich man in Springfield, Illinois, sued a poor attorney for
+$2.50, and Lincoln was asked to prosecute the case. Lincoln urged the
+creditor to let the matter drop, adding, “You can make nothing out of
+him, and it will cost you a good deal more than the debt to bring suit.”
+ The creditor was still determined to have his way, and threatened
+to seek some other attorney. Lincoln then said, “Well, if you are
+determined that suit should be brought, I will bring it; but my charge
+will be $10.”
+
+The money was paid him, and peremptory orders were given that the suit
+be brought that day. After the client’s departure Lincoln went out of
+the office, returning in about an hour with an amused look on his face.
+
+Asked what pleased him, he replied, “I brought suit against ----, and
+then hunted him up, told him what I had done, handed him half of the
+$10, and we went over to the squire’s office. He confessed judgment and
+paid the bill.”
+
+Lincoln added that he didn’t see any other way to make things
+satisfactory for his client as well as the other.
+
+
+
+
+HELPED OUT THE SOLDIERS.
+
+Judge Thomas B. Bryan, of Chicago, a member of the Union Defense
+Committee during the War, related the following concerning the original
+copy of the Emancipation Proclamation:
+
+“I asked Mr. Lincoln for the original draft of the Proclamation,” said
+Judge Bryan, “for the benefit of our Sanitary Fair, in 1865. He sent it
+and accompanied it with a note in which he said:
+
+“‘I had intended to keep this paper, but if it will help the soldiers, I
+give it to you.’
+
+“The paper was put up at auction and brought $3,000. The buyer afterward
+sold it again to friends of Mr. Lincoln at a greatly advanced price, and
+it was placed in the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, where it
+was burned in the great fire of 1871.”
+
+
+
+
+EVERY FELLOW FOR HIMSELF.
+
+An elegantly dressed young Virginian assured Lincoln that he had done a
+great deal of hard manual labor in his time. Much amused at this solemn
+declaration, Lincoln said:
+
+“Oh, yes; you Virginians shed barrels of perspiration while standing off
+at a distance and superintending the work your slaves do for you. It is
+different with us. Here it is every fellow for himself, or he doesn’t
+get there.”
+
+
+
+
+“BUTCHER-KNIFE BOYS” AT THE POLLS.
+
+When young Lincoln had fully demonstrated that he was the champion
+wrestler in the country surrounding New Salem, the men of “de gang” at
+Clary’s Grove, whose leader “Abe” had downed, were his sworn political
+friends and allies.
+
+Their work at the polls was remarkably effective. When the “Butcherknife
+boys,” the “huge-pawed boys,” and the “half-horse-half-alligator men”
+ declared for a candidate the latter was never defeated.
+
+
+
+
+NO “SECOND COMING” FOR SPRINGFIELD.
+
+Soon after the opening of Congress in 1861, Mr. Shannon, from
+California, made the customary call at the White House. In the
+conversation that ensued, Mr Shannon said: “Mr. President, I met an old
+friend of yours in California last summer, a Mr. Campbell, who had a
+good deal to say of your Springfield life.”
+
+“Ah!” returned Mr. Lincoln, “I am glad to hear of him. Campbell used
+to be a dry fellow in those days,” he continued. “For a time he was
+Secretary of State. One day during the legislative vacation, a meek,
+cadaverous-looking man, with a white neck-cloth, introduced himself to
+him at his office, and, stating that he had been informed that Mr. C.
+had the letting of the hall of representatives, he wished to secure
+it, if possible, for a course of lectures he desired to deliver in
+Springfield.
+
+“‘May I ask,’ said the Secretary, ‘what is to be the subject of your
+lectures?’
+
+“‘Certainly,’ was the reply, with a very solemn expression of
+countenance. ‘The course I wish to deliver is on the Second Coming of
+our Lord.’
+
+“‘It is of no use,’ said C.; ‘if you will take my advice, you will not
+waste your time in this city. It is my private opinion that, if the Lord
+has been in Springfield once, He will never come the second time!’”
+
+
+
+
+HOW HE WON A FRIEND.
+
+J. S. Moulton, of Chicago, a master in chancery and influential in
+public affairs, looked upon the candidacy of Mr. Lincoln for President
+as something in the nature of a joke. He did not rate the Illinois man
+in the same class with the giants of the East. In fact he had expressed
+himself as by no means friendly to the Lincoln cause.
+
+Still he had been a good friend to Lincoln and had often met him when
+the Springfield lawyer came to Chicago. Mr. Lincoln heard of Moulton’s
+attitude, but did not see Moulton until after the election, when the
+President-elect came to Chicago and was tendered a reception at one of
+the big hotels.
+
+Moulton went up in the line to pay his respects to the newly-elected
+chief magistrate, purely as a formality, he explained to his companions.
+As Moulton came along the line Mr. Lincoln grasped Moulton’s hand with
+his right, and with his left took the master of chancery by the shoulder
+and pulled him out of the line.
+
+“You don’t belong in that line, Moulton,” said Mr. Lincoln. “You belong
+here by me.”
+
+Everyone at the reception was a witness to the honoring of Moulton. From
+that hour every faculty that Moulton possessed was at the service of the
+President. A little act of kindness, skillfully bestowed, had won him;
+and he stayed on to the end.
+
+
+
+
+NEVER SUED A CLIENT.
+
+If a client did not pay, Lincoln did not believe in suing for the fee.
+When a fee was paid him his custom was to divide the money into two
+equal parts, put one part into his pocket, and the other into an
+envelope labeled “Herndon’s share.”
+
+
+
+
+THE LINCOLN HOUSEHOLD GOODS.
+
+It is recorded that when “Abe” was born, the household goods of his
+father consisted of a few cooking utensils, a little bedding, some
+carpenter tools, and four hundred gallons of the fierce product of the
+mountain still.
+
+
+
+
+RUNNING THE MACHINE.
+
+One of the cartoon-posters issued by the Democratic National Campaign
+Committee in the fall of 1864 is given here. It had the legend, “Running
+the Machine,” printed beneath; the “machine” was Secretary Chase’s
+“Greenback Mill,” and the mill was turning out paper money by the
+million to satisfy the demands of greedy contractors. “Uncle Abe” is
+pictured as about to tell one of his funny stories, of which the scene
+“reminds” him; Secretary of War Stanton is receiving a message from the
+front, describing a great victory, in which one prisoner and one gun
+were taken; Secretary of State Seward is handing an order to a messenger
+for the arrest of a man who had called him a “humbug,” the habeas corpus
+being suspended throughout the Union at that period; Secretary of
+the Navy Welles--the long-haired, long-bearded man at the head of
+the table--is figuring out a naval problem; at the side of the table,
+opposite “Uncle Abe,” are seated two Government contractors, shouting
+for “more greenbacks,” and at the extreme left is Secretary of the
+Treasury Fessenden (who succeeded Chase when the latter was made Chief
+Justice of the United States Supreme Court), who complains that he
+cannot satisfy the greed of the contractors for “more greenbacks,”
+ although he is grinding away at the mill day and night.
+
+
+
+
+WAS “BOSS” WHEN NECESSARY.
+
+Lincoln was the actual head of the administration, and whenever he chose
+to do so he controlled Secretary of War Stanton as well as the other
+Cabinet ministers.
+
+Secretary Stanton on one occasion said: “Now, Mr. President, those are
+the facts and you must see that your order cannot be executed.”
+
+Lincoln replied in a somewhat positive tone: “Mr. Secretary, I reckon
+you’ll have to execute the order.”
+
+Stanton replied with vigor: “Mr. President, I cannot do it. This order
+is an improper one, and I cannot execute it.”
+
+Lincoln fixed his eyes upon Stanton, and, in a firm voice and accent
+that clearly showed his determination, said: “Mr. Secretary, it will
+have to be done.”
+
+It was done.
+
+
+
+
+“RATHER STARVE THAN SWINDLE.”
+
+Ward Lamon, once Lincoln’s law partner, relates a story which places
+Lincoln’s high sense of honor in a prominent light. In a certain case,
+Lincoln and Lamon being retained by a gentleman named Scott, Lamon put
+the fee at $250, and Scott agreed to pay it. Says Lamon:
+
+“Scott expected a contest, but, to his surprise, the case was tried
+inside of twenty minutes; our success was complete. Scott was satisfied,
+and cheerfully paid over the money to me inside the bar, Lincoln looking
+on. Scott then went out, and Lincoln asked, ‘What did you charge that
+man?’
+
+“I told him $250. Said he: ‘Lamon, that is all wrong. The service was
+not worth that sum. Give him back at least half of it.’
+
+“I protested that the fee was fixed in advance; that Scott was perfectly
+satisfied, and had so expressed himself. ‘That may be,’ retorted
+Lincoln, with a look of distress and of undisguised displeasure, ‘but I
+am not satisfied. This is positively wrong. Go, call him back and return
+half the money at least, or I will not receive one cent of it for my
+share.’
+
+“I did go, and Scott was astonished when I handed back half the fee.
+
+“This conversation had attracted the attention of the lawyers and
+the court. Judge David Davis, then on our circuit bench (afterwards
+Associate Justice on the United States Supreme bench), called Lincoln to
+him. The Judge never could whisper, but in this instance he probably
+did his best. At all events, in attempting to whisper to Lincoln he
+trumpeted his rebuke in about these words, and in rasping tones that
+could be heard all over the court-room: ‘Lincoln, I have been watching
+you and Lamon. You are impoverishing this bar by your picayune charges
+of fees, and the lawyers have reason to complain of you. You are now
+almost as poor as Lazarus, and if you don’t make people pay you more for
+your services you will die as poor as Job’s turkey!’
+
+“Judge O. L. Davis, the leading lawyer in that part of the State,
+promptly applauded this malediction from the bench; but Lincoln was
+immovable.
+
+“‘That money,’ said he, ‘comes out of the pocket of a poor, demented
+girl, and I would rather starve than swindle her in this manner.’”
+
+
+
+
+DON’T AIM TOO HIGH.
+
+“Billy, don’t shoot too high--aim lower, and the common people will
+understand you,” Lincoln once said to a brother lawyer.
+
+“They are the ones you want to reach--at least, they are the ones you
+ought to reach.
+
+“The educated and refined people will understand you, anyway. If you aim
+too high, your idea will go over the heads of the masses, and only hit
+those who need no hitting.”
+
+
+
+
+NOT MUCH AT RAIL-SPLITTING.
+
+One who afterward became one of Lincoln’s most devoted friends and
+adherents tells this story regarding the manner in which Lincoln
+received him when they met for the first time:
+
+“After a comical survey of my fashionable toggery,--my swallow-tail
+coat, white neck-cloth, and ruffled shirt (an astonishing outfit for a
+young limb of the law in that settlement), Lincoln said:
+
+“‘Going to try your hand at the law, are you? I should know at a glance
+that you were a Virginian; but I don’t think you would succeed at
+splitting rails. That was my occupation at your age, and I don’t think I
+have taken as much pleasure in anything else from that day to this.’”
+
+
+
+
+GAVE THE SOLDIER THE PREFERENCE.
+
+July 27th, 1863, Lincoln wrote the Postmaster-General:
+
+“Yesterday little indorsements of mine went to you in two cases of
+postmasterships, sought for widows whose husbands have fallen in the
+battles of this war.
+
+“These cases, occurring on the same day, brought me to reflect more
+attentively than what I had before done as to what is fairly due from
+us here in dispensing of patronage toward the men who, by fighting our
+battles, bear the chief burden of saving our country.
+
+“My conclusion is that, other claims and qualifications being equal,
+they have the right, and this is especially applicable to the disabled
+soldier and the deceased soldier’s family.”
+
+
+
+
+THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT SCARED.
+
+When told how uneasy all had been at his going to Richmond, Lincoln
+replied:
+
+“Why, if any one else had been President and had gone to Richmond, I
+would have been alarmed; but I was not scared about myself a bit.”
+
+
+
+
+JEFF. DAVIS’ REPLY TO LINCOLN.
+
+On the 20th of July, 1864, Horace Greeley crossed into Canada to confer
+with refugee rebels at Niagara. He bore with him this paper from the
+President:
+
+“To Whom It May Concern: Any proposition which embraces the restoration
+of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of
+slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control
+the armies now at war with the United States, will be received and
+considered by the executive government of the United States, and will
+be met by liberal terms and other substantial and collateral points, and
+the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways.”
+
+To this Jefferson Davis replied: “We are not fighting for slavery; we
+are fighting for independence.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WAS a GENTLEMAN.
+
+Lincoln was compelled to contend with the results of the ill-judged zeal
+of politicians, who forced ahead his flatboat and rail-splitting record,
+with the homely surroundings of his earlier days, and thus, obscured
+for the time, the other fact that, always having the heart, he had long
+since acquired the manners of a true gentleman.
+
+So, too, did he suffer from Eastern censors, who did not take those
+surroundings into account, and allowed nothing for his originality of
+character. One of these critics heard at Washington that Mr. Lincoln, in
+speaking at different times of some move or thing, said “it had petered
+out;” that some other one’s plan “wouldn’t gibe;” and being asked if the
+War and the cause of the Union were not a great care to him, replied:
+
+“Yes, it is a heavy hog to hold.”
+
+The first two phrases are so familiar here in the West that they need no
+explanation. Of the last and more pioneer one it may be said that it had
+a special force, and was peculiarly Lincoln-like in the way applied by
+him.
+
+In the early times in Illinois, those having hogs, did their own
+killing, assisted by their neighbors. Stripped of its hair, one held the
+carcass nearly perpendicular in the air, head down, while others put
+one point of the gambrel-bar through a slit in its hock, then over the
+string-pole, and the other point through the other hock, and so swung
+the animal clear of the ground. While all this was being done, it took a
+good man to “hold the hog,” greasy, warmly moist, and weighing some two
+hundred pounds. And often those with the gambrel prolonged the strain,
+being provokingly slow, in hopes to make the holder drop his burden.
+
+This latter thought is again expressed where President Lincoln, writing
+of the peace which he hoped would “come soon, to stay; and so come as to
+be worth the keeping in all future time,” added that while there would
+“be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue and clenched
+teeth and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind
+on to this great consummation,” he feared there would “be some white
+ones unable to forget that, with malignant heart and deceitful tongue,
+they had striven to hinder it.”
+
+He had two seemingly opposite elements little understood by strangers,
+and which those in more intimate relations with him find difficult to
+explain; an open, boyish tongue when in a happy mood, and with this a
+reserve of power, a force of thought that impressed itself without words
+on observers in his presence. With the cares of the nation on his mind,
+he became more meditative, and lost much of his lively ways remembered
+“back in Illinois.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS POOR RELATIONS.
+
+One of the most beautiful traits of Mr. Lincoln’s character was his
+considerate regard for the poor and obscure relatives he had left,
+plodding along in their humble ways of life. Wherever upon his circuit
+he found them, he always went to their dwellings, ate with them, and,
+when convenient, made their houses his home. He never assumed in their
+presence the slightest superiority to them. He gave them money when
+they needed it and he had it. Countless times he was known to leave
+his companions at the village hotel, after a hard day’s work in the
+court-room, and spend the evening with these old friends and companions
+of his humbler days. On one occasion, when urged not to go, he replied,
+“Why, Aunt’s heart would be broken if I should leave town without
+calling upon her;” yet, he was obliged to walk several miles to make the
+call.
+
+
+
+
+DESERTER’S SINS WASHED OUT IN BLOOD.
+
+This was the reply made by Lincoln to an application for the pardon of
+a soldier who had shown himself brave in war, had been severely wounded,
+but afterward deserted:
+
+“Did you say he was once badly wounded?
+
+“Then, as the Scriptures say that in the shedding of blood is the
+remission of sins, I guess we’ll have to let him off this time.”
+
+
+
+
+SURE CURE FOR BOILS.
+
+President Lincoln and Postmaster-General Blair were talking of the war.
+
+“Blair,” said the President, “did you ever know that fright has
+sometimes proven a cure for boils?” “No, Mr. President, how is that?”
+ “I’ll tell you. Not long ago when a colonel, with his cavalry, was at
+the front, and the Rebs were making things rather lively for us, the
+colonel was ordered out to a reconnaissance. He was troubled at the time
+with a big boil where it made horseback riding decidedly uncomfortable.
+He finally dismounted and ordered the troops forward without him. Soon
+he was startled by the rapid reports of pistols and the helter-skelter
+approach of his troops in full retreat before a yelling rebel force.
+He forgot everything but the yells, sprang into his saddle, and made
+capital time over the fences and ditches till safe within the lines. The
+pain from his boil was gone, and the boil, too, and the colonel swore
+that there was no cure for boils so sure as fright from rebel yells.”
+
+
+
+
+PAY FOR EVERYTHING.
+
+When President Lincoln issued a military order, it was usually
+expressive, as the following shows:
+
+“War Department, Washington, July 22, ‘62.
+
+“First: Ordered that military commanders within the States of Virginia,
+South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas
+and Arkansas, in an orderly manner, seize and use any property, real
+or personal, which may be necessary or convenient for their several
+commands, for supplies, or for other military purposes; and that while
+property may be all stored for proper military objects, none shall be
+destroyed in wantonness or malice.
+
+“Second: That military and naval commanders shall employ as laborers
+within and from said States, so many persons of African descent as
+can be advantageously used for military or naval purposes, giving them
+reasonable wages for their labor.
+
+“Third: That as to both property and persons of African descent,
+accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail to show
+quantities and amounts, and from whom both property and such persons
+shall have come, as a basis upon which compensation can be made in
+proper cases; and the several departments of this Government shall
+attend to and perform their appropriate parts towards the execution of
+these orders.
+
+“By order of the President.”
+
+
+
+
+BASHFUL WITH LADIES.
+
+Judge David Davis, Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and
+United States Senator from Illinois, was one of Lincoln’s most intimate
+friends. He told this story on “Abe”:
+
+“Lincoln was very bashful when in the presence of ladies. I remember
+once we were invited to take tea at a friend’s house, and while in the
+parlor I was called to the front gate to see someone.
+
+“When I returned, Lincoln, who had undertaken to entertain the ladies,
+was twisting and squirming in his chair, and as bashful as a schoolboy.”
+
+
+
+
+SAW HUMOR IN EVERYTHING.
+
+There was much that was irritating and uncomfortable in the
+circuit-riding of the Illinois court, but there was more which was
+amusing to a temperament like Lincoln’s. The freedom, the long days in
+the open air, the unexpected if trivial adventures, the meeting with
+wayfarers and settlers--all was an entertainment to him. He found humor
+and human interest on the route where his companions saw nothing but
+commonplaces.
+
+“He saw the ludicrous in an assemblage of fowls,” says H. C. Whitney,
+one of his fellow-itinerants, “in a man spading his garden, in a
+clothes-line full of clothes, in a group of boys, in a lot of pigs
+rooting at a mill door, in a mother duck teaching her brood to swim--in
+everything and anything.”
+
+
+
+
+SPECIFIC FOR FOREIGN “RASH.”
+
+It was in the latter part of 1863 that Russia offered its friendship to
+the United States, and sent a strong fleet of warships, together with
+munitions of war, to this country to be used in any way the President
+might see fit. Russia was not friendly to England and France, these
+nations having defeated her in the Crimea a few years before. As Great
+Britain and the Emperor of the French were continually bothering him,
+President Lincoln used Russia’s kindly feeling and action as a means
+of keeping the other two powers named in a neutral state of mind.
+Underneath the cartoon we here reproduce, which was labeled “Drawing
+Things to a Head,” and appeared in the issue of “Harper’s Weekly,” of
+November 28, 1863, was this DR. LINCOLN (to smart boy of the shop):
+“Mild applications of Russian Salve for our friends over the way, and
+heavy doses--and plenty of it for our Southern patient!!”
+
+Secretary of State Seward was the “smart boy” of the shop, and “our
+friend over the way” were England and France. The latter bothered
+President Lincoln no more, but it is a fact that the Confederate
+privateer Alabama was manned almost entirely by British seamen; also,
+that when the Alabama was sunk by the Kearsarge, in the summer of 1864,
+the Confederate seamen were picked up by an English vessel, taken to
+Southhampton, and set at liberty!
+
+
+
+
+FAVORED THE OTHER SIDE.
+
+Lincoln was candor itself when conducting his side of a case in court.
+General Mason Brayman tells this story as an illustration:
+
+“It is well understood by the profession that lawyers do not read
+authors favoring the opposite side. I once heard Mr. Lincoln, in the
+Supreme Court of Illinois, reading from a reported case some strong
+points in favor of his argument. Reading a little too far, and before
+becoming aware of it, plunged into an authority against himself.
+
+“Pausing a moment, he drew up his shoulders in a comical way, and half
+laughing, went on, ‘There, there, may it please the court, I reckon
+I’ve scratched up a snake. But, as I’m in for it, I guess I’ll read it
+through.’
+
+“Then, in his most ingenious and matchless manner, he went on with his
+argument, and won his case, convincing the court that it was not much of
+a snake after all.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND THE “SHOW”
+
+Lincoln was fond of going all by himself to any little show or concert.
+He would often slip away from his fellow-lawyers and spend the entire
+evening at a little magic lantern show intended for children.
+
+A traveling concert company was always sure of drawing Lincoln. A Mrs.
+Hillis, a member of the “Newhall Family,” and a good singer, was the
+only woman who ever seemed to exhibit any liking for him--so Lincoln
+said. He attended a negro-minstrel show in Chicago, once, where he heard
+Dixie sung. It was entirely new, and pleased him greatly.
+
+
+
+
+“MIXING” AND “MINGLING.”
+
+An Eastern newspaper writer told how Lincoln, after his first
+nomination, received callers, the majority of them at his law office:
+
+“While talking to two or three gentlemen and standing up, a very hard
+looking customer rolled in and tumbled into the only vacant chair and
+the one lately occupied by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln’s keen eye took in
+the fact, but gave no evidence of the notice.
+
+“Turning around at last he spoke to the odd specimen, holding out his
+hand at such a distance that our friend had to vacate the chair if he
+accepted the proffered shake. Mr. Lincoln quietly resumed his chair.
+
+“It was a small matter, yet one giving proof more positively than a
+larger event of that peculiar way the man has of mingling with a mixed
+crowd.”
+
+
+
+
+TOOK PART OF THE BLAME.
+
+Among the lawyers who traveled the circuit with Lincoln was Usher F.
+Linder, whose daughter, Rose Linder Wilkinson, has left many Lincoln
+reminiscences.
+
+“One case in which Mr. Lincoln was interested concerned a member of my
+own family,” said Mrs. Wilkinson. “My brother, Dan, in the heat of a
+quarrel, shot a young man named Ben Boyle and was arrested. My father
+was seriously ill with inflammatory rheumatism at the time, and could
+scarcely move hand or foot. He certainly could not defend Dan. I was his
+secretary, and I remember it was but a day or so after the shooting till
+letters of sympathy began to pour in. In the first bundle which I picked
+up there was a big letter, the handwriting on which I recognized as that
+of Mr. Lincoln. The letter was very sympathetic.
+
+“‘I know how you feel, Linder,’ it said. ‘I can understand your anger
+as a father, added to all the other sentiments. But may we not be in a
+measure to blame? We have talked about the defense of criminals before
+our children; about our success in defending them; have left the
+impression that the greater the crime, the greater the triumph of
+securing an acquittal. Dan knows your success as a criminal lawyer,
+and he depends on you, little knowing that of all cases you would be of
+least value in this.’
+
+“He concluded by offering his services, an offer which touched my father
+to tears.
+
+“Mr. Lincoln tried to have Dan released on bail, but Ben Boyle’s family
+and friends declared the wounded man would die, and feeling had grown so
+bitter that the judge would not grant any bail. So the case was changed
+to Marshall county, but as Ben finally recovered it was dismissed.”
+
+
+
+
+THOUGHT OF LEARNING A TRADE.
+
+Lincoln at one time thought seriously of learning the blacksmith’s
+trade. He was without means, and felt the immediate necessity of
+undertaking some business that would give him bread. While entertaining
+this project an event occurred which, in his undetermined state of mind,
+seemed to open a way to success in another quarter.
+
+Reuben Radford, keeper of a small store in the village of New Salem, had
+incurred the displeasure of the “Clary Grove Boys,” who exercised their
+“regulating” prerogatives by irregularly breaking his windows. William
+G. Greene, a friend of young Lincoln, riding by Radford’s store soon
+afterward, was hailed by him, and told that he intended to sell out.
+Mr. Greene went into the store, and offered him at random $400 for his
+stock, which offer was immediately accepted.
+
+Lincoln “happened in” the next day, and being familiar with the value of
+the goods, Mr. Greene proposed to him to take an inventory of the stock,
+to see what sort of a bargain he had made. This he did, and it was found
+that the goods were worth $600.
+
+Lincoln then made an offer of $125 for his bargain, with the proposition
+that he and a man named Berry, as his partner, take over Greene’s notes
+given to Radford. Mr. Greene agreed to the arrangement, but Radford
+declined it, except on condition that Greene would be their security.
+Greene at last assented.
+
+Lincoln was not afraid of the “Clary Grove Boys”; on the contrary,
+they had been his most ardent friends since the time he thrashed “Jack”
+ Armstrong, champion bully of “The Grove”--but their custom was not
+heavy.
+
+The business soon became a wreck; Greene had to not only assist in
+closing it up, but pay Radford’s notes as well. Lincoln afterwards spoke
+of these notes, which he finally made good to Greene, as “the National
+Debt.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN DEFENDS FIFTEEN MRS. NATIONS.
+
+When Lincoln’s sympathies were enlisted in any cause, he worked like a
+giant to win. At one time (about 1855) he was in attendance upon court
+at the little town of Clinton, Ill., and one of the cases on the docket
+was where fifteen women from a neighboring village were defendants, they
+having been indicted for trespass. Their offense, as duly set forth in
+the indictment, was that of swooping down upon one Tanner, the keeper
+of a saloon in the village, and knocking in the heads of his barrels.
+Lincoln was not employed in the case, but sat watching the trial as it
+proceeded.
+
+In defending the ladies, their attorney seemed to evince a little want
+of tact, and this prompted one of the former to invite Mr. Lincoln to
+add a few words to the jury, if he thought he could aid their cause. He
+was too gallant to refuse, and their attorney having consented, he made
+use of the following argument:
+
+“In this case I would change the order of indictment and have it read
+The State vs. Mr. Whiskey, instead of The State vs. The Ladies; and
+touching these there are three laws: the law of self-protection; the law
+of the land, or statute law; and the moral law, or law of God.
+
+“First the law of self-protection is a law of necessity, as evinced by
+our forefathers in casting the tea overboard and asserting their right
+to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness: In this case it is the
+only defense the Ladies have, for Tanner neither feared God nor regarded
+man.
+
+“Second, the law of the land, or statute law, and Tanner is recreant to
+both.
+
+“Third, the moral law, or law of God, and this is probably a law for the
+violation of which the jury can fix no punishment.”
+
+Lincoln gave some of his own observations on the ruinous effects of
+whiskey in society, and demanded its early suppression.
+
+After he had concluded, the Court, without awaiting the return of the
+jury, dismissed the ladies, saying:
+
+“Ladies, go home. I will require no bond of you, and if any fine is ever
+wanted of you, we will let you know.”
+
+
+
+
+AVOIDED EVEN APPEARANCE OF EVIL
+
+Frank W. Tracy, President of the First National Bank of Springfield,
+tells a story illustrative of two traits in Mr. Lincoln’s character.
+Shortly after the National banking law went into effect the First
+National of Springield was chartered, and Mr. Tracy wrote to Mr.
+Lincoln, with whom he was well acquainted in a business way, and
+tendered him an opportunity to subscribe for some of the stock.
+
+In reply to the kindly offer Mr. Lincoln wrote, thanking Mr. Tracy,
+but at the same time declining to subscribe. He said he recognized that
+stock in a good National bank would be a good thing to hold, but he did
+not feel that he ought, as President, profit from a law which had been
+passed under his administration.
+
+“He seemed to wish to avoid even the appearance of evil,” said Mr.
+Tracy, in telling of the incident. “And so the act proved both his
+unvarying probity and his unfailing policy.”
+
+
+
+
+WAR DIDN’T ADMIT OF HOLIDAYS.
+
+Lincoln wrote a letter on October 2d, 1862, in which he observed:
+
+“I sincerely wish war was a pleasanter and easier business than it is,
+but it does not admit of holidays.”
+
+
+
+
+“NEUTRALITY.”
+
+Old John Bull got himself into a precious fine scrape when he went so
+far as to “play double” with the North, as well as the South, during the
+great American Civil War. In its issue of November 14th, 1863, London
+“Punch” printed a rather clever cartoon illustrating the predicament
+Bull had created for himself. John is being lectured by Mrs. North and
+Mrs. South--both good talkers and eminently able to hold their own
+in either social conversation, parliamentary debate or political
+argument--but he bears it with the best grace possible. This is the way
+the text underneath the picture runs:
+
+MRS. NORTH. “How about the Alabama, you wicked old man?” MRS. SOUTH:
+“Where’s my rams? Take back your precious consols--there!!” “Punch” had
+a good deal of fun with old John before it was through with him, but,
+as the Confederate privateer Alabama was sent beneath the waves of the
+ocean at Cherbourg by the Kearsarge, and Mrs. South had no need for any
+more rams, John got out of the difficulty without personal injury. It
+was a tight squeeze, though, for Mrs. North was in a fighting humor, and
+prepared to scratch or pull hair. The fact that the privateer Alabama,
+built at an English shipyard and manned almost entirely by English
+sailors, had managed to do about $10,000,000 worth of damage to United
+States commerce, was enough to make any one angry.
+
+
+
+
+DAYS OF GLADNESS PAST.
+
+After the war was well on, a patriot woman of the West urged President
+Lincoln to make hospitals at the North where the sick from the Army of
+the Mississippi could revive in a more bracing air. Among other reasons,
+she said, feelingly: “If you grant my petition, you will be glad as long
+as you live.”
+
+With a look of sadness impossible to describe, the President said:
+
+“I shall never be glad any more.”
+
+
+
+
+WOULDN’T TAKE THE MONEY.
+
+Lincoln always regarded himself as the friend and protector of
+unfortunate clients, and such he would never press for pay for his
+services. A client named Cogdal was unfortunate in business, and gave a
+note in settlement of legal fees. Soon afterward he met with an accident
+by which he lost a hand. Meeting Lincoln some time after on the steps of
+the State-House, the kind lawyer asked him how he was getting along.
+
+“Badly enough,” replied Cogdal; “I am both broken up in business and
+crippled.” Then he added, “I have been thinking about that note of
+yours.”
+
+Lincoln, who had probably known all about Cogdal’s troubles, and had
+prepared himself for the meeting, took out his pocket-book, and saying,
+with a laugh, “Well, you needn’t think any more about it,” handed him
+the note.
+
+Cogdal protesting, Lincoln said, “Even if you had the money, I would not
+take it,” and hurried away.
+
+
+
+
+GRANT HELD ON ALL THE TIME.
+
+(Dispatch to General Grant, August 17th, 1864.)
+
+“I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your
+hold where you are. Neither am I willing.
+
+“Hold on with a bulldog grip.”
+
+
+
+
+CHEWED THE CUD IN SOLITUDE.
+
+As a student (if such a term could be applied to Lincoln), one who did
+not know him might have called him indolent. He would pick up a book and
+run rapidly over the pages, pausing here and there.
+
+At the end of an hour--never more than two or three hours--he would
+close the book, stretch himself out on the office lounge, and then, with
+hands under his head and eyes shut, would digest the mental food he had
+just taken.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE’S” YANKEE INGENUITY.
+
+War Governor Richard Yates (he was elected Governor of Illinois in
+1860, when Lincoln was first elected President) told a good story at
+Springfield (Ill.) about Lincoln.
+
+One day the latter was in the Sangamon River with his trousers rolled up
+five feet--more or less--trying to pilot a flatboat over a mill-dam. The
+boat was so full of water that it was hard to manage. Lincoln got the
+prow over, and then, instead of waiting to bail the water out, bored
+a hole through the projecting part and let it run out, affording a
+forcible illustration of the ready ingenuity of the future President.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PAID HOMAGE TO WASHINGTON.
+
+The Martyr President thus spoke of Washington in the course of an
+address:
+
+“Washington is the mightiest name on earth--long since the mightiest in
+the cause of civil liberty, still mightiest in moral reformation.
+
+“On that name a eulogy is expected. It cannot be.
+
+“To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington is
+alike impossible.
+
+“Let none attempt it.
+
+“In solemn awe pronounce the name, and, in its naked, deathless
+splendor, leave it shining on.”
+
+
+
+
+STIRRED EVEN THE REPORTERS.
+
+Lincoln’s influence upon his audiences was wonderful. He could sway
+people at will, and nothing better illustrates his extraordinary power
+than he manner in which he stirred up the newspaper reporters by his
+Bloomingon speech.
+
+Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago Tribune, told the story:
+
+“It was my journalistic duty, though a delegate to the convention, to
+make a ‘longhand’ report of the speeches delivered for the Tribune. I
+did make a few paragraphs of what Lincoln said in the first eight or ten
+minutes, but I became so absorbed in his magnetic oratory that I forgot
+myself and ceased to take notes, and joined with the convention in
+cheering and stamping and clapping to the end of his speech.
+
+“I well remember that after Lincoln sat down and calm had succeeded the
+tempest, I waked out of a sort of hypnotic trance, and then thought of
+my report for the paper. There was nothing written but an abbreviated
+introduction.
+
+“It was some sort of satisfaction to find that I had not been ‘scooped,’
+as all the newspaper men present had been equally carried away by the
+excitement caused by the wonderful oration and had made no report or
+sketch of the speech.”
+
+
+
+
+WHEN “ABE” CAME IN.
+
+When “Abe” was fourteen years of age, John Hanks journeyed from Kentucky
+to Indiana and lived with the Lincolns. He described “Abe’s” habits
+thus:
+
+“When Lincoln and I returned to the house from work, he would go to the
+cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, take down a book, sit down on a
+chair, cock his legs up as high as his head, and read.
+
+“He and I worked barefooted, grubbed it, plowed, mowed, cradled
+together; plowed corn, gathered it, and shucked corn. ‘Abe’ read
+constantly when he had an opportunity.”
+
+
+
+
+ETERNAL FIDELITY TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY.
+
+During the Harrison Presidential campaign of 1840, Lincoln said, in a
+speech at Springfield, Illinois:
+
+“Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers;
+but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was last to
+desert, but that I never deserted her.
+
+“I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed
+by the evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava of
+political corruption in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping
+with frightful velocity over the whole length and breadth of the land,
+bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or living thing.
+
+“I cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it, I, too, may be;
+bow to it I never will.
+
+“The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us
+from the support of a cause which we believe to be just. It shall never
+deter me.
+
+“If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those
+dimensions not wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is when I
+contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by all the world beside,
+and I standing up boldly alone, and hurling defiance at her victorious
+oppressors.
+
+“Here, without contemplating consequences, before heaven, and in the
+face of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem
+it, of the land of my life, my liberty, and my love; and who that thinks
+with me will not fearlessly adopt the oath that I take?
+
+“Let none falter who thinks he is right, and we may succeed.
+
+“But if, after all, we shall fail, be it so; we have the proud
+consolation of saying to our consciences, and to the departed shade of
+our country’s freedom, that the cause approved of our judgment, and,
+adorned of our hearts in disaster, in chains, in death, we never
+faltered in defending.”
+
+
+
+
+“ABE’S” “DEFALCATIONS.”
+
+Lincoln could not rest for as instant under the consciousness that, even
+unwittingly, he had defrauded anybody. On one occasion, while clerking
+in Offutt’s store, at New Salem, he sold a woman a little bale of goods,
+amounting, by the reckoning, to $2.20. He received the money, and the
+woman went away.
+
+On adding the items of the bill again to make himself sure of
+correctness, he found that he had taken six and a quarter cents too
+much.
+
+It was night, and, closing and locking the store, he started out on
+foot, a distance of two or three miles, for the house of his defrauded
+customer, and, delivering to her the sum whose possession had so much
+troubled him, went home satisfied.
+
+On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for the night, a
+woman entered and asked for half a pound of tea. The tea was weighed
+out and paid for, and the store was left for the night.
+
+The next morning Lincoln, when about to begin the duties of the day,
+discovered a four-ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once that he
+had made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a long walk before
+breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea.
+
+These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the man’s perfect
+conscientiousness--his sensitive honesty--better, perhaps, than they
+would if they were of greater moment.
+
+
+
+
+HE WASN’T GUILELESS.
+
+Leonard Swett, of Chicago, whose counsels were doubtless among the most
+welcome to Lincoln, in summing up Lincoln’s character, said:
+
+“From the commencement of his life to its close I have sometimes doubted
+whether he ever asked anybody’s advice about anything. He would listen
+to everybody; he would hear everybody; but he rarely, if ever, asked for
+opinions.
+
+“As a politician and as President he arrived at all his conclusions from
+his own reflections, and when his conclusions were once formed he never
+doubted but what they were right.
+
+“One great public mistake of his (Lincoln’s) character, as generally
+received and acquiesced in, is that he is considered by the people of
+this country as a frank, guileless, and unsophisticated man. There never
+was a greater mistake.
+
+“Beneath a smooth surface of candor and apparent declaration of all
+his thoughts and feelings he exercised the most exalted tact and wisest
+discrimination. He handled and moved men remotely as we do pieces upon a
+chess-board.
+
+“He retained through life all the friends he ever had, and he made the
+wrath of his enemies to praise him. This was not by cunning or intrigue
+in the low acceptation of the term, but by far-seeing reason and
+discernment. He always told only enough of his plans and purposes to
+induce the belief that he had communicated all; yet he reserved enough
+to have communicated nothing.”
+
+
+
+
+SWEET, BUT MILD REVENGE.
+
+When the United States found that a war with Black Hawk could not be
+dodged, Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, issued a call for volunteers,
+and among the companies that immediately responded was one from Menard
+county, Illinois. Many of these volunteers were from New Salem and
+Clary’s Grove, and Lincoln, being out of business, was the first to
+enlist.
+
+The company being full, the men held a meeting at Richland for the
+election of officers. Lincoln had won many hearts, and they told him
+that he must be their captain. It was an office to which he did not
+aspire, and for which he felt he had no special fitness; but he finally
+consented to be a candidate.
+
+There was but one other candidate, a Mr. Kirkpatrick, who was one of the
+most influential men of the region. Previously, Kirkpatrick had been
+an employer of Lincoln, and was so overbearing in his treatment of the
+young man that the latter left him.
+
+The simple mode of electing a captain adopted by the company was by
+placing the candidates apart, and telling the men to go and stand with
+the one they preferred. Lincoln and his competitor took their positions,
+and then the word was given. At least three out of every four went to
+Lincoln at once.
+
+When it was seen by those who had arranged themselves with the other
+candidate that Lincoln was the choice of the majority of the company,
+they left their places, one by one, and came over to the successful
+side, until Lincoln’s opponent in the friendly strife was left standing
+almost alone.
+
+“I felt badly to see him cut so,” says a witness of the scene.
+
+Here was an opportunity for revenge. The humble laborer was his
+employer’s captain, but the opportunity was never improved. Mr. Lincoln
+frequently confessed that no subsequent success of his life had given
+him half the satisfaction that this election did.
+
+
+
+
+DIDN’T TRUST THE COURT.
+
+In one of his many stories of Lincoln, his law partner, W. H. Herndon,
+told this as illustrating Lincoln’s shrewdness as a lawyer:
+
+“I was with Lincoln once and listened to an oral argument by him in
+which he rehearsed an extended history of the law. It was a carefully
+prepared and masterly discourse, but, as I thought, entirely useless.
+After he was through and we were walking home, I asked him why he went
+so far back in the history of the law. I presumed the court knew enough
+history.
+
+“‘That’s where you’re mistaken,’ was his instant rejoinder. ‘I dared
+not just the case on the presumption that the court knows everything--in
+fact I argued it on the presumption that the court didn’t know
+anything,’ a statement, which, when one reviews the decision of our
+appellate courts, is not so extravagant as one would at first suppose.”
+
+
+
+
+HANDSOMEST MAN ON EARTH.
+
+One day Thaddeus Stevens called at the White House with an elderly
+woman, whose son had been in the army, but for some offense had been
+court-martialed and sentenced to death. There were some extenuating
+circumstances, and after a full hearing the President turned to Stevens
+and said: “Mr. Stevens, do you think this is a case which will warrant
+my interference?”
+
+“With my knowledge of the facts and the parties,” was the reply, “I
+should have no hesitation in granting a pardon.”
+
+“Then,” returned Mr. Lincoln, “I will pardon him,” and proceeded
+forthwith to execute the paper.
+
+The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, save by her
+tears, and not a word was said between her and Stevens until they were
+half way down the stairs on their passage out, when she suddenly broke
+forth in an excited manner with the words:
+
+“I knew it was a copperhead lie!”
+
+“What do you refer to, madam?” asked Stevens.
+
+“Why, they told me he was an ugly-looking man,” she replied, with
+vehemence. “He is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life.”
+
+
+
+
+THAT COON CAME DOWN.
+
+“Lincoln’s Last Warning” was the title of a cartoon which appeared in
+“Harper’s Weekly,” on October 11, 1862. Under the picture was the text:
+
+“Now if you don’t come down I’ll cut the tree from under you.”
+
+This illustration was peculiarly apt, as, on the 1st of January, 1863,
+President Lincoln issued his great Emancipation Proclamation, declaring
+all slaves in the United States forever free. “Old Abe” was a handy
+man with the axe, he having split many thousands of rails with its keen
+edge. As the “Slavery Coon” wouldn’t heed the warning, Lincoln did cut
+the tree from under him, and so he came down to the ground with a heavy
+thump.
+
+This Act of Emancipation put an end to the notion of the Southern slave
+holders that involuntary servitude was one of the “sacred institutions”
+ on the Continent of North America. It also demonstrated that Lincoln was
+thoroughly in earnest when he declared that he would not only save the
+Union, but that he meant what he said in the speech wherein he asserted,
+“This Nation cannot exist half slave and half free.”
+
+
+
+
+WROTE “PIECES” WHEN VERY YOUNG.
+
+At fifteen years of age “Abe” wrote “pieces,” or compositions, and even
+some doggerel rhyme, which he recited, to the great amusement of his
+playmates.
+
+One of his first compositions was against cruelty to animals. He was
+very much annoyed and pained at the conduct of the boys, who were in the
+habit of catching terrapins and putting coals of fire on their backs,
+which thoroughly disgusted Abraham.
+
+“He would chide us,” said “Nat” Grigsby, “tell us it was wrong, and
+would write against it.”
+
+When eighteen years old, “Abe” wrote a “piece” on “National Politics,”
+ and it so pleased a lawyer friend, named Pritchard, that the latter
+had it printed in an obscure paper, thereby adding much to the author’s
+pride. “Abe” did not conceal his satisfaction. In this “piece” he wrote,
+among other things:
+
+“The American government is the best form of government for an
+intelligent people. It ought to be kept sound, and preserved forever,
+that general education should be fostered and carried all over the
+country; that the Constitution should be saved, the Union perpetuated
+and the laws revered, respected and enforced.”
+
+
+
+
+“TRY TO STEER HER THROUGH.”
+
+John A. Logan and a friend of Illinois called upon Lincoln at Willard’s
+Hotel, Washington, February 23d, the morning of his arrival, and urged a
+vigorous, firm policy.
+
+Patiently listening, Lincoln replied seriously but cheerfully:
+
+“As the country has placed me at the helm of the ship, I’ll try to steer
+her through.”
+
+
+
+
+GRAND, GLOOMY AND PECULIAR.
+
+Lincoln was a marked and peculiar young man. People talked about him.
+His studious habits, his greed for information, his thorough mastery
+of the difficulties of every new position in which he was placed,
+his intelligence on all matters of public concern, his unwearying
+good-nature, his skill in telling a story, his great athletic power,
+his quaint, odd ways, his uncouth appearance--all tended to bring him in
+sharp contrast with the dull mediocrity by which he was surrounded.
+
+Denton Offutt, his old employer, said, after having had a conversation
+with Lincoln, that the young man “had talent enough in him to make a
+President.”
+
+
+
+
+ON THE WAY TO GETTYSBURG.
+
+When Lincoln was on his way to the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, an
+old gentleman told him that his only son fell on Little Round Top at
+Gettysburg, and he was going to look at the spot. Mr. Lincoln replied:
+“You have been called on to make a terrible sacrifice for the Union, and
+a visit to that spot, I fear, will open your wounds afresh.
+
+“But, oh, my dear sir, if we had reached the end of such sacrifices,
+and had nothing left for us to do but to place garlands on the graves
+of those who have already fallen, we could give thanks even amidst our
+tears; but when I think of the sacrifices of life yet to be offered, and
+the hearts and homes yet to be made desolate before this dreadful war is
+over, my heart is like lead within me, and I feel at times like hiding
+in deep darkness.” At one of the stopping places of the train, a very
+beautiful child, having a bunch of rosebuds in her hand, was lifted up
+to an open window of the President’s car. “Floweth for the President.”
+ The President stepped to the window, took the rosebuds, bent down and
+kissed the child, saying, “You are a sweet little rosebud yourself. I
+hope your life will open into perpetual beauty and goodness.”
+
+
+
+
+STOOD UP THE LONGEST.
+
+There was a rough gallantry among the young people; and Lincoln’s old
+comrades and friends in Indiana have left many tales of how he “went to
+see the girls,” of how he brought in the biggest back-log and made the
+brightest fire; of how the young people, sitting around it, watching the
+way the sparks flew, told their fortunes.
+
+He helped pare apples, shell corn and crack nuts. He took the girls to
+meeting and to spelling school, though he was not often allowed to take
+part in the spelling-match, for the one who “chose first” always chose
+“Abe” Lincoln, and that was equivalent to winning, as the others knew
+that “he would stand up the longest.”
+
+
+
+
+A MORTIFYING EXPERIENCE.
+
+A lady reader or elocutionist came to Springfield in 1857. A large crowd
+greeted her. Among other things she recited “Nothing to Wear,” a piece
+in which is described the perplexities that beset “Miss Flora McFlimsy”
+ in her efforts to appear fashionable.
+
+In the midst of one stanza in which no effort is made to say anything
+particularly amusing, and during the reading of which the audience
+manifested the most respectful silence and attention, some one in the
+rear seats burst out with a loud, coarse laugh, a sudden and explosive
+guffaw.
+
+It startled the speaker and audience, and kindled a storm of
+unsuppressed laughter and applause. Everybody looked back to ascertain
+the cause of the demonstration, and were greatly surprised to find that
+it was Mr. Lincoln.
+
+He blushed and squirmed with the awkward diffidence of a schoolboy.
+What caused him to laugh, no one was able to explain. He was doubtless
+wrapped up in a brown study, and recalling some amusing episode,
+indulged in laughter without realizing his surroundings. The experience
+mortified him greatly.
+
+
+
+
+NO HALFWAY BUSINESS.
+
+Soon after Mr. Lincoln began to practice law at Springfield, he was
+engaged in a criminal case in which it was thought there was little
+chance of success. Throwing all his powers into it, he came off
+victorious, and promptly received for his services five hundred dollars.
+A legal friend, calling upon him the next morning, found him sitting
+before a table, upon which his money was spread out, counting it over
+and over.
+
+“Look here, Judge,” said he. “See what a heap of money I’ve got from
+this case. Did you ever see anything like it? Why, I never had so much
+money in my life before, put it all together.” Then, crossing his arms
+upon the table, his manner sobering down, he added: “I have got just
+five hundred dollars; if it were only seven hundred and fifty, I would
+go directly and purchase a quarter section of land, and settle it upon
+my old step-mother.”
+
+His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed, he would loan
+him the amount, taking his note, to which Mr. Lincoln instantly acceded.
+
+His friend then said:
+
+“Lincoln, I would do just what you have indicated. Your step-mother is
+getting old, and will not probably live many years. I would settle the
+property upon her for her use during her lifetime, to revert to you upon
+her death.”
+
+With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+“I shall do no such thing. It is a poor return at best for all the good
+woman’s devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not going to be any
+halfway business about it.” And so saying, he gathered up his money and
+proceeded forthwith to carry his long-cherished purpose into execution.
+
+
+
+
+DISCOURAGED LITIGATION.
+
+Lincoln believed in preventing unnecessary litigation, and carried out
+this in his practice. “Who was your guardian?” he asked a young man who
+came to him to complain that a part of the property left him had been
+withheld. “Enoch Kingsbury,” replied the young man.
+
+“I know Mr. Kingsbury,” said Lincoln, “and he is not the man to have
+cheated you out of a cent, and I can’t take the case, and advise you to
+drop the subject.”
+
+And it was dropped.
+
+
+
+
+GOING HOME TO GET READY.
+
+Edwin M. Stanton was one of the attorneys in the great “reaper patent”
+ case heard in Cincinnati in 1855, Lincoln also having been retained.
+The latter was rather anxious to deliver the argument on the general
+propositions of law applicable to the case, but it being decided to have
+Mr. Stanton do this, the Westerner made no complaint.
+
+Speaking of Stanton’s argument and the view Lincoln took of it, Ralph
+Emerson, a young lawyer who was present at the trial, said:
+
+“The final summing up on our side was by Mr. Stanton, and though he took
+but about three hours in its delivery, he had devoted as many, if not
+more, weeks to its preparation. It was very able, and Mr. Lincoln was
+throughout the whole of it a rapt listener. Mr. Stanton closed his
+speech in a flight of impassioned eloquence.
+
+“Then the court adjourned for the day, and Mr. Lincoln invited me to
+take a long walk with him. For block after block he walked rapidly
+forward, not saying a word, evidently deeply dejected.
+
+“At last he turned suddenly to me, exclaiming, ‘Emerson, I am going
+home.’ A pause. ‘I am going home to study law.’
+
+“‘Why,’ I exclaimed, ‘Mr. Lincoln, you stand at the head of the bar in
+Illinois now! What are you talking about?’
+
+“‘Ah, yes,’ he said, ‘I do occupy a good position there, and I think
+that I can get along with the way things are done there now. But these
+college-trained men, who have devoted their whole lives to study, are
+coming West, don’t you see? And they study their cases as we never do.
+They have got as far as Cincinnati now. They will soon be in Illinois.’
+
+“Another long pause; then stopping and turning toward me, his
+countenance suddenly assuming that look of strong determination which
+those who knew him best sometimes saw upon his face, he exclaimed, ‘I am
+going home to study law! I am as good as any, of them, and when they get
+out to Illinois, I will be ready for them.’”
+
+
+
+
+“THE ‘RAIL-SPUTTER’ REPAIRING THE UNION.”
+
+The cartoon given here in facsimile was one of the posters which
+decorated the picturesque Presidential campaign of 1864, and assisted
+in making the period previous to the vote-casting a lively and memorable
+one. This poster was a lithograph, and, as the title, “The Rail-Splitter
+at Work Repairing the Union,” would indicate, the President is using the
+Vice-Presidential candidate on the Republican National ticket (Andrew
+Johnson) as an aid in the work. Johnson was, in early life, a tailor,
+and he is pictured as busily engaged in sewing up the rents made in the
+map of the Union by the secessionists.
+
+Both men are thoroughly in earnest, and, as history relates, the torn
+places in the Union map were stitched together so nicely that no one
+could have told, by mere observation, that a tear had ever been made.
+Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln upon the assassination of the
+latter, was a remarkable man. Born in North Carolina, he removed to
+Tennessee when young, was Congressman, Governor, and United States
+Senator, being made military Governor of his State in 1862. A strong,
+stanch Union man, he was nominated for the Vice-Presidency on the
+Lincoln ticket to conciliate the War Democrats. After serving out his
+term as President, he was again elected United States Senator from
+Tennessee, but died shortly after taking his seat. But he was just the
+sort of a man to assist “Uncle Abe” in sewing up the torn places in the
+Union map, and as military Governor of Tennessee was a powerful factor
+in winning friends in the South to the Union cause.
+
+
+
+
+“FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES.”
+
+“Several of us lawyers,” remarked one of his colleagues, “in the eastern
+end of the circuit, annoyed Lincoln once while he was holding court for
+Davis by attempting to defend against a note to which there were many
+makers. We had no legal, but a good moral defense, but what we wanted
+most of all was to stave it off till the next term of court by one
+expedient or another.
+
+“We bothered ‘the court’ about it till late on Saturday, the day of
+adjournment. He adjourned for supper with nothing left but this case to
+dispose of. After supper he heard our twaddle for nearly an hour, and
+then made this odd entry.
+
+“‘L. D. Chaddon vs. J. D. Beasley et al. April Term, 1856. Champaign
+county Court. Plea in abatement by B. Z. Green, a defendant not served,
+filed Saturday at 11 o’clock a. m., April 24, 1856, stricken from the
+files by order of court. Demurrer to declaration, if there ever was one,
+overruled. Defendants who are served now, at 8 o’clock p. m., of the
+last day of the term, ask to plead to the merits, which is denied by the
+court on the ground that the offer comes too late, and therefore, as
+by nil dicet, judgment is rendered for Pl’ff. Clerk assess damages. A.
+Lincoln, Judge pro tem.’
+
+“The lawyer who reads this singular entry will appreciate its oddity
+if no one else does. After making it, one of the lawyers, on recovering
+from his astonishment, ventured to enquire: ‘Well, Lincoln, how can we
+get this case up again?’
+
+“Lincoln eyed him quizzically for a moment, and then answered, ‘You have
+all been so mighty smart about this case, you can find out how to take
+it up again yourselves.”’
+
+
+
+
+ROUGH ON THE NEGRO.
+
+Mr. Lincoln, one day, was talking with the Rev. Dr. Sunderland about the
+Emancipation Proclamation and the future of the negro. Suddenly a ripple
+of amusement broke the solemn tone of his voice. “As for the negroes,
+Doctor, and what is going to become of them: I told Ben Wade the other
+day, that it made me think of a story I read in one of my first books,
+‘Aesop’s Fables.’ It was an old edition, and had curious rough wood
+cuts, one of which showed three white men scrubbing a negro in a potash
+kettle filled with cold water. The text explained that the men thought
+that by scrubbing the negro they might make him white. Just about the
+time they thought they were succeeding, he took cold and died. Now, I
+am afraid that by the time we get through this War the negro will catch
+cold and die.”
+
+
+
+
+CHALLENGED ALL COMERS.
+
+Personal encounters were of frequent occurrence in Gentryville in early
+days, and the prestige of having thrashed an opponent gave the victor
+marked social distinction. Green B. Taylor, with whom “Abe” worked the
+greater part of one winter on a farm, furnished an account of the noted
+fight between John Johnston, “Abe’s” stepbrother, and William Grigsby,
+in which stirring drama “Abe” himself played an important role before
+the curtain was rung down.
+
+Taylor’s father was the second for Johnston, and William Whitten
+officiated in a similar capacity for Grigsby. “They had a terrible
+fight,” related Taylor, “and it soon became apparent that Grigsby was
+too much for Lincoln’s man, Johnston. After they had fought a long time
+without interference, it having been agreed not to break the ring, ‘Abe’
+burst through, caught Grigsby, threw him off and some feet away. There
+Grigsby stood, proud as Lucifer, and, swinging a bottle of liquor over
+his head, swore he was ‘the big buck of the lick.’
+
+“‘If any one doubts it,’ he shouted, ‘he has only to come on and whet
+his horns.’”
+
+A general engagement followed this challenge, but at the end of
+hostilities the field was cleared and the wounded retired amid the
+exultant shouts of their victors.
+
+
+
+
+“GOVERNMENT RESTS IN PUBLIC OPINION.”
+
+Lincoln delivered a speech at a Republican banquet at Chicago, December
+10th, 1856, just after the Presidential campaign of that year, in which
+he said:
+
+“Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public
+opinion can change the government practically just so much.
+
+“Public opinion, on any subject, always has a ‘central idea,’ from which
+all its minor thoughts radiate.
+
+“That ‘central idea’ in our political public opinion at the beginning
+was, and until recently has continued to be, ‘the equality of man.’
+
+“And although it has always submitted patiently to whatever of
+inequality there seemed to be as a matter of actual necessity, its
+constant working has been a steady progress toward the practical
+equality of all men.
+
+“Let everyone who really believes, and is resolved, that free society is
+not and shall not be a failure, and who can conscientiously declare that
+in the past contest he has done only what he thought best--let every
+such one have charity to believe that every other one can say as much.
+
+“Thus, let bygones be bygones; let party differences as nothing be,
+and with steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugurate the good old
+‘central ideas’ of the Republic.
+
+“We can do it. The human heart is with us; God is with us.
+
+“We shall never be able to declare that ‘all States as States are
+equal,’ nor yet that ‘all citizens are equal,’ but to renew the broader,
+better declaration, including both these and much more, that ‘all men
+are created equal.’”
+
+
+
+
+HURRY MIGHT MAKE TROUBLE.
+
+Up to the very last moment of the life of the Confederacy, the London
+“Punch” had its fling at the United States. In a cartoon, printed
+February 18th, 1865, labeled “The Threatening Notice,” “Punch” intimates
+that Uncle Sam is in somewhat of a hurry to serve notice on John Bull
+regarding the contentions in connection with the northern border of the
+United States.
+
+Lincoln, however, as attorney for his revered Uncle, advises caution.
+Accordingly, he tells his Uncle, according to the text under the picture:
+
+ATTORNEY LINCOLN: “Now, Uncle Sam, you’re in a darned hurry to serve
+this here notice on John Bull. Now, it’s my duty, as your attorney, to
+tell you that you may drive him to go over to that cuss, Davis.” (Uncle
+Sam considers.) In this instance, President Lincoln is given credit for
+judgment and common sense, his advice to his Uncle Sam to be prudent
+being sound. There was trouble all along the Canadian border during the
+War, while Canada was the refuge of Northern conspirators and Southern
+spies, who, at times, crossed the line and inflicted great damage
+upon the States bordering on it. The plot to seize the great lake
+cities--Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and others--was
+figured out in Canada by the Southerners and Northern allies. President
+Lincoln, in his message to Congress in December, 1864, said the United
+States had given notice to England that, at the end of six months, this
+country would, if necessary, increase its naval armament upon the lakes.
+What Great Britain feared was the abrogation by the United States of all
+treaties regarding Canada. By previous stipulation, the United States
+and England were each to have but one war vessel on the Great Lakes.
+
+
+
+
+SAW HIMSELF DEAD.
+
+This story cannot be repeated in Lincoln’s own language, although he
+told it often enough to intimate friends; but, as it was never taken
+down by a stenographer in the martyred President’s exact words, the
+reader must accept a simple narration of the strange occurrence.
+
+It was not long after the first nomination of Lincoln for the
+Presidency, when he saw, or imagined he saw, the startling apparition.
+One day, feeling weary, he threw himself upon a lounge in one of the
+rooms of his house at Springfield to rest. Opposite the lounge upon
+which he was lying was a large, long mirror, and he could easily see the
+reflection of his form, full length.
+
+Suddenly he saw, or imagined he saw, two Lincolns in the mirror, each
+lying full length upon the lounge, but they differed strangely in
+appearance. One was the natural Lincoln, full of life, vigor, energy and
+strength; the other was a dead Lincoln, the face white as marble, the
+limbs nerveless and lifeless, the body inert and still.
+
+Lincoln was so impressed with this vision, which he considered merely
+an optical illusion, that he arose, put on his hat, and went out for
+a walk. Returning to the house, he determined to test the matter
+again--and the result was the same as before. He distinctly saw the two
+Lincolns--one living and the other dead.
+
+He said nothing to his wife about this, she being, at that time, in
+a nervous condition, and apprehensive that some accident would surely
+befall her husband. She was particularly fearful that he might be the
+victim of an assassin. Lincoln always made light of her fears, but yet
+he was never easy in his mind afterwards.
+
+To more thoroughly test the so-called “optical illusion,” and prove,
+beyond the shadow of a doubt, whether it was a mere fanciful creation of
+the brain or a reflection upon the broad face of the mirror which might
+be seen at any time, Lincoln made frequent experiments. Each and
+every time the result was the same. He could not get away from the two
+Lincolns--one living and the other dead.
+
+Lincoln never saw this forbidding reflection while in the White House.
+Time after time he placed a couch in front of a mirror at a distance
+from the glass where he could view his entire length while lying down,
+but the looking-glass in the Executive Mansion was faithful to its
+trust, and only the living Lincoln was observable.
+
+The late Ward Lamon, once a law partner of Lincoln, and Marshal of the
+District of Columbia during his first administration, tells, in his
+“Recollections of Abraham Lincoln,” of the dreams the President had--all
+foretelling death.
+
+Lamon was Lincoln’s most intimate friend, being, practically, his
+bodyguard, and slept in the White House. In reference to Lincoln’s
+“death dreams,” he says:
+
+“How, it may be asked, could he make life tolerable, burdened as he was
+with that portentous horror, which, though visionary, and of trifling
+import in our eyes, was by his interpretation a premonition of impending
+doom? I answer in a word: His sense of duty to his country; his belief
+that ‘the inevitable’ is right; and his innate and irrepressible humor.
+
+“But the most startling incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln was a dream
+he had only a few days before his assassination. To him it was a thing
+of deadly import, and certainly no vision was ever fashioned more
+exactly like a dread reality. Coupled with other dreams, with the
+mirror-scene and with other incidents, there was something about it so
+amazingly real, so true to the actual tragedy which occurred soon after,
+that more than mortal strength and wisdom would have been required to
+let it pass without a shudder or a pang.
+
+“After worrying over it for some days, Mr. Lincoln seemed no longer able
+to keep the secret. I give it as nearly in his own words as I can, from
+notes which I made immediately after its recital. There were only two or
+three persons present.
+
+“The President was in a melancholy, meditative mood, and had been silent
+for some time. Mrs. Lincoln, who was present, rallied him on his solemn
+visage and want of spirit. This seemed to arouse him, and, without
+seeming to notice her sally, he said, in slow and measured tones:
+
+“‘It seems strange how much there is in the Bible about dreams. There
+are, I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament and four or
+five in the New, in which dreams are mentioned; and there are many other
+passages scattered throughout the book which refer to visions. In
+the old days, God and His angels came to men in their sleep and made
+themselves known in dreams.’
+
+“Mrs. Lincoln here remarked, ‘Why, you look dreadfully solemn; do you
+believe in dreams?’
+
+“‘I can’t say that I do,’ returned Mr. Lincoln; ‘but I had one the other
+night which has haunted me ever since. After it occurred the first
+time, I opened the Bible, and, strange as it may appear, it was at the
+twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which relates the wonderful dream
+Jacob had. I turned to other passages, and seemed to encounter a dream
+or a vision wherever I looked. I kept on turning the leaves of the
+old book, and everywhere my eyes fell upon passages recording matters
+strangely in keeping with my own thoughts--supernatural visitations,
+dreams, visions, etc.’
+
+“He now looked so serious and disturbed that Mrs. Lincoln exclaimed ‘You
+frighten me! What is the matter?’
+
+“‘I am afraid,’ said Mr. Lincoln, observing the effect his words had
+upon his wife, ‘that I have done wrong to mention the subject at all;
+but somehow the thing has got possession of me, and, like Banquo’s
+ghost, it will not down.’
+
+“This only inflamed Mrs. Lincoln’s curiosity the more, and while bravely
+disclaiming any belief in dreams, she strongly urged him to tell the
+dream which seemed to have such a hold upon him, being seconded in this
+by another listener. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but at length commenced very
+deliberately, his brow overcast with a shade of melancholy.
+
+“‘About ten days ago,’ said he, ‘I retired very late. I had been up
+waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been
+long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to
+dream. There seemed to be a deathlike stillness about me. Then I heard
+subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping.
+
+“‘I thought I left my bed and wandered down-stairs. There the silence
+was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible.
+I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same
+mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. It was light in
+all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the
+people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled
+and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this?
+
+“‘Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so
+shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered.
+There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque,
+on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were
+stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of
+people, some gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered,
+others weeping pitifully.
+
+“‘“Who is dead in the White House?” I demanded of one of the soldiers.
+
+“‘“The President,” was his answer; “he was killed by an assassin.”
+
+“‘Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which awoke me from my
+dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I
+have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.’
+
+“‘That is horrid!’ said Mrs. Lincoln. ‘I wish you had not told it. I am
+glad I don’t believe in dreams, or I should be in terror from this time
+forth.’
+
+“‘Well,’ responded Mr. Lincoln, thoughtfully, ‘it is only a dream, Mary.
+Let us say no more about it, and try to forget it.’
+
+“This dream was so horrible, so real, and so in keeping with other
+dreams and threatening presentiments of his, that Mr. Lincoln was
+profoundly disturbed by it. During its recital he was grave, gloomy,
+and at times visibly pale, but perfectly calm. He spoke slowly, with
+measured accents and deep feeling.
+
+“In conversations with me, he referred to it afterwards, closing one
+with this quotation from ‘Hamlet’: ‘To sleep; perchance to dream! ay,
+there’s the rub!’ with a strong accent upon the last three words.
+
+“Once the President alluded to this terrible dream with some show of
+playful humor. ‘Hill,’ said he, ‘your apprehension of harm to me from
+some hidden enemy is downright foolishness. For a long time you have
+been trying to keep somebody-the Lord knows who--from killing me.
+
+“‘Don’t you see how it will turn out? In this dream it was not me, but
+some other fellow, that was killed. It seems that this ghostly assassin
+tried his hand on some one else. And this reminds me of an old farmer in
+Illinois whose family were made sick by eating greens.
+
+“‘Some poisonous herb had got into the mess, and members of the family
+were in danger of dying. There was a half-witted boy in the family
+called Jake; and always afterward when they had greens the old man would
+say, “Now, afore we risk these greens, let’s try ‘em on Jake. If he
+stands ‘em we’re all right.” Just so with me. As long as this imaginary
+assassin continues to exercise himself on others, I can stand it.’
+
+“He then became serious and said: ‘Well, let it go. I think the Lord in
+His own good time and way will work this out all right. God knows what
+is best.’
+
+“These words he spoke with a sigh, and rather in a tone of soliloquy, as
+if hardly noting my presence.
+
+“Mr. Lincoln had another remarkable dream, which was repeated so
+frequently during his occupancy of the White House that he came to
+regard it is a welcome visitor. It was of a pleasing and promising
+character, having nothing in it of the horrible.
+
+“It was always an omen of a Union victory, and came with unerring
+certainty just before every military or naval engagement where our arms
+were crowned with success. In this dream he saw a ship sailing away
+rapidly, badly damaged, and our victorious vessels in close pursuit.
+
+“He saw, also, the close of a battle on land, the enemy routed, and our
+forces in possession of vantage ground of inestimable importance. Mr.
+Lincoln stated it as a fact that he had this dream just before the
+battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and other signal engagements throughout
+the War.
+
+“The last time Mr. Lincoln had this dream was the night before his
+assassination. On the morning of that lamentable day there was a Cabinet
+meeting, at which General Grant was present. During an interval of
+general discussion, the President asked General Grant if he had any news
+from General Sherman, who was then confronting Johnston. The reply was
+in the negative, but the general added that he was in hourly expectation
+of a dispatch announcing Johnston’s surrender.
+
+“Mr. Lincoln then, with great impressiveness, said, ‘We shall hear very
+soon, and the news will be important.’
+
+“General Grant asked him why he thought so.
+
+“‘Because,’ said Mr. Lincoln, ‘I had a dream last night; and ever since
+this War began I have had the same dream just before every event of
+great national importance. It portends some important event which will
+happen very soon.’
+
+“On the night of the fateful 14th of April, 1865, Mrs. Lincoln’s
+first exclamation, after the President was shot, was, ‘His dream was
+prophetic!’
+
+“Lincoln was a believer in certain phases of the supernatural. Assured
+as he undoubtedly was by omens which, to his mind, were conclusive, that
+he would rise to greatness and power, he was as firmly convinced by
+the same tokens that he would be suddenly cut off at the height of his
+career and the fullness of his fame. He always believed that he would
+fall by the hand of an assassin.
+
+“Mr. Lincoln had this further idea: Dreams, being natural occurrences,
+in the strictest sense, he held that their best interpreters are the
+common people; and this accounts, in great measure, for the profound
+respect he always had for the collective wisdom of plain people--‘the
+children of Nature,’ he called them--touching matters belonging to
+the domain of psychical mysteries. There was some basis of truth, he
+believed, for whatever obtained general credence among these ‘children
+of Nature.’
+
+“Concerning presentiments and dreams, Mr. Lincoln had a philosophy of
+his own, which, strange as it may appear, was in perfect harmony
+with his character in all other respects. He was no dabbler in
+divination--astrology, horoscopy, prophecy, ghostly lore, or witcheries
+of any sort.”
+
+
+
+
+EVERY LITTLE HELPED.
+
+As the time drew near at which Mr. Lincoln said he would issue the
+Emancipation Proclamation, some clergymen, who feared the President
+might change his mind, called on him to urge him to keep his promise.
+
+“We were ushered into the Cabinet room,” says Dr. Sunderland. “It
+was very dim, but one gas jet burning. As we entered, Mr. Lincoln was
+standing at the farther end of the long table, which filled the center
+of the room. As I stood by the door, I am so very short, that I was
+obliged to look up to see the President. Mr. Robbins introduced me, and
+I began at once by saying: ‘I have come, Mr. President, to anticipate
+the new year with my respects, and if I may, to say to you a word about
+the serious condition of this country.’
+
+“‘Go ahead, Doctor,’ replied the President; ‘every little helps.’ But I
+was too much in earnest to laugh at his sally at my smallness.”
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT TO LAY DOWN THE BURDEN.
+
+President Lincoln (at times) said he felt sure his life would end with
+the War. A correspondent of a Boston paper had an interview with him in
+July, 1864, and wrote regarding it:
+
+“The President told me he was certain he should not outlast the
+rebellion. As will be remembered, there was dissension then among the
+Republican leaders. Many of his best friends had deserted him, and were
+talking of an opposition convention to nominate another candidate, and
+universal gloom was among the people.
+
+“The North was tired of the War, and supposed an honorable peace
+attainable. Mr. Lincoln knew it was not--that any peace at that time
+would be only disunion. Speaking of it, he said: ‘I have faith in the
+people. They will not consent to disunion. The danger is, they are
+misled. Let them know the truth, and the country is safe.’
+
+“He looked haggard and careworn; and further on in the interview I
+remarked on his appearance, ‘You are wearing yourself out with work.’
+
+“‘I can’t work less,’ he answered; ‘but it isn’t that--work never
+troubled me. Things look badly, and I can’t avoid anxiety. Personally, I
+care nothing about a re-election, but if our divisions defeat us, I fear
+for the country.’
+
+“When I suggested that right must eventually triumph, he replied, ‘I
+grant that, but I may never live to see it. I feel a presentiment that I
+shall not outlast the rebellion. When it is over, my work will be done.’
+
+“He never intimated, however, that he expected to be assassinated.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WOULD HAVE PREFERRED DEATH.
+
+Horace Greeley said, some time after the death of President Lincoln:
+
+“After the Civil War began, Lincoln’s tenacity of purpose paralleled his
+former immobility; I believe he would have been nearly the last, if not
+the very last, man in America to recognize the Southern Confederacy had
+its armies been triumphant. He would have preferred death.”
+
+
+
+
+“PUNCH” AND HIS LITTLE PICTURE.
+
+London “Punch” was not satisfied with anything President Lincoln did. On
+December 3rd, 1864, after Mr. Lincoln’s re-election to the Presidency,
+a cartoon appeared in one of the pages of that genial publication,
+the reproduction being printed here, labeled “The Federal Phoenix.” It
+attracted great attention at the time, and was particularly pleasing to
+the enemies of the United States, as it showed Lincoln as the Phoenix
+arising from the ashes of the Federal Constitution, the Public Credit,
+the Freedom of the Press, State Rights and the Commerce of the North
+American Republic.
+
+President Lincoln’s endorsement by the people of the United States meant
+that the Confederacy was to be crushed, no matter what the cost; that
+the Union of States was to be preserved, and that State Rights was
+a thing of the past. “Punch” wished to create the impression that
+President Lincoln’s re-election was a personal victory; that he would
+set up a despotism, with himself at its head, and trample upon the
+Constitution of the United States and all the rights the citizens of the
+Republic ever possessed.
+
+The result showed that “Punch” was suffering from an acute attack of
+needless alarm.
+
+
+
+
+FASCINATED By THE WONDERFUL
+
+Lincoln was particularly fascinated by the wonderful happenings recorded
+in history. He loved to read of those mighty events which had been
+foretold, and often brooded upon these subjects. His early convictions
+upon occult matters led him to read all books tending’ to strengthen
+these convictions.
+
+The following lines, in Byron’s “Dream,” were frequently quoted by him:
+
+         “Sleep hath its own world,
+     A boundary between the things misnamed
+     Death and existence: Sleep hath its own world
+     And a wide realm of wild reality.
+     And dreams in their development have breath,
+     And tears and tortures, and the touch of joy;
+     They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts,
+     They take a weight from off our waking toils,
+     They do divide our being.”
+
+Those with whom he was associated in his early youth and young manhood,
+and with whom he was always in cordial sympathy, were thorough believers
+in presentiments and dreams; and so Lincoln drifted on through years
+of toil and exceptional hardship--meditative, aspiring, certain of his
+star, but appalled at times by its malignant aspect. Many times prior to
+his first election to the Presidency he was both elated and alarmed by
+what seemed to him a rent in the veil which hides from mortal view what
+the future holds.
+
+He saw, or thought he saw, a vision of glory and of blood, himself
+the central figure in a scene which his fancy transformed from giddy
+enchantment to the most appalling tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+“WHY DON’T THEY COME!”
+
+The suspense of the days when the capital was isolated, the expected
+troops not arriving, and an hourly attack feared, wore on Mr. Lincoln
+greatly.
+
+“I begin to believe,” he said bitterly, one day, to some Massachusetts
+soldiers, “that there is no North. The Seventh Regiment is a myth. Rhode
+Island is another. You are the only real thing.”
+
+And again, after pacing the floor of his deserted office for a
+half-hour, he was heard to exclaim to himself, in an anguished tone:
+“Why don’t they come! Why don’t they come!”
+
+
+
+
+GRANT’S BRAND OF WHISKEY.
+
+Lincoln was not a man of impulse, and did nothing upon the spur of the
+moment; action with him was the result of deliberation and study. He
+took nothing for granted; he judged men by their performances and not
+their speech.
+
+If a general lost battles, Lincoln lost confidence in him; if a
+commander was successful, Lincoln put him where he would be of the most
+service to the country.
+
+“Grant is a drunkard,” asserted powerful and influential politicians
+to the President at the White House time after time; “he is not himself
+half the time; he can’t be relied upon, and it is a shame to have such a
+man in command of an army.”
+
+“So Grant gets drunk, does he?” queried Lincoln, addressing himself to
+one of the particularly active detractors of the soldier, who, at that
+period, was inflicting heavy damage upon the Confederates.
+
+“Yes, he does, and I can prove it,” was the reply.
+
+“Well,” returned Lincoln, with the faintest suspicion of a twinkle in
+his eye, “you needn’t waste your time getting proof; you just find out,
+to oblige me, what brand of whiskey Grant drinks, because I want to send
+a barrel of it to each one of my generals.”
+
+That ended the crusade against Grant, so far as the question of drinking
+was concerned.
+
+
+
+
+HIS FINANCIAL STANDING.
+
+A New York firm applied to Abraham Lincoln, some years before he became
+President, for information as to the financial standing of one of his
+neighbors. Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+“I am well acquainted with Mr.---- and know his circumstances. First of
+all, he has a wife and baby; together they ought to be worth $50,000
+to any man. Secondly, he has an office in which there is a table worth
+$1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1. Last of all, there is in one
+corner a large rat hole, which will bear looking into. Respectfully,
+A. Lincoln.”
+
+
+
+
+THE DANDY AND THE BOYS.
+
+President Lincoln appointed as consul to a South American country a
+young man from Ohio who was a dandy. A wag met the new appointee on his
+way to the White House to thank the President. He was dressed in the
+most extravagant style. The wag horrified him by telling him that the
+country to which he was assigned was noted chiefly for the bugs that
+abounded there and made life unbearable.
+
+“They’ll bore a hole clean through you before a week has passed,” was
+the comforting assurance of the wag as they parted at the White House
+steps. The new consul approached Lincoln with disappointment clearly
+written all over his face. Instead of joyously thanking the President,
+he told him the wag’s story of the bugs. “I am informed, Mr. President,”
+ he said, “that the place is full of vermin and that they could eat me up
+in a week’s time.” “Well, young man,” replied Lincoln, “if that’s true,
+all I’ve got to say is that if such a thing happened they would leave a
+mighty good suit of clothes behind.”
+
+
+
+
+“SOME UGLY OLD LAWYER.”
+
+A. W. Swan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, told this story on Lincoln,
+being an eyewitness of the scene:
+
+“One day President Lincoln was met in the park between the White House
+and the War Department by an irate private soldier, who was swearing in
+a high key, cursing the Government from the President down. Mr. Lincoln
+paused and asked him what was the matter. ‘Matter enough,’ was the
+reply. ‘I want my money. I have been discharged here, and can’t get my
+pay.’ Mr. Lincoln asked if he had his papers, saying that he used to
+practice law in a small way, and possibly could help him.
+
+“My friend and I stepped behind some convenient shrubbery where we could
+watch the result. Mr. Lincoln took the papers from the hands of the
+crippled soldier, and sat down with him at the foot of a convenient
+tree, where he examined them carefully, and writing a line on the back,
+told the soldier to take them to Mr. Potts, Chief Clerk of the War
+Department, who would doubtless attend to the matter at once.
+
+“After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped out and asked him
+if he knew whom he had been talking with. ‘Some ugly old fellow who
+pretends to be a lawyer,’ was the reply. My companion asked to see the
+papers, and on their being handed to him, pointed to the indorsement
+they had received: This indorsement read:
+
+“‘Mr. Potts, attend to this man’s case at once and see that he gets his
+pay. A. L.’”
+
+
+
+
+GOOD MEMORY OF NAMES.
+
+The following story illustrates the power of Mr. Lincoln’s memory of
+names and faces. When he was a comparatively young man, and a candidate
+for the Illinois Legislature, he made a personal canvass of the
+district. While “swinging around the circle” he stopped one day and took
+dinner with a farmer in Sangamon county.
+
+Years afterward, when Mr. Lincoln had become President, a soldier
+came to call on him at the White House. At the first glance the Chief
+Executive said: “Yes, I remember; you used to live on the Danville
+road. I took dinner with you when I was running for the Legislature.
+I recollect that we stood talking out at the barnyard gate while I
+sharpened my jackknife.”
+
+“Y-a-a-s,” drawled the soldier, “you did. But say, wherever did you put
+that whetstone? I looked for it a dozen times, but I never could find
+it after the day you used it. We allowed as how mabby you took it ‘long
+with you.”
+
+“No,” said Lincoln, looking serious and pushing away a lot of documents
+of state from the desk in front of him. “No, I put it on top of that
+gatepost--that high one.”
+
+“Well!” exclaimed the visitor, “mabby you did. Couldn’t anybody else
+have put it there, and none of us ever thought of looking there for it.”
+
+The soldier was then on his way home, and when he got there the first
+thing he did was to look for the whetstone. And sure enough, there it
+was, just where Lincoln had laid it fifteen years before. The honest
+fellow wrote a letter to the Chief Magistrate, telling him that the
+whetstone had been found, and would never be lost again.
+
+
+
+
+SETTLED OUT OF COURT.
+
+When Abe Lincoln used to be drifting around the country, practicing law
+in Fulton and Menard counties, Illinois, an old fellow met him going
+to Lewiston, riding a horse which, while it was a serviceable enough
+animal, was not of the kind to be truthfully called a fine saddler. It
+was a weatherbeaten nag, patient and plodding, and it toiled along
+with Abe--and Abe’s books, tucked away in saddle-bags, lay heavy on the
+horse’s flank.
+
+“Hello, Uncle Tommy,” said Abe.
+
+“Hello, Abe,” responded Uncle Tommy. “I’m powerful glad to see ye, Abe,
+fer I’m gwyne to have sumthin’ fer ye at Lewiston co’t, I reckon.”
+
+“How’s that, Uncle Tommy?” said Abe.
+
+“Well, Jim Adams, his land runs ‘long o’ mine, he’s pesterin’ me a heap
+an’ I got to get the law on Jim, I reckon.”
+
+“Uncle Tommy, you haven’t had any fights with Jim, have you?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“He’s a fair to middling neighbor, isn’t he?”
+
+“Only tollable, Abe.”
+
+“He’s been a neighbor of yours for a long time, hasn’t he?”
+
+“Nigh on to fifteen year.”
+
+“Part of the time you get along all right, don’t you?”
+
+“I reckon we do, Abe.”
+
+“Well, now, Uncle Tommy, you see this horse of mine? He isn’t as good a
+horse as I could straddle, and I sometimes get out of patience with him,
+but I know his faults. He does fairly well as horses go, and it might
+take me a long time to get used to some other horse’s faults. For all
+horses have faults. You and Uncle Jimmy must put up with each other as I
+and my horse do with one another.”
+
+“I reckon, Abe,” said Uncle Tommy, as he bit off about four ounces of
+Missouri plug. “I reckon you’re about right.”
+
+And Abe Lincoln, with a smile on his gaunt face, rode on toward
+Lewiston.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIVE POINTS SUNDAY SCHOOL.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln visited New York in 1860, he felt a great interest in
+many of the institutions for reforming criminals and saving the young
+from a life of crime. Among others, he visited, unattended, the Five
+Points House of Industry, and the superintendent of the Sabbath school
+there gave the following account of the event:
+
+“One Sunday morning I saw a tall, remarkable-looking man enter the
+room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed attention to our
+exercises, and his countenance expressed such genuine interest that I
+approached him and suggested that he might be willing to say something
+to the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and
+coming forward began a simple address, which at once fascinated every
+little hearer and hushed the room into silence. His language was
+strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intense feeling. The
+little faces would droop into sad conviction when he uttered sentences
+of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words
+of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the
+imperative shout of, ‘Go on! Oh, do go on!’ would compel him to resume.
+
+“As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked
+his powerful head and determined features, now touched into softness
+by the impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to
+learn something more about him, and while he was quietly leaving the
+room, I begged to know his name. He courteously replied: ‘It is Abraham
+Lincoln, from Illinois.’”
+
+
+
+
+SENTINEL OBEYED ORDERS.
+
+A slight variation of the traditional sentry story is related by C. C.
+Buel. It was a cold, blusterous winter night. Says Mr. Buel:
+
+“Mr. Lincoln emerged from the front door, his lank figure bent over as
+he drew tightly about his shoulders the shawl which he employed for such
+protection; for he was on his way to the War Department, at the west
+corner of the grounds, where in times of battle he was wont to get the
+midnight dispatches from the field. As the blast struck him he thought
+of the numbness of the pacing sentry, and, turning to him, said: ‘Young
+man, you’ve got a cold job to-night; step inside, and stand guard
+there.’
+
+“‘My orders keep me out here,’ the soldier replied.
+
+“‘Yes,’ said the President, in his argumentative tone; ‘but your duty
+can be performed just as well inside as out here, and you’ll oblige me
+by going in.’
+
+“‘I have been stationed outside,’ the soldier answered, and resumed his
+beat.
+
+“‘Hold on there!’ said Mr. Lincoln, as he turned back again; ‘it occurs
+to me that I am Commander-in-Chief of the army, and I order you to go
+inside.’”
+
+
+
+
+WHY LINCOLN GROWED WHISKERS.
+
+Perhaps the majority of people in the United States don’t know why
+Lincoln “growed” whiskers after his first nomination for the Presidency.
+Before that time his face was clean shaven.
+
+In the beautiful village of Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York,
+there lived, in 1860, little Grace Bedell. During the campaign of that
+year she saw a portrait of Lincoln, for whom she felt the love and
+reverence that was common in Republican families, and his smooth, homely
+face rather disappointed her. She said to her mother: “I think, mother,
+that Mr. Lincoln would look better if he wore whiskers, and I mean to
+write and tell him so.”
+
+The mother gave her permission.
+
+Grace’s father was a Republican; her two brothers were Democrats.
+Grace wrote at once to the “Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Esq., Springfield,
+Illinois,” in which she told him how old she was, and where she lived;
+that she was a Republican; that she thought he would make a good
+President, but would look better if he would let his whiskers grow. If
+he would do so, she would try to coax her brothers to vote for him. She
+thought the rail fence around the picture of his cabin was very pretty.
+“If you have not time to answer my letter, will you allow your little
+girl to reply for you?”
+
+Lincoln was much pleased with the letter, and decided to answer it,
+which he did at once, as follows:
+
+“Springfield, Illinois, October 19, 1860.
+
+“Miss Grace Bedell.
+
+“My Dear Little Miss: Your very agreeable letter of the fifteenth is
+received. I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughter. I have
+three sons; one seventeen, one nine and one seven years of age. They,
+with their mother, constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers,
+having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece
+of silly affectation if I should begin it now? Your very sincere
+well-wisher, A. LINCOLN.”
+
+When on the journey to Washington to be inaugurated, Lincoln’s train
+stopped at Westfield. He recollected his little correspondent and spoke
+of her to ex-Lieutenant Governor George W. Patterson, who called out and
+asked if Grace Bedell was present.
+
+There was a large surging mass of people gathered about the train, but
+Grace was discovered at a distance; the crowd opened a pathway to the
+coach, and she came, timidly but gladly, to the President-elect, who
+told her that she might see that he had allowed his whiskers to grow at
+her request. Then, reaching out his long arms, he drew her up to him and
+kissed her. The act drew an enthusiastic demonstration of approval from
+the multitude.
+
+Grace married a Kansas banker, and became Grace Bedell Billings.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A DANCER.
+
+Lincoln made his first appearance in society when he was first sent to
+Springfield, Ill., as a member of the State Legislature. It was not
+an imposing figure which he cut in a ballroom, but still he was
+occasionally to be found there. Miss Mary Todd, who afterward became
+his wife, was the magnet which drew the tall, awkward young man from his
+den. One evening Lincoln approached Miss Todd, and said, in his peculiar
+idiom:
+
+“Miss Todd, I should like to dance with you the worst way.” The young
+woman accepted the inevitable, and hobbled around the room with him.
+When she returned to her seat, one of her companions asked mischievously:
+
+“Well, Mary, did he dance with you the worst way.”
+
+“Yes,” she answered, “the very worst.”
+
+
+
+
+SIMPLY PRACTICAL HUMANITY.
+
+An instance of young Lincoln’s practical humanity at an early period of
+his life is recorded in this way:
+
+One evening, while returning from a “raising” in his wide neighborhood,
+with a number of companions, he discovered a stray horse, with saddle
+and bridle upon him. The horse was recognized as belonging to a man who
+was accustomed to get drunk, and it was suspected at once that he was
+not far off. A short search only was necessary to confirm the belief.
+
+The poor drunkard was found in a perfectly helpless condition, upon the
+chilly ground. Abraham’s companions urged the cowardly policy of leaving
+him to his fate, but young Lincoln would not hear to the proposition.
+
+At his request, the miserable sot was lifted on his shoulders, and he
+actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house.
+
+Sending word to his father that he should not be back that night, with
+the reason for his absence, he attended and nursed the man until the
+morning, and had the pleasure of believing that he had saved his life.
+
+
+
+
+HAPPY FIGURES OF SPEECH.
+
+On one occasion, exasperated at the discrepancy between the aggregate of
+troops forwarded to McClellan and the number that same general reported
+as having received, Lincoln exclaimed: “Sending men to that army is like
+shoveling fleas across a barnyard--half of them never get there.”
+
+To a politician who had criticised his course, he wrote: “Would you have
+me drop the War where it is, or would you prosecute it in future with
+elder stalk squirts charged with rosewater?”
+
+When, on his first arrival in Washington as President, he found himself
+besieged by office-seekers, while the War was breaking out, he said: “I
+feel like a man letting lodgings at one end of his house while the other
+end is on fire.”
+
+
+
+
+A FEW “RHYTHMIC SHOTS.”
+
+Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln’s time in
+Washington, accompanied the President everywhere. He was a good singer,
+and, when Lincoln was in one of his melancholy moods, would “fire a few
+rhythmic shots” at the President to cheer the latter. Lincoln keenly
+relished nonsense in the shape of witty or comic ditties. A parody of “A
+Life on the Ocean Wave” was always pleasing to him:
+
+     “Oh, a life on the ocean wave,
+       And a home on the rolling deep!
+     With ratlins fried three times a day
+       And a leaky old berth for to sleep;
+     Where the gray-beard cockroach roams,
+       On thoughts of kind intent,
+     And the raving bedbug comes
+       The road the cockroach went.”
+
+Lincoln could not control his laughter when he heard songs of this sort.
+
+He was fond of negro melodies, too, and “The Blue-Tailed Fly” was a
+great favorite with him. He often called for that buzzing ballad when
+he and Lamon were alone, and he wanted to throw off the weight of public
+and private cares. The ballad of “The Blue-Tailed Fly” contained two
+verses, which ran:
+
+     “When I was young I used to wait
+     At massa’s table, ‘n’ hand de plate,
+     An’ pass de bottle when he was dry,
+     An’ brush away de blue-tailed fly.
+
+     “Ol’ Massa’s dead; oh, let him rest!
+     Dey say all things am for de best;
+     But I can’t forget until I die
+     Ol’ massa an’ de blue-tailed fly.”
+
+While humorous songs delighted the President, he also loved to listen to
+patriotic airs and ballads containing sentiment. He was fond of hearing
+“The Sword of Bunker Hill,” “Ben Bolt,” and “The Lament of the Irish
+Emigrant.” His preference of the verses in the latter was this:
+
+     “I’m lonely now, Mary,
+       For the poor make no new friends;
+     But, oh, they love the better still
+       The few our Father sends!
+     And you were all I had, Mary,
+       My blessing and my pride;
+     There’s nothing left to care for now,
+       Since my poor Mary died.”
+
+Those who knew Lincoln were well aware he was incapable of so monstrous
+an act as that of wantonly insulting the dead, as was charged in the
+infamous libel which asserted that he listened to a comic song on the
+field of Antietam, before the dead were buried.
+
+
+
+
+OLD MAN GLENN’S RELIGION.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once remarked to a friend that his religion was like that
+of an old man named Glenn, in Indiana, whom he heard speak at a church
+meeting, and who said: “When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I
+feel bad; and that’s my religion.”
+
+Mrs. Lincoln herself has said that Mr. Lincoln had no faith--no faith,
+in the usual acceptance of those words. “He never joined a church; but
+still, as I believe, he was a religious man by nature. He first seemed
+to think about the subject when our boy Willie died, and then more than
+ever about the time he went to Gettysburg; but it was a kind of poetry
+in his nature, and he never was a technical Christian.”
+
+
+
+
+LAST ACTS OF MERCY.
+
+During the afternoon preceding his assassination the President signed a
+pardon for a soldier sentenced to be shot for desertion, remarking as
+he did so, “Well, I think the boy can do us more good above ground than
+under ground.”
+
+He also approved an application for the discharge, on taking the oath of
+allegiance, of a rebel prisoner, in whose petition he wrote, “Let it be
+done.”
+
+This act of mercy was his last official order.
+
+
+
+
+JUST LIKE SEWARD.
+
+The first corps of the army commanded by General Reynolds was once
+reviewed by the President on a beautiful plain at the north of Potomac
+Creek, about eight miles from Hooker’s headquarters. The party rode
+thither in an ambulance over a rough corduroy road, and as they
+passed over some of the more difficult portions of the jolting way the
+ambulance driver, who sat well in front, occasionally let fly a volley
+of suppressed oaths at his wild team of six mules.
+
+Finally, Mr. Lincoln, leaning forward, touched the man on the shoulder
+and said,
+
+“Excuse me, my friend, are you an Episcopalian?”
+
+The man, greatly startled, looked around and replied:
+
+“No, Mr. President; I am a Methodist.”
+
+“Well,” said Lincoln, “I thought you must be an Episcopalian, because
+you swear just like Governor Seward, who is a church warder.”
+
+
+
+
+A CHEERFUL PROSPECT.
+
+The first night after the departure of President-elect Lincoln from
+Springfield, on his way to Washington, was spent in Indianapolis.
+Governor Yates, O. H. Browning, Jesse K. Dubois, O. M. Hatch, Josiah
+Allen, of Indiana, and others, after taking leave of Mr. Lincoln to
+return to their respective homes, took Ward Lamon into a room, locked
+the door, and proceeded in the most solemn and impressive manner to
+instruct him as to his duties as the special guardian of Mr. Lincoln’s
+person during the rest of his journey to Washington. Lamon tells the
+story as follows:
+
+“The lesson was concluded by Uncle Jesse, as Mr. Dubois was commonly,
+called, who said:
+
+“‘Now, Lamon, we have regarded you as the Tom Hyer of Illinois, with
+Morrissey attachment. We intrust the sacred life of Mr. Lincoln to your
+keeping; and if you don’t protect it, never return to Illinois, for we
+will murder you on sight.”’
+
+
+
+
+THOUGHT GOD WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM.
+
+Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner was one of the few men to whom
+Mr. Lincoln confided his intention to issue the Proclamation of
+Emancipation.
+
+Mr. Lincoln told his Illinois friend of the visit of a delegation to
+him who claimed to have a message from God that the War would not be
+successful without the freeing of the negroes, to whom Mr. Lincoln
+replied: “Is it not a little strange that He should tell this to you,
+who have so little to do with it, and should not have told me, who has a
+great deal to do with it?”
+
+At the same time he informed Professor Turner he had his Proclamation in
+his pocket.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND A BIBLE HERO.
+
+A writer who heard Mr. Lincoln’s famous speech delivered in New York
+after his nomination for President has left this record of the event:
+
+“When Lincoln rose to speak, I was greatly disappointed. He was tall,
+tall, oh, so tall, and so angular and awkward that I had for an instant
+a feeling of pity for so ungainly a man. He began in a low tone of
+voice, as if he were used to speaking out of doors and was afraid of
+speaking too loud.
+
+“He said ‘Mr. Cheerman,’ instead of ‘Mr. Chairman,’ and employed many
+other words with an old-fashioned pronunciation. I said to myself, ‘Old
+fellow, you won’t do; it is all very well for the Wild West, but this
+will never go down in New York.’ But pretty soon he began to get into
+the subject; he straightened up, made regular and graceful gestures; his
+face lighted as with an inward fire; the whole man was transfigured.
+
+“I forgot the clothing, his personal appearance, and his individual
+peculiarities. Presently, forgetting myself, I was on my feet with the
+rest, yelling like a wild Indian, cheering the wonderful man. In the
+close parts of his argument you could hear the gentle sizzling of the
+gas burners.
+
+“When he reached a climax the thunders of applause were terrific. It
+was a great speech. When I came out of the hall my face was glowing with
+excitement and my frame all a-quiver. A friend, with his eyes aglow,
+asked me what I thought of ‘Abe’ Lincoln, the rail-splitter. I said,
+‘He’s the greatest man since St. Paul.’ And I think so yet.”
+
+
+
+
+BOY WAS CARED FOR.
+
+President Lincoln one day noticed a small, pale, delicate-looking
+boy, about thirteen years old, among the number in the White House
+antechamber.
+
+The President saw him standing there, looking so feeble and faint, and
+said: “Come here, my boy, and tell me what you want.”
+
+The boy advanced, placed his hand on the arm of the President’s chair,
+and, with a bowed head and timid accents, said: “Mr. President, I have
+been a drummer boy in a regiment for two years, and my colonel got angry
+with me and turned me off. I was taken sick and have been a long time in
+the hospital.”
+
+The President discovered that the boy had no home, no father--he had
+died in the army--no mother.
+
+“I have no father, no mother, no brothers, no sisters, and,” bursting
+into tears, “no friends--nobody cares for me.”
+
+Lincoln’s eyes filled with tears, and the boy’s heart was soon made glad
+by a request to certain officials “to care for this poor boy.”
+
+
+
+
+THE JURY ACQUITTED HIM
+
+One of the most noted murder cases in which Lincoln defended the accused
+was tried in August, 1859. The victim, Crafton, was a student in his
+own law office, the defendant, “Peachy” Harrison, was a grandson of
+Rev. Peter Cartwright; both were connected with the best families in the
+county; they were brothers-in-law, and had always been friends.
+
+Senator John M. Palmer and General John A. McClelland were on the side
+of the prosecution. Among those who represented the defendant were
+Lincoln and Senator Shelby M. Cullom. The two young men had engaged in
+a political quarrel, and Crafton was stabbed to death by Harrison. The
+tragic pathos of a case which involved the deepest affections of almost
+an entire community reached its climax in the appearance in court of the
+venerable Peter Cartwright. Lincoln had beaten him for Congress in 1846.
+
+Eccentric and aggressive as he was, he was honored far and wide; and
+when he arose to take the witness stand, his white hair crowned
+with this cruel sorrow, the most indifferent spectator felt that his
+examination would be unbearable.
+
+It fell to Lincoln to question Cartwright. With the rarest gentleness he
+began to put his questions.
+
+“How long have you known the prisoner?”
+
+Cartwright’s head dropped on his breast for a moment; then straightening
+himself, he passed his hand across his eyes and answered in a deep,
+quavering voice:
+
+“I have known him since a babe, he laughed and cried on my knee.”
+
+The examination ended by Lincoln drawing from the witness the story of
+how Crafton had said to him, just before his death: “I am dying; I will
+soon part with all I love on earth, and I want you to say to my slayer
+that I forgive him. I want to leave this earth with a forgiveness of all
+who have in any way injured me.”
+
+This examination made a profound impression on the jury. Lincoln closed
+his argument by picturing the scene anew, appealing to the jury to
+practice the same forgiving spirit that the murdered man had shown on
+his death-bed. It was undoubtedly to his handling of the grandfather’s
+evidence that Harrison’s acquittal was due.
+
+
+
+
+TOOK NOTHING BUT MONEY.
+
+During the War Congress appropriated $10,000 to be expended by the
+President in defending United States Marshals in cases of arrests and
+seizures where the legality of their actions was tested in the courts.
+Previously the Marshals sought the assistance of the Attorney-General
+in defending them, but when they found that the President had a fund for
+that purpose they sought to control the money.
+
+In speaking of these Marshals one day, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+“They are like a man in Illinois, whose cabin was burned down, and,
+according to the kindly custom of early days in the West, his neighbors
+all contributed something to start him again. In his case they had been
+so liberal that he soon found himself better off than before the fire,
+and he got proud. One day a neighbor brought him a bag of oats, but the
+fellow refused it with scorn.
+
+“‘No,’ said he, ‘I’m not taking oats now. I take nothing but money.’”
+
+
+
+
+NAUGHTY BOY HAD TO TAKE HIS MEDICINE.
+
+The resistance to the military draft of 1863 by the City of New York,
+the result of which was the killing of several thousand persons,
+was illustrated on August 29th, 1863, by “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated
+Newspaper,” over the title of “The Naughty Boy, Gotham, Who Would Not
+Take the Draft.” Beneath was also the text:
+
+MAMMY LINCOLN: “There now, you bad boy, acting that way, when your
+little sister Penn (State of Pennsylvania) takes hers like a lady!”
+
+Horatio Seymour was then Governor of New York, and a prominent “the War
+is a failure” advocate. He was in Albany, the State capital, when the
+riots broke out in the City of New York, July 13th, and after the mob
+had burned the Colored Orphan Asylum and killed several hundred negroes,
+came to the city. He had only soft words for the rioters, promising them
+that the draft should be suspended. Then the Government sent several
+regiments of veterans, fresh from the field of Gettysburg, where they
+had assisted in defeating Lee. These troops made short work of the
+brutal ruffians, shooting down three thousand or so of them, and the
+rioting was subdued. The “Naughty Boy Gotham” had to take his medicine,
+after all, but as the spirit of opposition to the War was still rampant,
+the President issued a proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus
+in all the States of the Union where the Government had control. This
+had a quieting effect upon those who were doing what they could in
+obstructing the Government.
+
+
+
+
+WOULD BLOW THEM TO H---.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had advised Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, commanding
+the United States Army, of the threats of violence on inauguration day,
+1861. General Scott was sick in bed at Washington when Adjutant-General
+Thomas Mather, of Illinois, called upon him in President-elect Lincoln’s
+behalf, and the veteran commander was much wrought up. Said he to
+General Mather:
+
+“Present my compliments to Mr. Lincoln when you return to Springfield,
+and tell him I expect him to come on to Washington as soon as he is
+ready; say to him that I will look after those Maryland and Virginia
+rangers myself. I will plant cannon at both ends of Pennsylvania avenue,
+and if any of them show their heads or raise a finger, I’ll blow them to
+h---.”
+
+
+
+
+“YANKEE” GOODNESS OF HEART.
+
+One day, when the President was with the troops who were fighting at the
+front, the wounded, both Union and Confederate, began to pour in.
+
+As one stretcher was passing Lincoln, he heard the voice of a lad
+calling to his mother in agonizing tones. His great heart filled. He
+forgot the crisis of the hour. Stopping the carriers, he knelt, and
+bending over him, asked: “What can I do for you, my poor child?”
+
+“Oh, you will do nothing for me,” he replied. “You are a Yankee. I
+cannot hope that my message to my mother will ever reach her.”
+
+Lincoln, in tears, his voice full of tenderest love, convinced the boy
+of his sincerity, and he gave his good-bye words without reserve.
+
+The President directed them copied, and ordered that they be sent that
+night, with a flag of truce, into the enemy’s lines.
+
+
+
+
+WALKED AS HE TALKED.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln made his famous humorous speech in Congress ridiculing
+General Cass, he began to speak from notes, but, as he warmed up,
+he left his desk and his notes, to stride down the alley toward the
+Speaker’s chair.
+
+Occasionally, as he would complete a sentence amid shouts of laughter,
+he would return up the alley to his desk, consult his notes, take a sip
+of water and start off again.
+
+Mr. Lincoln received many congratulations at the close, Democrats
+joining the Whigs in their complimentary comments.
+
+One Democrat, however (who had been nicknamed “Sausage” Sawyer), didn’t
+enthuse at all.
+
+“Sawyer,” asked an Eastern Representative, “how did you like the lanky
+Illinoisan’s speech? Very able, wasn’t it?”
+
+“Well,” replied Sawyer, “the speech was pretty good, but I hope he won’t
+charge mileage on his travels while delivering it.”
+
+
+
+
+THE SONG DID THE BUSINESS.
+
+The Virginia (Ill.) Enquirer, of March 1, 1879, tells this story:
+
+“John McNamer was buried last Sunday, near Petersburg, Menard county. A
+long while ago he was Assessor and Treasurer of the County for several
+successive terms. Mr. McNamer was an early settler in that section, and,
+before the town of Petersburg was laid out, in business in Old Salem, a
+village that existed many years ago two miles south of the present site
+of Petersburg.
+
+“‘Abe’ Lincoln was then postmaster of the place and sold whisky to its
+inhabitants. There are old-timers yet living in Menard who bought many
+a jug of corn-juice from ‘Old Abe’ when he lived at Salem. It was here
+that Anne Rutledge dwelt, and in whose grave Lincoln wrote that his
+heart was buried.
+
+“As the story runs, the fair and gentle Anne was originally John
+McNamer’s sweetheart, but ‘Abe’ took a ‘shine’ to the young lady,
+and succeeded in heading off McNamer and won her affections. But Anne
+Rutledge died, and Lincoln went to Springfield, where he some time
+afterwards married.
+
+“It is related that during the War a lady belonging to a prominent
+Kentucky family visited Washington to beg for her son’s pardon, who
+was then in prison under sentence of death for belonging to a band of
+guerrillas who had committed many murders and outrages.
+
+“With the mother was her daughter, a beautiful young lady, who was an
+accomplished musician. Mr. Lincoln received the visitors in his
+usual kind manner, and the mother made known the object of her visit,
+accompanying her plea with tears and sobs and all the customary romantic
+incidents.
+
+“There were probably extenuating circumstances in favor of the young
+rebel prisoner, and while the President seemed to be deeply pondering
+the young lady moved to a piano near by and taking a seat commenced to
+sing ‘Gentle Annie,’ a very sweet and pathetic ballad which, before the
+War, was a familiar song in almost every household in the Union, and is
+not yet entirely forgotten, for that matter.
+
+“It is to be presumed that the young lady sang the song with
+more plaintiveness and effect than ‘Old Abe’ had ever heard it in
+Springfield. During its rendition, he arose from his seat, crossed the
+room to a window in the westward, through which he gazed for several
+minutes with a ‘sad, far-away look,’ which has so often been noted as
+one of his peculiarities.
+
+“His memory, no doubt, went back to the days of his humble life on the
+Sangamon, and with visions of Old Salem and its rustic people, who once
+gathered in his primitive store, came a picture of the ‘Gentle Annie’
+of his youth, whose ashes had rested for many long years under the wild
+flowers and brambles of the old rural burying-ground, but whose spirit
+then, perhaps, guided him to the side of mercy.
+
+“Be that as it may, President Lincoln drew a large red silk handkerchief
+from his coatpocket, with which he wiped his face vigorously. Then
+he turned, advanced quickly to his desk, wrote a brief note, which he
+handed to the lady, and informed her that it was the pardon she sought.
+
+“The scene was no doubt touching in a great degree and proves that a
+nice song, well sung, has often a powerful influence in recalling tender
+recollections. It proves, also, that Abraham Lincoln was a man of fine
+feelings, and that, if the occurrence was a put-up job on the lady’s
+part, it accomplished the purpose all the same.”
+
+
+
+
+A “FREE FOR ALL.”
+
+Lincoln made a political speech at Pappsville, Illinois, when a
+candidate for the Legislature the first time. A free-for-all fight began
+soon after the opening of the meeting, and Lincoln, noticing one of
+his friends about to succumb to the energetic attack of an infuriated
+ruffian, edged his way through the crowd, and, seizing the bully by the
+neck and the seat of his trousers, threw him, by means of his strength
+and long arms, as one witness stoutly insists, “twelve feet away.”
+ Returning to the stand, and throwing aside his hat, he inaugurated his
+campaign with the following brief but pertinent declaration:
+
+“Fellow-citizens, I presume you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham
+Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate for
+the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman’s
+dance. I am in favor of the national bank; I am in favor of the
+internal improvement system and a high protective tariff. These are my
+sentiments; if elected, I shall be thankful; if not, it will be all the
+same.”
+
+
+
+
+THREE INFERNAL BORES.
+
+One day, when President Lincoln was alone and busily engaged on an
+important subject, involving vexation and anxiety, he was disturbed by
+the unwarranted intrusion of three men, who, without apology, proceeded
+to lay their claim before him.
+
+The spokesman of the three reminded the President that they were
+the owners of some torpedo or other warlike invention which, if the
+government would only adopt it, would soon crush the rebellion.
+
+“Now,” said the spokesman, “we have been here to see you time and again;
+you have referred us to the Secretary of War, the Chief of Ordnance, and
+the General of the Army, and they give us no satisfaction. We have been
+kept here waiting, till money and patience are exhausted, and we now
+come to demand of you a final reply to our application.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln listened to this insolent tirade, and at its close the old
+twinkle came into his eye.
+
+“You three gentlemen remind me of a story I once heard,” said he, “of a
+poor little boy out West who had lost his mother. His father wanted to
+give him a religious education, and so placed him in the family of a
+clergyman, whom he directed to instruct the little fellow carefully in
+the Scriptures. Every day the boy had to commit to memory and recite one
+chapter of the Bible. Things proceeded smoothly until they reached that
+chapter which details the story of the trial of Shadrach, Meshach and
+Abednego in the fiery furnace. When asked to repeat these three names
+the boy said he had forgotten them.
+
+“His teacher told him that he must learn them, and gave him another day
+to do so. The next day the boy again forgot them.
+
+“‘Now,’ said the teacher, ‘you have again failed to remember those names
+and you can go no farther until you have learned them. I will give you
+another day on this lesson, and if you don’t repeat the names I will
+punish you.’
+
+“A third time the boy came to recite, and got down to the stumbling
+block, when the clergyman said: ‘Now tell me the names of the men in the
+fiery furnace.’
+
+“‘Oh,’ said the boy, ‘here come those three infernal bores! I wish the
+devil had them!’”
+
+Having received their “final answer,” the three patriots retired, and at
+the Cabinet meeting which followed, the President, in high good humor,
+related how he had dismissed his unwelcome visitors.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S MEN WERE “HUSTLERS.”
+
+In the Chicago Convention of 1860 the fight for Seward was maintained
+with desperate resolve until the final ballot was taken. Thurlow Weed
+was the Seward leader, and he was simply incomparable as a master in
+handling a convention. With him were Governor Morgan, Henry J. Raymond,
+of the New York Times, with William M. Evarts as chairman of the New
+York delegation, whose speech nominating Seward was the most impressive
+utterance of his life. The Bates men (Bates was afterwards Lincoln’s
+Attorney-General) were led by Frank Blair, the only Republican
+Congressman from a slave State, who was nothing if not heroic, aided by
+his brother Montgomery (afterwards Lincoln’s Postmaster General), who
+was a politician of uncommon cunning. With them was Horace Greeley, who
+was chairman of the delegation from the then almost inaccessible State
+of Oregon.
+
+It was Lincoln’s friends, however, who were the “hustlers” of that
+battle. They had men for sober counsel like David Davis; men of supreme
+sagacity like Leonard Swett; men of tireless effort like Norman B. Judd;
+and they had what was more important than all--a seething multitude wild
+with enthusiasm for “Old Abe.”
+
+
+
+
+A SLOW HORSE.
+
+On one occasion when Mr. Lincoln was going to attend a political
+convention one of his rivals, a liveryman, provided him with a slow
+horse, hoping that he would not reach his destination in time. Mr.
+Lincoln got there, however, and when he returned with the horse he said:
+“You keep this horse for funerals, don’t you?” “Oh, no,” replied the
+liveryman. “Well, I’m glad of that, for if you did you’d never get a
+corpse to the grave in time for the resurrection.”
+
+
+
+
+DODGING “BROWSING PRESIDENTS.”
+
+General McClellan, after being put in command of the Army, resented any
+“interference” by the President. Lincoln, in his anxiety to know
+the details of the work in the army, went frequently to McClellan’s
+headquarters. That the President had a serious purpose in these visits
+McClellan did not see.
+
+“I enclose a card just received from ‘A. Lincoln,’” he wrote to his wife
+one day; “it shows too much deference to be seen outside.”
+
+In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke of being “interrupted” by
+the President and Secretary Seward, “who had nothing in particular to
+say,” and again of concealing himself “to dodge all enemies in shape of
+‘browsing’ Presidents,” etc.
+
+“I am becoming daily more disgusted with this Administration--perfectly
+sick of it,” he wrote early in October; and a few days later, “I was
+obliged to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at 8 P. M., and was bored and
+annoyed. There are some of the greatest geese in the Cabinet I have ever
+seen--enough to tax the patience of Job.”
+
+
+
+
+A GREENBACK LEGEND.
+
+At a Cabinet meeting once, the advisability of putting a legend on
+greenbacks similar to the In God We Trust legend on the silver coins was
+discussed, and the President was asked what his view was. He replied:
+“If you are going to put a legend on the greenback, I would suggest that
+of Peter and Paul: ‘Silver and gold we have not, but what we have we’ll
+give you.’”
+
+
+
+
+GOD’S BEST GIFT TO MAN.
+
+One of Mr. Lincoln’s notable religious utterances was his reply to a
+deputation of colored people at Baltimore who presented him a Bible. He
+said:
+
+“In regard to the great book, I have only to say it is the best gift
+which God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world
+is communicated to us through this book. But for this book we could not
+know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained
+in it.”
+
+
+
+
+SCALPING IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
+
+When Lincoln was President he told this story of the Black Hawk War:
+
+The only time he ever saw blood in this campaign, was one morning when,
+marching up a little valley that makes into the Rock River bottom, to
+reinforce a squad of outposts that were thought to be in danger, they
+came upon the tent occupied by the other party just at sunrise. The men
+had neglected to place any guard at night, and had been slaughtered in
+their sleep.
+
+As the reinforcing party came up the slope on which the camp had been
+made, Lincoln saw them all lying with their heads towards the rising
+sun, and the round red spot that marked where they had been scalped
+gleamed more redly yet in the ruddy light of the sun. This scene years
+afterwards he recalled with a shudder.
+
+
+
+
+MATRIMONIAL ADVICE.
+
+For a while during the Civil War, General Fremont was without a command.
+One day in discussing Fremont’s case with George W. Julian, President
+Lincoln said he did not know where to place him, and that it reminds him
+of the old man who advised his son to take a wife, to which the young
+man responded: “All right; whose wife shall I take?”
+
+
+
+
+OWED LOTS OF MONEY.
+
+On April 14, 1865, a few hours previous to his assassination, President
+Lincoln sent a message by Congressman Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President
+during General Grant’s first term, to the miners in the Rocky Mountains
+and the regions bounded by the Pacific ocean, in which he said:
+
+“Now that the Rebellion is overthrown, and we know pretty nearly the
+amount of our National debt, the more gold and silver we mine, we make
+the payment of that debt so much easier.
+
+“Now I am going to encourage that in every possible way. We shall have
+hundreds of thousands of disbanded soldiers, and many have feared that
+their return home in such great numbers might paralyze industry by
+furnishing, suddenly, a greater supply of labor than there will be
+demand for. I am going to try to attract them to the hidden wealth of
+our mountain ranges, where there is room enough for all. Immigration,
+which even the War has not stopped, will land upon our shores hundreds
+of thousands more per year from overcrowded Europe. I intend to point
+them to the gold and silver that wait for them in the West.
+
+“Tell the miners for me that I shall promote their interests to the
+utmost of my ability; because their prosperity as the prosperity of
+the nation; and,” said he, his eye kindling with enthusiasm, “we shall
+prove, in a very few years, that we are indeed the treasury of the
+world.”
+
+
+
+
+“ON THE LORD’S SIDE.”
+
+President Lincoln made a significant remark to a clergyman in the early
+days of the War.
+
+“Let us have faith, Mr. President,” said the minister, “that the Lord is
+on our side in this great struggle.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln quietly answered: “I am not at all concerned about that, for
+I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right; but it is my
+constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation may be on the Lord’s
+side.”
+
+
+
+
+WANTED TO BE NEAR “ABE.”
+
+It was Lincoln’s custom to hold an informal reception once a week, each
+caller taking his turn.
+
+Upon one of these eventful days an old friend from Illinois stood in
+line for almost an hour. At last he was so near the President his voice
+could reach him, and, calling out to his old associate, he startled
+every one by exclaiming, “Hallo, ‘Abe’; how are ye? I’m in line and hev
+come for an orfice, too.”
+
+Lincoln singled out the man with the stentorian voice, and recognizing
+a particularly old friend, one whose wife had befriended him at a
+peculiarly trying time, the President responded to his greeting in a
+cordial manner, and told him “to hang onto himself and not kick the
+traces. Keep in line and you’ll soon get here.”
+
+They met and shook hands with the old fervor and renewed their
+friendship.
+
+The informal reception over, Lincoln sent for his old friend, and the
+latter began to urge his claims.
+
+After having given him some good advice, Lincoln kindly told him he
+was incapable of holding any such position as he asked for. The
+disappointment of the Illinois friend was plainly shown, and with a
+perceptible tremor in his voice he said, “Martha’s dead, the gal is
+married, and I’ve guv Jim the forty.”
+
+Then looking at Lincoln he came a little nearer and almost whispered, “I
+knowed I wasn’t eddicated enough to git the place, but I kinder want to
+stay where I ken see ‘Abe’ Lincoln.”
+
+He was given employment in the White House grounds.
+
+Afterwards the President said, “These brief interviews, stripped of
+even the semblance of ceremony, give me a better insight into the real
+character of the person and his true reason for seeking one.”
+
+
+
+
+GOT HIS FOOT IN IT.
+
+William H. Seward, idol of the Republicans of the East, six months after
+Lincoln had made his “Divided House” speech, delivered an address at
+Rochester, New York, containing this famous sentence:
+
+“It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces,
+and it means that the United States must, and will, sooner or later,
+become either entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free-labor
+nation.”
+
+Seward, who had simply followed in Lincoln’s steps, was defeated for the
+Presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention of 1860,
+because he was “too radical,” and Lincoln, who was still “radicaler,”
+ was named.
+
+
+
+
+SAVED BY A LETTER.
+
+The chief interest of the Illinois campaign of 1843 lay in the race
+for Congress in the Capital district, which was between Hardin--fiery,
+eloquent, and impetuous Democrat--and Lincoln--plain, practical, and
+ennobled Whig. The world knows the result. Lincoln was elected.
+
+It is not so much his election as the manner in which he secured his
+nomination with which we have to deal. Before that ever-memorable spring
+Lincoln vacillated between the courts of Springfield, rated as a plain,
+honest, logical Whig, with no ambition higher politically than to occupy
+some good home office.
+
+Late in the fall of 1842 his name began to be mentioned in connection
+with Congressional aspirations, which fact greatly annoyed the leaders
+of his political party, who had already selected as the Whig candidate
+E. D. Baker, afterward the gallant Colonel who fell so bravely and died
+such an honorable death on the battlefield of Ball’s Bluff.
+
+Despite all efforts of his opponents within his party, the name of the
+“gaunt rail-splitter” was hailed with acclaim by the masses, to whom
+he had endeared himself by his witticisms, honest tongue, and quaint
+philosophy when on the stump, or mingling with them in their homes.
+
+The convention, which met in early spring, in the city of Springfield,
+was to be composed of the usual number of delegates. The contest for the
+nomination was spirited and exciting.
+
+A few weeks before the meeting of the convention the fact was found by
+the leaders that the advantage lay with Lincoln, and that unless they
+pulled some very fine wires nothing could save Baker.
+
+They attempted to play the game that has so often won, by “convincing”
+ delegates under instructions for Lincoln to violate them, and vote for
+Baker. They had apparently succeeded.
+
+“The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley.” So it was in this
+case. Two days before the convention Lincoln received an intimation of
+this, and, late at night, wrote the following letter.
+
+The letter was addressed to Martin Morris, who resided at Petersburg,
+an intimate friend of his, and by him circulated among those who were
+instructed for him at the county convention.
+
+It had the desired effect. The convention met, the scheme of the
+conspirators miscarried, Lincoln was nominated, made a vigorous canvass,
+and was triumphantly elected, thus paving the way for his more extended
+and brilliant conquests.
+
+This letter, Lincoln had often told his friends, gave him ultimately
+the Chief Magistracy of the nation. He has also said, that, had he been
+beaten before the convention, he would have been forever obscured. The
+following is a verbatim copy of the epistle:
+
+“April 14, 1843.
+
+“Friend Morris: I have heard it intimated that Baker is trying to get
+you or Miles, or both of you, to violate the instructions of the meeting
+that appointed you, and to go for him. I have insisted, and still
+insist, that this cannot be true.
+
+“Sure Baker would not do the like. As well might Hardin ask me to vote
+for him in the convention.
+
+“Again, it is said there will be an attempt to get instructions in your
+county requiring you to go for Baker. This is all wrong. Upon the same
+rule, why might I not fly from the decision against me at Sangamon and
+get up instructions to their delegates to go for me. There are at least
+1,200 Whigs in the county that took no part, and yet I would as soon
+stick my head in the fire as attempt it.
+
+“Besides, if any one should get the nomination by such extraordinary
+means, all harmony in the district would inevitably be lost. Honest
+Whigs (and very nearly all of them are honest) would not quietly abide
+such enormities.
+
+“I repeat, such an attempt on Baker’s part cannot be true. Write me at
+Springfield how the matter is. Don’t show or speak of this letter.
+
+“A. LINCOLN.”
+
+
+
+
+Mr. Morris did show the letter, and Mr. Lincoln always thanked his stars
+that he did.
+
+
+
+
+HIS FAVORITE POEM.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s favorite poem was “Oh! Why Should the Spirit of Mortal Be
+Proud?” written by William Knox, a Scotchman, although Mr. Lincoln never
+knew the author’s name. He once said to a friend:
+
+“This poem has been a great favorite with me for years. It was first
+shown to me, when a young man, by a friend. I afterward saw it and cut
+it from a newspaper and learned it by heart. I would give a great deal
+to know who wrote it, but I have never been able to ascertain.”
+
+    “Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?--
+    Like a swift-fleeing meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
+    A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
+    He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
+
+    “The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
+    Be scattered around, and together be laid;
+    And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
+    Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie.
+
+    “The infant a mother attended and loved;
+    The mother, that infant’s affection who proved,
+    The husband, that mother and infant who blessed
+    --Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest.
+
+    “The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye,
+    Shone beauty and pleasure--her triumphs are by;
+    And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
+    Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
+
+    “The hand of the king, that the sceptre hath borne,
+    The brow of the priest, that the mitre hath worn,
+    The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave,
+    Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.
+
+    “The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap,
+    The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;
+    The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
+    Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
+
+    “The saint, who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
+    The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven;
+    The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
+    Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.
+
+    “So the multitude goes--like the flower or the weed
+    That withers away to let others succeed;
+    So the multitude comes--even those we behold,
+    To repeat every tale that has often been told:
+
+    “For we are the same our fathers have been;
+    We see the same sights our fathers have seen;
+    We drink the same stream, we view the same sun,
+    And run the same course our fathers have run.
+
+    “The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think;
+    From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink;
+    To the life we are clinging, they also would cling
+    --But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing.
+
+    “They loved--but the story we cannot unfold;
+    They scorned--but the heart of the haughty is cold;
+    They grieved--but no wail from their slumber will come;
+    They joyed--but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.
+
+    “They died--aye, they died--and we things that are now,
+    That walk on the turf that lies o’er their brow,
+    And make in their dwellings a transient abode,
+    Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.
+
+    “Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
+    Are mingled together in sunshine and rain;
+    And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
+    Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
+
+    “‘Tis the wink of an eye,--‘tis the draught of a breath;
+    --From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
+    From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud:
+    --Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?”
+
+
+
+
+FIVE-LEGGED CALF.
+
+President Lincoln had great doubt as to his right to emancipate the
+slaves under the War power. In discussing the question, he used to like
+the case to that of the boy who, when asked how many legs his calf would
+have if he called its tail a leg, replied, “five,” to which the prompt
+response was made that calling the tail a leg would not make it a leg.
+
+
+
+
+A STAGE-COACH STORY.
+
+The following is told by Thomas H. Nelson, of Terre Haute, Indiana, who
+was appointed minister to Chili by Lincoln:
+
+Judge Abram Hammond, afterwards Governor of Indiana, and myself arranged
+to go from Terre Haute to Indianapolis in a stage-coach.
+
+As we stepped in we discovered that the entire back seat was occupied
+by a long, lank individual, whose head seemed to protrude from one end of
+the coach and his feet from the other. He was the sole occupant, and was
+sleeping soundly. Hammond slapped him familiarly on the shoulder, and
+asked him if he had chartered the coach that day.
+
+“Certainly not,” and he at once took the front seat, politely giving
+us the place of honor and comfort. An odd-looking fellow he was, with
+a twenty-five cent hat, without vest or cravat. Regarding him as a good
+subject for merriment, we perpetrated several jokes.
+
+He took them all with utmost innocence and good nature, and joined in
+the laugh, although at his own expense.
+
+After an astounding display of wordy pyrotechnics, the dazed and
+bewildered stranger asked, “What will be the upshot of this comet
+business?”
+
+Late in the evening we reached Indianapolis, and hurried to Browning’s
+hotel, losing sight of the stranger altogether.
+
+We retired to our room to brush our clothes. In a few minutes I
+descended to the portico, and there descried our long, gloomy fellow
+traveler in the center of an admiring group of lawyers, among whom were
+Judges McLean and Huntington, Albert S. White, and Richard W. Thompson,
+who seemed to be amused and interested in a story he was telling. I
+inquired of Browning, the landlord, who he was. “Abraham Lincoln, of
+Illinois, a member of Congress,” was his response.
+
+I was thunderstruck at the announcement. I hastened upstairs and told
+Hammond the startling news, and together we emerged from the hotel by
+a back door, and went down an alley to another house, thus avoiding
+further contact with our distinguished fellow traveler.
+
+Years afterward, when the President-elect was on his way to Washington,
+I was in the same hotel looking over the distinguished party, when a
+long arm reached to my shoulder, and a shrill voice exclaimed, “Hello,
+Nelson! do you think, after all, the whole world is going to follow the
+darned thing off?” The words were my own in answer to his question in
+the stage-coach. The speaker was Abraham Lincoln.
+
+
+
+
+THE “400” GATHERED THERE.
+
+Lincoln had periods while “clerking” in the New Salem grocery store
+during which there was nothing for him to do, and was therefore in
+circumstances that made laziness almost inevitable. Had people come to
+him for goods, they would have found him willing to sell them. He sold
+all that he could, doubtless.
+
+The store soon became the social center of the village. If the people
+did not care (or were unable) to buy goods, they liked to go where they
+could talk with their neighbors and listen to stories. These Lincoln
+gave them in abundance, and of a rare sort.
+
+It was in these gatherings of the “Four Hundred” at the village store
+that Lincoln got his training as a debater. Public questions were
+discussed there daily and nightly, and Lincoln always took a prominent
+part in the discussions. Many of the debaters came to consider “Abe
+Linkin” as about the smartest man in the village.
+
+
+
+
+ONLY LEVEL-HEADED MEN WANTED.
+
+Lincoln wanted men of level heads for important commands. Not
+infrequently he gave his generals advice.
+
+He appreciated Hooker’s bravery, dash and activity, but was fearful of
+the results of what he denominated “swashing around.”
+
+This was one of his telegrams to Hooker:
+
+“And now, beware of rashness; beware of rashness, but, with energy and
+sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS FAITH IN THE MONITOR.
+
+When the Confederate iron-clad Merrimac was sent against the Union
+vessels in Hampton Roads President Lincoln expressed his belief in the
+Monitor to Captain Fox, the adviser of Captain Ericsson, who constructed
+the Monitor. “We have three of the most effective vessels in Hampton
+Roads, and any number of small craft that will hang on the stern of the
+Merrimac like small dogs on the haunches of a bear. They may not be
+able to tear her down, but they will interfere with the comfort of her
+voyage. Her trial trip will not be a pleasure trip, I am certain.
+
+“We have had a big share of bad luck already, but I do not believe the
+future has any such misfortunes in store for us as you anticipate.” Said
+Captain Fox: “If the Merrimac does not sink our ships, who is to prevent
+her from dropping her anchor in the Potomac, where that steamer lies,”
+ pointing to a steamer at anchor below the long bridge, “and throwing her
+hundred-pound shells into this room, or battering down the walls of the
+Capitol?”
+
+“The Almighty, Captain,” answered the President, excitedly, but without
+the least affectation. “I expect set-backs, defeats; we have had them
+and shall have them. They are common to all wars. But I have not the
+slightest fear of any result which shall fatally impair our military
+and naval strength, or give other powers any right to interfere in our
+quarrel. The destruction of the Capitol would do both.
+
+“I do not fear it, for this is God’s fight, and He will win it in His
+own good time. He will take care that our enemies will not push us too
+far.
+
+“Speaking of iron-clads,” said the President, “you do not seem to
+take the little Monitor into account. I believe in the Monitor and her
+commander. If Captain Worden does not give a good account of the Monitor
+and of himself, I shall have made a mistake in following my judgment for
+the first time since I have been here, Captain.
+
+“I have not made a mistake in following my clear judgment of men since
+this War began. I followed that judgment when I gave Worden the command
+of the Monitor. I would make the appointment over again to-day. The
+Monitor should be in Hampton Roads now. She left New York eight days
+ago.”
+
+After the captain had again presented what he considered the
+possibilities of failure the President replied, “No, no, Captain, I
+respect your judgments as you have reason to know, but this time you are
+all wrong.
+
+“The Monitor was one of my inspirations; I believed in her firmly when
+that energetic contractor first showed me Ericsson’s plans. Captain
+Ericsson’s plain but rather enthusiastic demonstration made my
+conversion permanent. It was called a floating battery then; I called
+it a raft. I caught some of the inventor’s enthusiasm and it has been
+growing upon me. I thought then, and I am confident now, it is just what
+we want. I am sure that the Monitor is still afloat, and that she will
+yet give a good account of herself. Sometimes I think she may be the
+veritable sling with a stone that will yet smite the Merrimac Philistine
+in the forehead.”
+
+Soon was the President’s judgment verified, for the “Fight of the
+Monitor and Merrimac” changed all the conditions of naval warfare.
+
+After the victory was gained, the presiding Captain Fox and others went
+on board the Monitor, and Captain Worden was requested by the President
+to narrate the history of the encounter.
+
+Captain Worden did so in a modest manner, and apologized for not being
+able better to provide for his guests. The President smilingly responded
+“Some charitable people say that old Bourbon is an indispensable element
+in the fighting qualities of some of our generals in the field, but,
+Captain, after the account that we have heard to-day, no one will say
+that any Dutch courage is needed on board the Monitor.”
+
+“It never has been, sir,” modestly observed the captain.
+
+Captain Fox then gave a description of what he saw of the engagement and
+described it as indescribably grand. Then, turning to the President, he
+continued, “Now standing here on the deck of this battle-scarred
+vessel, the first genuine iron-clad--the victor in the first fight
+of iron-clads--let me make a confession, and perform an act of simple
+justice.
+
+“I never fully believed in armored vessels until I saw this battle.
+
+“I know all the facts which united to give us the Monitor. I withhold no
+credit from Captain Ericsson, her inventor, but I know that the country
+is principally indebted for the construction of the vessel to President
+Lincoln, and for the success of her trial to Captain Worden, her
+commander.”
+
+
+
+
+HER ONLY IMPERFECTION.
+
+At one time a certain Major Hill charged Lincoln with making defamatory
+remarks regarding Mrs. Hill.
+
+Hill was insulting in his language to Lincoln who never lost his temper.
+
+When he saw his chance to edge a word in, Lincoln denied emphatically
+using the language or anything like that attributed to him.
+
+He entertained, he insisted, a high regard for Mrs. Hill, and the only
+thing he knew to her discredit was the fact that she was Major Hill’s
+wife.
+
+
+
+
+THE OLD LADY’S PROPHECY.
+
+Among those who called to congratulate Mr. Lincoln upon his nomination
+for President was an old lady, very plainly dressed. She knew Mr.
+Lincoln, but Mr. Lincoln did not at first recognize her. Then she
+undertook to recall to his memory certain incidents connected with his
+ride upon the circuit--especially his dining at her house upon the road
+at different times. Then he remembered her and her home.
+
+Having fixed her own place in his recollection, she tried to recall to
+him a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he once ate at her
+house. He could not remember it--on the contrary, he only remembered
+that he had always fared well at her house.
+
+“Well,” she said, “one day you came along after we had got through
+dinner, and we had eaten up everything, and I could give you nothing but
+a bowl of bread and milk, and you ate it; and when you got up you said
+it was good enough for the President of the United States!”
+
+The good woman had come in from the country, making a journey of eight
+or ten miles, to relate to Mr. Lincoln this incident, which, in her
+mind, had doubtless taken the form of a prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed
+the honest creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and
+dismissed her in the most happy frame of mind.
+
+
+
+
+HOW THE TOWN OF LINCOLN, ILL., WAS NAMED.
+
+The story of naming the town of Lincoln, the county seat of Logan
+county, Illinois, is thus given on good authority:
+
+The first railroad had been built through the county, and a station
+was about to be located there. Lincoln, Virgil Hitchcock, Colonel R.
+B. Latham and several others were sitting on a pile of ties and talking
+about moving a county seat from Mount Pulaski. Mr. Lincoln rose and
+started to walk away, when Colonel Latham said: “Lincoln, if you will
+help us to get the county seat here, we will call the place Lincoln.”
+
+“All right, Latham,” he replied.
+
+Colonel Latham then deeded him a lot on the west side of the courthouse,
+and he owned it at the time he was elected President.
+
+
+
+
+“OLD JEFF’S” BIG NIGHTMARE.
+
+“Jeff” Davis had a large and threatening nightmare in November, 1864,
+and what he saw in his troubled dreams was the long and lanky figure of
+Abraham Lincoln, who had just been endorsed by the people of the United
+States for another term in the White House at Washington. The cartoon
+reproduced here is from the issue of “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated
+Newspaper” of December 3rd, 1864, it being entitled “Jeff Davis’
+November Nightmare.”
+
+Davis had been told that McClellan, “the War is a failure” candidate for
+the Presidency, would have no difficulty whatever in defeating Lincoln;
+that negotiations with the Confederate officials for the cessation of
+hostilities would be entered into as soon as McClellan was seated in the
+Chief Executive’s chair; that the Confederacy would, in all probability,
+be recognized as an independent government by the Washington
+Administration; that the “sacred institution” of slavery would continue
+to do business at the old stand; that the Confederacy would be one of
+the great nations of the world, and have all the “State Rights” and
+other things it wanted, with absolutely no interference whatever upon
+the part of the North.
+
+Therefore, Lincoln’s re-election was a rough, rude shock to Davis, who
+had not prepared himself for such an event. Six months from the date of
+that nightmare-dream he was a prisoner in the hands of the Union forces,
+and the Confederacy was a thing of the past.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S LAST OFFICIAL ACT.
+
+Probably the last official act of President Lincoln’s life was the
+signing of the commission reappointing Alvin Saunders Governor of
+Nebraska.
+
+“I saw Mr. Lincoln regarding the matter,” said Governor Saunders, “and
+he told me to go home; that he would attend to it all right. I left
+Washington on the morning of the 14th, and while en route the news
+of the assassination on the evening of the same day reached me. I
+immediately wired back to find out what had become of my commission,
+and was told that the room had not been opened. When it was opened, the
+document was found lying on the desk.
+
+“Mr. Lincoln signed it just before leaving for the theater that fatal
+evening, and left it lying there, unfolded.
+
+“A note was found below the document as follows: ‘Rather a lengthy
+commission, bestowing upon Mr. Alvin Saunders the official authority of
+Governor of the Territory of Nebraska.’ Then came Lincoln’s signature,
+which, with one exception, that of a penciled message on the back of a
+card sent up by a friend as Mr. Lincoln was dressing for the theater,
+was the very last signature of the martyred President.”
+
+THE LAD NEEDED THE SLEEP.
+
+A personal friend of President Lincoln is authority for this:
+
+“I called on him one day in the early part of the War. He had just
+written a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced to be shot for
+sleeping at his post. He remarked as he read it to me:
+
+“‘I could not think of going into eternity with the blood of the poor
+young man on my skirts.’ Then he added:
+
+“‘It is not to be wondered at that a boy, raised on a farm, probably in
+the habit of going to bed at dark, should, when required to watch, fall
+asleep; and I cannot consent to shoot him for such an act.’”
+
+
+
+
+“MASSA LINKUM LIKE DE LORD!”
+
+By the Act of Emancipation President Lincoln built for himself forever
+the first place in the affections of the African race in this country.
+The love and reverence manifested for him by many of these people has,
+on some occasions, almost reached adoration. One day Colonel McKaye, of
+New York, who had been one of a committee to investigate the condition
+of the freedmen, upon his return from Hilton Head and Beaufort called
+upon the President, and in the course of the interview said that up to
+the time of the arrival among them in the South of the Union forces
+they had no knowledge of any other power. Their masters fled upon the
+approach of our soldiers, and this gave the slaves the conception of
+a power greater than their masters exercised. This power they called
+“Massa Linkum.”
+
+Colonel McKaye said their place of worship was a large building they
+called “the praise house,” and the leader of the “meeting,” a venerable
+black man, was known as “the praise man.”
+
+On a certain day, when there was quite a large gathering of the people,
+considerable confusion was created by different persons attempting to
+tell who and what “Massa Linkum” was. In the midst of the excitement the
+white-headed leader commanded silence. “Brederen,” said he, “you don’t
+know nosen’ what you’se talkin’ ‘bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa
+Linkum, he ebery whar. He know ebery ting.”
+
+Then, solemnly looking up, he added: “He walk de earf like de Lord!”
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN TOOK THE NEWS.
+
+One of Lincoln’s most dearly loved friends, United States Senator Edward
+D. Baker, of Oregon, Colonel of the Seventy-first Pennsylvania, a former
+townsman of Mr. Lincoln, was killed at the battle of Ball’s Bluff, in
+October, 1861. The President went to General McClellan’s headquarters to
+hear the news, and a friend thus described the effect it had upon him:
+
+“We could hear the click of the telegraph in the adjoining room and low
+conversation between the President and General McClellan, succeeded by
+silence, excepting the click, click of the instrument, which went on
+with its tale of disaster.
+
+“Five minutes passed, and then Mr. Lincoln, unattended, with bowed head
+and tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, his face pale and wan, his
+breast heaving with emotion, passed through the room. He almost fell as
+he stepped into the street. We sprang involuntarily from our seats to
+render assistance, but he did not fall.
+
+“With both hands pressed upon his heart, he walked down the street, not
+returning the salute of the sentinel pacing his beat before the door.”
+
+
+
+
+PROFANITY AS A SAFETY-VALVE.
+
+Lincoln never indulged in profanity, but confessed that when Lee was
+beaten at Malvern Hill, after seven days of fighting, and Richmond,
+but twelve miles away, was at McClellan’s mercy, he felt very much
+like swearing when he learned that the Union general had retired to
+Harrison’s Landing.
+
+Lee was so confident his opponent would not go to Richmond that he took
+his army into Maryland--a move he would not have made had an energetic
+fighting man been in McClellan’s place.
+
+It is true McClellan followed and defeated Lee in the bloodiest battle
+of the War--Antietam--afterwards following him into Virginia; but
+Lincoln could not bring himself to forgive the general’s inaction before
+Richmond.
+
+
+
+
+WHY WE WON AT GETTYSBURG.
+
+President Lincoln said to General Sickles, just after the victory
+of Gettysburg: “The fact is, General, in the stress and pinch of the
+campaign there, I went to my room, and got down on my knees and prayed
+God Almighty for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His
+country, and the war was His war, but that we really couldn’t stand
+another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville. And then and there I made
+a solemn vow with my Maker that if He would stand by you boys at
+Gettysburg I would stand by Him. And He did, and I will! And after this
+I felt that God Almighty had taken the whole thing into His hands.”
+
+
+
+
+HAD TO WAIT FOR HIM.
+
+President Lincoln, having arranged to go to New York, was late for his
+train, much to the disgust of those who were to accompany him, and all
+were compelled to wait several hours until the next train steamed out
+of the station. President Lincoln was much amused at the dissatisfaction
+displayed, and then ventured the remark that the situation reminded him
+of “a little story.” Said he:
+
+“Out in Illinois, a convict who had murdered his cellmate was sentenced
+to be hanged. On the day set for the execution, crowds lined the roads
+leading to the spot where the scaffold had been erected, and there was
+much jostling and excitement. The condemned man took matters coolly, and
+as one batch of perspiring, anxious men rushed past the cart in which he
+was riding, he called out, ‘Don’t be in a hurry, boys. You’ve got plenty
+of time. There won’t be any fun until I get there.’
+
+“That’s the condition of things now,” concluded the President; “there
+won’t be any fun at New York until I get there.”
+
+
+
+
+PRESIDENT AND CABINET JOINED IN PRAYER.
+
+On the day the news of General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court-House
+was received, so an intimate friend of President Lincoln relates,
+the Cabinet meeting was held an hour earlier than usual. Neither the
+President nor any member of the Cabinet was able, for a time, to give
+utterance to his feelings. At the suggestion of Mr. Lincoln all dropped
+on their knees, and offered, in silence and in tears, their humble and
+heartfelt acknowledgments to the Almighty for the triumph He had granted
+to the National cause.
+
+
+
+
+BELIEVED HE WAS A CHRISTIAN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was much impressed with the devotion and earnestness of
+purpose manifested by a certain lady of the “Christian Commission”
+ during the War, and on one occasion, after she had discharged the object
+of her visit, said to her:
+
+“Madam, I have formed a high opinion of your Christian character, and
+now, as we are alone, I have a mind to ask you to give me in brief your
+idea of what constitutes a true religious experience.”
+
+The lady replied at some length, stating that, in her judgment, it
+consisted of a conviction of one’s own sinfulness and weakness, and a
+personal need of the Saviour for strength and support; that views of
+mere doctrine might and would differ, but when one was really brought to
+feel his need of divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for
+strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evidence of his having been
+born again. This was the substance of her reply.
+
+When she had, concluded Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a few
+moments. He at length said, very earnestly: “If what you have told me
+is really a correct view of this great subject I think I can say with
+sincerity that I hope I am a Christian. I had lived,” he continued,
+“until my boy Willie died without fully realizing these things. That
+blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness as I had never felt it
+before, and if I can take what you have stated as a test I think I can
+safely say that I know something of that change of which you speak; and
+I will further add that it has been my intention for some time, at a
+suitable opportunity, to make a public religious profession.”
+
+
+
+
+WITH THE HELP OF GOD.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once remarked to Mr. Noah Brooks, one of his most intimate
+personal friends: “I should be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this
+footstool if I for one day thought that I could discharge the duties
+which have come upon me, since I came to this place, without the aid and
+enlightenment of One who is stronger and wiser than all others.”
+
+He said on another occasion: “I am very sure that if I do not go away
+from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, from having learned
+here what a very poor sort of a man I am.”
+
+
+
+
+TURNED TEARS TO SMILES.
+
+One night Schuyler Colfax left all other business to go to the White
+House to ask the President to respite the son of a constituent, who was
+sentenced to be shot, at Davenport, for desertion. Mr. Lincoln heard the
+story with his usual patience, though he was wearied out with incessant
+calls, and anxious for rest, and then replied:
+
+“Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline and
+subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but it makes me
+rested, after a hard day’s work, if I can find some good excuse for
+saving a man’s life, and I go to bed happy as I think how joyous the
+signing of my name will make him and his family and his friends.”
+
+And with a happy smile beaming over that care-furrowed face, he signed
+that name that saved that life.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S LAST WRITTEN WORDS.
+
+As the President and Mrs. Lincoln were leaving the White House, a
+few minutes before eight o’clock, on the evening of April 14th, 1865,
+Lincoln wrote this note:
+
+“Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come to see me at 9 o’clock a. m.,
+to-morrow, April 15th, 1865.”
+
+
+
+
+WOMEN PLEAD FOR PARDONS.
+
+One day during the War an attractively and handsomely dressed woman
+called on President Lincoln to procure the release from prison of a
+relation in whom she professed the deepest interest.
+
+She was a good talker, and her winning ways seemed to make a deep
+impression on the President. After listening to her story, he wrote a
+few words on a card: “This woman, dear Stanton, is a little smarter than
+she looks to be,” enclosed it in an envelope and directed her to take it
+to the Secretary of War.
+
+On the same day another woman called, more humble in appearance, more
+plainly clad. It was the old story.
+
+Father and son both in the army, the former in prison. Could not the
+latter be discharged from the army and sent home to help his mother?
+
+A few strokes of the pen, a gentle nod of the head, and the little
+woman, her eyes filling with tears and expressing a grateful
+acknowledgment her tongue, could not utter, passed out.
+
+A lady so thankful for the release of her husband was in the act of
+kneeling in thankfulness. “Get up,” he said, “don’t kneel to me, but
+thank God and go.”
+
+An old lady for the same reason came forward with tears in her eyes
+to express her gratitude. “Good-bye, Mr. Lincoln,” said she; “I shall
+probably never see you again till we meet in heaven.” She had the
+President’s hand in hers, and he was deeply moved. He instantly took her
+right hand in both of his, and, following her to the door, said, “I am
+afraid with all my troubles I shall never get to the resting-place you
+speak of; but if I do, I am sure I shall find you. That you wish me to
+get there is, I believe, the best wish you could make for me. Good-bye.”
+
+Then the President remarked to a friend, “It is more than many can
+often say, that in doing right one has made two people happy in one day.
+Speed, die when I may, I want it said of me by those who know me best,
+that I have always plucked a thistle and planted a flower when I thought
+a flower would grow.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WISHED TO SEE RICHMOND.
+
+The President remarked to Admiral David D. Porter, while on board the
+flagship Malvern, on the James River, in front of Richmond, the day the
+city surrendered:
+
+“Thank God that I have lived to see this!
+
+“It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid dream for four years,
+and now the nightmare is gone.
+
+“I wish to see Richmond.”
+
+
+
+
+SPOKEN LIKE A CHRISTIAN.
+
+Frederick Douglass told, in these words, of his first interview with
+President Lincoln:
+
+“I approached him with trepidation as to how this great man might
+receive me; but one word and look from him banished all my fears and set
+me perfectly at ease. I have often said since that meeting that it was
+much easier to see and converse with a great man than it was with a
+small man.
+
+“On that occasion he said:
+
+“‘Douglass, you need not tell me who you are. Mr. Seward has told me all
+about you.’
+
+“I then saw that there was no reason to tell him my personal story,
+however interesting it might be to myself or others, so I told him at
+once the object of my visit. It was to get some expression from him upon
+three points:
+
+“1. Equal pay to colored soldiers.
+
+“2. Their promotion when they had earned it on the battle-field.
+
+“3. Should they be taken prisoners and enslaved or hanged, as Jefferson
+Davis had threatened, an equal number of Confederate prisoners should be
+executed within our lines.
+
+“A declaration to that effect I thought would prevent the execution of
+the rebel threat. To all but the last, President Lincoln assented. He
+argued, however, that neither equal pay nor promotion could be granted
+at once. He said that in view of existing prejudices it was a great step
+forward to employ colored troops at all; that it was necessary to avoid
+everything that would offend this prejudice and increase opposition to
+the measure.
+
+“He detailed the steps by which white soldiers were reconciled to the
+employment of colored troops; how these were first employed as laborers;
+how it was thought they should not be armed or uniformed like white
+soldiers; how they should only be made to wear a peculiar uniform; how
+they should be employed to hold forts and arsenals in sickly locations,
+and not enter the field like other soldiers.
+
+“With all these restrictions and limitations he easily made me see that
+much would be gained when the colored man loomed before the country as a
+full-fledged United States soldier to fight, flourish or fall in defense
+of the united republic. The great soul of Lincoln halted only when he
+came to the point of retaliation.
+
+“The thought of hanging men in cold blood, even though the rebels
+should murder a few of the colored prisoners, was a horror from which he
+shrank.
+
+“‘Oh, Douglass! I cannot do that. If I could get hold of the actual
+murderers of colored prisoners I would retaliate; but to hang those who
+have no hand in such murders, I cannot.’
+
+“The contemplation of such an act brought to his countenance such an
+expression of sadness and pity that it made it hard for me to press my
+point, though I told him it would tend to save rather than destroy life.
+He, however, insisted that this work of blood, once begun, would be hard
+to stop--that such violence would beget violence. He argued more like a
+disciple of Christ than a commander-in-chief of the army and navy of a
+warlike nation already involved in a terrible war.
+
+“How sad and strange the fate of this great and good man, the saviour
+of his country, the embodiment of human charity, whose heart, though
+strong, was as tender as a heart of childhood; who always tempered
+justice with mercy; who sought to supplant the sword with counsel of
+reason, to suppress passion by kindness and moderation; who had a sigh
+for every human grief and a tear for every human woe, should at last
+perish by the hand of a desperate assassin, against whom no thought of
+malice had ever entered his heart!”
+
+
+
+
+“LINCOLN GOES IN WHEN THE QUAKERS ARE OUT”
+
+One of the campaign songs of 1860 which will never be forgotten was
+Whittier’s “The Quakers Are Out:--”
+
+     “Give the flags to the winds!
+       Set the hills all aflame!
+     Make way for the man with
+       The Patriarch’s name!
+     Away with misgivings--away
+       With all doubt,
+     For Lincoln goes in when the
+       Quakers are out!”
+
+Speaking of this song (with which he was greatly pleased) one day at
+the White House, the President said: “It reminds me of a little story
+I heard years ago out in Illinois. A political campaign was on, and the
+atmosphere was kept at a high temperature. Several fights had already
+occurred, many men having been seriously hurt, and the prospects were
+that the result would be close. One of the candidates was a professional
+politician with a huge wart on his nose, this disfigurement having
+earned for him the nickname of ‘Warty.’ His opponent was a young lawyer
+who wore ‘biled’ shirts, ‘was shaved by a barber, and had his clothes
+made to fit him.
+
+“Now, ‘Warty’ was of Quaker stock, and around election time made a great
+parade of the fact. When there were no campaigns in progress he was
+anything but Quakerish in his language or actions. The young lawyer
+didn’t know what the inside of a meeting house looked like.
+
+“Well, the night before election-day the two candidates came together at
+a joint debate, both being on the speakers’ platform. The young lawyer
+had to speak after ‘Warty,’ and his reputation suffered at the hands of
+the Quaker, who told the many Friends present what a wicked fellow the
+young man was--never went to church, swore, drank, smoked and gambled.
+
+“After ‘Warty’ had finished the other arose and faced the audience. ‘I’m
+not a good man,’ said he, ‘and what my opponent has said about me is
+true enough, but I’m always the same. I don’t profess religion when I
+run for office, and then turn around and associate with bad people when
+the campaign’s over. I’m no hypocrite. I don’t sing many psalms. Neither
+does my opponent; and, talking about singing, I’d just like to hear my
+friend who is running against me sing the song--for the benefit of this
+audience--I heard him sing the night after he was nominated. I yield the
+floor to him:
+
+“Of course ‘Warty’ refused, his Quaker supporters grew suspicious, and
+when they turned out at the polls the following day they voted for the
+wicked young lawyer.
+
+“So, it’s true that when ‘the Quakers are out’ the man they support is
+apt to go in.”
+
+
+
+
+HAD CONFIDENCE IN HIM--“BUT--.”
+
+“General Blank asks for more men,” said Secretary of War Stanton to
+the President one day, showing the latter a telegram from the commander
+named appealing for re-enforcements.
+
+“I guess he’s killed off enough men, hasn’t he?” queried the President.
+
+“I don’t mean Confederates--our own men. What’s the use in sending
+volunteers down to him if they’re only used to fill graves?”
+
+“His dispatch seems to imply that, in his opinion, you have not the
+confidence in him he thinks he deserves,” the War Secretary went on to
+say, as he looked over the telegram again.
+
+“Oh,” was the President’s reply, “he needn’t lose any of his sleep on
+that account. Just telegraph him to that effect; also, that I don’t
+propose to send him any more men.”
+
+
+
+
+HOW HOMINY WAS ORIGINATED.
+
+During the progress of a Cabinet meeting the subject of food for the men
+in the Army happened to come up. From that the conversation changed to
+the study of the Latin language.
+
+“I studied Latin once,” said Mr. Lincoln, in a casual way.
+
+“Were you interested in it?” asked Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State.
+
+“Well, yes. I saw some very curious things,” was the President’s
+rejoinder.
+
+“What?” asked Secretary Seward.
+
+“Well, there’s the word hominy, for instance. We have just ordered a lot
+of that stuff for the troops. I see how the word originated. I notice it
+came from the Latin word homo--a man.
+
+“When we decline homo, it is:
+
+“‘Homo--a man.
+
+“‘Hominis--of man.
+
+“‘Homini--for man.’
+
+“So you see, hominy, being ‘for man,’ comes from the Latin. I guess
+those soldiers who don’t know Latin will get along with it all
+right--though I won’t rest real easy until I hear from the Commissary
+Department on it.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS IDEA’S OLD, AFTER ALL.
+
+One day, while listening to one of the wise men who had called at the
+White House to unload a large cargo of advice, the President interjected
+a remark to the effect that he had a great reverence for learning.
+
+“This is not,” President Lincoln explained, “because I am not an
+educated man. I feel the need of reading. It is a loss to a man not to
+have grown up among books.”
+
+“Men of force,” the visitor answered, “can get on pretty well without
+books. They do their own thinking instead of adopting what other men
+think.”
+
+“Yes,” said Mr. Lincoln, “but books serve to show a man that those
+original thoughts of his aren’t very new, after all.”
+
+This was a point the caller was not willing to debate, and so he cut his
+call short.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN’S FIRST SPEECH.
+
+Lincoln made his first speech when he was a mere boy, going barefoot,
+his trousers held up by one suspender, and his shock of hair sticking
+through a hole in the crown of his cheap straw hat.
+
+“Abe,” in company with Dennis Hanks, attended a political meeting,
+which was addressed by a typical stump speaker--one of those loud-voiced
+fellows who shouted at the top of his voice and waved his arms wildly.
+
+At the conclusion of the speech, which did not meet the views either
+of “Abe” or Dennis, the latter declared that “Abe” could make a better
+speech than that. Whereupon he got a dry-goods box and called on “Abe”
+ to reply to the campaign orator.
+
+Lincoln threw his old straw hat on the ground, and, mounting the
+dry-goods box, delivered a speech which held the attention of the crowd
+and won him considerable applause. Even the campaign orator admitted
+that it was a fine speech and answered every point in his own “oration.”
+
+Dennis Hanks, who thought “Abe” was about the greatest man that ever
+lived, was delighted, and he often told how young “Abe” got the better
+of the trained campaign speaker.
+
+
+
+
+“ABE WANTED NO SNEAKIN’ ‘ROUND.”
+
+It was in 1830, when “Abe” was just twenty-one years of age, that
+the Lincoln family moved from Gentryville, Indiana, to near Decatur,
+Illinois, their household goods being packed in a wagon drawn by four
+oxen driven by “Abe.”
+
+The winter previous the latter had “worked” in a country store in
+Gentryville and before undertaking the journey he invested all the money
+he had--some thirty dollars--in notions, such as needles, pins, thread,
+buttons and other domestic necessities. These he sold to families along
+the route and made a profit of about one hundred per cent.
+
+This mercantile adventure of his youth “reminded” the President of a
+very clever story while the members of the Cabinet were one day solemnly
+debating a rather serious international problem. The President was in
+the minority, as was frequently the case, and he was “in a hole,” as
+he afterwards expressed it. He didn’t want to argue the points raised,
+preferring to settle the matter in a hurry, and an apt story was his
+only salvation.
+
+Suddenly the President’s fact brightened. “Gentlemen,” said he,
+addressing those seated at the Cabinet table, “the situation just now
+reminds me of a fix I got into some thirty years or so ago when I was
+peddling ‘notions’ on the way from Indiana to Illinois. I didn’t have a
+large stock, but I charged large prices, and I made money. Perhaps you
+don’t see what I am driving at?”
+
+Secretary of State Seward was wearing a most gloomy expression of
+countenance; Secretary of War Stanton was savage and inclined to be
+morose; Secretary of the Treasury Chase was indifferent and cynical,
+while the others of the Presidential advisers resigned themselves to the
+hearing of the inevitable “story.”
+
+“I don’t propose to argue this matter,” the President went on to say,
+“because arguments have no effect upon men whose opinions are fixed and
+whose minds are made up. But this little story of mine will make some
+things which now are in the dark show up more clearly.”
+
+There was another pause, and the Cabinet officers, maintaining their
+previous silence, began wondering if the President himself really knew
+what he was “driving at.”
+
+“Just before we left Indiana and crossed into Illinois,” continued Mr.
+Lincoln solemnly, speaking in a grave tone of voice, “we came across a
+small farmhouse full of nothing but children. These ranged in years from
+seventeen years to seventeen months, and all were in tears. The mother
+of the family was red-headed and red-faced, and the whip she held in her
+right hand led to the inference that she had been chastising her brood.
+The father of the family, a meek-looking, mild-mannered, tow-headed
+chap, was standing in the front door-way, awaiting--to all
+appearances--his turn to feel the thong.
+
+“I thought there wasn’t much use in asking the head of that house if she
+wanted any ‘notions.’ She was too busy. It was evident an insurrection
+had been in progress, but it was pretty well quelled when I got there.
+The mother had about suppressed it with an iron hand, but she was not
+running any risks. She kept a keen and wary eye upon all the children,
+not forgetting an occasional glance at the ‘old man’ in the doorway.
+
+“She saw me as I came up, and from her look I thought she was of the
+opinion that I intended to interfere. Advancing to the doorway, and
+roughly pushing her husband aside, she demanded my business.
+
+“‘Nothing, madame,’ I answered as gently as possible; ‘I merely dropped
+in as I came along to see how things were going.’
+
+“‘Well, you needn’t wait,’ was the reply in an irritated way; ‘there’s
+trouble here, an’ lots of it, too, but I kin manage my own affairs
+without the help of outsiders. This is jest a family row, but I’ll teach
+these brats their places ef I hev to lick the hide off ev’ry one of
+them. I don’t do much talkin’, but I run this house, an’ I don’t want no
+one sneakin’ round tryin’ to find out how I do it, either.’
+
+“That’s the case here with us,” the President said in conclusion. “We
+must let the other nations know that we propose to settle our family
+row in our own way, and ‘teach these brats their places’ (the seceding
+States) if we have to ‘lick the hide off’ of each and every one of them.
+And, like the old woman, we don’t want any ‘sneakin’ ‘round’ by other
+countries who would like to find out how we are to do it, either.
+
+“Now, Seward, you write some diplomatic notes to that effect.”
+
+And the Cabinet session closed.
+
+
+
+
+DIDN’T EVEN NEED STILTS.
+
+As the President considered it his duty to keep in touch with all the
+improvements in the armament of the vessels belonging to the United
+States Navy, he was necessarily interested in the various types of these
+floating fortresses. Not only was it required of the Navy Department to
+furnish seagoing warships, deep-draught vessels for the great rivers and
+the lakes, but this Department also found use for little gunboats which
+could creep along in the shallowest of water and attack the Confederates
+in by-places and swamps.
+
+The consequence of the interest taken by Mr. Lincoln in the Navy was
+that he was besieged, day and night, by steamboat contractors, each one
+eager to sell his product to the Washington Government. All sorts of
+experiments were tried, some being dire failures, while others were more
+than fairly successful. More than once had these tiny war vessels proved
+themselves of great service, and the United States Government had a
+large number of them built.
+
+There was one particular contractor who bothered the President more
+than all the others put together. He was constantly impressing upon Mr.
+Lincoln the great superiority of his boats, because they would run in
+such shallow water.
+
+“Oh, yes,” replied the President, “I’ve no doubt they’ll run anywhere
+where the ground is a little moist!”
+
+
+
+
+“HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS PLACE?”
+
+“It seems to me,” remarked the President one day while reading, over
+some of the appealing telegrams sent to the War Department by General
+McClellan, “that McClellan has been wandering around and has sort of
+got lost. He’s been hollering for help ever since he went South--wants
+somebody to come to his deliverance and get him out of the place he’s
+got into.
+
+“He reminds me of the story of a man out in Illinois who, in company
+with a number of friends, visited the State penitentiary. They wandered
+all through the institution and saw everything, but just about the time
+to depart this particular man became separated from his friends and
+couldn’t find his way out.
+
+“He roamed up and down one corridor after another, becoming more
+desperate all the time, when, at last, he came across a convict who was
+looking out from between the bars of his cell-door. Here was salvation
+at last. Hurrying up to the prisoner he hastily asked,
+
+“‘Say! How do you get out of this place?”
+
+
+
+
+“TAD” INTRODUCES “OUR FRIENDS.”
+
+President Lincoln often avoided interviews with delegations representing
+various States, especially when he knew the objects of their errands,
+and was aware he could not grant their requests. This was the case with
+several commissioners from Kentucky, who were put off from day to day.
+
+They were about to give up in despair, and were leaving the White House
+lobby, their speech being interspersed with vehement and uncomplimentary
+terms concerning “Old Abe,” when “Tad” happened along. He caught at
+these words, and asked one of them if they wanted to see “Old Abe,”
+ laughing at the same time.
+
+“Yes,” he replied.
+
+“Wait a minute,” said “Tad,” and rushed into his father’s office. Said
+he, “Papa, may I introduce some friends to you?”
+
+His father, always indulgent and ready to make him happy, kindly said,
+“Yes, my son, I will see your friends.”
+
+“Tad” went to the Kentuckians again, and asked a very dignified looking
+gentleman of the party his name. He was told his name. He then said,
+“Come, gentlemen,” and they followed him.
+
+Leading them up to the President, “Tad,” with much dignity, said, “Papa,
+let me introduce to you Judge ----, of Kentucky;” and quickly added,
+“Now Judge, you introduce the other gentlemen.”
+
+The introductions were gone through with, and they turned out to be the
+gentlemen Mr. Lincoln had been avoiding for a week. Mr. Lincoln reached
+for the boy, took him in his lap, kissed him, and told him it was all
+right, and that he had introduced his friend like a little gentleman as
+he was. Tad was eleven years old at this time.
+
+The President was pleased with Tad’s diplomacy, and often laughed at the
+incident as he told others of it. One day while caressing the boy, he
+asked him why he called those gentlemen “his friends.” “Well,” said Tad,
+“I had seen them so often, and they looked so good and sorry, and said
+they were from Kentucky, that I thought they must be our friends.” “That
+is right, my son,” said Mr. Lincoln; “I would have the whole human race
+your friends and mine, if it were possible.”
+
+
+
+
+MIXED UP WORSE THAN BEFORE.
+
+The President told a story which most beautifully illustrated the
+muddled situation of affairs at the time McClellan’s fate was hanging in
+the balance. McClellan’s work was not satisfactory, but the President
+hesitated to remove him; the general was so slow that the Confederates
+marched all around him; and, to add to the dilemma, the President could
+not find a suitable man to take McClellan’s place.
+
+The latter was a political, as well as a military, factor; his friends
+threatened that, if he was removed, many war Democrats would cast their
+influence with the South, etc. It was, altogether, a sad mix-up, and
+the President, for a time, was at his wits’ end. He was assailed on all
+sides with advice, but none of it was worth acting upon.
+
+“This situation reminds me,” said the President at a Cabinet meeting one
+day not long before the appointment of General Halleck as McClellan’s
+successor in command of the Union forces, “of a Union man in Kentucky
+whose two sons enlisted in the Federal Army. His wife was of Confederate
+sympathies. His nearest neighbor was a Confederate in feeling, and his
+two sons were fighting under Lee. This neighbor’s wife was a Union woman
+and it nearly broke her heart to know that her sons were arrayed against
+the Union.
+
+“Finally, the two men, after each had talked the matter over with his
+wife, agreed to obtain divorces; this they, did, and the Union man and
+Union woman were wedded, as were the Confederate man and the Confederate
+woman--the men swapped wives, in short. But this didn’t seem to help
+matters any, for the sons of the Union woman were still fighting for the
+South, and the sons of the Confederate woman continued in the Federal
+Army; the Union husband couldn’t get along with his Union wife, and
+the Confederate husband and his Confederate wife couldn’t agree upon
+anything, being forever fussing and quarreling.
+
+“It’s the same thing with the Army. It doesn’t seem worth while to
+secure divorces and then marry the Army and McClellan to others, for
+they won’t get along any better than they do now, and there’ll only be a
+new set of heartaches started. I think we’d better wait; perhaps a real
+fighting general will come along some of these days, and then we’ll
+all be happy. If you go to mixing in a mix-up, you only make the muddle
+worse.”
+
+
+
+
+“LONG ABE’S” FEET “PROTRUDED OVER.”
+
+George M. Pullman, the great sleeping-car builder, once told a joke in
+which Lincoln was the prominent figure. In fact, there wouldn’t have
+been any joke had it not been for “Long Abe.” At the time of the
+occurrence, which was the foundation for the joke--and Pullman admitted
+that the latter was on him--Pullman was the conductor of his only
+sleeping-car. The latter was an experiment, and Pullman was doing
+everything possible to get the railroads to take hold of it.
+
+“One night,” said Pullman in telling the story, “as we were about going
+out of Chicago--this was long before Lincoln was what you might call
+a renowned man--a long, lean, ugly man, with a wart on his cheek, came
+into the depot. He paid me fifty cents, and half a berth was assigned
+him. Then he took off his coat and vest and hung them up, and they
+fitted the peg about as well as they fitted him. Then he kicked off
+his boots, which were of surprising length, turned into the berth, and,
+undoubtedly having an easy conscience, was sleeping like a healthy baby
+before the car left the depot.
+
+“Pretty soon along came another passenger and paid his fifty cents. In
+two minutes he was back at me, angry as a wet hen.
+
+“‘There’s a man in that berth of mine,’ said he, hotly, ‘and he’s about
+ten feet high. How am I going to sleep there, I’d like to know? Go and
+look at him.’
+
+“In I went--mad, too. The tall, lank man’s knees were under his
+chin, his arms were stretched across the bed and his feet were stored
+comfortably--for him. I shook him until he awoke, and then told him if
+he wanted the whole berth he would have to pay $1.
+
+“‘My dear sir,’ said the tall man, ‘a contract is a contract. I have
+paid you fifty cents for half this berth, and, as you see, I’m occupying
+it. There’s the other half,’ pointing to a strip about six inches wide.
+‘Sell that and don’t disturb me again.’
+
+“And so saying, the man with a wart on his face went to sleep again. He
+was Abraham Lincoln, and he never grew any shorter afterward. We became
+great friends, and often laughed over the incident.”
+
+
+
+
+COULD LICK ANY MAN IN THE CROWD.
+
+When the enemies of General Grant were bothering the President with
+emphatic and repeated demands that the “Silent Man” be removed from
+command, Mr. Lincoln remained firm. He would not consent to lose the
+services of so valuable a soldier. “Grant fights,” said he in response
+to the charges made that Grant was a butcher, a drunkard, an incompetent
+and a general who did not know his business.
+
+“That reminds me of a story,” President Lincoln said one day to a
+delegation of the “Grant-is-no-good” style.
+
+“Out in my State of Illinois there was a man nominated for sheriff of
+the county. He was a good man for the office, brave, determined and
+honest, but not much of an orator. In fact, he couldn’t talk at all; he
+couldn’t make a speech to save his life.
+
+“His friends knew he was a man who would preserve the peace of the
+county and perform the duties devolving upon him all right, but the
+people of the county didn’t know it. They wanted him to come out boldly
+on the platform at political meetings and state his convictions and
+principles; they had been used to speeches from candidates, and were
+somewhat suspicious of a man who was afraid to open his mouth.
+
+“At last the candidate consented to make a speech, and his friends were
+delighted. The candidate was on hand, and, when he was called upon,
+advanced to the front and faced the crowd. There was a glitter in his
+eye that wasn’t pleasing, and the way he walked out to the front of the
+stand showed that he knew just what he wanted to say.
+
+“‘Feller Citizens,’ was his beginning, the words spoken quietly, ‘I’m
+not a speakin’ man; I ain’t no orator, an’ I never stood up before a lot
+of people in my life before; I’m not goin’ to make no speech, ‘xcept to
+say that I can lick any man in the crowd!’”
+
+
+
+
+HIS WAY TO A CHILD’S HEART.
+
+Charles E. Anthony’s one meeting with Mr. Lincoln presents an
+interesting contrast to those of the men who shared the emancipator’s
+interest in public affairs. It was in the latter part of the winter
+of 1861, a short time before Mr. Lincoln left for his inauguration
+at Washington. Judge Anthony went to the Sherman House, where the
+President-elect was stopping, and took with him his son, Charles, then
+but a little boy. Charles played about the room as a child will, looking
+at whatever interested him for the time, and when the interview with his
+father was over he was ready to go.
+
+But Mr. Lincoln, ever interested in little children, called the lad to
+him and took him upon his great knee.
+
+“My impression of him all the time I had been playing about the room,”
+ said Mr. Anthony, “was that he was a terribly homely man. I was rather
+repelled. But no sooner did he speak to me than the expression of his
+face changed completely, or, rather, my view of it changed. It at
+once became kindly and attractive. He asked me some questions, seeming
+instantly to find in the turmoil of all the great questions that must
+have been heavy upon him, the very ones that would go to the thought of
+a child. I answered him without hesitation, and after a moment he patted
+my shoulder and said:
+
+“‘Well, you’ll be a man before your mother yet,’ and put me down.
+
+“I had never before heard the homely old expression, and it puzzled me
+for a time. After a moment I understood it, but he looked at me while I
+was puzzling over it, and seemed to be amused, as no doubt he was.”
+
+The incident simply illustrates the ease and readiness with which
+Lincoln could turn from the mighty questions before the nation, give a
+moment’s interested attention to a child, and return at once to matters
+of state.
+
+
+
+
+“LEFT IT THE WOMEN TO HOWL ABOUT ME.”
+
+Donn Piatt, one of the brightest newspaper writers in the country, told
+a good story on the President in regard to the refusal of the latter to
+sanction the death penalty in cases of desertion from the Union Army.
+
+“There was far more policy in this course,” said Piatt, “than kind
+feeling. To assert the contrary is to detract from Lincoln’s force of
+character, as well as intellect. Our War President was not lost in his
+high admiration of brigadiers and major-generals, and had a positive
+dislike for their methods and the despotism upon which an army is based.
+He knew that he was dependent upon volunteers for soldiers, and to force
+upon such men as those the stern discipline of the Regular Army was to
+render the service unpopular. And it pleased him to be the source of
+mercy, as well as the fountain of honor, in this direction.
+
+“I was sitting with General Dan Tyler, of Connecticut, in the
+antechamber of the War Department, shortly after the adjournment of the
+Buell Court of Inquiry, of which we had been members, when President
+Lincoln came in from the room of Secretary Stanton. Seeing us, he said:
+‘Well, gentlemen, have you any matter worth reporting?’
+
+“‘I think so, Mr. President,’ replied General Tyler. ‘We had it proven
+that Bragg, with less than ten thousand men, drove your eighty-three
+thousand men under Buell back from before Chattanooga, down to the
+Ohio at Louisville, marched around us twice, then doubled us up at
+Perryville, and finally got out of the State of Kentucky with all his
+plunder.’
+
+“‘Now, Tyler,’ returned the President, ‘what is the meaning of all this;
+what is the lesson? Don’t our men march as well, and fight as well, as
+these rebels? If not, there is a fault somewhere. We are all of the same
+family--same sort.’
+
+“‘Yes, there is a lesson,’ replied General Tyler; ‘we are of the same
+sort, but subject to different handling. Bragg’s little force was
+superior to our larger number because he had it under control. If a man
+left his ranks, he was punished; if he deserted, he was shot. We had
+nothing of that sort. If we attempt to shoot a deserter you pardon him,
+and our army is without discipline.’
+
+“The President looked perplexed. ‘Why do you interfere?’ continued
+General Tyler. ‘Congress has taken from you all responsibility.’
+
+“‘Yes,’ answered the President impatiently, ‘Congress has taken the
+responsibility and left the women to howl all about me,’ and so he
+strode away.”
+
+
+
+
+HE’D RUIN ALL THE OTHER CONVICTS.
+
+One of the droll stories brought into play by the President as an ally
+in support of his contention, proved most effective. Politics was rife
+among the generals of the Union Army, and there was more “wire-pulling”
+ to prevent the advancement of fellow commanders than the laying of plans
+to defeat the Confederates in battle.
+
+However, when it so happened that the name of a particularly unpopular
+general was sent to the Senate for confirmation, the protest against
+his promotion was almost unanimous. The nomination didn’t seem to please
+anyone. Generals who were enemies before conferred together for the
+purpose of bringing every possible influence to bear upon the Senate
+and securing the rejection of the hated leader’s name. The President was
+surprised. He had never known such unanimity before.
+
+“You remind me,” said the President to a delegation of officers which
+called upon him one day to present a fresh protest to him regarding the
+nomination, “of a visit a certain Governor paid to the Penitentiary of
+his State. It had been announced that the Governor would hear the story
+of every inmate of the institution, and was prepared to rectify, either
+by commutation or pardon, any wrongs that had been done to any prisoner.
+
+“One by one the convicts appeared before His Excellency, and each one
+maintained that he was an innocent man, who had been sent to prison
+because the police didn’t like him, or his friends and relatives wanted
+his property, or he was too popular, etc., etc. The last prisoner to
+appear was an individual who was not all prepossessing. His face was
+against him; his eyes were shifty; he didn’t have the appearance of an
+honest man, and he didn’t act like one.
+
+“‘Well,’ asked the Governor, impatiently, ‘I suppose you’re innocent
+like the rest of these fellows?’
+
+“‘No, Governor,’ was the unexpected answer; ‘I was guilty of the crime
+they charged against me, and I got just what I deserved.’
+
+“When he had recovered from his astonishment, the Governor, looking
+the fellow squarely in the face, remarked with emphasis: ‘I’ll have to
+pardon you, because I don’t want to leave so bad a man as you are in
+the company of such innocent sufferers as I have discovered your
+fellow-convicts to be. You might corrupt them and teach them wicked
+tricks. As soon as I get back to the capital, I’ll have the papers made
+out.’
+
+“You gentlemen,” continued the President, “ought to be glad that so bad
+a man, as you represent this officer to be, is to get his promotion,
+for then you won’t be forced to associate with him and suffer the
+contamination of his presence and influence. I will do all I can to have
+the Senate confirm him.”
+
+And he was confirmed.
+
+
+
+
+IN A HOPELESS MINORITY.
+
+The President was often in opposition to the general public sentiment of
+the North upon certain questions of policy, but he bided his time, and
+things usually came out as he wanted them. It was Lincoln’s opinion,
+from the first, that apology and reparation to England must be made
+by the United States because of the arrest, upon the high seas, of the
+Confederate Commissioners, Mason and Slidell. The country, however (the
+Northern States), was wild for a conflict with England.
+
+“One war at a time,” quietly remarked the President at a Cabinet
+meeting, where he found the majority of his advisers unfavorably
+disposed to “backing down.” But one member of the Cabinet was a really
+strong supporter of the President in his attitude.
+
+“I am reminded,” the President said after the various arguments had been
+put forward by the members of the Cabinet, “of a fellow out in my State
+of Illinois who happened to stray into a church while a revival meeting
+was in progress. To be truthful, this individual was not entirely sober,
+and with that instinct which seems to impel all men in his condition to
+assume a prominent part in proceedings, he walked up the aisle to the
+very front pew.
+
+“All noticed him, but he did not care; for awhile he joined audibly in
+the singing, said ‘Amen’ at the close of the prayers, but, drowsiness
+overcoming him, he went to sleep. Before the meeting closed, the
+pastor asked the usual question--‘Who are on the Lord’s side?’--and the
+congregation arose en masse. When he asked, ‘Who are on the side of
+the Devil?’ the sleeper was about waking up. He heard a portion of the
+interrogatory, and, seeing the minister on his feet, arose.
+
+“‘I don’t exactly understand the question,’ he said, ‘but I’ll stand by
+you, parson, to the last. But it seems to me,’ he added, ‘that we’re in
+a hopeless minority.’
+
+“I’m in a hopeless minority now,” said the President, “and I’ll have to
+admit it.”
+
+
+
+
+“DID YE ASK MORRISSEY YET?”
+
+John Morrissey, the noted prize fighter, was the “Boss” of Tammany Hall
+during the Civil War period. It pleased his fancy to go to Congress, and
+his obedient constituents sent him there. Morrissey was such an absolute
+despot that the New York City democracy could not make a move without
+his consent, and many of the Tammanyites were so afraid of him that
+they would not even enter into business ventures without consulting the
+autocrat.
+
+President Lincoln had been seriously annoyed by some of his generals,
+who were afraid to make the slightest move before asking advice from
+Washington. One commander, in particular, was so cautious that he
+telegraphed the War Department upon the slightest pretext, the result
+being that his troops were lying in camp doing nothing, when they should
+have been in the field.
+
+“This general reminds me,” the President said one day while talking to
+Secretary Stanton, at the War Department, “of a story I once heard about
+a Tammany man. He happened to meet a friend, also a member of Tammany,
+on the street, and in the course of the talk the friend, who was beaming
+with smiles and good nature, told the other Tammanyite that he was going
+to be married.
+
+“This first Tammany man looked more serious than men usually do upon
+hearing of the impending happiness of a friend. In fact, his face seemed
+to take on a look of anxiety and worry.
+
+“‘Ain’t you glad to know that I’m to get married?’ demanded the second
+Tammanyite, somewhat in a huff.
+
+“‘Of course I am,’ was the reply; ‘but,’ putting his mouth close to the
+ear of the other, ‘have ye asked Morrissey yet?’
+
+“Now, this general of whom we are speaking, wouldn’t dare order out the
+guard without asking Morrissey,” concluded the President.
+
+
+
+
+GOT THE LAUGH ON DOUGLAS.
+
+At one time, when Lincoln and Douglas were “stumping” Illinois, they
+met at a certain town, and it was agreed that they would have a joint
+debate. Douglas was the first speaker, and in the course of his talk
+remarked that in early life, his father, who, he said, was an excellent
+cooper by trade, apprenticed him out to learn the cabinet business.
+
+This was too good for Lincoln to let pass, so when his turn came to
+reply, he said:
+
+“I had understood before that Mr. Douglas had been bound out to learn
+the cabinet-making business, which is all well enough, but I was not
+aware until now that his father was a cooper. I have no doubt, however,
+that he was one, and I am certain, also, that he was a very good one,
+for (here Lincoln gently bowed toward Douglas) he has made one of the
+best whiskey casks I have ever seen.”
+
+As Douglas was a short heavy-set man, and occasionally imbibed, the pith
+of the joke was at once apparent, and most heartily enjoyed by all.
+
+On another occasion, Douglas made a point against Lincoln by telling
+the crowd that when he first knew Lincoln he was a “grocery-keeper,” and
+sold whiskey, cigars, etc.
+
+“Mr. L.,” he said, “was a very good bar-tender!” This brought the laugh
+on Lincoln, whose reply, however, soon came, and then the laugh was on
+the other side.
+
+“What Mr. Douglas has said, gentlemen,” replied Lincoln, “is true
+enough; I did keep a grocery and I did sell cotton, candles and cigars,
+and sometimes whiskey; but I remember in those days that Mr. Douglas was
+one of my best customers.”
+
+
+
+
+“I can also say this; that I have since left my side of the counter,
+while Mr. Douglas still sticks to his!”
+
+This brought such a storm of cheers and laughter that Douglas was unable
+to reply.
+
+
+
+
+“FIXED UP” A BIT FOR THE “CITY FOLKS.”
+
+Mrs. Lincoln knew her husband was not “pretty,” but she liked to have
+him presentable when he appeared before the public. Stephen Fiske, in
+“When Lincoln Was First Inaugurated,” tells of Mrs. Lincoln’s anxiety
+to have the President-elect “smoothed down” a little when receiving a
+delegation that was to greet them upon reaching New York City.
+
+“The train stopped,” writes Mr. Fiske, “and through the windows immense
+crowds could be seen; the cheering drowning the blowing off of steam of
+the locomotive. Then Mrs. Lincoln opened her handbag and said:
+
+“‘Abraham, I must fix you up a bit for these city folks.’
+
+“Mr. Lincoln gently lifted her upon the seat before him; she parted,
+combed and brushed his hair and arranged his black necktie.
+
+“‘Do I look nice now, mother?’ he affectionately asked.
+
+“‘Well, you’ll do, Abraham,’ replied Mrs. Lincoln critically. So he
+kissed her and lifted her down from the seat, and turned to meet Mayor
+Wood, courtly and suave, and to have his hand shaken by the other New
+York officials.”
+
+
+
+
+EVEN REBELS OUGHT TO BE SAVED.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, a Universalist, had been
+nominated for hospital chaplain, and a protesting delegation went to
+Washington to see President Lincoln on the subject.
+
+“We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you in regard to the
+appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, as hospital chaplain.”
+
+The President responded: “Oh, yes, gentlemen. I have sent his name to
+the Senate, and he will no doubt be confirmed at an early date.” One of
+the young men replied: “We have not come to ask for the appointment, but
+to solicit you to withdraw the nomination.”
+
+“Ah!” said Lincoln, “that alters the case; but on what grounds do you
+wish the nomination withdrawn?”
+
+The answer was: “Mr. Shrigley is not sound in his theological opinions.”
+
+The President inquired: “On what question is the gentleman unsound?”
+
+Response: “He does not believe in endless punishment; not only so, sir,
+but he believes that even the rebels themselves will be finally saved.”
+
+“Is that so?” inquired the President.
+
+The members of the committee responded, “Yes, yes.’
+
+“Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way under Heaven
+whereby the rebels can be saved, then, for God’s sake and their sakes,
+let the man be appointed.”
+
+The Rev. Mr. Shrigley was appointed, and served until the close of the
+war.
+
+
+
+
+TRIED TO DO WHAT SEEMED BEST.
+
+John M. Palmer, Major-General in the Volunteer Army, Governor of the
+State of Illinois, and United States Senator from the Sucker State,
+became acquainted with Lincoln in 1839, and the last time he saw the
+President was at the White House in February, 1865. Senator Palmer told
+the story of his interview as follows:
+
+“I had come to Washington at the request of the Governor, to complain
+that Illinois had been credited with 18,000 too few troops. I saw Mr.
+Lincoln one afternoon, and he asked me to come again in the morning.
+
+“Next morning I sat in the ante-room while several officers were
+relieved. At length I was told to enter the President’s room. Mr.
+Lincoln was in the hands of the barber.
+
+“‘Come in, Palmer,’ he called out, ‘come in. You’re home folks. I can
+shave before you. I couldn’t before those others, and I have to do it
+some time.’
+
+“We chatted about various matters, and at length I said:
+
+“‘Well, Mr. Lincoln, if anybody had told me that in a great crisis like
+this the people were going out to a little one-horse town and pick out a
+one-horse lawyer for President I wouldn’t have believed it.’
+
+“Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his chair, his face white with lather,
+a towel under his chin. At first I thought he was angry. Sweeping the
+barber away he leaned forward, and, placing one hand on my knee, said:
+
+“‘Neither would I. But it was time when a man with a policy would have
+been fatal to the country. I have never had a policy. I have simply
+tried to do what seemed best each day, as each day came.’”
+
+
+
+
+“HOLDING A CANDLE TO THE CZAR.”
+
+England was anything but pleased when the Czar Alexander, of Russia,
+showed his friendship for the United States by sending a strong fleet
+to this country with the accompanying suggestion that Uncle Sam, through
+his representative, President Lincoln, could do whatever he saw fit with
+the ironclads and the munitions of war they had stowed away in their
+holds.
+
+London “Punch,” on November 7th, 1863, printed the cartoon shown on this
+page, the text under the picture reading in this way: “Holding a candle
+to the * * * * *.” (Much the same thing.)
+
+Of course, this was a covert sneer, intended to convey the impression
+that President Lincoln, in order to secure the support and friendship
+of the Emperor of Russia as long as the War of the Rebellion lasted, was
+willing to do all sorts of menial offices, even to the extent of holding
+the candle and lighting His Most Gracious Majesty, the White Czar, to
+his imperial bed-chamber.
+
+It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the Emperor Alexander, who
+tendered inestimable aid to the President of the United States, was
+the Lincoln of Russia, having given freedom to millions of serfs in
+his empire; and, further than that, he was, like Lincoln, the victim of
+assassination. He was literally blown to pieces by a bomb thrown under
+his carriage while riding through the streets near the Winter Palace at
+St. Petersburg.
+
+
+
+
+NASHVILLE WAS NOT SURRENDERED.
+
+“I was told a mighty good story,” said the President one day at a
+Cabinet meeting, “by Colonel Granville Moody, ‘the fighting Methodist
+parson,’ as they used to call him in Tennessee. I happened to meet Moody
+in Philadelphia, where he was attending a conference.
+
+“The story was about ‘Andy’ Johnson and General Buell. Colonel Moody
+happened to be in Nashville the day it was reported that Buell had
+decided to evacuate the city. The rebels, strongly re-inforced, were
+said to be within two days’ march of the capital. Of course, the city
+was greatly excited. Moody said he went in search of Johnson at the edge
+of the evening and found him at his office closeted with two gentlemen,
+who were walking the floor with him, one on each side. As he entered
+they retired, leaving him alone with Johnson, who came up to him,
+manifesting intense feeling, and said:
+
+“‘Moody, we are sold out. Buell is a traitor. He is going to evacuate
+the city, and in forty-eight hours we will all be in the hands of the
+rebels!’
+
+“Then he commenced pacing the floor again, twisting his hands and
+chafing like a caged tiger, utterly insensible to his friend’s
+entreaties to become calm. Suddenly he turned and said:
+
+“‘Moody, can you pray?’
+
+“‘That is my business, sir, as a minister of the gospel,’ returned the
+colonel.
+
+“‘Well, Moody, I wish you would pray,’ said Johnson, and instantly both
+went down upon their knees at opposite sides of the room.
+
+“As the prayer waxed fervent, Johnson began to respond in true Methodist
+style. Presently he crawled over on his hands and knees to Moody’s side
+and put his arms over him, manifesting the deepest emotion.
+
+“Closing the prayer with a hearty ‘amen’ from each, they arose.
+
+“Johnson took a long breath, and said, with emphasis:
+
+“‘Moody, I feel better.’
+
+“Shortly afterward he asked:
+
+“‘Will you stand by me?’
+
+“‘Certainly I will,’ was the answer.
+
+“‘Well, Moody, I can depend upon you; you are one in a hundred
+thousand.’
+
+“He then commenced pacing the floor again. Suddenly he wheeled, the
+current of his thought having changed, and said:
+
+“‘Oh, Moody, I don’t want you to think I have become a religious man
+because I asked you to pray. I am sorry to say it, I am not, and never
+pretended to be religious. No one knows this better than you, but,
+Moody, there is one thing about it, I do believe in Almighty God, and
+I believe also in the Bible, and I say, d--n me if Nashville shall be
+surrendered!’
+
+“And Nashville was not surrendered!”
+
+
+
+
+HE COULDN’T WAIT FOR THE COLONEL.
+
+General Fisk, attending a reception at the White House, saw waiting in
+the ante-room a poor old man from Tennessee, and learned that he had
+been waiting three or four days to get an audience, on which probably
+depended the life of his son, under sentence of death for some military
+offense.
+
+General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card and sent it in, with a
+special request that the President would see the man. In a moment the
+order came; and past impatient senators, governors and generals, the old
+man went.
+
+He showed his papers to Mr. Lincoln, who said he would look into the
+case and give him the result next day.
+
+The old man, in an agony of apprehension, looked up into the President’s
+sympathetic face and actually cried out:
+
+“To-morrow may be too late! My son is under sentence of death! It ought
+to be decided now!”
+
+His streaming tears told how much he was moved.
+
+“Come,” said Mr. Lincoln, “wait a bit and I’ll tell you a story;” and
+then he told the old man General Fisk’s story about the swearing driver,
+as follows:
+
+“The general had begun his military life as a colonel, and when he
+raised his regiment in Missouri he proposed to his men that he should
+do all the swearing of the regiment. They assented; and for months no
+instance was known of the violation of the promise.
+
+“The colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were not
+always the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper and his
+tongue.
+
+“John happened to be driving a mule team through a series of mudholes a
+little worse than usual, when, unable to restrain himself any longer, he
+burst forth into a volley of energetic oaths.
+
+“The colonel took notice of the offense and brought John to account.
+
+“‘John,’ said he, ‘didn’t you promise to let me do all the swearing of
+the regiment?’
+
+“‘Yes, I did, colonel,’ he replied, ‘but the fact was, the swearing had
+to be done then or not at all, and you weren’t there to do it.’”
+
+As he told the story the old man forgot his boy, and both the President
+and his listener had a hearty laugh together at its conclusion.
+
+Then he wrote a few words which the old man read, and in which he found
+new occasion for tears; but the tears were tears of joy, for the words
+saved the life of his son.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PRONOUNCED THIS STORY FUNNY.
+
+The President was heard to declare one day that the story given below
+was one of the funniest he ever heard.
+
+One of General Fremont’s batteries of eight Parrott guns, supported by
+a squadron of horse commanded by Major Richards, was in sharp conflict
+with a battery of the enemy near at hand. Shells and shot were flying
+thick and fast, when the commander of the battery, a German, one of
+Fremont’s staff, rode suddenly up to the cavalry, exclaiming, in loud
+and excited terms, “Pring up de shackasses! Pring up de shackasses! For
+Cot’s sake, hurry up de shackasses, im-me-di-ate-ly!”
+
+The necessity of this order, though not quite apparent, will be more
+obvious when it is remembered that “shackasses” are mules, carry
+mountain howitzers, which are fired from the backs of that much-abused
+but valuable animal; and the immediate occasion for the “shackasses”
+ was that two regiments of rebel infantry were at that moment discovered
+ascending a hill immediately behind our batteries.
+
+The “shackasses,” with the howitzers loaded with grape and canister,
+were soon on the ground.
+
+The mules squared themselves, as they well knew how, for the shock.
+
+A terrific volley was poured into the advancing column, which
+immediately broke and retreated.
+
+Two hundred and seventy-eight dead bodies were found in the ravine next
+day, piled closely together as they fell, the effects of that volley
+from the backs of the “shackasses.”
+
+
+
+
+JOKE WAS ON LINCOLN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln enjoyed a joke at his own expense. Said he: “In the days
+when I used to be in the circuit, I was accosted in the cars by a
+stranger, who said, ‘Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my
+possession which belongs to you.’ ‘How is that?’ I asked, considerably
+astonished.
+
+“The stranger took a jackknife from his pocket. ‘This knife,’ said he,
+‘was placed in my hands some years ago, with the injunction that I was
+to keep it until I had found a man uglier than myself. I have carried
+it from that time to this. Allow me to say, sir, that I think you are
+fairly entitled to the property.’”
+
+
+
+
+THE OTHER ONE WAS WORSE.
+
+It so happened that an official of the War Department had escaped
+serious punishment for a rather flagrant offense, by showing where
+grosser irregularities existed in the management of a certain bureau
+of the Department. So valuable was the information furnished that the
+culprit who “gave the snap away” was not even discharged.
+
+“That reminds me,” the President said, when the case was laid before
+him, “of a story about Daniel Webster, when the latter was a boy.
+
+“When quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty of a gross
+violation of the rules. He was detected in the act, and called up by the
+teacher for punishment.
+
+“This was to be the old-fashioned ‘feruling’ of the hand. His hands
+happened to be very dirty.
+
+“Knowing this, on the way to the teacher’s desk, he spit upon the palm
+of his right hand, wiping it off upon the side of his pantaloons.
+
+“‘Give me your hand, sir,’ said the teacher, very sternly.
+
+“Out went the right hand, partly cleansed. The teacher looked at it a
+moment, and said:
+
+“‘Daniel, if you will find another hand in this school-room as filthy as
+that, I will let you off this time!’
+
+“Instantly from behind the back came the left hand.
+
+“‘Here it is, sir,’ was the ready reply.
+
+“‘That will do,’ said the teacher, ‘for this time; you can take your
+seat, sir.’”
+
+
+
+
+“I’D A BEEN MISSED BY MYSE’F.”
+
+The President did not consider that every soldier who ran away in
+battle, or did not stand firmly to receive a bayonet charge, was a
+coward. He was of opinion that self-preservation was the first law of
+Nature, but he didn’t want this statute construed too liberally by the
+troops.
+
+At the same time he took occasion to illustrate a point he wished to
+make by a story in connection with a darky who was a member of the Ninth
+Illinois Infantry Regiment. This regiment was one of those engaged at
+the capture of Fort Donelson. It behaved gallantly, and lost as heavily
+as any.
+
+“Upon the hurricane-deck of one of our gunboats,” said the President in
+telling the story, “I saw an elderly darky, with a very philosophical
+and retrospective cast of countenance, squatted upon his bundle,
+toasting his shins against the chimney, and apparently plunged into a
+state of profound meditation.
+
+“As the negro rather interested me, I made some inquiries, and found
+that he had really been with the Ninth Illinois Infantry at Donelson.
+and began to ask him some questions about the capture of the place.
+
+“‘Were you in the fight?’
+
+“‘Had a little taste of it, sa.’
+
+“‘Stood your ground, did you?’
+
+“‘No, sa, I runs.’
+
+“‘Run at the first fire, did you?
+
+“‘Yes, sa, and would hab run soona, had I knowd it war comin’.”
+
+“‘Why, that wasn’t very creditable to your courage.’
+
+“‘Dat isn’t my line, sa--cookin’s my profeshun.’
+
+“‘Well, but have you no regard for your reputation?’
+
+“‘Reputation’s nuffin to me by de side ob life.’
+
+“‘Do you consider your life worth more than other people’s?’
+
+“‘It’s worth more to me, sa.’
+
+“‘Then you must value it very highly?’
+
+“‘Yes, sa, I does, more dan all dis wuld, more dan a million ob
+dollars, sa, for what would dat be wuth to a man wid de bref out ob him?
+Self-preserbation am de fust law wid me.’
+
+“‘But why should you act upon a different rule from other men?’
+
+“‘Different men set different values on their lives; mine is not in de
+market.’
+
+“‘But if you lost it you would have the satisfaction of knowing that you
+died for your country.’
+
+“‘Dat no satisfaction when feelin’s gone.’
+
+“‘Then patriotism and honor are nothing to you?’
+
+“‘Nufin whatever, sat--I regard them as among the vanities.’
+
+“‘If our soldiers were like you, traitors might have broken up the
+government without resistance.’
+
+“‘Yes, sa, dar would hab been no help for it. I wouldn’t put my life
+in de scale ‘g’inst any gobernment dat eber existed, for no gobernment
+could replace de loss to me.’
+
+“‘Do you think any of your company would have missed you if you had been
+killed?’
+
+“‘Maybe not, sa--a dead white man ain’t much to dese sogers, let alone a
+dead nigga--but I’d a missed myse’f, and dat was de p’int wid me.’
+
+“I only tell this story,” concluded the President, “in order to
+illustrate the result of the tactics of some of the Union generals who
+would be sadly ‘missed’ by themselves, if no one else, if they ever got
+out of the Army.”
+
+
+
+
+IT ALL “DEPENDED” UPON THE EFFECT.
+
+President Lincoln and some members of his Cabinet were with a part of
+the Army some distance south of the National Capital at one time, when
+Secretary of War Stanton remarked that just before he left Washington
+he had received a telegram from General Mitchell, in Alabama. General
+Mitchell asked instructions in regard to a certain emergency that had
+arisen.
+
+The Secretary said he did not precisely understand the emergency as
+explained by General Mitchell, but had answered back, “All right; go
+ahead.”
+
+“Now,” he said, as he turned to Mr. Lincoln, “Mr. President, if I have
+made an error in not understanding him correctly, I will have to get you
+to countermand the order.”
+
+“Well,” exclaimed President Lincoln, “that is very much like the
+happening on the occasion of a certain horse sale I remember that took
+place at the cross-roads down in Kentucky, when I was a boy.
+
+“A particularly fine horse was to be sold, and the people in large
+numbers had gathered together. They had a small boy to ride the horse up
+and down while the spectators examined the horse’s points.
+
+“At last one man whispered to the boy as he went by: ‘Look here, boy,
+hain’t that horse got the splints?’
+
+“The boy replied: ‘Mister, I don’t know what the splints is, but if it’s
+good for him, he has got it; if it ain’t good for him, he ain’t got it.’
+
+“Now,” said President Lincoln, “if this was good for Mitchell, it was
+all right; but if it was not, I have got to countermand it.”
+
+
+
+
+TOO SWIFT TO STAY IN THE ARMY.
+
+There were strange, queer, odd things and happenings in the Army at
+times, but, as a rule, the President did not allow them to worry him. He
+had enough to bother about.
+
+A quartermaster having neglected to present his accounts in proper
+shape, and the matter being deemed of sufficient importance to bring it
+to the attention of the President, the latter remarked:
+
+“Now this instance reminds me of a little story I heard only a short
+time ago. A certain general’s purse was getting low, and he said it was
+probable he might be obliged to draw on his banker for some money.
+
+“‘How much do you want, father?’ asked his son, who had been with him a
+few days.
+
+“‘I think I shall send for a couple of hundred,’ replied the general.
+
+“Why, father,’ said his son, very quietly, ‘I can let you have it.’
+
+“‘You can let me have it! Where did you get so much money?
+
+“‘I won it playing draw-poker with your staff, sir!’ replied the youth.
+
+“The earliest morning train bore the young man toward his home, and I’ve
+been wondering if that boy and that quartermaster had happened to meet
+at the same table.”
+
+
+
+
+ADMIRED THE STRONG MAN.
+
+Governor Hoyt of Wisconsin tells a story of Mr. Lincoln’s great
+admiration for physical strength. Mr. Lincoln, in 1859, made a speech at
+the Wisconsin State Agricultural Fair. After the speech, in company with
+the Governor, he strolled about the grounds, looking at the exhibits.
+They came to a place where a professional “strong man” was tossing
+cannon balls in the air and catching them on his arms and juggling
+with them as though they were light as baseballs. Mr. Lincoln had
+never before seen such an exhibition, and he was greatly surprised and
+interested.
+
+When the performance was over, Governor Hoyt, seeing Mr. Lincoln’s
+interest, asked him to go up and be introduced to the athlete. He did
+so, and, as he stood looking down musingly on the man, who was very
+short, and evidently wondering that one so much smaller than he could be
+so much stronger, he suddenly broke out with one of his quaint speeches.
+“Why,” he said, “why, I could lick salt off the top of your hat.”
+
+
+
+
+WISHED THE ARMY CHARGED LIKE THAT.
+
+A prominent volunteer officer who, early in the War, was on duty in
+Washington and often carried reports to Secretary Stanton at the War
+Department, told a characteristic story on President Lincoln. Said he:
+
+“I was with several other young officers, also carrying reports to the
+War Department, and one morning we were late. In this instance we were
+in a desperate hurry to deliver the papers, in order to be able to catch
+the train returning to camp.
+
+“On the winding, dark staircase of the old War Department, which many
+will remember, it was our misfortune, while taking about three stairs
+at a time, to run a certain head like a catapult into the body of the
+President, striking him in the region of the right lower vest pocket.
+
+“The usual surprised and relaxed grunt of a man thus assailed came
+promptly.
+
+“We quickly sent an apology in the direction of the dimly seen form,
+feeling that the ungracious shock was expensive, even to the humblest
+clerk in the department.
+
+“A second glance revealed to us the President as the victim of the
+collision. Then followed a special tender of ‘ten thousand pardons,’ and
+the President’s reply:
+
+“‘One’s enough; I wish the whole army would charge like that.’”
+
+
+
+
+“UNCLE ABRAHAM” HAD EVERYTHING READY.
+
+“You can’t do anything with them Southern fellows,” the old man at the
+table was saying.
+
+“If they get whipped, they’ll retreat to them Southern swamps and bayous
+along with the fishes and crocodiles. You haven’t got the fish-nets made
+that’ll catch ‘em.”
+
+“Look here, old gentleman,” remarked President Lincoln, who was sitting
+alongside, “we’ve got just the nets for traitors, in the bayous or
+anywhere.”
+
+“Hey? What nets?”
+
+“Bayou-nets!” and “Uncle Abraham” pointed his joke with his fork,
+spearing a fishball savagely.
+
+
+
+
+NOT AS SMOOTH AS HE LOOKED.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s skill in parrying troublesome questions was wonderful.
+Once he received a call from Congressman John Ganson, of Buffalo, one of
+the ablest lawyers in New York, who, although a Democrat, supported
+all of Mr. Lincoln’s war measures. Mr. Ganson wanted explanations. Mr.
+Ganson was very bald with a perfectly smooth face. He had a most direct
+and aggressive way of stating his views or of demanding what he thought
+he was entitled to. He said: “Mr. Lincoln, I have supported all of your
+measures and think I am entitled to your confidence. We are voting and
+acting in the dark in Congress, and I demand to know--think I have the
+right to ask and to know--what is the present situation, and what are
+the prospects and conditions of the several campaigns and armies.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln looked at him critically for a moment and then said:
+“Ganson, how clean you shave!”
+
+Most men would have been offended, but Ganson was too broad and
+intelligent a man not to see the point and retire at once, satisfied,
+from the field.
+
+
+
+
+A SMALL CROP.
+
+Chauncey M. Depew says that Mr. Lincoln told him the following story,
+which he claimed was one of the best two things he ever originated: He
+was trying a case in Illinois where he appeared for a prisoner charged
+with aggravated assault and battery. The complainant had told a horrible
+story of the attack, which his appearance fully justified, when
+the District Attorney handed the witness over to Mr. Lincoln, for
+cross-examination. Mr. Lincoln said he had no testimony, and unless he
+could break down the complainant’s story he saw no way out. He had
+come to the conclusion that the witness was a bumptious man, who rather
+prided himself upon his smartness in repartee and, so, after looking at
+him for some minutes, he said:
+
+“Well, my friend, how much ground did you and my client here fight
+over?”
+
+The fellow answered: “About six acres.”
+
+“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, “don’t you think that this is an almighty
+small crop of fight to gather from such a big piece of ground?”
+
+The jury laughed. The Court and District-Attorney and complainant all
+joined in, and the case was laughed out of court.
+
+
+
+
+“NEVER REGRET WHAT YOU DON’T WRITE.”
+
+A simple remark one of the party might make would remind Mr. Lincoln of
+an apropos story.
+
+Secretary of the Treasury Chase happened to remark, “Oh, I am so sorry
+that I did not write a letter to Mr. So-and-so before I left home!”
+
+President Lincoln promptly responded:
+
+“Chase, never regret what you don’t write; it is what you do write that
+you are often called upon to feel sorry for.”
+
+
+
+
+A VAIN GENERAL.
+
+In an interview between President Lincoln and Petroleum V. Nasby, the
+name came up of a recently deceased politician of Illinois whose merit
+was blemished by great vanity. His funeral was very largely attended.
+
+“If General ---- had known how big a funeral he would have had,” said
+Mr. Lincoln, “he would have died years ago.”
+
+
+
+
+DEATH BED REPENTANCE.
+
+A Senator, who was calling upon Mr. Lincoln, mentioned the name of a
+most virulent and dishonest official; one, who, though very brilliant,
+was very bad.
+
+“It’s a good thing for B----” said Mr. Lincoln, “that there is such a
+thing as a deathbed repentance.”
+
+
+
+
+NO CAUSE FOR PRIDE.
+
+A member of Congress from Ohio came into Mr. Lincoln’s presence in a
+state of unutterable intoxication, and sinking into a chair, exclaimed
+in tones that welled up fuzzy through the gallon or more of whiskey that
+he contained, “Oh, ‘why should (hic) the spirit of mortal be proud?’”
+
+“My dear sir,” said the President, regarding him closely, “I see no
+reason whatever.”
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF LINCOLN’S LIFE
+
+When Abraham Lincoln once was asked to tell the story of his life, he
+replied:
+
+“It is contained in one line of Gray’s ‘Elegy in a Country Churchyard’:
+
+“‘The short and simple annals of the poor.’”
+
+That was true at the time he said it, as everything else he said was
+Truth, but he was then only at the beginning of a career that was
+to glorify him as one of the heroes of the world, and place his name
+forever beside the immortal name of the mighty Washington.
+
+Many great men, particularly those of America, began life in humbleness
+and poverty, but none ever came from such depths or rose to such a
+height as Abraham Lincoln.
+
+His birthplace, in Hardin county, Kentucky, was but a wilderness,
+and Spencer county, Indiana, to which the Lincoln family removed when
+Abraham was in his eighth year, was a wilder and still more uncivilized
+region.
+
+The little red schoolhouse which now so thickly adorns the country
+hillside had not yet been built. There were scattered log schoolhouses,
+but they were few and far between. In several of these Mr. Lincoln got
+the rudiments of an education--an education that was never finished, for
+to the day of his death he was a student and a seeker after knowledge.
+
+Some records of his schoolboy days are still left us. One is a book
+made and bound by Lincoln himself, in which he had written the table of
+weights and measures, and the sums to be worked out therefrom. This was
+his arithmetic, for he was too poor to own a printed copy.
+
+
+
+
+A YOUTHFUL POET.
+
+On one of the pages of this quaint book he had written these four lines
+of schoolboy doggerel:
+
+     “Abraham Lincoln,
+       His Hand and Pen,
+     He Will be Good,
+       But God knows when.”
+
+The poetic spirit was strong in the young scholar just then for on
+another page of the same book he had written these two verses, which are
+supposed to have been original with him:
+
+     “Time, what an empty vapor ‘tis,
+       And days, how swift they are;
+     Swift as an Indian arrow
+       Fly on like a shooting star.
+
+     The present moment just is here,
+       Then slides away in haste,
+     That we can never say they’re ours,
+       But only say they’re past.”
+
+Another specimen of the poetical, or rhyming ability, is found in the
+following couplet, written by him for his friend, Joseph C. Richardson:
+
+     “Good boys who to their books apply,
+      Will all be great men by and by.”
+
+In all, Lincoln’s “schooling” did not amount to a year’s time, but he
+was a constant student outside of the schoolhouse. He read all the books
+he could borrow, and it was his chief delight during the day to lie
+under the shade of some tree, or at night in front of an open fireplace,
+reading and studying. His favorite books were the Bible and Aesop’s
+fables, which he kept always within reach and read time and again.
+
+The first law book he ever read was “The Statutes of Indiana,” and it
+was from this work that he derived his ambition to be a lawyer.
+
+
+
+
+MADE SPEECHES WHEN A BOY.
+
+When he was but a barefoot boy he would often make political speeches to
+the boys in the neighborhood, and when he had reached young manhood
+and was engaged in the labor of chopping wood or splitting rails
+he continued this practice of speech-making with only the stumps and
+surrounding trees for hearers.
+
+At the age of seventeen he had attained his full height of six feet four
+inches and it was at this time he engaged as a ferry boatman on the Ohio
+river, at thirty-seven cents a day.
+
+That he was seriously beginning to think of public affairs even at
+this early age is shown by the fact that about this time he wrote
+a composition on the American Government, urging the necessity for
+preserving the Constitution and perpetuating the Union. A Rockport
+lawyer, by the name of Pickert, who read this composition, declared that
+“the world couldn’t beat it.”
+
+When the dreaded disease, known as the “milk-sick” created such havoc
+in Indiana in 1829, the father of Abraham Lincoln, who was of a roving
+disposition, sought and found a new home in Illinois, locating near the
+town of Decatur, in Macon county, on a bluff overlooking the Sangamon
+river. A short time thereafter Abraham Lincoln came of age, and having
+done his duty to his father, began life on his own account.
+
+His first employer was a man named Denton Offut, who engaged Lincoln,
+together with his step-brother and John Hanks, to take a boat-load of
+stock and provisions to New Orleans. Offut was so well pleased with the
+energy and skill that Lincoln displayed on this trip that he engaged him
+as clerk in a store which Offut opened a few months later at New Salem.
+
+It was while clerking for Offut that Lincoln performed many of those
+marvelous feats of strength for which he was noted in his youth, and
+displayed his wonderful skill as a wrestler. In addition to being six
+feet four inches high he now weighed two hundred and fourteen pounds.
+And his strength and skill were so great combined that he could
+out-wrestle and out-lift any man in that section of the country.
+
+During his clerkship in Offut’s store Lincoln continued to read and
+study and made considerable progress in grammar and mathematics. Offut
+failed in business and disappeared from the village. In the language of
+Lincoln he “petered out,” and his tall, muscular clerk had to seek other
+employment.
+
+
+
+
+ASSISTANT PILOT ON A STEAMBOAT.
+
+In his first public speech, which had already been delivered, Lincoln
+had contended that the Sangamon river was navigable, and it now fell to
+his lot to assist in giving practical proof of his argument. A steamboat
+had arrived at New Salem from Cincinnati, and Lincoln was hired as an
+assistant in piloting the vessel through the uncertain channel of
+the Sangamon river to the Illinois river. The way was obstructed by
+a milldam. Lincoln insisted to the owners of the dam that under the
+Federal Constitution and laws no one had a right to dam up or obstruct
+a navigable stream and as he had already proved that the Sangamon was
+navigable a portion of the dam was torn away and the boat passed safely
+through.
+
+
+
+
+“CAPTAIN LINCOLN” PLEASED HIM.
+
+At this period in his career the Blackhawk War broke out, and Lincoln
+was one of the first to respond to Governor Reynold’s call for a
+thousand mounted volunteers to assist the United States troops in
+driving Blackhawk back across the Mississippi. Lincoln enlisted in the
+company from Sangamon county and was elected captain. He often remarked
+that this gave him greater pleasure than anything that had happened in
+his life up to this time. He had, however, no opportunities in this war
+to perform any distinguished service.
+
+Upon his return from the Blackhawk War, in which, as he said afterward,
+in a humorous speech, when in Congress, that he “fought, bled and came
+away,” he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Legislature. This was
+the only time in his life, as he himself has said, that he was ever
+beaten by the people. Although defeated, in his own town of New Salem he
+received all of the two hundred and eight votes cast except three.
+
+
+
+
+FAILURE AS A BUSINESS MAN.
+
+Lincoln’s next business venture was with William Berry in a general
+store, under the firm name of Lincoln & Berry, but did not take long
+to show that he was not adapted for a business career. The firm failed,
+Berry died and the debts of the firm fell entirely upon Lincoln. Many of
+these debts he might have escaped legally, but he assumed them all
+and it was not until fifteen years later that the last indebtedness of
+Lincoln & Berry was discharged. During his membership in this firm he
+had applied himself to the study of law, beginning at the beginning,
+that is with Blackstone. Now that he had nothing to do he spent much of
+his time lying under the shade of a tree poring over law books, borrowed
+from a comrade in the Blackhawk War, who was then a practicing lawyer at
+Springfield.
+
+
+
+
+GAINS FAME AS A STORY TELLER.
+
+It was about this time, too, that Lincoln’s fame as a story-teller
+began to spread far and wide. His sayings and his jokes were repeated
+throughout that section of the country, and he was famous as a
+story-teller before anyone ever heard of him as a lawyer or a
+politician.
+
+It required no little moral courage to resist the temptation that beset
+an idle young man on every hand at that time, for drinking and carousing
+were of daily and nightly occurrence. Lincoln never drank intoxicating
+liquors, nor did he at that time use tobacco, but in any sports that
+called for skill or muscle he took a lively interest, even in horse
+races and cock fights.
+
+
+
+
+SURVEYOR WITH NO STRINGS ON HIM.
+
+John Calhoun was at that time surveyor of Sangamon county. He had been
+a lawyer and had noticed the studious Lincoln. Needing an assistant he
+offered the place to Lincoln. The average young man without any regular
+employment and hard-pressed for means to pay his board as Lincoln was,
+would have jumped at the opportunity, but a question of principle was
+involved which had to be settled before Lincoln would accept. Calhoun
+was a Democrat and Lincoln was a Whig, therefore Lincoln said, “I will
+take the office if I can be perfectly free in my political actions, but
+if my sentiments or even expression of them are to be abridged in any
+way, I would not have it or any other office.”
+
+With this understanding he accepted the office and began to study
+books on surveying, furnished him by his employer. He was not a natural
+mathematician, and in working out his most difficult problems he sought
+the assistance of Mentor Graham, a famous schoolmaster in those days,
+who had previously assisted Lincoln in his studies. He soon became a
+competent surveyor, however, and was noted for the accurate way in which
+he ran his lines and located his corners.
+
+Surveying was not as profitable then as it has since become, and the
+young surveyor often had to take his pay in some article other than
+money. One old settler relates that for a survey made for him by Lincoln
+he paid two buckskins, which Hannah Armstrong “foxed” on his pants so
+that the briars would not wear them out.
+
+About this time, 1833, he was made postmaster at New Salem, the first
+Federal office he ever held. Although the postoffice was located in
+a store, Lincoln usually carried the mail around in his hat and
+distributed it to people when he met them.
+
+
+
+
+A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE.
+
+The following year Lincoln again ran for the Legislature, this time as
+an avowed Whig. Of the four successful candidates, Lincoln received the
+second highest number of votes.
+
+When Lincoln went to take his seat in the Legislature at Vandalia he was
+so poor that he was obliged to borrow $200 to buy suitable clothes
+and uphold the dignity of his new position. He took little part in
+the proceedings, keeping in the background, but forming many lasting
+acquaintances and friendships.
+
+Two years later, when he was again a candidate for the same office,
+there were more political issues to be met, and Lincoln met them with
+characteristic honesty and boldness. During the campaign he issued the
+following letter:
+
+“New Salem, June 13, 1836.
+
+“To the Editor of The Journal:
+
+“In your paper of last Saturday I see a communication over the signature
+of ‘Many Voters’ in which the candidates who are announced in the
+journal are called upon to ‘show their hands.’ Agreed. Here’s mine:
+
+“I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in
+bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all whites to
+the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding
+females).
+
+“If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my
+constituents, as well those that oppose as those that support me.
+
+“While acting as their Representative, I shall be governed by their will
+on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will
+is; and upon all others I shall do what my own judgment teaches me
+will best advance their interests. Whether elected or not, I go for
+distributing the proceeds of the sales of public lands to the several
+States to enable our State, in common with others, to dig canals and
+construct railroads without borrowing money and paying the interest on
+it.
+
+“If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for Hugh L.
+White, for President.
+
+“Very respectfully,
+
+“A. LINCOLN.”
+
+This was just the sort of letter to win the support of the plain-spoken
+voters of Sangamon county. Lincoln not only received more votes than
+any other candidate on the Legislative ticket, but the county which had
+always been Democratic was turned Whig.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAMOUS “LONG NINE.”
+
+The other candidates elected with Lincoln were Ninian W. Edwards, John
+Dawson, Andrew McCormick, “Dan” Stone, William F. Elkin, Robert L.
+Wilson, “Joe” Fletcher, and Archer G. Herndon. These were known as the
+“Long Nine.” Their average height was six feet, and average weight two
+hundred pounds.
+
+This Legislature was one of the most famous that ever convened in
+Illinois. Bonds to the amount of $12,000,000 were voted to assist in
+building thirteen hundred miles of railroad, to widen and deepen all the
+streams in the State and to dig a canal from the Illinois river to Lake
+Michigan. Lincoln favored all these plans, but in justice to him it must
+be said that the people he represented were also in favor of them.
+
+It was at this session that the State capital was changed from Vandalia
+to Springfield. Lincoln, as the leader of the “Long Nine,” had charge of
+the bill and after a long and bitter struggle succeeded in passing it.
+
+
+
+
+BEGINS TO OPPOSE SLAVERY.
+
+At this early stage in his career Abraham Lincoln began his opposition
+to slavery which eventually resulted in his giving liberty to four
+million human beings. This Legislature passed the following resolutions
+on slavery:
+
+“Resolved by the General Assembly, of the State of Illinois: That we
+highly disapprove of the formation of Abolition societies and of the
+doctrines promulgated by them.
+
+“That the right of property in slaves is sacred to the slave-holding
+States by the Federal Constitution, and that they cannot be deprived of
+that right without their consent,
+
+“That the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the District of
+Columbia against the consent of the citizens of said district without a
+manifest breach of good faith.”
+
+Against this resolution Lincoln entered a protest, but only succeeded in
+getting one man in the Legislature to sign the protest with him.
+
+The protest was as follows:
+
+“Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both
+branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned
+hereby protest against the passage of the same.
+
+“They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both
+injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of abolition
+doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils.
+
+“They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power under
+the Constitution to interfere with the institution of slavery in the
+different States.
+
+“They believe that the Congress of the United States has the power under
+the Constitution to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but
+that the power ought not to be exercised unless at the request of the
+people of the District.
+
+“The difference between these opinions and those contained in the above
+resolutions is their reason for entering this protest.
+
+“DAN STONE,
+
+“A. LINCOLN,
+
+“Representatives from the county of Sangamon.”
+
+
+
+
+BEGINS TO PRACTICE LAW.
+
+At the end of this session of the Legislature, Mr. Lincoln decided to
+remove to Springfield and practice law. He entered the office of John T.
+Stuart, a former comrade in the Blackhawk War, and in March, 1837, was
+licensed to practice.
+
+Stephen T. Logan was judge of the Circuit Court, and Stephen A. Douglas,
+who was destined to become Lincoln’s greatest political opponent,
+was prosecuting attorney. When Lincoln was not in his law office his
+headquarters were in the store of his friend Joshua F. Speed, in which
+gathered all the youthful orators and statesmen of that day, and where
+many exciting arguments and discussions were held. Lincoln and Douglas
+both took part in the discussion held in Speed’s store. Douglas was
+the acknowledged leader of the Democratic side and Lincoln was rapidly
+coming to the front as a leader among the Whig debaters. One evening in
+the midst of a heated argument Douglas, or “the Little Giant,” as he was
+called, exclaimed:
+
+“This store is no place to talk politics.”
+
+
+
+
+HIS FIRST JOINT DEBATE.
+
+Arrangements were at once made for a joint debate between the leading
+Democrats and Whigs to take place in a local church. The Democrats were
+represented by Douglas, Calhoun, Lamborn and Thomas. The Whig speakers
+were Judge Logan, Colonel E. D. Baker, Mr. Browning and Lincoln. This
+discussion was the forerunner of the famous joint-debate between
+Lincoln and Douglas, which took place some years later and attracted
+the attention of the people throughout the United States. Although Mr.
+Lincoln was the last speaker in the first discussion held, his speech
+attracted more attention than any of the others and added much to his
+reputation as a public debater.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s last campaign for the Legislature was in 1840. In the same
+year he was made an elector on the Harrison presidential ticket, and
+in his canvass of the State frequently met the Democratic champion,
+Douglas, in debate. After 1840 Mr. Lincoln declined re-election to the
+Legislature, but he was a presidential elector on the Whig tickets of
+1844 and 1852, and on the Republican ticket for the State at large in
+1856.
+
+
+
+
+MARRIES A SPRINGFIELD BELLE.
+
+Among the social belles of Springfield was Mary Todd, a handsome and
+cultivated girl of the illustrious descent which could be traced back to
+the sixth century, to whom Mr. Lincoln was married in 1842. Stephen A.
+Douglas was his competitor in love as well as in politics. He courted
+Mary Todd until it became evident that she preferred Mr. Lincoln.
+
+Previous to his marriage Mr. Lincoln had two love affairs, one of them
+so serious that it left an impression upon his whole future life. One
+of the objects of his affection was Miss Mary Owen, of Green county,
+Kentucky, who decided that Mr. Lincoln “was deficient in those little
+links which make up the chain of woman’s happiness.” The affair ended
+without any damage to Mr. Lincoln’s heart or the heart of the lady.
+
+
+
+
+STORY OF ANNE RUTLEDGE.
+
+Lincoln’s first love, however, had a sad termination. The object of his
+affections at that time was Anne Rutledge, whose father was one of the
+founders of New Salem. Like Miss Owen, Miss Rutledge was also born in
+Kentucky, and was gifted with the beauty and graces that distinguish
+many Southern women. At the time that Mr. Lincoln and Anne Rutledge were
+engaged to be married, he thought himself too poor to properly support
+a wife, and they decided to wait until such time as he could better his
+financial condition. A short time thereafter Miss Rutledge was attacked
+with a fatal illness, and her death was such a blow to her intended
+husband that for a long time his friends feared that he would lose his
+mind.
+
+
+
+
+HIS DUEL WITH SHIELDS.
+
+Just previous to his marriage with Mary Todd, Mr. Lincoln was challenged
+to fight a duel by James Shields, then Auditor of State. The challenge
+grew out of some humorous letters concerning Shields, published in a
+local paper. The first of these letters was written by Mr. Lincoln.
+The others by Mary Todd and her sister. Mr. Lincoln acknowledged the
+authorship of the letters without naming the ladies, and agreed to meet
+Shields on the field of honor. As he had the choice of weapons he named
+broadswords, and actually went to the place selected for the duel.
+
+The duel was never fought. Mutual friends got together and patched up an
+understanding between Mr. Lincoln and the hot-headed Irishman.
+
+
+
+
+FORMS NEW PARTNERSHIP.
+
+Before this time Mr. Lincoln had dissolved partnership with Stuart and
+entered into a law partnership with Judge Logan. In 1843 both Lincoln
+and Logan were candidates for nomination for Congress and the personal
+ill-will caused by their rivalry resulted in the dissolution of the
+firm and the formation of a new law firm of Lincoln & Herndon, which
+continued, nominally at least, until Mr. Lincoln’s death.
+
+The congressional nomination, however, went to Edward D. Baker, who
+was elected. Two years later the principal candidates for the Whig
+nomination for Congress were Mr. Lincoln and his former law partner,
+Judge Logan. Party sentiment was so strongly in favor of Lincoln that
+Judge Logan withdrew and Lincoln was nominated unanimously. The campaign
+that followed was one of the most memorable and interesting ever held in
+Illinois.
+
+
+
+
+DEFEATS PETER CARTWRIGHT FOR CONGRESS.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s opponent on the Democratic ticket was no less a person
+than old Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist preacher and circuit
+rider. Cartwright had preached to almost every congregation in the
+district and had a strong following in all the churches. Mr. Lincoln did
+not underestimate the strength of his great rival. He abandoned his law
+business entirely and gave his whole attention to the canvass. This time
+Mr. Lincoln was victorious and was elected by a large majority.
+
+When Lincoln took his seat in Congress, in 1847, he was the only Whig
+member from Illinois. His great political rival, Douglas, was in the
+Senate. The Mexican War had already broken out, which, in common with
+his party, he had opposed. Later in life he was charged with having
+opposed the voting of supplies to the American troops in Mexico, but
+this was a falsehood which he easily disproved. He was strongly
+opposed to the War, but after it was once begun he urged its vigorous
+prosecution and voted with the Democrats on all measures concerning the
+care and pay of the soldiers. His opposition to the War, however, cost
+him a re-election; it cost his party the congressional district, which
+was carried by the Democrats in 1848. Lincoln’s former law partner,
+Judge Logan, secured the Whig nomination that year and was defeated.
+
+
+
+
+MAKES SPEECHES FOR “OLD ZACH.”
+
+In the national convention at Philadelphia, in 1848, Mr. Lincoln was a
+delegate and advocated the nomination of General Taylor.
+
+After the nomination of General Taylor, or “Old Zach,” or “rough and
+Ready,” as he was called, Mr. Lincoln made a tour of New York and
+several New England States, making speeches for his candidate.
+
+Mr. Lincoln went to New England in this campaign on account of the
+great defection in the Whig party. General Taylor’s nomination was
+unsatisfactory to the free-soil element, and such leaders as Henry
+Wilson, Charles Francis Adams, Charles Allen, Charles Sumner, Stephen
+C. Phillips, Richard H. Dana, Jr., and Anson Burlingame, were in open
+revolt. Mr. Lincoln’s speeches were confined largely to a defense of
+General Taylor, but at the same time he denounced the free-soilers for
+helping to elect Cass. Among other things he said that the free-soilers
+had but one principle and that they reminded him of the Yankee peddler
+going to sell a pair of pantaloons and describing them as “large enough
+for any man, and small enough for any boy.”
+
+It is an odd fact in history that the prominent Whigs of Massachusetts
+at that time became the opponents of Mr. Lincoln’s election to the
+presidency and the policy of his administration, while the free-soilers,
+whom he denounced, were among his strongest supporters, advisers and
+followers.
+
+At the second session of Congress Mr. Lincoln’s one act of consequence
+was the introduction of a bill providing for the gradual emancipation
+of the slaves in the District of Columbia. Joshua R. Giddings, the great
+antislavery agitator, and one or two lesser lights supported it, but the
+bill was laid on the table.
+
+After General Taylor’s election Mr. Lincoln had the distribution of
+Federal patronage in his own Congressional district, and this added much
+to his political importance, although it was a ceaseless source of worry
+to him.
+
+
+
+
+DECLINES A HIGH OFFICE.
+
+Just before the close of his term in Congress Mr. Lincoln was an
+applicant for the office of Commissioner of the General Land Office, but
+was unsuccessful. He had been such a factor in General Taylor’s election
+that the administration thought something was due him, and after
+his return to Illinois he was called to Washington and offered the
+Governorship of the Territory of Oregon. It is likely he would have
+accepted this had not Mrs. Lincoln put her foot down with an emphatic
+no.
+
+He declined a partnership with a well-known Chicago lawyer and returning
+to his Springfield home resumed the practice of law.
+
+From this time until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which
+opened the way for the admission of slavery into the territories, Mr.
+Lincoln devoted himself more industriously than ever to the practice of
+law, and during those five years he was probably a greater student than
+he had ever been before. His partner, W. H. Herndon, has told of the
+changes that took place in the courts and in the methods of practice
+while Mr. Lincoln was away.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A LAWYER.
+
+When he returned to active practice he saw at once that the courts
+had grown more learned and dignified and that the bar relied more upon
+method and system and a knowledge of the statute law than upon the stump
+speech method of early days.
+
+Mr. Herndon tells us that Lincoln would lie in bed and read by candle
+light, sometimes until two o’clock in the morning, while his famous
+colleagues, Davis, Logan, Swett, Edwards and Herndon, were soundly and
+sometimes loudly sleeping. He read and reread the statutes and books of
+practice, devoured Shakespeare, who was always a favorite of his, and
+studied Euclid so diligently that he could easily demonstrate all the
+propositions contained in the six books.
+
+Mr. Lincoln detested office work. He left all that to his partner. He
+disliked to draw up legal papers or to write letters. The firm of which
+he was a member kept no books. When either Lincoln or Herndon received
+a fee they divided the money then and there. If his partner were not in
+the office at the time Mr. Lincoln would wrap up half of the fee in a
+sheet of paper, on which he would write, “Herndon’s half,” giving the
+name of the case, and place it in his partner’s desk.
+
+But in court, arguing a case, pleading to the jury and laying down the
+law, Lincoln was in his element. Even when he had a weak case he was a
+strong antagonist, and when he had right and justice on his side, as he
+nearly always had, no one could beat him.
+
+He liked an outdoor life, hence he was fond of riding the circuit. He
+enjoyed the company of other men, liked discussion and argument, loved
+to tell stories and to hear them, laughing as heartily at his own
+stories as he did at those that were told to him.
+
+
+
+
+TELLING STORIES ON THE CIRCUIT.
+
+The court circuit in those days was the scene of many a story-telling
+joust, in which Lincoln was always the chief. Frequently he would sit up
+until after midnight reeling off story after story, each one followed
+by roars of laughter that could be heard all over the country tavern,
+in which the story-telling group was gathered. Every type of character
+would be represented in these groups, from the learned judge on the
+bench down to the village loafer.
+
+Lincoln’s favorite attitude was to sit with his long legs propped up on
+the rail of the stove, or with his feet against the wall, and thus he
+would sit for hours entertaining a crowd, or being entertained.
+
+One circuit judge was so fond of Lincoln’s stories that he often would
+sit up until midnight listening to them, and then declare that he had
+laughed so much he believed his ribs were shaken loose.
+
+The great success of Abraham Lincoln as a trial lawyer was due to a
+number of facts. He would not take a case if he believed that the law
+and justice were on the other side. When he addressed a jury he made
+them feel that he only wanted fair play and justice. He did not talk
+over their heads, but got right down to a friendly tone such as we use
+in ordinary conversation, and talked at them, appealing to their honesty
+and common sense.
+
+And making his argument plain by telling a story or two that brought the
+matter clearly within their understanding.
+
+When he did not know the law in a particular case he never pretended to
+know it. If there were no precedents to cover a case he would state his
+side plainly and fairly; he would tell the jury what he believed was
+right for them to do, and then conclude with his favorite expression,
+“it seems to me that this ought to be the law.”
+
+Some time before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise a lawyer friend
+said to him: “Lincoln, the time is near at hand when we shall have to be
+all Abolitionists or all Democrats.”
+
+“When that time comes my mind is made up,” he replied, “for I believe
+the slavery question never can be compromised.”
+
+
+
+
+THE LION IS AROUSED TO ACTION.
+
+While Lincoln took a mild interest in politics, he was not a candidate
+for office, except as a presidential elector, from the time of leaving
+Congress until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. This repeal
+Legislation was the work of Lincoln’s political antagonist, Stephen A.
+Douglas, and aroused Mr. Lincoln to action as the lion is roused by some
+foe worthy of his great strength and courage.
+
+Mr. Douglas argued that the true intent and meaning of the act was not
+to legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor to exclude it
+therefrom, but to leave the people perfectly free to form and regulate
+their domestic institutions in their own way.
+
+“Douglas’ argument amounts to this,” said Mr. Lincoln, “that if any one
+man chooses to enslave another no third man shall be allowed to object.”
+
+After the adjournment of Congress Mr. Douglas returned to Illinois and
+began to defend his action in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
+His most important speech was made at Springfield, and Mr. Lincoln was
+selected to answer it. That speech alone was sufficient to make Mr.
+Lincoln the leader of anti-Slavery sentiment in the West, and some of
+the men who heard it declared that it was the greatest speech he ever
+made.
+
+With the repeal of the Missouri Compromise the Whig party began to break
+up, the majority of its members who were pronounced Abolitionists began
+to form the nucleus of the Republican party. Before this party was
+formed, however, Mr. Lincoln was induced to follow Douglas around the
+State and reply to him, but after one meeting at Peoria, where they both
+spoke, they entered into an agreement to return to their homes and make
+no more speeches during the campaign.
+
+
+
+
+SEEKS A SEAT IN THE SENATE.
+
+Mr. Lincoln made no secret at this time of his ambition to represent
+Illinois in the United States Senate. Against his protest he was
+nominated and elected to the Legislature, but resigned his seat. His
+old rival, James Shields, with whom he was once near to a duel, was then
+senator, and his term was to expire the following year.
+
+A letter, written by Mr. Lincoln to a friend in Paris, Illinois, at this
+time is interesting and significant. He wrote:
+
+“I have a suspicion that a Whig has been elected to the Legislature from
+Eagar. If this is not so, why, then, ‘nix cum arous;’ but if it is
+so, then could you not make a mark with him for me for United States
+senator? I really have some chance.”
+
+Another candidate besides Mr. Lincoln was seeking the seat in the
+United States Senate, soon to be vacated by Mr. Shields. This was Lyman
+Trumbull, an anti-slavery Democrat. When the Legislature met it was
+found that Mr. Lincoln lacked five votes of an election, while Mr.
+Trumbull had but five supporters. After several ballots Mr. Lincoln
+feared that Trumbull’s votes would be given to a Democratic candidate
+and he determined to sacrifice himself for the principle at stake.
+Accordingly he instructed his friends in the Legislature to vote for
+Judge Trumbull, which they did, resulting in Trumbull’s election.
+
+The Abolitionists in the West had become very radical in their views,
+and did not hesitate to talk of opposing the extension of slavery by
+the use of force if necessary. Mr. Lincoln, on the other hand, was
+conservative and counseled moderation. In the meantime many outrages,
+growing out of the extension of slavery, were being perpetrated on the
+borders of Kansas and Missouri, and they no doubt influenced Mr. Lincoln
+to take a more radical stand against the slavery question.
+
+An incident occurred at this time which had great effect in this
+direction. The negro son of a colored woman in Springfield had gone
+South to work. He was born free, but did not have his free papers with
+him. He was arrested and would have been sold into slavery to pay his
+prison expenses, had not Mr. Lincoln and some friends purchased his
+liberty. Previous to this Mr. Lincoln had tried to secure the boy’s
+release through the Governor of Illinois, but the Governor informed him
+that nothing could be done.
+
+Then it was that Mr. Lincoln rose to his full height and exclaimed:
+
+“Governor, I’ll make the ground in this country too hot for the foot of
+a slave, whether you have the legal power to secure the release of this
+boy or not.”
+
+
+
+
+HELPS TO ORGANIZE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
+
+The year after Mr. Trumbull’s election to the Senate the Republican
+party was formally organized. A state convention of that party was
+called to meet at Bloomington May 29, 1856. The call for this convention
+was signed by many Springfield Whigs, and among the names was that of
+Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln’s name had been signed to the call by his
+law partner, but when he was informed of this action he endorsed it
+fully. Among the famous men who took part in this convention were
+Abraham Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, David Davis, Leonard Swett, Richard
+Yates, Norman, B. Judd and Owen Lovejoy, the Alton editor, whose life,
+like Lincoln’s, finally paid the penalty for his Abolition views. The
+party nominated for Governor, Wm. H. Bissell, a veteran of the Mexican
+War, and adopted a platform ringing with anti-slavery sentiment.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was the greatest power in the campaign that followed. He was
+one of the Fremont Presidential electors, and he went to work with all
+his might to spread the new party gospel and make votes for the old
+“Path-Finder of the Rocky Mountains.”
+
+An amusing incident followed close after the Bloomington convention. A
+meeting was called at Springfield to ratify the action at Bloomington.
+Only three persons attended--Mr. Lincoln, his law partner and a man
+named John Paine. Mr. Lincoln made a speech to his colleagues, in which,
+among other things, he said: “While all seems dead, the age itself is
+not. It liveth as sure as our Maker liveth.”
+
+In this campaign Mr. Lincoln was in general demand not only in his own
+state, but in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin as well.
+
+The result of that Presidential campaign was the election of Buchanan
+as President, Bissell as Governor, leaving Mr. Lincoln the undisputed
+leader of the new party. Hence it was that two years later he was the
+inevitable man to oppose Judge Douglas in the campaign for United States
+Senator.
+
+
+
+
+THE RAIL-SPLITTER vs. THE LITTLE GIANT.
+
+No record of Abraham Lincoln’s career would be complete without the
+story of the memorable joint debates between the “Rail-Splitter of
+the Sangamon Valley” and the “Little Giant.” The opening lines in Mr.
+Lincoln’s speech to the Republican Convention were not only prophetic
+of the coming rebellion, but they clearly made the issue between the
+Republican and Democratic parties for two Presidential campaigns to
+follow. The memorable sentences were as follows:
+
+“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government
+cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect
+the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do
+expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing
+or the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further
+spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief
+that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will
+push it forward till it becomes alike lawful in all the states, old as
+well as new, North as well as South.”
+
+It is universally conceded that this speech contained the most important
+utterances of Mr. Lincoln’s life.
+
+Previous to its delivery, the Democratic convention had endorsed Mr.
+Douglas for re-election to the Senate, and the Republican convention had
+resolved that “Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for
+United States Senator, to fill the vacancy about to be created by the
+expiration of Mr. Douglas’ term of office.”
+
+Before Judge Douglas had made many speeches in this Senatorial campaign,
+Mr. Lincoln challenged him to a joint debate, which was accepted, and
+seven memorable meetings between these two great leaders followed.
+The places and dates were: Ottawa, August 21st; Freeport, August 27th;
+Jonesboro, September 15th; Charleston, September 18th; Galesburg,
+October 7th; Quincy, October 13th; and Alton, October 15th.
+
+The debates not only attracted the attention of the people in the state
+of Illinois, but aroused an interest throughout the whole country equal
+to that of a Presidential election.
+
+
+
+
+WERE LIKE CROWDS AT A CIRCUS.
+
+All the meetings of the joint debate were attended by immense crowds
+of people. They came in all sorts of vehicles, on horseback, and many
+walked weary miles on foot to hear these two great leaders discuss the
+issues of the campaign. There had never been political meetings held
+under such unusual conditions as these, and there probably never will
+be again. At every place the speakers were met by great crowds of their
+friends and escorted to the platforms in the open air where the debates
+were held. The processions that escorted the speakers were most unique.
+They carried flags and banners and were preceded by bands of music. The
+people discharged cannons when they had them, and, when they did not,
+blacksmiths’ anvils were made to take their places.
+
+Oftentimes a part of the escort would be mounted, and in most of the
+processions were chariots containing young ladies representing the
+different states of the Union designated by banners they carried.
+Besides the bands, there was usually vocal music. Patriotic songs were
+the order of the day, the “Star-Spangled Banner” and “Hail Columbia”
+ being great favorites.
+
+So far as the crowds were concerned, these joint debates took on the
+appearance of a circus day, and this comparison was strengthened by the
+sale of lemonade, fruit, melons and confectionery on the outskirts of
+the gatherings.
+
+At Ottawa, after his speech, Mr. Lincoln was carried around on the
+shoulders of his enthusiastic supporters, who did not put him down until
+they reached the place where he was to spend the night.
+
+In the joint debates, each of the candidates asked the other a series
+of questions. Judge Douglas’ replies to Mr. Lincoln’s shrewd questions
+helped Douglas to win the Senatorial election, but they lost him the
+support of the South in the campaign for President two years thereafter.
+Mr. Lincoln was told when he framed his questions that if Douglas
+answered them in the way it was believed he would that the answers would
+make him Senator.
+
+“That may be,” said Mr. Lincoln, “but if he takes that shoot he never
+can be President.”
+
+The prophecy was correct. Mr. Douglas was elected Senator, but two years
+later only carried one state--Missouri--for President.
+
+
+
+
+HIS BUCKEYE CAMPAIGN.
+
+After the close of this canvass, Mr. Lincoln again devoted himself to
+the practice of his profession, but he was destined to remain but a
+short time in retirement. In the fall of 1859 Mr. Douglas went to Ohio
+to stump the state for his friend, Mr. Pugh, the Democratic candidate
+for Governor. The Ohio Republicans at once asked Mr. Lincoln to come to
+the state and reply to the “Little Giant.” He accepted the invitation
+and made two masterly speeches in the campaign. In one of them,
+delivered at Cincinnati, he prophesied the outcome of the rebellion if
+the Southern people attempted to divide the Union by force.
+
+Addressing himself particularly to the Kentuckians in the audience, he
+said:
+
+“I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know, now, when that
+thing takes place, what do you mean to do? I often hear it intimated
+that you mean to divide the Union whenever a Republican, or anything
+like it, is elected President of the United States. [A Voice--“That is
+so.”] ‘That is so,’ one of them says; I wonder if he is a Kentuckian? [A
+Voice--“He is a Douglas man.”] Well, then, I want to know what you are
+going to do with your half of it?
+
+“Are you going to split the Ohio down through, and push your half off
+a piece? Or are you going to keep it right alongside of us outrageous
+fellows? Or are you going to build up a wall some way between your
+country, and ours, by which that movable property of yours can’t come
+over here any more, to the danger of your losing it? Do you think
+you can better yourselves on that subject by leaving us here under no
+obligation whatever to return those specimens of your movable property
+that come hither?
+
+“You have divided the Union because we would not do right with you, as
+you think, upon that subject; when we cease to be under obligations to
+do anything for you, how much better off do you think you will be? Will
+you make war upon us and kill us all? Why, gentlemen, I think you are
+as gallant and as brave men as live; that you can fight as bravely in a
+good cause, man for man, as any other people living; that you have shown
+yourselves capable of this upon various occasions; but, man for man, you
+are not better than we are, and there are not so many of you as there
+are of us.
+
+“You will never make much of a hand at whipping us. If we were fewer in
+numbers than you, I think that you could whip us; if we were equal, it
+would likely be a drawn battle; but, being inferior in numbers, you will
+make nothing by attempting to master us.
+
+“But perhaps I have addressed myself as long, or longer, to the
+Kentuckians than I ought to have done, inasmuch as I have said that,
+whatever course you take, we intend in the end to beat you.”
+
+
+
+
+FIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK.
+
+Later in the year Mr. Lincoln also spoke in Kansas, where he was
+received with great enthusiasm, and in February of the following year
+he made his great speech in Cooper Union, New York, to an immense
+gathering, presided over by William Cullen Bryant, the poet, who was
+then editor of the New York Evening Post. There was great curiosity to
+see the Western rail-splitter who had so lately met the famous “Little
+Giant” of the West in debate, and Mr. Lincoln’s speech was listened to
+by many of the ablest men in the East.
+
+This speech won for him many supporters in the Presidential campaign
+that followed, for his hearers at once recognized his wonderful ability
+to deal with the questions then uppermost in the public mind.
+
+
+
+
+FIRST NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT.
+
+The Republican National Convention of 1860 met in Chicago, May 16, in
+an immense building called the “Wigwam.” The leading candidates for
+President were William H. Seward of New York and Abraham Lincoln of
+Illinois. Among others spoken of were Salmon P. Chase of Ohio and Simon
+Cameron of Pennsylvania.
+
+On the first ballot for President, Mr. Seward received one hundred
+and seventy-three and one-half votes; Mr. Lincoln, one hundred and two
+votes, the others scattering. On the first ballot, Vermont had divided
+her vote, but on the second the chairman of the Vermont delegation
+announced: “Vermont casts her ten votes for the young giant of the
+West--Abraham Lincoln.”
+
+This was the turning point in the convention toward Mr. Lincoln’s
+nomination. The second ballot resulted: Seward, one hundred and
+eighty-four and one-half; Lincoln, one hundred and eighty-one. On the
+third ballot, Mr. Lincoln received two hundred and thirty votes. One and
+one-half votes more would nominate him. Before the ballot was announced,
+Ohio made a change of four votes in favor of Mr. Lincoln, making him the
+nominee for President.
+
+Other states tried to follow Ohio’s example, but it was a long time
+before any of the delegates could make themselves heard. Cannons planted
+on top of the wigwam were roaring and booming; the large crowd in the
+wigwam and the immense throng outside were cheering at the top of their
+lungs, while bands were playing victorious airs.
+
+When order had been restored, it was announced that on the third ballot
+Abraham Lincoln of Illinois had received three hundred and fifty-four
+votes and was nominated by the Republican party to the office of
+President of the United States.
+
+Mr. Lincoln heard the news of his nomination while sitting in a
+newspaper office in Springfield, and hurried home to tell his wife.
+
+As Mr. Lincoln had predicted, Judge Douglas’ position on slavery in the
+territories lost him the support of the South, and when the Democratic
+convention met at Charleston, the slave-holding states forced the
+nomination of John C. Breckinridge. A considerable number of people who
+did not agree with either party nominated John Bell of Tennessee.
+
+In the election which followed, Mr. Lincoln carried all of the free
+states, except New Jersey, which was divided between himself and
+Douglas; Breckinridge carried all the slave states, except Kentucky,
+Tennessee and Virginia, which went for Bell, and Missouri gave its vote
+to Douglas.
+
+
+
+
+FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
+
+The election was scarcely over before it was evident that the Southern
+States did not intend to abide by the result, and that a conspiracy was
+on foot to divide the Union. Before the Presidential election even, the
+Secretary of War in President Buchanan’s Cabinet had removed one hundred
+and fifty thousand muskets from Government armories in the North and
+sent them to Government armories in the South.
+
+Before Mr. Lincoln had prepared his inaugural address, South Carolina,
+which took the lead in the secession movement, had declared through her
+Legislature her separation from the Union. Before Mr. Lincoln took his
+seat, other Southern States had followed the example of South Carolina,
+and a convention had been held at Montgomery, Alabama, which had elected
+Jefferson Davis President of the new Confederacy, and Alexander H.
+Stevens, of Georgia, Vice-President.
+
+Southern men in the Cabinet, Senate and House had resigned their seats
+and gone home, and Southern States were demanding that Southern forts
+and Government property in their section should be turned over to them.
+
+Between his election and inauguration, Mr. Lincoln remained silent,
+reserving his opinions and a declaration of his policy for his inaugural
+address.
+
+Before Mr. Lincoln’s departure from Springfield for Washington, threats
+had been freely made that he would never reach the capital alive, and,
+in fact, a conspiracy was then on foot to take his life in the city of
+Baltimore.
+
+Mr. Lincoln left Springfield on February 11th, in company with his wife
+and three sons, his brother-in-law, Dr. W. S. Wallace; David Davis,
+Norman B. Judd, Elmer E. Elsworth, Ward H. Lamon, Colonel E. V. Sunder
+of the United States Army, and the President’s two secretaries.
+
+
+
+
+GOOD-BYE TO THE OLD FOLK.
+
+Early in February, before leaving for Washington, Mr. Lincoln slipped
+away from Springfield and paid a visit to his aged step-mother in Coles
+county. He also paid a visit to the unmarked grave of his father and
+ordered a suitable stone to mark the spot.
+
+Before leaving Springfield, he made an address to his fellow-townsmen,
+in which he displayed sincere sorrow at parting from them.
+
+“Friends,” he said, “no one who has never been placed in a like position
+can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I
+feel at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have lived
+among you, and during all that time I have received nothing but kindness
+at your hands. Here I have lived from my youth until now I am an old
+man. Here the most sacred ties of earth were assumed. Here all my
+children were born, and here one of them lies buried.
+
+“To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All the
+strange, checkered past seems to crowd now upon my mind. To-day I leave
+you. I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon
+Washington. Unless the great God who assisted him shall be with and aid
+me, I must fail; but if the same omniscient mind and almighty arm that
+directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall not
+fail--I shall succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may
+not forsake us now.
+
+“To Him I commend you all. Permit me to ask that with equal sincerity
+and faith you will invoke His wisdom and guidance for me. With these
+words I must leave you, for how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I
+must now bid you an affectionate farewell.”
+
+The journey from Springfield to Philadelphia was a continuous ovation
+for Mr. Lincoln. Crowds assembled to meet him at the various places
+along the way, and he made them short speeches, full of humor and good
+feeling. At Harrisburg, Pa., the party was met by Allan Pinkerton, who
+knew of the plot in Baltimore to take the life of Mr. Lincoln.
+
+
+
+
+THE “SECRET PASSAGE” TO WASHINGTON.
+
+Throughout his entire life, Abraham Lincoln’s physical courage was as
+great and superb as his moral courage. When Mr. Pinkerton and Mr.
+Judd urged the President-elect to leave for Washington that night, he
+positively refused to do it. He said he had made an engagement to assist
+at a flag raising in the forenoon of the next day and to show himself to
+the people of Harrisburg in the afternoon, and that he intended to keep
+both engagements.
+
+At Philadelphia the Presidential party was met by Mr. Seward’s son,
+Frederick, who had been sent to warn Mr. Lincoln of the plot against his
+life. Mr. Judd, Mr. Pinkerton and Mr. Lamon figured out a plan to take
+Mr. Lincoln through Baltimore between midnight and daybreak, when the
+would-be assassins would not be expecting him, and this plan was carried
+out so thoroughly that even the conductor on the train did not know the
+President-elect was on board.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was put into his berth and the curtains drawn. He was
+supposed to be a sick man. When the conductor came around, Mr. Pinkerton
+handed him the “sick man’s” ticket and he passed on without question.
+
+When the train reached Baltimore, at half-past three o’clock in the
+morning, it was met by one of Mr. Pinkerton’s detectives, who reported
+that everything was “all right,” and in a short time the party was
+speeding on to the national capital, where rooms had been engaged for
+Mr. Lincoln and his guard at Willard’s Hotel.
+
+Mr. Lincoln always regretted this “secret passage” to Washington, for
+it was repugnant to a man of his high courage. He had agreed to the plan
+simply because all of his friends urged it as the best thing to do.
+
+Now that all the facts are known, it is assured that his friends were
+right, and that there never was a moment from the day he crossed the
+Maryland line until his assassination that his life was not in danger,
+and was only saved as long as it was by the constant vigilance of those
+who were guarding him.
+
+
+
+
+HIS ELOQUENT INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
+
+The wonderful eloquence of Abraham Lincoln--clear, sincere,
+natural--found grand expression in his first inaugural address, in which
+he not only outlined his policy toward the States in rebellion, but made
+that beautiful and eloquent plea for conciliation. The closing sentences
+of Mr. Lincoln’s first inaugural address deservedly take rank with his
+Gettysburg speech:
+
+“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen,” he said, “and not
+in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not
+assail you.
+
+“You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You
+have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I
+shall have the most solemn one to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ it.
+
+“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be
+enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds
+of affection.
+
+“The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every battle-field and
+patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad
+land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as
+surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
+
+
+
+
+FOLLOWS PRECEDENT OF WASHINGTON.
+
+In selecting his Cabinet, Mr. Lincoln, consciously or unconsciously,
+followed a precedent established by Washington, of selecting men of
+almost opposite opinions. His Cabinet was composed of William H. Seward
+of New York, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Secretary of
+the Treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon E.
+Welles of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith of
+Indiana, Secretary of the Interior; Montgomery Blair of Maryland,
+Postmaster-General; Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney-General.
+
+Mr. Chase, although an anti-slavery leader, was a States-Rights Federal
+Republican, while Mr. Seward was a Whig, without having connected
+himself with the anti-slavery movement.
+
+Mr. Chase and Mr. Seward, the leading men of Mr. Lincoln’s Cabinet, were
+as widely apart and antagonistic in their views as were Jefferson, the
+Democrat, and Hamilton, the Federalist, the two leaders in Washington’s
+Cabinet. But in bringing together these two strong men as his chief
+advisers, both of whom had been rival candidates for the Presidency, Mr.
+Lincoln gave another example of his own greatness and self-reliance, and
+put them both in a position to render greater service to the Government
+than they could have done, probably, as President.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had been in office little more than five weeks when the War
+of the Rebellion began by the firing on Fort Sumter.
+
+
+
+
+GREATER DIPLOMAT THAN SEWARD.
+
+The War of the Rebellion revealed to the people--in fact, to the whole
+world--the many sides of Abraham Lincoln’s character. It showed him as
+a real ruler of men--not a ruler by the mere power of might, but by
+the power of a great brain. In his Cabinet were the ablest men in the
+country, yet they all knew that Lincoln was abler than any of them.
+
+Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, was a man famed in statesmanship
+and diplomacy. During the early stages of the Civil War, when France
+and England were seeking an excuse to interfere and help the Southern
+Confederacy, Mr. Seward wrote a letter to our minister in London,
+Charles Francis Adams, instructing him concerning the attitude of
+the Federal government on the question of interference, which would
+undoubtedly have brought about a war with England if Abraham Lincoln had
+not corrected and amended the letter. He did this, too, without yielding
+a point or sacrificing in any way his own dignity or that of the
+country.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN A GREAT GENERAL.
+
+Throughout the four years of war, Mr. Lincoln spent a great deal of time
+in the War Department, receiving news from the front and conferring with
+Secretary of War Stanton concerning military affairs.
+
+Mr. Lincoln’s War Secretary, Edwin M. Stanton, who had succeeded
+Simon Cameron, was a man of wonderful personality and iron will. It is
+generally conceded that no other man could have managed the great War
+Secretary so well as Lincoln. Stanton had his way in most matters,
+but when there was an important difference of opinion he always found
+Lincoln was the master.
+
+Although Mr. Lincoln’s communications to the generals in the field
+were oftener in the nature of suggestions than positive orders, every
+military leader recognized Mr. Lincoln’s ability in military operations.
+In the early stages of the war, Mr. Lincoln followed closely every plan
+and movement of McClellan, and the correspondence between them proves
+Mr. Lincoln to have been far the abler general of the two. He kept close
+watch of Burnside, too, and when he gave the command of the Army of the
+Potomac to “Fighting Joe” Hooker he also gave that general some fatherly
+counsel and advice which was of great benefit to him as a commander.
+
+
+
+
+ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN GRANT.
+
+It was not until General Grant had been made Commander-in-Chief that
+President Lincoln felt he had at last found a general who did not
+need much advice. He was the first to recognize that Grant was a great
+military leader, and when he once felt sure of this fact nothing could
+shake his confidence in that general. Delegation after delegation called
+at the White House and asked for Grant’s removal from the head of the
+army. They accused him of being a butcher, a drunkard, a man without
+sense or feeling.
+
+President Lincoln listened to all of these attacks, but he always had
+an apt answer to silence Grant’s enemies. Grant was doing what Lincoln
+wanted done from the first--he was fighting and winning victories, and
+victories are the only things that count in war.
+
+
+
+
+REASONS FOR FREEING THE SLAVES.
+
+The crowning act of Lincoln’s career as President was the emancipation
+of the slaves. All of his life he had believed in gradual emancipation,
+but all of his plans contemplated payment to the slaveholders. While he
+had always been opposed to slavery, he did not take any steps to use it
+as a war measure until about the middle of 1862. His chief object was to
+preserve the Union.
+
+He wrote to Horace Greeley that if he could save the Union without
+freeing any of the slaves he would do it; that if he could save it by
+freeing some and leaving the others in slavery he would do that; that if
+it became necessary to free all the slaves in order to save the Union he
+would take that course.
+
+The anti-slavery men were continually urging Mr. Lincoln to set the
+slaves free, but he paid no attention to their petitions and demands
+until he felt that emancipation would help him to preserve the Union of
+the States.
+
+The outlook for the Union cause grew darker and darker in 1862, and Mr.
+Lincoln began to think, as he expressed it, that he must “change
+his tactics or lose the game.” Accordingly he decided to issue the
+Emancipation Proclamation as soon as the Union army won a substantial
+victory. The battle of Antietam, on September 17, gave him the
+opportunity he sought. He told Secretary Chase that he had made a
+solemn vow before God that if General Lee should be driven back from
+Pennsylvania he would crown the result by a declaration of freedom to
+the slaves.
+
+On the twenty-second of that month he issued a proclamation stating
+that at the end of one hundred days he would issue another proclamation
+declaring all slaves within any State or Territory to be forever free,
+which was done in the form of the famous Emancipation Proclamation.
+
+
+
+
+HARD TO REFUSE PARDONS.
+
+In the conduct of the war and in his purpose to maintain the Union,
+Abraham Lincoln exhibited a will of iron and determination that could
+not be shaken, but in his daily contact with the mothers, wives and
+daughters begging for the life of some soldier who had been condemned to
+death for desertion or sleeping on duty he was as gentle and weak as a
+woman.
+
+It was a difficult matter for him to refuse a pardon if the slightest
+excuse could be found for granting it.
+
+Secretary Stanton and the commanding generals were loud in declaring
+that Mr. Lincoln would destroy the discipline of the army by his
+wholesale pardoning of condemned soldiers, but when we come to examine
+the individual cases we find that Lincoln was nearly always right, and
+when he erred it was always on the side of humanity.
+
+During the four years of the long struggle for the preservation of
+the Union, Mr. Lincoln kept “open shop,” as he expressed it, where
+the general public could always see him and make known their wants and
+complaints. Even the private soldier was not denied admittance to the
+President’s private office, and no request or complaint was too small or
+trivial to enlist his sympathy and interest.
+
+
+
+
+A FUN-LOVING AND HUMOR-LOVING MAN.
+
+It was once said of Shakespeare that the great mind that conceived the
+tragedies of “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” etc., would have lost its reason if it
+had not found vent in the sparkling humor of such comedies as “The Merry
+Wives of Windsor” and “The Comedy of Errors.”
+
+The great strain on the mind of Abraham Lincoln produced by four years
+of civil war might likewise have overcome his reason had it not found
+vent in the yarns and stories he constantly told. No more fun-loving or
+humor-loving man than Abraham Lincoln ever lived. He enjoyed a joke
+even when it was on himself, and probably, while he got his greatest
+enjoyment from telling stories, he had a keen appreciation of the humor
+in those that were told him.
+
+His favorite humorous writer was David R. Locke, better known as
+“Petroleum V. Nasby,” whose political satires were quite famous in their
+day. Nearly every prominent man who has written his recollections of
+Lincoln has told how the President, in the middle of a conversation on
+some serious subject, would suddenly stop and ask his hearer if he ever
+read the Nasby letters.
+
+Then he would take from his desk a pamphlet containing the letters and
+proceed to read them, laughing heartily at all the good points they
+contained. There is probably no better evidence of Mr. Lincoln’s love of
+humor and appreciation of it than his letter to Nasby, in which he said:
+“For the ability to write these things I would gladly trade places with
+you.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864. His opponent on the
+Democratic ticket was General George B. McClellan, whose command of the
+Army of the Potomac had been so unsatisfactory at the beginning of the
+war. Mr. Lincoln’s election was almost unanimous, as McClellan carried
+but three States--Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey.
+
+General Grant, in a telegram of congratulation, said that it was “a
+victory worth more to the country than a battle won.”
+
+The war was fast drawing to a close. The black war clouds were breaking
+and rolling away. Sherman had made his famous march to the sea.
+Through swamp and ravine, Grant was rapidly tightening the lines
+around Richmond. Thomas had won his title of the “Rock of Chickamauga.”
+ Sheridan had won his spurs as the great modern cavalry commander, and
+had cleaned out the Shenandoah Valley. Sherman was coming back from his
+famous march to join Grant at Richmond.
+
+The Confederacy was without a navy. The Kearsarge had sunk the Alabama,
+and Farragut had fought and won the famous victory in Mobile Bay. It was
+certain that Lee would soon have to evacuate Richmond only to fall into
+the hands of Grant.
+
+Lincoln saw the dawn of peace. When he came to deliver his second
+inaugural address, it contained no note of victory, no exultation over
+a fallen foe. On the contrary, it breathed the spirit of brotherly love
+and of prayer for an early peace: “With malice toward none, with charity
+for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right,
+let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to
+care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his
+orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting
+peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
+
+Not long thereafter, General Lee evacuated Richmond with about half of
+his original army, closely pursued by Grant. The boys in blue overtook
+their brothers in gray at Appomattox Court House, and there, beneath the
+warm rays of an April sun, the great Confederate general made his final
+surrender. The war was over, the American flag was floated over all the
+territory of the United States, and peace was now a reality. Mr. Lincoln
+visited Richmond and the final scenes of the war and then returned to
+Washington to carry out his announced plan of “binding up the nation’s
+wounds.”
+
+He had now reached the climax of his career and touched the highest
+point of his greatness. His great task was over, and the heavy burden
+that had so long worn upon his heart was lifted.
+
+While the whole nation was rejoicing over the return of peace, the
+Saviour of the Union was stricken down by the hand of an assassin.
+
+
+
+
+WARNINGS OF HIS TRAGIC DEATH.
+
+From early youth, Mr. Lincoln had presentiments that he would die a
+violent death, or, rather, that his final days would be marked by
+some great tragic event. From the time of his first election to the
+Presidency, his closest friends had tried to make him understand that
+he was in constant danger of assassination, but, notwithstanding his
+presentiments, he had such splendid courage that he only laughed at
+their fears.
+
+During the summer months he lived at the Soldiers’ Home, some miles from
+Washington, and frequently made the trip between the White House and the
+Home without a guard or escort. Secretary of War Stanton and Ward
+Lamon, Marshal of the District, were almost constantly alarmed over
+Mr. Lincoln’s carelessness in exposing himself to the danger of
+assassination.
+
+They warned him time and again, and provided suitable body-guards to
+attend him. But Mr. Lincoln would often give the guards the slip, and,
+mounting his favorite riding horse, “Old Abe,” would set out alone after
+dark from the White House for the Soldiers’ Home.
+
+While riding to the Home one night, he was fired upon by some one in
+ambush, the bullet passing through his high hat. Mr. Lincoln would not
+admit that the man who fired the shot had tried to kill him. He always
+attributed it to an accident, and begged his friends to say nothing
+about it.
+
+Now that all the circumstances of the assassination are known, it is
+plain that there was a deep-laid and well-conceived plot to kill Mr.
+Lincoln long before the crime was actually committed. When Mr. Lincoln
+was delivering his second inaugural address on the steps of the Capitol,
+an excited individual tried to force his way through the guards in the
+building to get on the platform with Mr. Lincoln.
+
+It was afterward learned that this man was John Wilkes Booth, who
+afterwards assassinated Mr. Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre, on the night of
+the 14th of April.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AT THE THEATRE.
+
+The manager of the theatre had invited the President to witness a
+performance of a new play known as “Our American Cousin,” in which the
+famous actress, Laura Keane, was playing. Mr. Lincoln was particularly
+fond of the theatre. He loved Shakespeare’s plays above all others and
+never missed a chance to see the leading Shakespearean actors.
+
+As “Our American Cousin” was a new play, the President did not care
+particularly to see it, but as Mrs. Lincoln was anxious to go, he
+consented and accepted the invitation.
+
+General Grant was in Washington at the time, and as he was extremely
+anxious about the personal safety of the President, he reported every
+day regularly at the White House. Mr. Lincoln invited General Grant and
+his wife to accompany him and Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre on the night
+of the assassination, and the general accepted, but while they were
+talking he received a note from Mrs. Grant saying that she wished to
+leave Washington that evening to visit her daughter in Burlington.
+General Grant made his excuses to the President and left to accompany
+Mrs. Grant to the railway station. It afterwards became known that it
+was also a part of the plot to assassinate General Grant, and only Mrs.
+Grant’s departure from Washington that evening prevented the attempt
+from being made.
+
+General Grant afterwards said that as he and Mrs. Grant were riding
+along Pennsylvania avenue to the railway station a horseman rode rapidly
+by at a gallop, and, wheeling his horse, rode back, peering into their
+carriage as he passed.
+
+Mrs. Grant remarked to the general: “That is the very man who sat near
+us at luncheon to-day and tried to overhear our conversation. He was so
+rude, you remember, as to cause us to leave the dining-room. Here he is
+again, riding after us.”
+
+General Grant attributed the action of the man to idle curiosity, but
+learned afterward that the horseman was John Wilkes Booth.
+
+
+
+
+LAMON’S REMARKABLE REQUEST.
+
+Probably one reason why Mr. Lincoln did not particularly care to go to
+the theatre that night was a sort of half promise he had made to his
+friend and bodyguard, Marshal Lamon. Two days previous he had sent
+Lamon to Richmond on business connected with a call of a convention for
+reconstruction. Before leaving, Mr. Lamon saw Mr. Usher, the Secretary
+of the Interior, and asked him to persuade Mr. Lincoln to use more
+caution about his personal safety, and to go out as little as possible
+while Lamon was absent. Together they went to see Mr. Lincoln, and Lamon
+asked the President if he would make him a promise.
+
+“I think I can venture to say I will,” said Mr. Lincoln. “What is it?”
+
+“Promise me that you will not go out after night while I am gone,” said
+Mr. Lamon, “particularly to the theatre.”
+
+Mr. Lincoln turned to Mr. Usher and said: “Usher, this boy is a
+monomaniac on the subject of my safety. I can hear him or hear of
+his being around at all times in the night, to prevent somebody from
+murdering me. He thinks I shall be killed, and we think he is going
+crazy. What does any one want to assassinate me for? If any one wants to
+do so, he can do it any day or night if he is ready to give his life for
+mine. It is nonsense.”
+
+Mr. Usher said to Mr. Lincoln that it was well to heed Lamon’s warning,
+as he was thrown among people from whom he had better opportunities to
+know about such matters than almost any one.
+
+“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln to Lamon, “I promise to do the best I can
+toward it.”
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN WAS MURDERED.
+
+The assassination of President Lincoln was most carefully planned, even
+to the smallest detail. The box set apart for the President’s party was
+a double one in the second tier at the left of the stage. The box had
+two doors with spring locks, but Booth had loosened the screws with
+which they were fastened so that it was impossible to secure them from
+the inside. In one door he had bored a hole with a gimlet, so that he
+could see what was going on inside the box.
+
+An employee of the theatre by the name of Spangler, who was an
+accomplice of the assassin, had even arranged the seats in the box to
+suit the purposes of Booth.
+
+On the fateful night the theatre was packed. The Presidential party
+arrived a few minutes after nine o’clock, and consisted of the President
+and Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Harris and Major Rathbone, daughter and stepson
+of Senator Harris of New York. The immense audience rose to its feet and
+cheered the President as he passed to his box.
+
+Booth came into the theatre about ten o’clock. He had not only, planned
+to kill the President, but he had also planned to escape into Maryland,
+and a swift horse, saddled and ready for the journey, was tied in the
+rear of the theatre. For a few minutes he pretended to be interested in
+the performance, and then gradually made his way back to the door of the
+President’s box.
+
+Before reaching there, however, he was confronted by one of the
+President’s messengers, who had been stationed at the end of the passage
+leading to the boxes to prevent any one from intruding. To this man
+Booth handed a card saying that the President had sent for him, and was
+permitted to enter.
+
+Once inside the hallway leading to the boxes, he closed the hall door
+and fastened it by a bar prepared for the occasion, so that it was
+impossible to open it from without. Then he quickly entered the box
+through the right-hand door. The President was sitting in an easy
+armchair in the left-hand corner of the box nearest the audience. He
+was leaning on one hand and with the other had hold of a portion of the
+drapery. There was a smile on his face. The other members of the party
+were intently watching the performance on the stage.
+
+The assassin carried in his right hand a small silver-mounted derringer
+pistol and in his left a long double-edged dagger. He placed the pistol
+just behind the President’s left ear and fired.
+
+Mr. Lincoln bent slightly forward and his eyes closed, but in every
+other respect his attitude remained unchanged.
+
+The report of the pistol startled Major Rathbone, who sprang to his
+feet. The murderer was then about six feet from the President, and
+Rathbone grappled with him, but was shaken off. Dropping his pistol,
+Booth struck at Rathbone with the dagger and inflicted a severe wound.
+The assassin then placed his left hand lightly on the railing of the box
+and jumped to the stage, eight or nine feet below.
+
+
+
+
+BOOTH BRANDISHES HIS DAGGER AND ESCAPES.
+
+The box was draped with the American flag, and, in jumping, Booth’s
+spurs caught in the folds, tearing down the flag, the assassin falling
+heavily to the stage and spraining his ankle. He arose, however, and
+walked theatrically across the stage, brandished his knife and shouted,
+“Sic semper tyrannis!” and then added, “The South is avenged.”
+
+For the moment the audience was horrified and incapable of action. One
+man only, a lawyer named Stuart, had sufficient presence of mind to leap
+upon the stage and attempt to capture the assassin. Booth went to the
+rear door of the stage, where his horse was held in readiness for
+him, and, leaping into the saddle, dashed through the streets toward
+Virginia. Miss Keane rushed to the President’s box with water and
+stimulants, and medical aid was summoned.
+
+By this time the audience realized the tragedy that had been enacted,
+and then followed a scene such as has never been witnessed in any public
+gathering in this country. Women wept, shrieked and fainted; men raved
+and swore, and horror was depicted on every face. Before the audience
+could be gotten out of the theatre, horsemen were dashing through the
+streets and the telegraph was carrying the terrible details of the
+tragedy throughout the nation.
+
+
+
+
+WALT WHITMAN’S DESCRIPTION.
+
+Walt Whitman, the poet, has sketched in graphic language the scenes of
+that most eventful fourteenth of April. His account of the assassination
+has become historic, and is herewith given:
+
+“The day (April 14, 1865) seems to have been a pleasant one throughout
+the whole land--the moral atmosphere pleasant, too--the long storm, so
+dark, so fratricidal, full of blood and doubt and gloom, over and ended
+at last by the sunrise of such an absolute national victory, and utter
+breaking down of secessionism--we almost doubted our senses! Lee had
+capitulated, beneath the apple tree at Appomattox. The other armies, the
+flanges of the revolt, swiftly followed.
+
+“And could it really be, then? Out of all the affairs of this world of
+woe and passion, of failure and disorder and dismay, was there really
+come the confirmed, unerring sign of peace, like a shaft of pure
+light--of rightful rule--of God?
+
+“But I must not dwell on accessories. The deed hastens. The popular
+afternoon paper, the little Evening Star, had scattered all over its
+third page, divided among the advertisements in a sensational manner in
+a hundred different places:
+
+“‘The President and his lady will be at the theatre this evening.’
+
+“Lincoln was fond of the theatre. I have myself seen him there several
+times. I remember thinking how funny it was that he, the leading actor
+in the greatest and stormiest drama known to real history’s stage,
+through centuries, should sit there and be so completely interested in
+those human jackstraws, moving about with their silly little gestures,
+foreign spirit, and flatulent text.
+
+“So the day, as I say, was propitious. Early herbage, early flowers,
+were out. I remember where I was stopping at the time, the season being
+advanced, there were many lilacs in full bloom.
+
+“By one of those caprices that enter and give tinge to events without
+being a part of them, I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy
+of this day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never fails.
+
+“On this occasion the theatre was crowded, many ladies in rich and gay
+costumes, officers in their uniforms, many well-known citizens, young
+folks, the usual cluster of gas lights, the usual magnetism of so many
+people, cheerful with perfumes, music of violins and flutes--and over
+all, that saturating, that vast, vague wonder, Victory, the nation’s
+victory, the triumph of the Union, filling the air, the thought, the
+sense, with exhilaration more than all the perfumes.
+
+“The President came betimes, and, with his wife, witnessed the play
+from the large stage boxes of the second tier, two thrown into one,
+and profusely draped with the national flag. The acts and scenes of the
+piece--one of those singularly witless compositions which have at the
+least the merit of giving entire relief to an audience engaged in mental
+action or business excitements and cares during the day, as it makes not
+the slightest call on either the moral, emotional, esthetic or
+spiritual nature--a piece in which among other characters, so called, a
+Yankee--certainly such a one as was never seen, or at least like it
+ever seen in North America, is introduced in England, with a varied
+fol-de-rol of talk, plot, scenery, and such phantasmagoria as goes to
+make up a modern popular drama--had progressed perhaps through a couple
+of its acts, when, in the midst of this comedy, or tragedy, or non-such,
+or whatever it is to be called, and to offset it, or finish it out, as
+if in Nature’s and the Great Muse’s mockery of these poor mimics, comes
+interpolated that scene, not really or exactly to be described at all
+(for on the many hundreds who were there it seems to this hour to have
+left little but a passing blur, a dream, a blotch)--and yet partially
+described as I now proceed to give it:
+
+“There is a scene in the play, representing the modern parlor, in
+which two unprecedented ladies are informed by the unprecedented
+and impossible Yankee that he is not a man of fortune, and therefore
+undesirable for marriage-catching purposes; after which, the comments
+being finished, the dramatic trio make exit, leaving the stage clear for
+a moment.
+
+“There was a pause, a hush, as it were. At this period came the death of
+Abraham Lincoln.
+
+“Great as that was, with all its manifold train circling around it, and
+stretching into the future for many a century, in the politics, history,
+art, etc., of the New World, in point of fact, the main thing, the
+actual murder, transpired with the quiet and simplicity of any commonest
+occurrence--the bursting of a bud or pod in the growth of vegetation,
+for instance.
+
+“Through the general hum following the stage pause, with the change
+of positions, etc., came the muffled sound of a pistol shot, which not
+one-hundredth part of the audience heard at the time--and yet a moment’s
+hush--somehow, surely a vague, startled thrill--and then, through the
+ornamented, draperied, starred and striped space-way of the President’s
+box, a sudden figure, a man, raises himself with hands and feet,
+stands a moment on the railing, leaps below to the stage, falls out of
+position, catching his boot heel in the copious drapery (the American
+flag), falls on one knee, quickly recovers himself, rises as if nothing
+had happened (he really sprains his ankle, unfelt then)--and the figure,
+Booth, the murderer, dressed in plain black broadcloth, bareheaded, with
+a full head of glossy, raven hair, and his eyes, like some mad animal’s,
+flashing with light and resolution, yet with a certain strange calmness
+holds aloft in one hand a large knife--walks along not much back of the
+footlights--turns fully towards the audience, his face of statuesque
+beauty, lit by those basilisk eyes, flashing with desperation, perhaps
+insanity--launches out in a firm and steady voice the words, ‘Sic
+semper tyrannis’--and then walks with neither slow nor very rapid pace
+diagonally across to the back of the stage, and disappears.
+
+“(Had not all this terrible scene--making the mimic ones
+preposterous--had it not all been rehearsed, in blank, by Booth,
+beforehand?)
+
+“A moment’s hush, incredulous--a scream--a cry of murder--Mrs. Lincoln
+leaning out of the box, with ashy cheeks and lips, with involuntary cry,
+pointing to the retreating figure, ‘He has killed the President!’
+
+“And still a moment’s strange, incredulous suspense--and then the
+deluge!--then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty--the sound,
+somewhere back, of a horse’s hoofs clattering with speed--the people
+burst through chairs and railings, and break them up--that noise adds
+to the queerness of the scene--there is inextricable confusion and
+terror--women faint--quite feeble persons fall, and are trampled
+on--many cries of agony are heard--the broad stage suddenly fills
+to suffocation with a dense and motley crowd, like some horrible
+carnival--the audience rush generally upon it--at least the strong
+men do--the actors and actresses are there in their play costumes
+and painted faces, with mortal fright showing through the
+rouge--some trembling, some in tears--the screams and calls, confused
+talk--redoubled, trebled--two or three manage to pass up water from the
+stage to the President’s box, others try to clamber up, etc., etc.
+
+“In the midst of all this the soldiers of the President’s Guard,
+with others, suddenly drawn to the scene, burst in--some two hundred
+altogether--they storm the house, through all the tiers, especially the
+upper ones--inflamed with fury, literally charging the audience with
+fixed bayonets, muskets and pistols, shouting, ‘Clear out! clear out!’
+
+“Such a wild scene, or a suggestion of it, rather, inside the playhouse
+that night!
+
+“Outside, too, in the atmosphere of shock and craze, crowds of people
+filled with frenzy, ready to seize any outlet for it, came near
+committing murder several times on innocent individuals.
+
+“One such case was particularly exciting. The infuriated crowd, through
+some chance, got started against one man, either for words he uttered,
+or perhaps without any cause at all, and were proceeding to hang him
+at once to a neighboring lamp-post, when he was rescued by a few heroic
+policemen, who placed him in their midst and fought their way slowly and
+amid great peril toward the station-house.
+
+“It was a fitting episode of the whole affair. The crowd rushing
+and eddying to and fro, the night, the yells, the pale faces, many
+frightened people trying in vain to extricate themselves, the attacked
+man, not yet freed from the jaws of death, looking like a corpse; the
+silent, resolute half-dozen policemen, with no weapons but their little
+clubs, yet stern and steady through all those eddying swarms, made,
+indeed, a fitting side scene to the grand tragedy of the murder. They
+gained the station-house with the protected man, whom they placed in
+security for the night, and discharged in the morning.
+
+“And in the midst of that night pandemonium of senseless hate,
+infuriated soldiers, the audience and the crowd--the stage, and all
+its actors and actresses, its paint pots, spangles, gas-light--the
+life-blood from those veins, the best and sweetest of the land, drips
+slowly down, and death’s ooze already begins its little bubbles on the
+lips.
+
+“Such, hurriedly sketched, were the accompaniments of the death of
+President Lincoln. So suddenly, and in murder and horror unsurpassed, he
+was taken from us. But his death was painless.”
+
+The assassin’s bullet did not produce instant death, but the President
+never again became conscious. He was carried to a house opposite the
+theatre, where he died the next morning. In the meantime the authorities
+had become aware of the wide-reaching conspiracy, and the capital was in
+a state of terror.
+
+On the night of the President’s assassination, Mr. Seward, Secretary
+of State, was attacked while in bed with a broken arm, by Booth’s
+fellow-conspirators, and badly wounded.
+
+The conspirators had also planned to take the lives of Vice-President
+Johnson and Secretary Stanton. Booth had called on Vice-President
+Johnson the day before, and, not finding him in, left a card.
+
+Secretary Stanton acted with his usual promptness and courage. During
+the period of excitement he acted as President, and directed the plans
+for the capture of Booth.
+
+Among other things, he issued the following reward:
+
+REWARD OFFERED BY SECRETARY STANTON. War Department, Washington, April
+20, 1865. Major-General John A. Dix, New York:
+
+The murderer of our late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is still at
+large. Fifty thousand dollars reward will be paid by this Department
+for his apprehension, in addition to any reward offered by municipal
+authorities or State Executives.
+
+Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the apprehension
+of G. W. Atzerodt, sometimes called “Port Tobacco,” one of Booth’s
+accomplices. Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the
+apprehension of David C. Herold, another of Booth’s accomplices.
+
+A liberal reward will be paid for any information that shall conduce to
+the arrest of either the above-named criminals or their accomplices.
+
+All persons harboring or secreting the said persons, or either of them,
+or aiding or assisting their concealment or escape, will be treated
+as accomplices in the murder of the President and the attempted
+assassination of the Secretary of State, and shall be subject to trial
+before a military commission, and the punishment of death.
+
+Let the stain of innocent blood be removed from the land by the arrest
+and punishment of the murderers.
+
+All good citizens are exhorted to aid public justice on this occasion.
+Every man should consider his own conscience charged with this solemn
+duty, and rest neither night nor day until it be accomplished.
+
+EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
+
+
+
+
+BOOTH FOUND IN A BARN.
+
+Booth, accompanied by David C. Herold, a fellow-conspirator, finally
+made his way into Maryland, where eleven days after the assassination
+the two were discovered in a barn on Garrett’s farm near Port Royal on
+the Rappahannock. The barn was surrounded by a squad of cavalrymen, who
+called upon the assassins to surrender. Herold gave himself up and was
+roundly cursed and abused by Booth, who declared that he would never be
+taken alive.
+
+The cavalrymen then set fire to the barn and as the flames leaped up the
+figure of the assassin could be plainly seen, although the wall of fire
+prevented him from seeing the soldiers. Colonel Conger saw him standing
+upright upon a crutch with a carbine in his hands.
+
+When the fire first blazed up Booth crept on his hands and knees to the
+spot, evidently for the purpose of shooting the man who had applied the
+torch, but the blaze prevented him from seeing anyone. Then it seemed
+as if he were preparing to extinguish the flames, but seeing the
+impossibility of this he started toward the door with his carbine held
+ready for action.
+
+His eyes shone with the light of fever, but he was pale as death and
+his general appearance was haggard and unkempt. He had shaved off his
+mustache and his hair was closely cropped. Both he and Herold wore the
+uniforms of Confederate soldiers.
+
+
+
+
+BOOTH SHOT BY “BOSTON” CORBETT.
+
+The last orders given to the squad pursuing Booth were: “Don’t shoot
+Booth, but take him alive.” Just as Booth started to the door of the
+barn this order was disobeyed by a sergeant named Boston Corbett, who
+fired through a crevice and shot Booth in the neck. The wounded man was
+carried out of the barn and died four hours afterward on the grass where
+they had laid him. Before he died he whispered to Lieutenant Baker,
+“Tell mother I died for my country; I thought I did for the best.” What
+became of Booth’s body has always been and probably always will be a
+mystery. Many different stories have been told concerning his final
+resting place, but all that is known positively is that the body was
+first taken to Washington and a post-mortem examination of it held on
+the Monitor Montauk. On the night of April 27th it was turned over to
+two men who took it in a rowboat and disposed of it secretly. How they
+disposed of it none but themselves know and they have never told.
+
+
+
+
+FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS.
+
+The conspiracy to assassinate the President involved altogether
+twenty-five people. Among the number captured and tried were David
+C. Herold, G. W. Atzerodt, Louis Payne, Edward Spangler, Michael
+O’Loughlin, Samuel Arnold, Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd, a
+physician, who set Booth’s leg, which was sprained by his fall from
+the stage box. Of these Herold, Atzerodt, Payne and Mrs. Surratt were
+hanged. Dr. Mudd was deported to the Dry Tortugas. While there an
+epidemic of yellow fever broke out and he rendered such good service
+that he was granted a pardon and died a number of years ago in Maryland.
+
+John Surratt, the son of the woman who was hanged, made his escape to
+Italy, where he became one of the Papal guards in the Vatican at Rome.
+His presence there was discovered by Archbishop Hughes, and, although
+there were no extradition laws to cover his case, the Italian Government
+gave him up to the United States authorities.
+
+He had two trials. At the first the jury disagreed; the long delay
+before his second trial allowed him to escape by pleading the statute
+of limitation. Spangler and O’Loughlin were sent to the Dry Tortugas and
+served their time.
+
+Ford, the owner of the theatre in which the President was assassinated,
+was a Southern sympathizer, and when he attempted to re-open his theatre
+after the great national tragedy, Secretary Stanton refused to allow
+it. The Government afterward bought the theatre and turned it into a
+National museum.
+
+President Lincoln was buried at Springfield, and on the day of his
+funeral there was universal grief.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY WARD BEECHER’S EULOGY.
+
+No final words of that great life can be more fitly spoken than the
+eulogy pronounced by Henry Ward Beecher:
+
+“And now the martyr is moving in triumphal march, mightier than when
+alive. The nation rises up at every stage of his coming. Cities and
+States are his pall-bearers, and the cannon speaks the hours with solemn
+progression. Dead, dead, dead, he yet speaketh.
+
+“Is Washington dead? Is Hampden dead? Is any man that was ever fit to
+live dead? Disenthralled of flesh, risen to the unobstructed sphere
+where passion never comes, he begins his illimitable work. His life is
+now grafted upon the infinite, and will be fruitful as no earthly life
+can be.
+
+“Pass on, thou that hast overcome. Ye people, behold the martyr whose
+blood, as so many articulate words, pleads for fidelity, for law, for
+liberty.”
+
+
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S FAMILY.
+
+Abraham Lincoln was married on November 4, 1842, to Miss Mary Todd, four
+sons being the issue of the union.
+
+Robert Todd, born August 1, 1843, removed to Chicago after his father’s
+death, practiced law, and became wealthy; in 1881 he was appointed
+Secretary of War by President Garfield, and served through President
+Arthur’s term; was made Minister to England in 1889, and served four
+years; became counsel for the Pullman Palace Car Company, and succeeded
+to the presidency of that corporation upon the death of George M.
+Pullman.
+
+Edward Baker, born March 10, 1846, died in infancy.
+
+William Wallace, born December 21, 1850, died in the White House in
+February, 1862.
+
+Thomas (known as “Tad”), born April 4, 1853, died in 1871.
+
+Mrs. Lincoln died in her sixty-fourth year at the home of her sister,
+Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards, at Springfield, Illinois, in 1882. She was the
+daughter of Robert S. Todd, of Kentucky. Her great-uncle, John Todd, and
+her grandfather, Levi Todd, accompanied General George Rogers Clark to
+Illinois, and were present at the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes.
+In December, 1778, John Todd was appointed by Patrick Henry, Governor
+of Virginia, to be lieutenant of the County of Illinois, then a part of
+Virginia. Colonel John Todd was one of the original proprietors of the
+town of Lexington, Kentucky. While encamped on the site of the present
+city, he heard of the opening battle of the Revolution, and named his
+infant settlement in its honor.
+
+Mrs. Lincoln was a proud, ambitious woman, well-educated, speaking
+French fluently, and familiar with the ways of the best society in
+Lexington, Kentucky, where she was born December 13, 1818. She was a
+pupil of Madame Mantelli, whose celebrated seminary in Lexington was
+directly opposite the residence of Henry Clay. The conversation at the
+seminary was carried on entirely in French.
+
+She visited Springfield, Illinois, in 1837, remained three months and
+then returned to her native State. In 1839 she made Springfield her
+permanent home. She lived with her eldest sister, Elizabeth, wife of
+Ninian W. Edwards, Lincoln’s colleague in the Legislature, and it was
+not strange she and Lincoln should meet. Stephen A. Douglas was also
+a friend of the Edwards family, and a suitor for her hand, but she
+rejected him to accept the future President. She was one of the belles
+of the town.
+
+She is thus described at the time she made her home in
+Springfield--1839:
+
+“She was of the average height, weighing about a hundred and thirty
+pounds. She was rather compactly built, had a well rounded face, rich
+dark-brown hair, and bluish-gray eyes. In her bearing she was proud,
+but handsome and vivacious; she was a good conversationalist, using with
+equal fluency the French and English languages.
+
+“When she used a pen, its point was sure to be sharp, and she wrote with
+wit and ability. She not only had a quick intellect but an intuitive
+judgment of men and their motives. Ordinarily she was affable and even
+charming in her manners; but when offended or antagonized she could be
+very bitter and sarcastic.
+
+“In her figure and physical proportions, in education, bearing,
+temperament, history--in everything she was the exact reverse of
+Lincoln.”
+
+That Mrs. Lincoln was very proud of her husband there is no doubt; and
+it is probable that she married him largely from motives of ambition.
+She knew Lincoln better than he knew himself; she instinctively felt
+that he would occupy a proud position some day, and it is a matter of
+record that she told Ward Lamon, her husband’s law partner, that “Mr.
+Lincoln will yet be President of the United States.”
+
+Mrs. Lincoln was decidedly pro-slavery in her views, but this never
+disturbed Lincoln. In various ways they were unlike. Her fearless,
+witty, and austere nature had nothing in common with the calm,
+imperturbable, and simple ways of her thoughtful and absent-minded
+husband. She was bright and sparkling in conversation, and fit to grace
+any drawing-room. She well knew that to marry Lincoln meant not a life
+of luxury and ease, for Lincoln was not a man to accumulate wealth; but
+in him she saw position in society, prominence in the world, and the
+grandest social distinction. By that means her ambition was certainly
+satisfied, for nineteen years after her marriage she was “the first lady
+of the land,” and the mistress of the White House.
+
+After his marriage, by dint of untiring efforts and the recognition of
+influential friends, the couple managed through rare frugality to move
+along.
+
+In Lincoln’s struggles, both in the law and for political advancement,
+his wife shared his sacrifices. She was a plucky little woman, and in
+fact endowed with a more restless ambition than he. She was gifted with
+a rare insight into the motives that actuate mankind, and there is no
+doubt that much of Lincoln’s success was in a measure attributable to
+her acuteness and the stimulus of her influence.
+
+His election to Congress within four years after their marriage afforded
+her extreme gratification. She loved power and prominence, and was
+inordinately proud of her tall and ungainly husband. She saw in him
+bright prospects ahead, and his every move was watched by her with the
+closest interest. If to other persons he seemed homely, to her he was
+the embodiment of noble manhood, and each succeeding day impressed upon
+her the wisdom of her choice of Lincoln over Douglas--if in reality she
+ever seriously accepted the latter’s attentions.
+
+“Mr. Lincoln may not be as handsome a figure,” she said one day in
+Lincoln’s law office during her husband’s absence, when the conversation
+turned on Douglas, “but the people are perhaps not aware that his heart
+is as large as his arms are long.”
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD.
+
+The remains of Abraham Lincoln rest beneath a magnificent monument in
+Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Ill. Before they were deposited in
+their final resting place they were moved many times.
+
+On May 4, 1865, all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln was deposited
+in the receiving vault at the cemetery, until a tomb could be built. In
+1876 thieves made an unsuccessful attempt to steal the remains. From
+the tomb the body of the martyred President was removed later to the
+monument.
+
+A flight of iron steps, commencing about fifty yards east of the vault,
+ascends in a curved line to the monument, an elevation of more than
+fifty feet.
+
+Excavation for this monument commenced September 9, 1869. It is built
+of granite, from quarries at Biddeford, Maine. The rough ashlers were
+shipped to Quincy, Massachusetts, where they were dressed and numbered,
+thence shipped to Springfield. It is 721 feet from east to west, 119
+1/2 feet from north to south, and 100 feet high. The total cost is about
+$230,000 to May 1, 1885. All the statuary is orange-colored bronze. The
+whole monument was designed by Larkin G. Mead; the statuary was modeled
+in plaster by him in Florence, Italy, and cast by the Ames Manufacturing
+Company, of Chicopee, Massachusetts. A statue of Lincoln and Coat of
+Arms were first placed on the monument; the statue was unveiled and the
+monument dedicated October 15, 1874. Infantry and Naval Groups were put
+on in September, 1877, an Artillery Group, April 13, 1882, and a Cavalry
+Group, March 13, 1883.
+
+The principal front of the monument is on the south side, the statue of
+Lincoln being on that side of the obelisk, over Memorial Hall. On the
+east side are three tablets, upon which are the letters U. S. A. To the
+right of that, and beginning with Virginia, we find the abbreviations of
+the original thirteen States. Next comes Vermont, the first state
+admitted after the Union was perfected, the States following in the
+order they were admitted, ending with Nebraska on the east, thus forming
+the cordon of thirty-seven States composing the United States of America
+when the monument was erected. The new States admitted since the
+monument was built have been added.
+
+The statue of Lincoln is just above the Coat of Arms of the United
+States. The grand climax is indicated by President Lincoln, with his
+left hand holding out as a golden scepter the emancipation Proclamation,
+while in his right he holds the pen with which he has just written it.
+The right hand is resting on another badge of authority, the American
+flag, thrown over the fasces. At the foot of the fasces lies a wreath of
+laurel, with which to crown the President as the victor over slavery and
+rebellion.
+
+On March 10, 1900, President Lincoln’s body was removed to a temporary
+vault to permit of alterations to the monument. The shaft was made
+twenty feet higher, and other changes were made costing $100,000.
+
+April 24, 1901. the body was again transferred to the monument without
+public ceremony.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lincoln’s Yarns and Stories, by
+Alexander K. McClure
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+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, by Alexander K. Mcclure
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre     { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+Project Gutenberg's Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, by Alexander K. McClure
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+Title: Lincoln's Yarns and Stories
+
+Author: Alexander K. McClure
+
+Release Date: February, 2001 [EBook #2517]
+Last Updated: November 15, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LINCOLN'S YARNS AND STORIES ***
+
+
+Produced by Dianne Bean, and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S YARNS AND STORIES
+    </h1>
+    <h4>
+      A Complete Collection of the Funny and Witty Anecdotes that
+      made Abraham Lincoln Famous as America&rsquo;s Greatest Story Teller With
+      Introduction and Anecdotes <br />
+    </h4>
+    <h2>
+      By Alexander K. McClure
+    </h2>
+    <h4>
+      THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY <br /> CHICAGO &amp; PHILADELPHIA <br /> <br />
+    </h4>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0001}.jpg" alt="{0001}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0001}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0005}.jpg" alt="{0005}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0005}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the Great Story Telling President, whose Emancipation
+      Proclamation freed more than four million slaves, was a keen politician,
+      profound statesman, shrewd diplomatist, a thorough judge of men and
+      possessed of an intuitive knowledge of affairs. He was the first Chief
+      Executive to die at the hands of an assassin. Without school education he
+      rose to power by sheer merit and will-power. Born in a Kentucky log cabin
+      in 1809, his surroundings being squalid, his chances for advancement were
+      apparently hopeless. President Lincoln died April 15th, 1865, having been
+      shot by J. Wilkes Booth the night before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S NAME AROUSES AN AUDIENCE </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> LINCOLN AND McCLURE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; LINCOLN&rsquo;S YARNS AND STORIES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> LINCOLN ASKED TO BE SHOT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> TIME LOST DIDN&rsquo;T COUNT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> NO VICES, NO VIRTUES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S DUES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> &ldquo;DONE WITH THE BIBLE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> A MISCHIEVOUS OX. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> THE PRESIDENTIAL &ldquo;CHIN-FLY.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> &lsquo;SQUIRE BAGLY&rsquo;S PRECEDENT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> HE&rsquo;D NEED HIS GUN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> KEPT UP THE ARGUMENT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> EQUINE INGRATITUDE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> &lsquo;TWAS &ldquo;MOVING DAY.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; HAIR NEEDED COMBING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> WOULD &ldquo;TAKE TO THE WOODS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> LINCOLN CARRIED HER TRUNK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> BOAT HAD TO STOP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> MCCLELLAN&rsquo;S &ldquo;SPECIAL TALENT.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> HOW &ldquo;JAKE&rdquo; GOT AWAY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linklight"> MORE LIGHT AND LESS NOISE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> ONE BULLET AND A HATFUL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S STORY TO PEACE COMMISSIONERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; GOT THE WORST OF IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> IT DEPENDED UPON HIS CONDITION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> &ldquo;GOT DOWN TO THE RAISINS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> &ldquo;HONEST ABE&rdquo; SWALLOWS HIS ENEMIES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> SAVING HIS WIND. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> RIGHT FOR, ONCE, ANYHOW. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> &ldquo;PITY THE POOR ORPHAN.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> A LOW-DOWN TRICK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> END FOR END. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> LET SIX SKUNKS GO. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> HOW HE GOT BLACKSTONE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> A JOB FOR THE NEW CABINETMAKER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> &ldquo;I CAN STAND IT IF THEY CAN.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> LINCOLN MISTAKEN FOR ONCE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> HE LOVED A GOOD STORY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> HEELS RAN AWAY WITH THEM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> WANTED TO BURN HIM DOWN TO THE STUMP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> HAD A &ldquo;KICK&rdquo; COMING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> THE CASE OF BETSY ANN DOUGHERTY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> HAD TO WEAR A WOODEN SWORD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; STIRRING THE &ldquo;BLACK&rdquo; COALS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> GETTING RID OF AN ELEPHANT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> GROTESQUE, YET FRIGHTFUL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; WAS NO DUDE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> CHARACTERISTIC OF LINCOLN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> &ldquo;PLOUGH ALL &lsquo;ROUND HIM.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0053"> &ldquo;I&rsquo;VE LOST MY APPLE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> LOST HIS CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0055"> NOTE PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> DOG WAS A &ldquo;LEETLE BIT AHEAD.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0057"> &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; FIGHT WITH NEGROES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> NOISE LIKE A TURNIP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0059"> WARDING OFF GOD&rsquo;S VENGEANCE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0060"> JEFF DAVIS AND CHARLES THE FIRST. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0061"> LOVED SOLDIERS&rsquo; HUMOR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0062"> BAD TIME FOR A BARBECUE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0063"> HE&rsquo;D SEE IT AGAIN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0064"> CALL ANOTHER WITNESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0065"> A CONTEST WITH LITTLE &ldquo;TAD.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0066"> REMINDED HIM OF &ldquo;A LITTLE STORY.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0067"> &ldquo;FETCHED SEVERAL SHORT ONES.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0068"> LINCOLN LUGS THE OLD MAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0069"> McCLELLAN WAS &ldquo;INTRENCHING.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0070"> MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT, ANYWAY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0071"> VICIOUS OXEN HAVE SHORT HORNS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0072"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S NAME FOR &ldquo;WEEPING WATER.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0073"> PETER CARTWRIGHT&rsquo;S DESCRIPTION OF LINCOLN.
+        </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0074"> NO DEATHS IN HIS HOUSE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0075"> PAINTED HIS PRINCIPLES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0076"> DIGNIFYING THE STATUTE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0077"> LINCOLN CAMPAIGN MOTTOES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0078"> GIVING AWAY THE CASE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0079"> POSING WITH A BROOMSTICK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0080"> &ldquo;BOTH LENGTH AND BREADTH.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0081"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; RECITES A SONG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0082"> &ldquo;MANAGE TO KEEP HOUSE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0083"> GRANT &ldquo;TUMBLED&rdquo; RIGHT AWAY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0084"> &ldquo;DON&rsquo;T KILL HIM WITH YOUR FIST.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0085"> COULD BE ARBITRARY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0086"> A GENERAL BUSTIFICATION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0087"> MAKING QUARTERMASTERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0088"> NO POSTMASTERS IN HIS POCKET. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0089"> HE &ldquo;SKEWED&rdquo; THE LINE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0090"> &ldquo;WHEREAS,&rdquo; HE STOLE NOTHING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0091"> NOT LIKE THE POPE&rsquo;S BULL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0092"> COULD HE TELL? </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0093"> DARNED UNCOMFORTABLE SITTING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0094"> &ldquo;WHAT&rsquo;S-HIS-NAME&rdquo; GOT THERE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0095"> A REALLY GREAT GENERAL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0096"> &ldquo;SHRUNK UP NORTH.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0097"> LINCOLN ADOPTED THE SUGGESTION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0098"> SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0099"> TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0100"> GREELEY CARRIES LINCOLN TO THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
+        </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0101"> THE LAST TIME HE SAW DOUGLAS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0102"> HURT HIS LEGS LESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0103"> A LITTLE SHY OR GRAMMAR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0104"> HIS FIRST SATIRICAL WRITING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0105"> LIKELY TO DO IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0106"> &ldquo;THE ENEMY ARE &lsquo;OURN&rsquo;&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0107"> &ldquo;AND&mdash;HERE I AM!&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0108"> SAFE AS LONG AS THEY WERE GOOD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0109"> &ldquo;SMELT NO ROYALTY IN OUR CARRIAGE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0110"> HELL A MILE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0111"> HIS &ldquo;GLASS HACK&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0112"> LEAVE HIM KICKING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0113"> &ldquo;WHO COMMENCED THIS FUSS?&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0114"> &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; LITTLE JOKE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0115"> WHAT SUMMER THOUGHT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0116"> A USELESS DOG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0117"> ORIGIN OF THE &ldquo;INFLUENCE&rdquo; STORY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0118"> FELT SORRY FOR BOTH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0119"> WHERE DID IT COME FROM? </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0120"> &ldquo;LONG ABE&rdquo; FOUR YEARS LONGER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0121"> &ldquo;ALL SICKER&rsquo;N YOUR MAN.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0122"> EASIER TO EMPTY THE POTOMAC. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0123"> HE WANTED A STEADY HAND. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0124"> LINCOLN SAW STANTON ABOUT IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0125"> MRS. LINCOLN&rsquo;S SURPRISE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0126"> MENACE TO THE GOVERNMENT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0127"> TROOPS COULDN&rsquo;T FLY OVER IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0128"> PAT WAS &ldquo;FORNINST THE GOVERNMENT.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0129"> &ldquo;CAN&rsquo;T SPARE THIS MAN.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0130"> HIS TEETH CHATTERED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0131"> &ldquo;AARON GOT HIS COMMISSION.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0132"> LINCOLN AND THE MINISTERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0133"> HARDTACK BETTER THAN GENERALS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0134"> GOT THE PREACHER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0135"> BIG JOKE ON HALLECK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0136"> STORIES BETTER THAN DOCTORS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0137"> SHORT, BUT EXCITING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0138"> MR. BULL DIDN&rsquo;T GET HIS COTTON. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0139"> STICK TO AMERICAN PRINCIPLES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0140"> USED &ldquo;RUDE TACT.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0141"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; ON A WOODPILE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0142"> TAKING DOWN A DANDY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0143"> WHEN OLD ABE GOT MAD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0144"> WANTED TO &ldquo;BORROW&rdquo; THE ARMY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0145"> YOUNG &ldquo;SUCKER&rdquo; VISITORS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0146"> &ldquo;AND YOU DON&rsquo;T WEAR HOOPSKIRTS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0147"> LIEUTENANT TAD LINCOLN&rsquo;S SENTINELS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0148"> DOUGLAS HELD LINCOLN&rsquo;S HAT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0149"> THE DEAD MAN SPOKE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0150"> MILITARY SNAILS NOT SPEEDY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0151"> OUTRAN THE JACK-RABBIT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkfooling"> &ldquo;FOOLING&rdquo; THE PEOPLE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0152"> &ldquo;ABE, YOU CAN&rsquo;T PLAY THAT ON ME.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0153"> HIS &ldquo;BROAD&rdquo; STORIES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0154"> SORRY FOR THE HORSES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0155"> MILD REBUKE TO A DOCTOR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0156"> COLD MOLASSES WAS SWIFTER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0157"> LINCOLN CALLS MEDILL A COWARD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0158"> THEY DIDN&rsquo;T BUILD IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0159"> STANTON&rsquo;S ABUSE OF LINCOLN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0160"> THE NEGRO AND THE CROCODILE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0161"> LINCOLN WAS READY TO FIGHT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0162"> IT WAS UP-HILL WORK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0163"> LEE&rsquo;S SLIM ANIMAL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0164"> &ldquo;MRS. NORTH AND HER ATTORNEY.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0165"> SATISFACTION TO THE SOUL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0166"> WITHDREW THE COLT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0167"> &ldquo;TAD&rdquo; GOT HIS DOLLAR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0168"> TELLS AN EDITOR ABOUT NASBY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0169"> LONG AND SHORT OF IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0170"> MORE PEGS THAN HOLES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0171"> &ldquo;WEBSTER COULDN&rsquo;T HAVE DONE MORE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0172"> LINCOLN MET CLAY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0173"> REMINDED &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; OF A LITTLE JOKE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0174"> HIS DIGNITY SAVED HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0175"> THE MAN HE WAS LOOKING FOR </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0176"> HIS CABINET CHANCES POOR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkheaded"> THE GENERAL WAS &ldquo;HEADED IN&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0177"> SUGAR-COATED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0178"> COULD MAKE &ldquo;RABBIT-TRACKS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0179"> LINCOLN PROTECTED CURRENCY ISSUES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0180"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S APOLOGY TO GRANT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0181"> LINCOLN SAID &ldquo;BY JING.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0183"> IT TICKLED THE LITTLE WOMAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0184"> &ldquo;SHALL ALL FALL TOGETHER.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0185"> DEAD DOG NO CURE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0186"> &ldquo;THOROUGH&rdquo; IS A GOOD WORD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0187"> THE CABINET WAS A-SETTIN&rsquo;. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0188"> A BULLET THROUGH HIS HAT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0189"> NO KIND TO GET TO HEAVEN ON. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0190"> THE ONLY REAL PEACEMAKER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0191"> THE APPLE WOMAN&rsquo;S PASS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0192"> SPLIT RAILS BY THE YARD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0193"> THE QUESTION OF LEGS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0194"> TOO MANY WIDOWS ALREADY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0195"> GOD NEEDED THAT CHURCH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0196"> THE MAN DOWN SOUTH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0197"> COULDN&rsquo;T LET GO THE HOG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0198"> THE CABINET LINCOLN WANTED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0199"> READY FOR &ldquo;BUTCHER-DAY.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0200"> &ldquo;THE BAD BIRD AND THE MUDSILL.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0201"> GAVE THE SOLDIER HIS FISH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0202"> A PECULIAR LAWYER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0203"> IF THEY&rsquo;D ONLY &ldquo;SKIP.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0204"> FATHER OF THE &ldquo;GREENBACK.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0205"> MAJOR ANDERSON&rsquo;S BAD MEMORY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0206"> NO VANDERBILT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0207"> SQUASHED A BRUTAL LIE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0208"> &ldquo;ONE WAR AT A TIME.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0209"> PRESIDENT LINCOLN&rsquo;S LAST PUBLIC ADDRESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0210"> NO OTHERS LIKE THEM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0211"> CASH WAS AT HAND. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0212"> WELCOMED THE LITTLE GIRLS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0213"> &ldquo;DON&rsquo;T SWAP HORSES&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0214"> MOST VALUABLE POLITICAL ATTRIBUTE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0215"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; RESENTED THE INSULT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0216"> ONE MAN ISN&rsquo;T MISSED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0217"> &ldquo;STRETCHED THE FACTS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0218"> IT LENGTHENED THE WAR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0219"> HIS THEORY OF THE REBELLION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0220"> RAN AWAY WHEN VICTORIOUS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0221"> WANTED STANTON SPANKED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0222"> STANTON WAS OUT OF TOWN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0223"> IDENTIFIED THE COLORED MAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0224"> OFFICE SEEKERS WORSE THAN WAR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0225"> HE &ldquo;SET &lsquo;EM UP.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0226"> WASN&rsquo;T STANTON&rsquo;S SAY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0227"> &ldquo;JEFFY&rdquo; THREW UP THE SPONGE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0228"> DIDN&rsquo;T KNOW GRANT&rsquo;S PREFERENCE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0229"> JUSTICE vs. NUMBERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0230"> NO FALSE PRIDE IN LINCOLN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0231"> EXTRA MEMBER OF THE CABINET. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0232"> HOW LINCOLN WAS ABUSED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0233"> HOW &ldquo;FIGHTING JOE&rdquo; WAS APPOINTED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0234"> KEPT HIS COURAGE UP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0235"> A FORTUNE-TELLER&rsquo;S PREDICTION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0236"> TOO MUCH POWDER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0237"> SLEEP STANDING UP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0238"> SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT ANOTHER BATTLE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0239"> LINCOLN UPBRAIDED LAMON. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0240"> MARKED OUT A FEW WORDS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0241"> LINCOLN SILENCES SEWARD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0242"> BROUGHT THE HUSBAND UP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0243"> NO WAR WITHOUT BLOOD-LETTING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0244"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S TWO DIFFICULTIES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0245"> WHITE ELEPHANT ON HIS HANDS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0246"> WHEN LINCOLN AND GRANT CLASHED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0247"> WON JAMES GORDON BENNETT&rsquo;S SUPPORT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0248"> STOOD BY THE &ldquo;SILENT MAN.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0249"> A VERY BRAINY NUBBIN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0250"> SENT TO HIS &ldquo;FRIENDS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0251"> GO DOWN WITH COLORS FLYING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0252"> ALL WERE TRAGEDIES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0253"> &ldquo;HE&rsquo;S THE BEST OF US.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0254"> HOW LINCOLN &ldquo;COMPOSED.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0255"> HAMLIN MIGHT DO IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0256"> THE GUN SHOT BETTER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0257"> LENIENT WITH McCLELLAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0258"> DIDN&rsquo;T WANT A MILITARY REPUTATION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0259"> &ldquo;SURRENDER NO SLAVE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0260"> CONSCRIPTING DEAD MEN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0261"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S REJECTED MANUSCRIPT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0262"> LINCOLN AS A STORY WRITER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0263"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S IDEAS ON CROSSING A RIVER WHEN HE
+        GOT TO IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0264"> PRESIDENT NOMINATED FIRST. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0265"> &ldquo;THEM GILLITEENS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0266"> &ldquo;CONSIDER THE SYMPATHY OF LINCOLN.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0267"> SAVED A LIFE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0268"> LINCOLN PLAYED BALL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0269"> HIS PASSES TO RICHMOND NOT HONORED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0270"> &ldquo;PUBLIC HANGMAN&rdquo; FOR THE UNITED STATES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0271"> FEW, BUT BOISTEROUS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0272"> KEEP PEGGING AWAY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0273"> BEWARE OF THE TAIL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0274"> &ldquo;LINCOLN&rsquo;S DREAM.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0275"> THERE WAS NO NEED OF A STORY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0276"> LINCOLN A MAN OF SIMPLE HABITS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0277"> HIS LAST SPEECH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0278"> FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW BEFORE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0279"> LINCOLN BELIEVED IN EDUCATION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0280"> LINCOLN ON THE DRED SCOTT DECISION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0281"> LINCOLN MADE MANY NOTABLE SPEECHES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0282"> WHAT AILED THE BOYS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0283"> TAD&rsquo;S CONFEDERATE FLAG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0284"> CALLED BLESSINGS ON THE AMERICAN WOMEN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0285"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S &ldquo;ORDER NO. 252.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0286"> TALKED TO THE NEGROES OF RICHMOND. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0287"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; ADDED A SAVING CLAUSE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0288"> HOW &ldquo;JACK&rdquo; WAS &ldquo;DONE UP.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0289"> ANGELS COULDN&rsquo;T SWEAR IT RIGHT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0290"> &ldquo;MUST GO, AND GO TO STAY.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0291"> LINCOLN WASN&rsquo;T BUYING NOMINATIONS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0292"> HE ENVIED THE SOLDIER AT THE FRONT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0293"> DON&rsquo;T TRUST TOO FAR </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0294"> HE&rsquo;D &ldquo;RISK THE DICTATORSHIP.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0295"> &ldquo;MAJOR GENERAL, I RECKON.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0296"> WOULD SEE THE TRACKS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0297"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; GAVE HER A &ldquo;SURE TIP.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0298"> THE PRESIDENT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0299"> ONLY HALF A MAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0300"> GRANT CONGRATULATED LINCOLN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0301"> &ldquo;BRUTUS AND CAESAR.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0302"> HOW STANTON GOT INTO THE CABINET. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkfather"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; LIKE HIS FATHER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0303"> &ldquo;NO MOON AT ALL.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0304"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; A SUPERB MIMIC. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0305"> WHY HE WAS CALLED &ldquo;HONEST ABE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0306"> &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; NAME REMAINED ON THE SIGN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0307"> VERY HOMELY AT FIRST SIGHT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0308"> THE MAN TO TRUST. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0309"> &ldquo;WUZ GOIN&rsquo; TER BE &lsquo;HITCHED.&rdquo;&rsquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0310"> HE PROPOSED TO SAVE THE UNION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0311"> THE SAME OLD RUM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0312"> SAVED LINCOLN&rsquo;S LIFE </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0313"> WOULD NOT RECALL A SINGLE WORD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0314"> OLD BROOM BEST AFTER ALL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0315"> GOD WITH A LITTLE &ldquo;g.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0316"> &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; LOG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0317"> IT WAS A FINE FIZZLE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0318"> A TEETOTALER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0319"> NOT TO &ldquo;OPEN SHOP&rdquo; THERE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0320"> WE HAVE LIBERTY OF ALL KINDS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0321"> TOM CORWINS&rsquo;S LATEST STORY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0322"> &ldquo;CATCH &lsquo;EM AND CHEAT &lsquo;EM.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0323"> A JURYMAN&rsquo;S SCORN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0324"> HE &ldquo;BROKE&rdquo; TO WIN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0325"> WANTED HER CHILDREN BACK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0326"> SIX FEET FOUR AT SEVENTEEN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0327"> HAD RESPECT FOR THE EGGS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0328"> HOW WAS THE MILK UPSET? </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0329"> &ldquo;PULLED FODDER&rdquo; FOR A BOOK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0330"> PRAISES HIS RIVAL FOR OFFICE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0331"> ONE THING &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; DIDN&rsquo;T LOVE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0332"> THE MODESTY OF GENIUS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0333"> WHY SHE MARRIED HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0334"> NIAGARA FALLS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0335"> MADE IT HOT FOR LINCOLN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0336"> WOULDN&rsquo;T HOLD TITLE AGAINST HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0337"> ONLY ONE LIFE TO LIVE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0338"> COULDN&rsquo;T LOCATE HIS BIRTHPLACE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0339"> &ldquo;SAMBO&rdquo; WAS &ldquo;AFEARED.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0340"> WHEN MONEY MIGHT BE USED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0341"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; WAS NO BEAUTY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0342"> &ldquo;HE&rsquo;S JUST BEAUTIFUL.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0343"> BIG ENOUGH HOG FOR HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0344"> &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; OFFERS A SPEECH FOR SOMETHING TO EAT.
+        </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0345"> THEY UNDERSTOOD EACH OTHER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0346"> FEW FENCE RAILS LEFT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0347"> THE &ldquo;GREAT SNOW&rdquo; OF 1830-31. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0348"> CREDITOR PAID DEBTORS DEBT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0349"> HELPED OUT THE SOLDIERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0350"> EVERY FELLOW FOR HIMSELF. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0351"> &ldquo;BUTCHER-KNIFE BOYS&rdquo; AT THE POLLS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0352"> NO &ldquo;SECOND COMING&rdquo; FOR SPRINGFIELD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0353"> HOW HE WON A FRIEND. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0354"> NEVER SUED A CLIENT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0355"> THE LINCOLN HOUSEHOLD GOODS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0356"> RUNNING THE MACHINE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0357"> WAS &ldquo;BOSS&rdquo; WHEN NECESSARY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0358"> &ldquo;RATHER STARVE THAN SWINDLE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0359"> DON&rsquo;T AIM TOO HIGH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0360"> NOT MUCH AT RAIL-SPLITTING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0361"> GAVE THE SOLDIER THE PREFERENCE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0362"> THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT SCARED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0363"> JEFF. DAVIS&rsquo; REPLY TO LINCOLN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0364"> LINCOLN WAS a GENTLEMAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0365"> HIS POOR RELATIONS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0366"> DESERTER&rsquo;S SINS WASHED OUT IN BLOOD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0367"> SURE CURE FOR BOILS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0368"> PAY FOR EVERYTHING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0369"> BASHFUL WITH LADIES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0370"> SAW HUMOR IN EVERYTHING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0371"> SPECIFIC FOR FOREIGN &ldquo;RASH.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0372"> FAVORED THE OTHER SIDE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0373"> LINCOLN AND THE &ldquo;SHOW&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0374"> &ldquo;MIXING&rdquo; AND &ldquo;MINGLING.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0375"> TOOK PART OF THE BLAME. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0376"> THOUGHT OF LEARNING A TRADE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0377"> LINCOLN DEFENDS FIFTEEN MRS. NATIONS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0378"> AVOIDED EVEN APPEARANCE OF EVIL </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0379"> WAR DIDN&rsquo;T ADMIT OF HOLIDAYS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0380"> &ldquo;NEUTRALITY.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0381"> DAYS OF GLADNESS PAST. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0382"> WOULDN&rsquo;T TAKE THE MONEY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0383"> GRANT HELD ON ALL THE TIME. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0384"> CHEWED THE CUD IN SOLITUDE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0385"> &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; YANKEE INGENUITY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0386"> LINCOLN PAID HOMAGE TO WASHINGTON. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0387"> STIRRED EVEN THE REPORTERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0388"> WHEN &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; CAME IN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0389"> ETERNAL FIDELITY TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0390"> &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; &ldquo;DEFALCATIONS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0391"> HE WASN&rsquo;T GUILELESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0392"> SWEET, BUT MILD REVENGE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0393"> DIDN&rsquo;T TRUST THE COURT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0394"> HANDSOMEST MAN ON EARTH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0395"> THAT COON CAME DOWN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0396"> WROTE &ldquo;PIECES&rdquo; WHEN VERY YOUNG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0397"> &ldquo;TRY TO STEER HER THROUGH.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0398"> GRAND, GLOOMY AND PECULIAR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0399"> ON THE WAY TO GETTYSBURG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0400"> STOOD UP THE LONGEST. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0401"> A MORTIFYING EXPERIENCE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0402"> NO HALFWAY BUSINESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0403"> DISCOURAGED LITIGATION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0404"> GOING HOME TO GET READY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0405"> &ldquo;THE &lsquo;RAIL-SPUTTER&rsquo; REPAIRING THE UNION.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0406"> &ldquo;FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0407"> ROUGH ON THE NEGRO. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0408"> CHALLENGED ALL COMERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0409"> &ldquo;GOVERNMENT RESTS IN PUBLIC OPINION.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0410"> HURRY MIGHT MAKE TROUBLE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0411"> SAW HIMSELF DEAD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0412"> EVERY LITTLE HELPED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0413"> ABOUT TO LAY DOWN THE BURDEN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0414"> LINCOLN WOULD HAVE PREFERRED DEATH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0415"> &ldquo;PUNCH&rdquo; AND HIS LITTLE PICTURE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0416"> FASCINATED By THE WONDERFUL </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0417"> &ldquo;WHY DON&rsquo;T THEY COME!&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0418"> GRANT&rsquo;S BRAND OF WHISKEY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0419"> HIS FINANCIAL STANDING. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0420"> THE DANDY AND THE BOYS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0421"> &ldquo;SOME UGLY OLD LAWYER.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0422"> GOOD MEMORY OF NAMES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0423"> SETTLED OUT OF COURT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0424"> THE FIVE POINTS SUNDAY SCHOOL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0425"> SENTINEL OBEYED ORDERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0426"> WHY LINCOLN GROWED WHISKERS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0427"> LINCOLN AS A DANCER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0428"> SIMPLY PRACTICAL HUMANITY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0429"> HAPPY FIGURES OF SPEECH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0430"> A FEW &ldquo;RHYTHMIC SHOTS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0431"> OLD MAN GLENN&rsquo;S RELIGION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0432"> LAST ACTS OF MERCY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0433"> JUST LIKE SEWARD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0434"> A CHEERFUL PROSPECT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0435"> THOUGHT GOD WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0436"> LINCOLN AND A BIBLE HERO. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0437"> BOY WAS CARED FOR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0438"> THE JURY ACQUITTED HIM </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0439"> TOOK NOTHING BUT MONEY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0440"> NAUGHTY BOY HAD TO TAKE HIS MEDICINE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0441"> WOULD BLOW THEM TO H&mdash;-. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0442"> &ldquo;YANKEE&rdquo; GOODNESS OF HEART. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0443"> WALKED AS HE TALKED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0444"> THE SONG DID THE BUSINESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0445"> A &ldquo;FREE FOR ALL.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0446"> THREE INFERNAL BORES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0447"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S MEN WERE &ldquo;HUSTLERS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0448"> A SLOW HORSE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0449"> DODGING &ldquo;BROWSING PRESIDENTS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0450"> A GREENBACK LEGEND. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0451"> GOD&rsquo;S BEST GIFT TO MAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0452"> SCALPING IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0453"> MATRIMONIAL ADVICE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0454"> OWED LOTS OF MONEY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0455"> &ldquo;ON THE LORD&rsquo;S SIDE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0456"> WANTED TO BE NEAR &ldquo;ABE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0457"> GOT HIS FOOT IN IT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0458"> SAVED BY A LETTER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0460"> HIS FAVORITE POEM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0461"> FIVE-LEGGED CALF. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0462"> A STAGE-COACH STORY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0463"> THE &ldquo;400&rdquo; GATHERED THERE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0464"> ONLY LEVEL-HEADED MEN WANTED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0465"> HIS FAITH IN THE MONITOR. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0466"> HER ONLY IMPERFECTION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0467"> THE OLD LADY&rsquo;S PROPHECY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0468"> HOW THE TOWN OF LINCOLN, ILL., WAS NAMED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0469"> &ldquo;OLD JEFF&rsquo;S&rdquo; BIG NIGHTMARE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0470"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S LAST OFFICIAL ACT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linksleep"> THE LAD NEEDED THE SLEEP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0471"> &ldquo;MASSA LINKUM LIKE DE LORD!&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0472"> HOW LINCOLN TOOK THE NEWS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0473"> PROFANITY AS A SAFETY-VALVE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0474"> WHY WE WON AT GETTYSBURG. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0475"> HAD TO WAIT FOR HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0476"> PRESIDENT AND CABINET JOINED IN PRAYER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0477"> BELIEVED HE WAS A CHRISTIAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0478"> WITH THE HELP OF GOD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0479"> TURNED TEARS TO SMILES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0480"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S LAST WRITTEN WORDS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0481"> WOMEN PLEAD FOR PARDONS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0482"> LINCOLN WISHED TO SEE RICHMOND. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0483"> SPOKEN LIKE A CHRISTIAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0484"> &ldquo;LINCOLN GOES IN WHEN THE QUAKERS ARE OUT&rdquo;
+         </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0485"> HAD CONFIDENCE IN HIM&mdash;&ldquo;BUT&mdash;.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0486"> HOW HOMINY WAS ORIGINATED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0487"> HIS IDEA&rsquo;S OLD, AFTER ALL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0488"> LINCOLN&rsquo;S FIRST SPEECH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0489"> &ldquo;ABE WANTED NO SNEAKIN&rsquo; &lsquo;ROUND.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0490"> DIDN&rsquo;T EVEN NEED STILTS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0491"> &ldquo;HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS PLACE?&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0492"> &ldquo;TAD&rdquo; INTRODUCES &ldquo;OUR FRIENDS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0493"> MIXED UP WORSE THAN BEFORE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0494"> &ldquo;LONG ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; FEET &ldquo;PROTRUDED OVER.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0495"> COULD LICK ANY MAN IN THE CROWD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0496"> HIS WAY TO A CHILD&rsquo;S HEART. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0497"> &ldquo;LEFT IT THE WOMEN TO HOWL ABOUT ME.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0498"> HE&rsquo;D RUIN ALL THE OTHER CONVICTS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0499"> IN A HOPELESS MINORITY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0500"> &ldquo;DID YE ASK MORRISSEY YET?&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0501"> GOT THE LAUGH ON DOUGLAS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0503"> &ldquo;FIXED UP&rdquo; A BIT FOR THE &ldquo;CITY FOLKS.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0504"> EVEN REBELS OUGHT TO BE SAVED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0505"> TRIED TO DO WHAT SEEMED BEST. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0506"> &ldquo;HOLDING A CANDLE TO THE CZAR.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0507"> NASHVILLE WAS NOT SURRENDERED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0508"> HE COULDN&rsquo;T WAIT FOR THE COLONEL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0509"> LINCOLN PRONOUNCED THIS STORY FUNNY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0510"> JOKE WAS ON LINCOLN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0511"> THE OTHER ONE WAS WORSE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0512"> &ldquo;I&rsquo;D A BEEN MISSED BY MYSE&rsquo;F.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0513"> IT ALL &ldquo;DEPENDED&rdquo; UPON THE EFFECT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0514"> TOO SWIFT TO STAY IN THE ARMY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0515"> ADMIRED THE STRONG MAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0516"> WISHED THE ARMY CHARGED LIKE THAT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0517"> &ldquo;UNCLE ABRAHAM&rdquo; HAD EVERYTHING READY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0518"> NOT AS SMOOTH AS HE LOOKED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0519"> A SMALL CROP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0520"> &ldquo;NEVER REGRET WHAT YOU DON&rsquo;T WRITE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0521"> A VAIN GENERAL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0522"> DEATH BED REPENTANCE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0523"> NO CAUSE FOR PRIDE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0524"> <b>THE STORY OF LINCOLN&rsquo;S LIFE</b> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0525"> A YOUTHFUL POET. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0526"> MADE SPEECHES WHEN A BOY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0527"> ASSISTANT PILOT ON A STEAMBOAT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0528"> &ldquo;CAPTAIN LINCOLN&rdquo; PLEASED HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0529"> FAILURE AS A BUSINESS MAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0530"> GAINS FAME AS A STORY TELLER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0531"> SURVEYOR WITH NO STRINGS ON HIM. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0532"> A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0533"> THE FAMOUS &ldquo;LONG NINE.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0534"> BEGINS TO OPPOSE SLAVERY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0535"> BEGINS TO PRACTICE LAW. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0536"> HIS FIRST JOINT DEBATE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0537"> MARRIES A SPRINGFIELD BELLE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0538"> STORY OF ANNE RUTLEDGE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0539"> HIS DUEL WITH SHIELDS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0540"> FORMS NEW PARTNERSHIP. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0541"> DEFEATS PETER CARTWRIGHT FOR CONGRESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0542"> MAKES SPEECHES FOR &ldquo;OLD ZACH.&rdquo; </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0543"> DECLINES A HIGH OFFICE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0544"> LINCOLN AS A LAWYER. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0545"> TELLING STORIES ON THE CIRCUIT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0546"> THE LION IS AROUSED TO ACTION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0547"> SEEKS A SEAT IN THE SENATE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0548"> HELPS TO ORGANIZE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0549"> THE RAIL-SPLITTER vs. THE LITTLE GIANT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0550"> WERE LIKE CROWDS AT A CIRCUS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0551"> HIS BUCKEYE CAMPAIGN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0552"> FIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0553"> FIRST NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0554"> FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0555"> GOOD-BYE TO THE OLD FOLK. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0556"> THE &ldquo;SECRET PASSAGE&rdquo; TO WASHINGTON. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0557"> HIS ELOQUENT INAUGURAL ADDRESS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0558"> FOLLOWS PRECEDENT OF WASHINGTON. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0559"> GREATER DIPLOMAT THAN SEWARD. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0560"> LINCOLN A GREAT GENERAL. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0561"> ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN GRANT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0562"> REASONS FOB FREEING THE SLAVES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0563"> HARD TO REFUSE PARDONS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0564"> A FUN-LOVING AND HUMOR-LOVING MAN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0565"> WARNINGS OF HIS TRAGIC DEATH. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0566"> LINCOLN AT THE THEATRE. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0567"> LAMON&rsquo;S REMARKABLE REQUEST. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0568"> HOW LINCOLN WAS MURDERED. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0569"> BOOTH BRANDISHES HIS DAGGER AND ESCAPES. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0570"> WALT WHITMAN&rsquo;S DESCRIPTION. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0571"> BOOTH FOUND IN A BARN. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0572"> BOOTH SHOT BY &ldquo;BOSTON&rdquo; CORBETT. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0573"> FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0574"> HENRY WARD BEECHER&rsquo;S EULOGY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0575"> ABRAHAM LINCOLN&rsquo;S FAMILY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0576"> LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD. </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      PREFACE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Dean Swift said that the man who makes two blades of grass grow where one
+      grew before serves well of his kind. Considering how much grass there is
+      in the world and comparatively how little fun, we think that a still more
+      deserving person is the man who makes many laughs grow where none grew
+      before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sometimes it happens that the biggest crop of laugh is produced by a man
+      who ranks among the greatest and wisest. Such a man was Abraham Lincoln
+      whose wholesome fun mixed with true philosophy made thousands laugh and
+      think at the same time. He was a firm believer in the saying, &ldquo;Laugh and
+      the world laughs with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Whenever Abraham Lincoln wanted to make a strong point he usually began by
+      saying, &ldquo;Now, that reminds me of a story.&rdquo; And when he had told a story
+      every one saw the point and was put into a good humor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ancients had Aesop and his fables. The moderns had Abraham Lincoln and
+      his stories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Aesop&rsquo;s Fables have been printed in book form in almost every language and
+      millions have read them with pleasure and profit. Lincoln&rsquo;s stories were
+      scattered in the recollections of thousands of people in various parts of
+      the country. The historians who wrote histories of Lincoln&rsquo;s life
+      remembered only a few of them, but the most of Lincoln&rsquo;s stories and the
+      best of them remained unwritten. More than five years ago the author of
+      this book conceived the idea of collecting all the yarns and stories, the
+      droll sayings, and witty and humorous anecdotes of Abraham Lincoln into
+      one large book, and this volume is the result of that idea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before Lincoln was ever heard of as a lawyer or politician, he was famous
+      as a story teller. As a politician, he always had a story to fit the other
+      side; as a lawyer, he won many cases by telling the jury a story which
+      showed them the justice of his side better than any argument could have
+      done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While nearly all of Lincoln&rsquo;s stories have a humorous side, they also
+      contain a moral, which every good story should have.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They contain lessons that could be taught so well in no other way. Every
+      one of them is a sermon. Lincoln, like the Man of Galilee, spoke to the
+      people in parables.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nothing that can be written about Lincoln can show his character in such a
+      true light as the yarns and stories he was so fond of telling, and at
+      which he would laugh as heartily as anyone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a man whose life was so full of great responsibilities, Lincoln had
+      many hours of laughter when the humorous, fun-loving side of his great
+      nature asserted itself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every person to keep healthy ought to have one good hearty laugh every
+      day. Lincoln did, and the author hopes that the stories at which he
+      laughed will continue to furnish laughter to all who appreciate good
+      humor, with a moral point and spiced with that true philosophy bred in
+      those who live close to nature and to the people around them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In producing this new Lincoln book, the publishers have followed an
+      entirely new and novel method of illustrating it. The old shop-worn
+      pictures that are to be seen in every &ldquo;History of Lincoln,&rdquo; and in every
+      other book written about him, such as &ldquo;A Flatboat on the Sangamon River,&rdquo;
+       &ldquo;State Capitol at Springfield,&rdquo; &ldquo;Old Log Cabin,&rdquo; etc., have all been left
+      out and in place of them the best special artists that could be employed
+      have supplied original drawings illustrating the &ldquo;point&rdquo; of Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      stories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These illustrations are not copies of other pictures, but are original
+      drawings made from the author&rsquo;s original text expressly for this book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In these high-class outline pictures the artists have caught the true
+      spirit of Lincoln&rsquo;s humor, and while showing the laughable side of many
+      incidents in his career, they are true to life in the scenes and
+      characters they portray.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In addition to these new and original pictures, the book contains many
+      rare and valuable photograph portraits, together with biographies, of the
+      famous men of Lincoln&rsquo;s day, whose lives formed a part of his own life
+      history.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No Lincoln book heretofore published has ever been so profusely, so
+      artistically and expensively illustrated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The parables, yarns, stories, anecdotes and sayings of the &ldquo;Immortal Abe&rdquo;
+       deserve a place beside Aesop&rsquo;s Fables, Bunyan&rsquo;s Pilgrim&rsquo;s Progress and all
+      other books that have added to the happiness and wisdom of mankind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s stories are like Lincoln himself. The more we know of them the
+      better we like them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      BY COLONEL ALEXANDER K. McCLURE.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While Lincoln would have been great among the greatest of the land as a
+      statesman and politician if like Washington, Jefferson and Jackson, he had
+      never told a humorous story, his sense of humor was the most fascinating
+      feature of his personal qualities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was the most exquisite humorist I have ever known in my life. His humor
+      was always spontaneous, and that gave it a zest and elegance that the
+      professional humorist never attains.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As a rule, the men who have become conspicuous in the country as humorists
+      have excelled in nothing else. S. S. Cox, Proctor Knott, John P. Hale and
+      others were humorists in Congress. When they arose to speak if they failed
+      to be humorous they utterly failed, and they rarely strove to be anything
+      but humorous. Such men often fail, for the professional humorist, however
+      gifted, cannot always be at his best, and when not at his best he is
+      grievously disappointing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I remember Corwin, of Ohio, who was a great statesman as well as a great
+      humorist, but whose humor predominated in his public speeches in Senate
+      and House, warning a number of the younger Senators and Representatives on
+      a social occasion when he had returned to Congress in his old age, against
+      seeking to acquire the reputation of humorists. He said it was the mistake
+      of his life. He loved it as did his hearers, but the temptation to be
+      humorous was always uppermost, and while his speech on the Mexican War was
+      the greatest ever delivered in the Senate, excepting Webster&rsquo;s reply to
+      Hayne, he regretted that he was more known as a humorist than as a
+      statesman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His first great achievement in the House was delivered in 1840 in reply to
+      General Crary, of Michigan, who had attacked General Harrison&rsquo;s military
+      career. Corwin&rsquo;s reply in defense of Harrison is universally accepted as
+      the most brilliant combination of humor and invective ever delivered in
+      that body. The venerable John Quincy Adams a day or two after Corwin&rsquo;s
+      speech, referred to Crary as &ldquo;the late General Crary,&rdquo; and the justice of
+      the remark from the &ldquo;Old Man Eloquent&rdquo; was accepted by all. Mr. Lincoln
+      differed from the celebrated humorists of the country in the important
+      fact that his humor was unstudied. He was not in any sense a professional
+      humorist, but I have never in all my intercourse with public men, known
+      one who was so apt in humorous illustration us Mr. Lincoln, and I have
+      known him many times to silence controversy by a humorous story with
+      pointed application to the issue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His face was the saddest in repose that I have ever seen among
+      accomplished and intellectual men, and his sympathies for the people, for
+      the untold thousands who were suffering bereavement from the war, often
+      made him speak with his heart upon his sleeve, about the sorrows which
+      shadowed the homes of the land and for which his heart was freely
+      bleeding.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have many times seen him discussing in the most serious and heartfelt
+      manner the sorrows and bereavements of the country, and when it would seem
+      as though the tension was so strained that the brittle cord of life must
+      break, his face would suddenly brighten like the sun escaping from behind
+      the cloud to throw its effulgence upon the earth, and he would tell an
+      appropriate story, and much as his stories were enjoyed by his hearers
+      none enjoyed them more than Mr. Lincoln himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have often known him within the space of a few minutes to be transformed
+      from the saddest face I have ever looked upon to one of the brightest and
+      most mirthful. It was well known that he had his great fountain of humor
+      as a safety valve; as an escape and entire relief from the fearful
+      exactions his endless duties put upon him. In the gravest consultations of
+      the cabinet where he was usually a listener rather than a speaker, he
+      would often end dispute by telling a story and none misunderstood it; and
+      often when he was pressed to give expression on particular subjects, and
+      his always abundant caution was baffled, he many times ended the interview
+      by a story that needed no elaboration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I recall an interview with Mr. Lincoln at the White House in the spring of
+      1865, just before Lee retreated from Petersburg. It was well understood
+      that the military power of the Confederacy was broken, and that the
+      question of reconstruction would soon be upon us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Colonel Forney and I had called upon the President simply to pay our
+      respects, and while pleasantly chatting with him General Benjamin F.
+      Butler entered. Forney was a great enthusiast, and had intense hatred of
+      the Southern leaders who had hindered his advancement when Buchanan was
+      elected President, and he was bubbling over with resentment against them.
+      He introduced the subject to the President of the treatment to be awarded
+      to the leaders of the rebellion when its powers should be confessedly
+      broken, and he was earnest in demanding that Davis and other conspicuous
+      leaders of the Confederacy should be tried, condemned and executed as
+      traitors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Butler joined Colonel Forney in demanding that treason must be
+      made odious by the execution of those who had wantonly plunged the country
+      into civil war. Lincoln heard them patiently, as he usually heard all, and
+      none could tell, however carefully they scanned his countenance what
+      impression the appeal made upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I said to General Butler that, as a lawyer pre-eminent in his profession,
+      he must know that the leaders of a government that had beleaguered our
+      capital for four years, and was openly recognized as a belligerent power
+      not only by our government but by all the leading governments of the
+      world, could not be held to answer to the law for the crime of treason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Butler was vehement in declaring that the rebellious leaders must be tried
+      and executed. Lincoln listened to the discussion for half an hour or more
+      and finally ended it by telling the story of a common drunkard out in
+      Illinois who had been induced by his friends time and again to join the
+      temperance society, but had always broken away. He was finally gathered up
+      again and given notice that if he violated his pledge once more they would
+      abandon him as an utterly hopeless vagrant. He made an earnest struggle to
+      maintain his promise, and finally he called for lemonade and said to the
+      man who was preparing it: &ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t you put just a drop of the cratur in
+      unbeknownst to me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After telling the story Lincoln simply added: &ldquo;If these men could get away
+      from the country unbeknownst to us, it might save a world of trouble.&rdquo; All
+      understood precisely what Lincoln meant, although he had given expression
+      in the most cautious manner possible and the controversy was ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln differed from professional humorists in the fact that he never
+      knew when he was going to be humorous. It bubbled up on the most
+      unexpected occasions, and often unsettled the most carefully studied
+      arguments. I have many times been with him when he gave no sign of humor,
+      and those who saw him under such conditions would naturally suppose that
+      he was incapable of a humorous expression. At other times he would
+      effervesce with humor and always of the most exquisite and impressive
+      nature. His humor was never strained; his stories never stale, and even if
+      old, the application he made of them gave them the freshness of
+      originality.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I recall sitting beside him in the White House one day when a message was
+      brought to him telling of the capture of several brigadier-generals and a
+      number of horses somewhere out in Virginia. He read the dispatch and then
+      in an apparently soliloquizing mood, said: &ldquo;Sorry for the horses; I can
+      make brigadier-generals.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There are many who believe that Mr. Lincoln loved to tell obscene or
+      profane stories, but they do great injustice to one of the purest and best
+      men I have ever known. His humor must be judged by the environment that
+      aided in its creation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As a prominent lawyer who traveled the circuit in Illinois, he was much in
+      the company of his fellow lawyers, who spent their evenings in the rude
+      taverns of what was then almost frontier life. The Western people thus
+      thrown together with but limited sources of culture and enjoyment,
+      logically cultivated the story teller, and Lincoln proved to be the most
+      accomplished in that line of all the members of the Illinois bar. They had
+      no private rooms for study, and the evenings were always spent in the
+      common barroom of the tavern, where Western wit, often vulgar or profane,
+      was freely indulged in, and the best of them at times told stories which
+      were somewhat &ldquo;broad;&rdquo; but even while thus indulging in humor that would
+      grate harshly upon severely refined hearers, they despised the vulgarian;
+      none despised vulgarity more than Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have heard him tell at one time or another almost or quite all of the
+      stories he told during his Presidential term, and there were very few of
+      them which might not have been repeated in a parlor and none descended to
+      obscene, vulgar or profane expressions. I have never known a man of purer
+      instincts than Abraham Lincoln, and his appreciation of all that was
+      beautiful and good was of the highest order.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was fortunate for Mr. Lincoln that he frequently sought relief from the
+      fearfully oppressive duties which bore so heavily upon him. He had
+      immediately about him a circle of men with whom he could be &ldquo;at home&rdquo; in
+      the White House any evening as he was with his old time friends on the
+      Illinois circuit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      David Davis was one upon whom he most relied as an adviser, and Leonard
+      Swett was probably one of his closest friends, while Ward Lamon, whom he
+      made Marshal of the District of Columbia to have him by his side, was one
+      with whom he felt entirely &ldquo;at home.&rdquo; Davis was of a more sober order but
+      loved Lincoln&rsquo;s humor, although utterly incapable of a humorous expression
+      himself. Swett was ready with Lincoln to give and take in storyland, as
+      was Lamon, and either of them, and sometimes all of them, often dropped in
+      upon Lincoln and gave him an hour&rsquo;s diversion from his exacting cares.
+      They knew that he needed it and they sought him for the purpose of
+      diverting him from what they feared was an excessive strain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His devotion to Lamon was beautiful. I well remember at Harrisburg on the
+      night of February 22, 1861, when at a dinner given by Governor Curtin to
+      Mr. Lincoln, then on his way to Washington, we decided, against the
+      protest of Lincoln, that he must change his route to Washington and make
+      the memorable midnight journey to the capital. It was thought to be best
+      that but one man should accompany him, and he was asked to choose. There
+      were present of his suite Colonel Sumner, afterwards one of the heroic
+      generals of the war, Norman B. Judd, who was chairman of the Republican
+      State Committee of Illinois, Colonel Lamon and others, and he promptly
+      chose Colonel Lamon, who alone accompanied him on his journey from
+      Harrisburg to Philadelphia and thence to Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before leaving the room Governor Curtin asked Colonel Lamon whether he was
+      armed, and he answered by exhibiting a brace of fine pistols, a huge bowie
+      knife, a black jack, and a pair of brass knuckles. Curtin answered:
+      &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll do,&rdquo; and they were started on their journey after all the
+      telegraph wires had been cut. We awaited through what seemed almost an
+      endless night, until the east was purpled with the coming of another day,
+      when Colonel Scott, who had managed the whole scheme, reunited the wires
+      and soon received from Colonel Lamon this dispatch: &ldquo;Plums delivered nuts
+      safely,&rdquo; which gave us the intensely gratifying information that Lincoln
+      had arrived in Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of all the Presidents of the United States, and indeed of all the great
+      statesmen who have made their indelible impress upon the policy of the
+      Republic, Abraham Lincoln stands out single and alone in his individual
+      qualities. He had little experience in statesmanship when he was called to
+      the Presidency. He had only a few years of service in the State
+      Legislature of Illinois, and a single term in Congress ending twelve years
+      before he became President, but he had to grapple with the gravest
+      problems ever presented to the statesmanship of the nation for solution,
+      and he met each and all of them in turn with the most consistent mastery,
+      and settled them so successfully that all have stood unquestioned until
+      the present time, and are certain to endure while the Republic lives.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this he surprised not only his own cabinet and the leaders of his party
+      who had little confidence in him when he first became President, but
+      equally surprised the country and the world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was patient, tireless and usually silent when great conflicts raged
+      about him to solve the appalling problems which were presented at various
+      stages of the war for determination, and when he reached his conclusion he
+      was inexorable. The wrangles of faction and the jostling of ambition were
+      compelled to bow when Lincoln had determined upon his line of duty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was much more than a statesman; he was one of the most sagacious
+      politicians I have ever known, although he was entirely unschooled in the
+      machinery by which political results are achieved. His judgment of men was
+      next to unerring, and when results were to be attained he knew the men who
+      should be assigned to the task, and he rarely made a mistake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I remember one occasion when he summoned Colonel Forney and myself to
+      confer on some political problem, he opened the conversation by saying:
+      &ldquo;You know that I never was much of a conniver; I don&rsquo;t know the methods of
+      political management, and I can only trust to the wisdom of leaders to
+      accomplish what is needed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s public acts are familiar to every schoolboy of the nation, but
+      his personal attributes, which are so strangely distinguished from the
+      attributes of other great men, are now the most interesting study of young
+      and old throughout our land, and I can conceive of no more acceptable
+      presentation to the public than a compilation of anecdotes and incidents
+      pertaining to the life of the greatest of all our Presidents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A.K. McClure
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S NAME AROUSES AN AUDIENCE, BY DR. NEWMAN HALL, of London.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When I have had to address a fagged and listless audience, I have found
+      that nothing was so certain to arouse them as to introduce the name of
+      Abraham Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      REVERE WASHINGTON AND LOVE LINCOLN, REV. DR. THEODORE L. CUYLER.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No other name has such electric power on every true heart, from Maine to
+      Mexico, as the name of Lincoln. If Washington is the most revered, Lincoln
+      is the best loved man that ever trod this continent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      GREATEST CHARACTER SINCE CHRIST BY JOHN HAY, Former Private Secretary to
+      President Lincoln, and Later Secretary of State in President McKinley&rsquo;s
+      Cabinet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As, in spite of some rudeness, republicanism is the sole hope of a sick
+      world, so Lincoln, with all his foibles, is the greatest character since
+      Christ.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      STORIES INFORM THE COMMON PEOPLE, BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, United States
+      Senator from New York.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln said to me once: &ldquo;They say I tell a great many stories; I
+      reckon I do, but I have found in the course of a long experience that
+      common people, take them as they run, are more easily informed through the
+      medium of a broad illustration than in any other way, and as to what the
+      hypercritical few may think, I don&rsquo;t care.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      HUMOR A PASSPORT TO THE HEART BY GEO. S. BOUTWELL, Former Secretary of the
+      United States Treasury.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s wit and mirth will give him a passport to the thoughts and
+      hearts of millions who would take no interest in the sterner and more
+      practical parts of his character.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DROLL, ORIGINAL AND APPROPRIATE. BY ELIHU B. WASHBURNE, Former United
+      States Minister to France.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s anecdotes were all so droll, so original, so appropriate and
+      so illustrative of passing incidents, that one never wearied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S HUMOR A SPARKLING SPRING, BY DAVID R. LOCKE (PETROLEUM V.
+      NASBY), Lincoln&rsquo;s Favorite Humorist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s flow of humor was a sparkling spring, gushing out of a rock&mdash;the
+      flashing water had a somber background which made it all the brighter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      LIKE AESOP&rsquo;S FABLES, BY HUGH McCULLOCH, Former Secretary of the United
+      States Treasury.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s stories were as apt and instructive as the best of
+      Aesop&rsquo;s Fables.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      FULL OF FUN, BY GENERAL JAMES B. FRY, Former Adjutant-General United
+      States Army.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln was a humorist so full of fun that he could not keep it all
+      in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      INEXHAUSTIBLE FUND OF STORIES, BY LAWRENCE WELDON, Judge United States
+      Court of Claims.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s resources as a story-teller were inexhaustible, and no
+      condition could arise in a case beyond his capacity to furnish an
+      illustration with an appropriate anecdote.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      CHAMPION STORY-TELLER, BY BEN. PERLEY POORE, Former Editor of The
+      Congressional Record.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln was recognized as the champion story-teller of the Capitol.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      LINCOLN CHRONOLOGY.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     1806&mdash;Marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, June 12th,
+     Washington County, Kentucky.
+     1809&mdash;Born February 12th, Hardin (now La Rue County), Kentucky.
+     1816&mdash;Family Removed to Perry County, Indiana.
+     1818&mdash;Death of Abraham&rsquo;s Mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln.
+     1819&mdash;Second Marriage Thomas Lincoln; Married Sally Bush
+     Johnston, December 2nd, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
+     1830&mdash;Lincoln Family Removed to Illinois, Locating in Macon County.
+     1831&mdash;Abraham Located at New Salem.
+     1832&mdash;Abraham a Captain in the Black Hawk War.
+     1833&mdash;Appointed Postmaster at New Salem.
+     1834&mdash;Abraham as a Surveyor. First Election to the Legislature.
+     1835&mdash;Love Romance with Anne Rutledge.
+     1836&mdash;Second Election to the Legislature.
+     1837&mdash;Licensed to Practice Law.
+     1838&mdash;Third Election to the Legislature.
+     1840&mdash;Presidential Elector on Harrison Ticket.
+     Fourth Election to the Legislature.
+     1842&mdash;Married November 4th, to Mary Todd. &ldquo;Duel&rdquo; with General Shields.
+     1843&mdash;Birth of Robert Todd Lincoln, August 1st.
+     1846&mdash;Elected to Congress. Birth of Edward Baker Lincoln, March 10th.
+     1848&mdash;Delegate to the Philadelphia National Convention.
+     1850&mdash;Birth of William Wallace Lincoln, December 2nd.
+     1853&mdash;Birth of Thomas Lincoln, April 4th.
+     1856&mdash;Assists in Formation Republican Party.
+     1858&mdash;Joint Debater with Stephen A. Douglas. Defeated for the
+     United States Senate.
+     1860&mdash;Nominated and Elected to the Presidency.
+     1861&mdash;Inaugurated as President, March 4th. 1863-Issued
+     Emancipation Proclamation. 1864-Re-elected to the Presidency.
+     1865&mdash;Assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth, April 14th. Died April
+     15th. Remains Interred at Springfield, Illinois, May 4th.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0021}.jpg" alt="{0021}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0021}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AND McCLURE.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      (From Harper&rsquo;s Weekly, April 13, 1901.)
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Colonel Alexander K. McClure, the editorial director of the Philadelphia
+      Times, which he founded in 1875, began his forceful career as a tanner&rsquo;s
+      apprentice in the mountains of Pennsylvania threescore years ago. He
+      tanned hides all day, and read exchanges nights in the neighboring weekly
+      newspaper office. The learned tanner&rsquo;s boy also became the aptest Inner in
+      the county, and the editor testified his admiration for young McClure&rsquo;s
+      attainments by sending him to edit a new weekly paper which the exigencies
+      of politics called into being in an adjoining county.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lad was over six feet high, had the thews of Ajax and the voice of
+      Boanerges, and knew enough about shoe-leather not to be afraid of any man
+      that stood in it. He made his paper a success, went into politics, and
+      made that a success, studied law with William McLellan, and made that a
+      success, and actually went into the army&mdash;and made that a success, by
+      an interesting accident which brought him into close personal relations
+      with Abraham Lincoln, whom he had helped to nominate, serving as chairman
+      of the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania through the campaign.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In 1862 the government needed troops badly, and in each Pennsylvania
+      county Republicans and Democrats were appointed to assist in the
+      enrollment, under the State laws. McClure, working day and night at
+      Harrisburg, saw conscripts coming in at the rate of a thousand a day, only
+      to fret in idleness against the army red-tape which held them there
+      instead of sending a regiment a day to the front, as McClure demanded
+      should be done. The military officer continued to dispatch two companies a
+      day&mdash;leaving the mass of the conscripts to be fed by the contractors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      McClure went to Washington and said to the President, &ldquo;You must send a
+      mustering officer to Harrisburg who will do as I say; I can&rsquo;t stay there
+      any longer under existing conditions.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln sent into another room for Adjutant-General Thomas. &ldquo;General,&rdquo;
+       said he, &ldquo;what is the highest rank of military officer at Harrisburg?&rdquo;
+       &ldquo;Captain, sir,&rdquo; said Thomas. &ldquo;Bring me a commission for an Assistant
+      Adjutant-General of the United States Army,&rdquo; said Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So Adjutant-General McClure was mustered in, and after that a regiment a
+      day of boys in blue left Harrisburg for the front. Colonel McClure is one
+      of the group of great Celt-American editors, which included Medill,
+      McCullagh and McLean.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; LINCOLN&rsquo;S YARNS AND STORIES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN ASKED TO BE SHOT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was, naturally enough, much surprised one day, when a man of
+      rather forbidding countenance drew a revolver and thrust the weapon almost
+      into his face. In such circumstances &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; at once concluded that any
+      attempt at debate or argument was a waste of time and words.
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8023}.jpg" alt="{8023} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8023}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What seems to be the matter?&rdquo; inquired Lincoln with all the calmness and
+      self-possession he could muster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; replied the stranger, who did not appear at all excited, &ldquo;some
+      years ago I swore an oath that if I ever came across an uglier man than
+      myself I&rsquo;d shoot him on the spot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A feeling of relief evidently took possession of Lincoln at this
+      rejoinder, as the expression upon his countenance lost all suggestion of
+      anxiety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shoot me,&rdquo; he said to the stranger; &ldquo;for if I am an uglier man than you I
+      don&rsquo;t want to live.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TIME LOST DIDN&rsquo;T COUNT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Thurlow Weed, the veteran journalist and politician, once related how,
+      when he was opposing the claims of Montgomery Blair, who aspired to a
+      Cabinet appointment, that Mr. Lincoln inquired of Mr. Weed whom he would
+      recommend, &ldquo;Henry Winter Davis,&rdquo; was the response.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;David Davis, I see, has been posting you up on this question,&rdquo; retorted
+      Lincoln. &ldquo;He has Davis on the brain. I think Maryland must be a good State
+      to move from.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President then told a story of a witness in court in a neighboring
+      county, who, on being asked his age, replied, &ldquo;Sixty.&rdquo; Being satisfied he
+      was much older the question was repeated, and on receiving the same answer
+      the court admonished the witness, saying, &ldquo;The court knows you to be much
+      older than sixty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I understand now,&rdquo; was the rejoinder, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re thinking of those ten
+      years I spent on the eastern share of Maryland; that was so much time
+      lost, and didn&rsquo;t count.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Blair was made Postmaster-General.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO VICES, NO VIRTUES.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Lincoln always took great pleasure in relating this yarn:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Riding at one time in a stage with an old Kentuckian who was returning
+      from Missouri, Lincoln excited the old gentleman&rsquo;s surprise by refusing to
+      accept either of tobacco or French brandy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they separated that afternoon&mdash;the Kentuckian to take another
+      stage bound for Louisville&mdash;he shook hands warmly with Lincoln, and
+      said, good-humoredly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See here, stranger, you&rsquo;re a clever but strange companion. I may never
+      see you again, and I don&rsquo;t want to offend you, but I want to say this: My
+      experience has taught me that a man who has no vices has d&mdash;&mdash;d
+      few virtues. Good-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S DUES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Miss Todd (afterwards Mrs. Lincoln) had a keen sense of the ridiculous,
+      and wrote several articles in the Springfield (Ill.) &ldquo;Journal&rdquo; reflecting
+      severely upon General James Shields (who won fame in the Mexican and Civil
+      Wars, and was United States Senator from three states), then Auditor of
+      State.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln assumed the authorship, and was challenged by Shields to meet him
+      on the &ldquo;field of honor.&rdquo; Meanwhile Miss Todd increased Shields&rsquo; ire by
+      writing another letter to the paper, in which she said: &ldquo;I hear the way of
+      these fire-eaters is to give the challenged party the choice of weapons,
+      which being the case, I&rsquo;ll tell you in confidence that I never fight with
+      anything but broom-sticks, or hot water, or a shovelful of coals, the
+      former of which, being somewhat like a shillalah, may not be objectionable
+      to him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0025}.jpg" alt="{0025}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0025}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln accepted the challenge, and selected broadswords as the weapons.
+      Judge Herndon (Lincoln&rsquo;s law partner) gives the closing of this affair as
+      follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The laws of Illinois prohibited dueling, and Lincoln demanded that the
+      meeting should be outside the state. Shields undoubtedly knew that Lincoln
+      was opposed to fighting a duel&mdash;that his moral sense would revolt at
+      the thought, and that he would not be likely to break the law by fighting
+      in the state. Possibly he thought Lincoln would make a humble apology.
+      Shields was brave, but foolish, and would not listen to overtures for
+      explanation. It was arranged that the meeting should be in Missouri,
+      opposite Alton. They proceeded to the place selected, but friends
+      interfered, and there was no duel. There is little doubt that the man who
+      had swung a beetle and driven iron wedges into gnarled hickory logs could
+      have cleft the skull of his antagonist, but he had no such intention. He
+      repeatedly said to the friends of Shields that in writing the first
+      article he had no thought of anything personal. The Auditor&rsquo;s vanity had
+      been sorely wounded by the second letter, in regard to which Lincoln could
+      not make any explanation except that he had had no hand in writing it. The
+      affair set all Springfield to laughing at Shields.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;DONE WITH THE BIBLE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Lincoln never told a better story than this:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      A country meeting-house, that was used once a month, was quite a distance
+      from any other house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The preacher, an old-line Baptist, was dressed in coarse linen pantaloons,
+      and shirt of the same material. The pants, manufactured after the old
+      fashion, with baggy legs, and a flap in the front, were made to attach to
+      his frame without the aid of suspenders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A single button held his shirt in position, and that was at the collar. He
+      rose up in the pulpit, and with a loud voice announced his text thus: &ldquo;I
+      am the Christ whom I shall represent to-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      About this time a little blue lizard ran up his roomy pantaloons. The old
+      preacher, not wishing to interrupt the steady flow of his sermon, slapped
+      away on his leg, expecting to arrest the intruder, but his efforts were
+      unavailing, and the little fellow kept on ascending higher and higher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Continuing the sermon, the preacher loosened the central button which
+      graced the waistband of his pantaloons, and with a kick off came that
+      easy-fitting garment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But, meanwhile, Mr. Lizard had passed the equatorial line of the
+      waistband, and was calmly exploring that part of the preacher&rsquo;s anatomy
+      which lay underneath the back of his shirt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Things were now growing interesting, but the sermon was still grinding on.
+      The next movement on the preacher&rsquo;s part was for the collar button, and
+      with one sweep of his arm off came the tow linen shirt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The congregation sat for an instant as if dazed; at length one old lady in
+      the rear part of the room rose up, and, glancing at the excited object in
+      the pulpit, shouted at the top of her voice: &ldquo;If you represent Christ,
+      then I&rsquo;m done with the Bible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Once, when Lincoln was pleading a case, the opposing lawyer had all the
+      advantage of the law; the weather was warm, and his opponent, as was
+      admissible in frontier courts, pulled off his coat and vest as he grew
+      warm in the argument.
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8027}.jpg" alt="{8027} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8027}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      At that time, shirts with buttons behind were unusual. Lincoln took in the
+      situation at once. Knowing the prejudices of the primitive people against
+      pretension of all sorts, or any affectation of superior social rank,
+      arising, he said: &ldquo;Gentlemen of the jury, having justice on my side, I
+      don&rsquo;t think you will be at all influenced by the gentleman&rsquo;s pretended
+      knowledge of the law, when you see he does not even know which side of his
+      shirt should be in front.&rdquo; There was a general laugh, and Lincoln&rsquo;s case
+      was won.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A MISCHIEVOUS OX.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln once told the following story of Colonel W., who had
+      been elected to the Legislature, and had also been judge of the County
+      Court. His elevation, however, had made him somewhat pompous, and he
+      became very fond of using big words. On his farm he had a very large and
+      mischievous ox, called &ldquo;Big Brindle,&rdquo; which very frequently broke down his
+      neighbors&rsquo; fences, and committed other depredations, much to the Colonel&rsquo;s
+      annoyance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One morning after breakfast, in the presence of Lincoln, who had stayed
+      with him over night, and who was on his way to town, he called his
+      overseer and said to him:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Allen, I desire you to impound &lsquo;Big Brindle,&rsquo; in order that I may
+      hear no animadversions on his eternal depredations.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Allen bowed and walked off, sorely puzzled to know what the Colonel wanted
+      him to do. After Colonel W. left for town, he went to his wife and asked
+      her what the Colonel meant by telling him to impound the ox.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, he meant to tell you to put him in a pen,&rdquo; said she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Allen left to perform the feat, for it was no inconsiderable one, as the
+      animal was wild and vicious, but, after a great deal of trouble and
+      vexation, succeeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said he, wiping the perspiration from his brow and soliloquizing,
+      &ldquo;this is impounding, is it? Now, I am dead sure that the Colonel will ask
+      me if I impounded &lsquo;Big Brindle,&rsquo; and I&rsquo;ll bet I puzzle him as he did me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The next day the Colonel gave a dinner party, and as he was not
+      aristocratic, Allen, the overseer, sat down with the company. After the
+      second or third glass was discussed, the Colonel turned to the overseer
+      and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eh, Mr. Allen, did you impound &lsquo;Big Brindle,&rsquo; sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Allen straightened himself, and looking around at the company, replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I did, sir; but &lsquo;Old Brindle&rsquo; transcended the impanel of the
+      impound, and scatterlophisticated all over the equanimity of the forest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The company burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, while the Colonel&rsquo;s
+      face reddened with discomfiture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you mean by that, sir?&rdquo; demanded the Colonel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, I mean, Colonel,&rdquo; replied Allen, &ldquo;that &lsquo;Old Brindle,&rsquo; being
+      prognosticated with an idea of the cholera, ripped and teared, snorted and
+      pawed dirt, jumped the fence, tuck to the woods, and would not be
+      impounded nohow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was too much; the company roared again, the Colonel being forced to
+      join in the laughter, and in the midst of the jollity Allen left the
+      table, saying to himself as he went, &ldquo;I reckon the Colonel won&rsquo;t ask me to
+      impound any more oxen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE PRESIDENTIAL &ldquo;CHIN-FLY.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Some of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s intimate friends once called his attention to a
+      certain member of his Cabinet who was quietly working to secure a
+      nomination for the Presidency, although knowing that Mr. Lincoln was to be
+      a candidate for re-election. His friends insisted that the Cabinet officer
+      ought to be made to give up his Presidential aspirations or be removed
+      from office. The situation reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story:
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8029}.jpg" alt="{8029} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8029}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My brother and I,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;were once plowing corn, I driving the horse
+      and he holding the plow. The horse was lazy, but on one occasion he rushed
+      across the field so that I, with my long legs, could scarcely keep pace
+      with him. On reaching the end of the furrow, I found an enormous chin-fly
+      fastened upon him, and knocked him off. My brother asked me what I did
+      that for. I told him I didn&rsquo;t want the old horse bitten in that way.
+      &lsquo;Why,&rsquo; said my brother, &lsquo;that&rsquo;s all that made him go.&rsquo; Now,&rdquo; said Mr.
+      Lincoln, &ldquo;if Mr.&mdash;&mdash; has a Presidential chin-fly biting him, I&rsquo;m
+      not going to knock him off, if it will only make his department go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &lsquo;SQUIRE BAGLY&rsquo;S PRECEDENT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. T. W. S. Kidd, of Springfield, says that he once heard a lawyer
+      opposed to Lincoln trying to convince a jury that precedent was superior
+      to law, and that custom made things legal in all cases. When Lincoln arose
+      to answer him he told the jury he would argue his case in the same way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old &lsquo;Squire Bagly, from Menard, came into my office and said, &lsquo;Lincoln, I
+      want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what&rsquo;s been elected justice of the
+      peace a right to issue a marriage license?&rsquo; I told him he had not; when
+      the old &lsquo;squire threw himself back in his chair very indignantly, and
+      said, &lsquo;Lincoln, I thought you was a lawyer. Now Bob Thomas and me had a
+      bet on this thing, and we agreed to let you decide; but if this is your
+      opinion I don&rsquo;t want it, for I know a thunderin&rsquo; sight better, for I have
+      been &lsquo;squire now for eight years and have done it all the time.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE&rsquo;D NEED HIS GUN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When the President, early in the War, was anxious about the defenses of
+      Washington, he told a story illustrating his feelings in the case. General
+      Scott, then Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, had but 1,500
+      men, two guns and an old sloop of war, the latter anchored in the Potomac,
+      with which to protect the National Capital, and the President was uneasy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To one of his queries as to the safety of Washington, General Scott had
+      replied, &ldquo;It has been ordained, Mr. President, that the city shall not be
+      captured by the Confederates.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But we ought to have more men and guns here,&rdquo; was the Chief Executive&rsquo;s
+      answer. &ldquo;The Confederates are not such fools as to let a good chance to
+      capture Washington go by, and even if it has been ordained that the city
+      is safe, I&rsquo;d feel easier if it were better protected. All this reminds me
+      of the old trapper out in the West who had been assured by some &lsquo;city
+      folks&rsquo; who had hired him as a guide that all matters regarding life and
+      death were prearranged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;It is ordained,&rsquo; said one of the party to the old trapper, &lsquo;that you are
+      to die at a certain time, and no one can kill you before that time. If you
+      met a thousand Indians, and your death had not been ordained for that day,
+      you would certainly escape.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I don&rsquo;t exactly understand this &ldquo;ordained&rdquo; business,&rsquo; was the trapper&rsquo;s
+      reply. &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t care to run no risks. I always have my gun with me, so
+      that if I come across some reds I can feel sure that I won&rsquo;t cross the
+      Jordan &lsquo;thout taking some of &lsquo;em with me. Now, for instance, if I met an
+      Indian in the woods; he drew a bead on me&mdash;sayin&rsquo;, too, that he
+      wasn&rsquo;t more&rsquo;n ten feet away&mdash;an&rsquo; I didn&rsquo;t have nothing to protect
+      myself; say it was as bad as that, the redskin bein&rsquo; dead ready to kill
+      me; now, even if it had been ordained that the Indian (sayin&rsquo; he was a
+      good shot), was to die that very minute, an&rsquo; I wasn&rsquo;t, what would I do
+      &lsquo;thout my gun?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There you are,&rdquo; the President remarked; &ldquo;even if it has been ordained
+      that the city of Washington will never be taken by the Southerners, what
+      would we do in case they made an attack upon the place, without men and
+      heavy guns?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      KEPT UP THE ARGUMENT.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0031}.jpg" alt="{0031}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0031}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Judge T. Lyle Dickey of Illinois related that when the excitement over the
+      Kansas Nebraska bill first broke out, he was with Lincoln and several
+      friends attending court. One evening several persons, including himself
+      and Lincoln, were discussing the slavery question. Judge Dickey contended
+      that slavery was an institution which the Constitution recognized, and
+      which could not be disturbed. Lincoln argued that ultimately slavery must
+      become extinct. &ldquo;After awhile,&rdquo; said Judge Dickey, &ldquo;we went upstairs to
+      bed. There were two beds in our room, and I remember that Lincoln sat up
+      in his night shirt on the edge of the bed arguing the point with me. At
+      last we went to sleep. Early in the morning I woke up and there was
+      Lincoln half sitting up in bed. &lsquo;Dickey,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;I tell you this nation
+      cannot exist half slave and half free.&rsquo; &lsquo;Oh, Lincoln,&rsquo; said I, &lsquo;go to
+      sleep.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EQUINE INGRATITUDE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln, while eager that the United States troops should be
+      supplied with the most modern and serviceable weapons, often took occasion
+      to put his foot down upon the mania for experimenting with which some of
+      his generals were afflicted. While engaged in these experiments much
+      valuable time was wasted, the enemy was left to do as he thought best, no
+      battles were fought, and opportunities for winning victories allowed to
+      pass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was an exceedingly practical man, and when an invention,
+      idea or discovery was submitted to him, his first step was to ascertain
+      how any or all of them could be applied in a way to be of benefit to the
+      army. As to experimenting with &ldquo;contrivances&rdquo; which, to his mind, could
+      never be put to practical use, he had little patience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some of these generals,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;experiment so long and so much with
+      newfangled, fancy notions that when they are finally brought to a head
+      they are useless. Either the time to use them has gone by, or the machine,
+      when put in operation, kills more than it cures.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One of these generals, who has a scheme for &lsquo;condensing&rsquo; rations, is
+      willing to swear his life away that his idea, when carried to perfection,
+      will reduce the cost of feeding the Union troops to almost nothing, while
+      the soldiers themselves will get so fat that they&rsquo;ll &lsquo;bust out&rsquo; of their
+      uniforms. Of course, uniforms cost nothing, and real fat men are more
+      active and vigorous than lean, skinny ones, but that is getting away from
+      my story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was once an Irishman&mdash;a cabman&mdash;who had a notion that he
+      could induce his horse to live entirely on shavings. The latter he could
+      get for nothing, while corn and oats were pretty high-priced. So he daily
+      lessened the amount of food to the horse, substituting shavings for the
+      corn and oats abstracted, so that the horse wouldn&rsquo;t know his rations were
+      being cut down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;However, just as he had achieved success in his experiment, and the horse
+      had been taught to live without other food than shavings, the ungrateful
+      animal &lsquo;up and died,&rsquo; and he had to buy another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So far as this general referred to is concerned, I&rsquo;m afraid the soldiers
+      will all be dead at the time when his experiment is demonstrated as
+      thoroughly successful.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &lsquo;TWAS &ldquo;MOVING DAY.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Speed, who was a prosperous young merchant of Springfield, reports that
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s personal effects consisted of a pair of saddle-bags, containing
+      two or three lawbooks, and a few pieces of clothing. Riding on a borrowed
+      horse, he thus made his appearance in Springfield. When he discovered that
+      a single bedstead would cost seventeen dollars he said, &ldquo;It is probably
+      cheap enough, but I have not enough money to pay for it.&rdquo; When Speed
+      offered to trust him, he said: &ldquo;If I fail here as a lawyer, I will
+      probably never pay you at all.&rdquo; Then Speed offered to share large double
+      bed with him.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0033}.jpg" alt="{0033}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0033}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is your room?&rdquo; Lincoln asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Upstairs,&rdquo; said Speed, pointing from the store leading to his room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Without saying a word, he took his saddle-bags on his arm, went upstairs,
+      set them down on the floor, came down again, and with a face beaming with
+      pleasure and smiles, exclaimed: &ldquo;Well, Speed, I&rsquo;m moved.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; HAIR NEEDED COMBING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the way,&rdquo; remarked President Lincoln one day to Colonel Cannon, a
+      close personal friend, &ldquo;I can tell you a good story about my hair. When I
+      was nominated at Chicago, an enterprising fellow thought that a great many
+      people would like to see how &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; Lincoln looked, and, as I had not long
+      before sat for a photograph, the fellow, having seen it, rushed over and
+      bought the negative.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He at once got no end of wood-cuts, and so active was their circulation
+      they were soon selling in all parts of the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Soon after they reached Springfield, I heard a boy crying them for sale
+      on the streets. &lsquo;Here&rsquo;s your likeness of &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; Lincoln!&rsquo; he shouted. &lsquo;Buy
+      one; price only two shillings! Will look a great deal better when he gets
+      his hair combed!&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WOULD &ldquo;TAKE TO THE WOODS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Secretary of State Seward was bothered considerably regarding the
+      complication into which Spain had involved the United States government in
+      connection with San Domingo, and related his troubles to the President.
+      Negotiations were not proceeding satisfactorily, and things were mixed
+      generally. We wished to conciliate Spain, while the negroes had appealed
+      against Spanish oppression.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President did not, to all appearances, look at the matter seriously,
+      but, instead of treating the situation as a grave one, remarked that
+      Seward&rsquo;s dilemma reminded him of an interview between two negroes in
+      Tennessee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One was a preacher, who, with the crude and strange notions of his
+      ignorant race, was endeavoring to admonish and enlighten his brother
+      African of the importance of religion and the danger of the future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dar are,&rdquo; said Josh, the preacher, &ldquo;two roads befo&rsquo; you, Joe; be ca&rsquo;ful
+      which ob dese you take. Narrow am de way dat leads straight to
+      destruction; but broad am de way dat leads right to damnation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Joe opened his eyes with affright, and under the spell of the awful danger
+      before him, exclaimed, &ldquo;Josh, take which road you please; I shall go troo
+      de woods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am not willing,&rdquo; concluded the President, &ldquo;to assume any new troubles
+      or responsibilities at this time, and shall therefore avoid going to the
+      one place with Spain, or with the negro to the other, but shall &lsquo;take to
+      the woods.&rsquo; We will maintain an honest and strict neutrality.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN CARRIED HER TRUNK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My first strong impression of Mr. Lincoln,&rdquo; says a lady of Springfield,
+      &ldquo;was made by one of his kind deeds. I was going with a little friend for
+      my first trip alone on the railroad cars. It was an epoch of my life. I
+      had planned for it and dreamed of it for weeks. The day I was to go came,
+      but as the hour of the train approached, the hackman, through some
+      neglect, failed to call for my trunk. As the minutes went on, I realized,
+      in a panic of grief, that I should miss the train. I was standing by the
+      gate, my hat and gloves on, sobbing as if my heart would break, when Mr.
+      Lincoln came by.
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8035}.jpg" alt="{8035} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8035}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Why, what&rsquo;s the matter?&rsquo; he asked, and I poured out all my story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;How big&rsquo;s the trunk? There&rsquo;s still time, if it isn&rsquo;t too big.&rsquo; And he
+      pushed through the gate and up to the door. My mother and I took him up to
+      my room, where my little old-fashioned trunk stood, locked and tied. &lsquo;Oh,
+      ho,&rsquo; he cried, &lsquo;wipe your eyes and come on quick.&rsquo; And before I knew what
+      he was going to do, he had shouldered the trunk, was down stairs, and
+      striding out of the yard. Down the street he went fast as his long legs
+      could carry him, I trotting behind, drying my tears as I went. We reached
+      the station in time. Mr. Lincoln put me on the train, kissed me good-bye,
+      and told me to have a good time. It was just like him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOAT HAD TO STOP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln never failed to take part in all political campaigns in Illinois,
+      as his reputation as a speaker caused his services to be in great demand.
+      As was natural, he was often the target at which many of the &ldquo;Smart
+      Alecks&rdquo; of that period shot their feeble bolts, but Lincoln was so ready
+      with his answers that few of them cared to engage him a second time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In one campaign Lincoln was frequently annoyed by a young man who
+      entertained the idea that he was a born orator. He had a loud voice, was
+      full of language, and so conceited that he could not understand why the
+      people did not recognize and appreciate his abilities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This callow politician delighted in interrupting public speakers, and at
+      last Lincoln determined to squelch him. One night while addressing a large
+      meeting at Springfield, the fellow became so offensive that &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; dropped
+      the threads of his speech and turned his attention to the tormentor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t object,&rdquo; said Lincoln, &ldquo;to being interrupted with sensible
+      questions, but I must say that my boisterous friend does not always make
+      inquiries which properly come under that head. He says he is afflicted
+      with headaches, at which I don&rsquo;t wonder, as it is a well-known fact that
+      nature abhors a vacuum, and takes her own way of demonstrating it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This noisy friend reminds me of a certain steamboat that used to run on
+      the Illinois river. It was an energetic boat, was always busy. When they
+      built it, however, they made one serious mistake, this error being in the
+      relative sizes of the boiler and the whistle. The latter was usually busy,
+      too, and people were aware that it was in existence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This particular boiler to which I have reference was a six-foot one, and
+      did all that was required of it in the way of pushing the boat along; but
+      as the builders of the vessel had made the whistle a six-foot one, the
+      consequence was that every time the whistle blew the boat had to stop.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MCCLELLAN&rsquo;S &ldquo;SPECIAL TALENT.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln one day remarked to a number of personal friends who had
+      called upon him at the White House:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;General McClellan&rsquo;s tardiness and unwillingness to fight the enemy or
+      follow up advantages gained, reminds me of a man back in Illinois who knew
+      a few law phrases but whose lawyer lacked aggressiveness. The man finally
+      lost all patience and springing to his feet vociferated, &lsquo;Why don&rsquo;t you go
+      at him with a fi. fa., a demurrer, a capias, a surrebutter, or a ne exeat,
+      or something; or a nundam pactum or a non est?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish McClellan would go at the enemy with something&mdash;I don&rsquo;t care
+      what. General McClellan is a pleasant and scholarly gentleman. He is an
+      admirable engineer, but he seems to have a special talent for a stationary
+      engine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW &ldquo;JAKE&rdquo; GOT AWAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the last, if not the very last story told by President Lincoln, was
+      to one of his Cabinet who came to see him, to ask if it would be proper to
+      permit &ldquo;Jake&rdquo; Thompson to slip through Maine in disguise and embark for
+      Portland.
+    </p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9037}.jpg" alt="{9037}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9037}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The President, as usual, was disposed to be merciful, and to permit the
+      arch-rebel to pass unmolested, but Secretary Stanton urged that he should
+      be arrested as a traitor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By permitting him to escape the penalties of treason,&rdquo; persisted the War
+      Secretary, &ldquo;you sanction it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;let me tell you a story. There was an Irish
+      soldier here last summer, who wanted something to drink stronger than
+      water, and stopped at a drug-shop, where he espied a soda-fountain. &lsquo;Mr.
+      Doctor,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;give me, plase, a glass of soda-wather, an&rsquo; if yez can
+      put in a few drops of whiskey unbeknown to any one, I&rsquo;ll be obleeged.&rsquo;
+      Now,&rdquo; continued Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;if &lsquo;Jake&rsquo; Thompson is permitted to go
+      through Maine unbeknown to any one, what&rsquo;s the harm? So don&rsquo;t have him
+      arrested.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linklight" id="linklight">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MORE LIGHT AND LESS NOISE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President was bothered to death by those persons who boisterously
+      demanded that the War be pushed vigorously; also, those who shouted their
+      advice and opinions into his weary ears, but who never suggested anything
+      practical. These fellows were not in the army, nor did they ever take any
+      interest, in a personal way, in military matters, except when engaged in
+      dodging drafts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That reminds me,&rdquo; remarked Mr. Lincoln one day, &ldquo;of a farmer who lost his
+      way on the Western frontier. Night came on, and the embarrassments of his
+      position were increased by a furious tempest which suddenly burst upon
+      him. To add to his discomfort, his horse had given out, leaving him
+      exposed to all the dangers of the pitiless storm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The peals of thunder were terrific, the frequent flashes of lightning
+      affording the only guide on the road as he resolutely trudged onward,
+      leading his jaded steed. The earth seemed fairly to tremble beneath him in
+      the war of elements. One bolt threw him suddenly upon his knees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our traveler was not a prayerful man, but finding himself involuntarily
+      brought to an attitude of devotion, he addressed himself to the Throne of
+      Grace in the following prayer for his deliverance:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;O God! hear my prayer this time, for Thou knowest it is not often that I
+      call upon Thee. And, O Lord! if it is all the same to Thee, give us a
+      little more light and a little less noise.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish,&rdquo; the President said, sadly, &ldquo;there was a stronger disposition
+      manifested on the part of our civilian warriors to unite in suppressing
+      the rebellion, and a little less noise as to how and by whom the chief
+      executive office shall be administered.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ONE BULLET AND A HATFUL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln made the best of everything, and if he couldn&rsquo;t get what he wanted
+      he took what he could get. In matters of policy, while President he acted
+      according to this rule. He would take perilous chances, even when the
+      result was, to the minds of his friends, not worth the risk he had run.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day at a meeting of the Cabinet, it being at the time when it seemed
+      as though war with England and France could not be avoided, Secretary of
+      State Seward and Secretary of War Stanton warmly advocated that the United
+      States maintain an attitude, the result of which would have been a
+      declaration of hostilities by the European Powers mentioned.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0039}.jpg" alt="{0039}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0039}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0040}.jpg" alt="{0040}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0040}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why take any more chances than are absolutely necessary?&rdquo; asked the
+      President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must maintain our honor at any cost,&rdquo; insisted Secretary Seward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We would be branded as cowards before the entire world,&rdquo; Secretary
+      Stanton said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But why run the greater risk when we can take a smaller one?&rdquo; queried the
+      President calmly. &ldquo;The less risk we run the better for us. That reminds me
+      of a story I heard a day or two ago, the hero of which was on the firing
+      line during a recent battle, where the bullets were flying thick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Finally his courage gave way entirely, and throwing down his gun, he ran
+      for dear life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As he was flying along at top speed he came across an officer who drew
+      his revolver and shouted, &lsquo;Go back to your regiment at once or I will
+      shoot you!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Shoot and be hanged,&rsquo; the racer exclaimed. &lsquo;What&rsquo;s one bullet to a whole
+      hatful?&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S STORY TO PEACE COMMISSIONERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Among the reminiscences of Lincoln left by Editor Henry J. Raymond, is the
+      following:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the stories told by Lincoln, which is freshest in my mind, one which
+      he related to me shortly after its occurrence, belongs to the history of
+      the famous interview on board the River Queen, at Hampton Roads, between
+      himself and Secretary Seward and the rebel Peace Commissioners. It was
+      reported at the time that the President told a &ldquo;little story&rdquo; on that
+      occasion, and the inquiry went around among the newspapers, &ldquo;What was it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The New York Herald published what purported to be a version of it, but
+      the &ldquo;point&rdquo; was entirely lost, and it attracted no attention. Being in
+      Washington a few days subsequent to the interview with the Commissioners
+      (my previous sojourn there having terminated about the first of last
+      August), I asked Mr. Lincoln one day if it was true that he told Stephens,
+      Hunter and Campbell a story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes,&rdquo; he replied, manifesting some surprise, &ldquo;but has it leaked out?
+      I was in hopes nothing would be said about it, lest some over-sensitive
+      people should imagine there was a degree of levity in the intercourse
+      between us.&rdquo; He then went on to relate the circumstances which called it
+      out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;we had reached and were discussing the slavery
+      question. Mr. Hunter said, substantially, that the slaves, always
+      accustomed to an overseer, and to work upon compulsion, suddenly freed, as
+      they would be if the South should consent to peace on the basis of the
+      &lsquo;Emancipation Proclamation,&rsquo; would precipitate not only themselves, but
+      the entire Southern society, into irremediable ruin. No work would be
+      done, nothing would be cultivated, and both blacks and whites would
+      starve!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Said the President: &ldquo;I waited for Seward to answer that argument, but as
+      he was silent, I at length said: &lsquo;Mr. Hunter, you ought to know a great
+      deal better about this argument than I, for you have always lived under
+      the slave system. I can only say, in reply to your statement of the case,
+      that it reminds me of a man out in Illinois, by the name of Case, who
+      undertook, a few years ago, to raise a very large herd of hogs. It was a
+      great trouble to feed them, and how to get around this was a puzzle to
+      him. At length he hit on the plan of planting an immense field of
+      potatoes, and, when they were sufficiently grown, he turned the whole herd
+      into the field, and let them have full swing, thus saving not only the
+      labor of feeding the hogs, but also that of digging the potatoes. Charmed
+      with his sagacity, he stood one day leaning against the fence, counting
+      his hogs, when a neighbor came along.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, well,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;Mr. Case, this is all very fine. Your hogs are
+      doing very well just now, but you know out here in Illinois the frost
+      comes early, and the ground freezes for a foot deep. Then what you going
+      to do?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This was a view of the matter which Mr. Case had not taken into account.
+      Butchering time for hogs was &lsquo;way on in December or January! He scratched
+      his head, and at length stammered: &lsquo;Well, it may come pretty hard on their
+      snouts, but I don&rsquo;t see but that it will be &ldquo;root, hog, or die.&rdquo;&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; GOT THE WORST OF IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Illinois, he and a certain Judge once
+      got to bantering one another about trading horses; and it was agreed that
+      the next morning at nine o&rsquo;clock they should make a trade, the horses to
+      be unseen up to that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture of $25.
+      At the hour appointed, the Judge came up, leading the sorriest-looking
+      specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln
+      was seen approaching with a wooden saw-horse upon his shoulders.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0043}.jpg" alt="{0043}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0043}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Great were the shouts and laughter of the crowd, and both were greatly
+      increased when Lincoln, on surveying the Judge&rsquo;s animal, set down his
+      saw-horse, and exclaimed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse
+      trade.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IT DEPENDED UPON HIS CONDITION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President had made arrangements to visit New York, and was told that
+      President Garrett, of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, would be glad to
+      furnish a special train.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t doubt it a bit,&rdquo; remarked the President, &ldquo;for I know Mr. Garrett,
+      and like him very well, and if I believed&mdash;which I don&rsquo;t, by any
+      means&mdash;all the things some people say about his &lsquo;secesh&rsquo; principles,
+      he might say to you as was said by the Superintendent of a certain
+      railroad to a son of one my predecessors in office. Some two years after
+      the death of President Harrison, the son of his successor in this office
+      wanted to take his father on an excursion somewhere or other, and went to
+      the Superintendent&rsquo;s office to order a special train.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This Superintendent was a Whig of the most uncompromising sort, who hated
+      a Democrat more than all other things on the earth, and promptly refused
+      the young man&rsquo;s request, his language being to the effect that this
+      particular railroad was not running special trains for the accommodation
+      of Presidents of the United States just at that season.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The son of the President was much surprised and exceedingly annoyed.
+      &lsquo;Why,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;you have run special Presidential trains, and I know it.
+      Didn&rsquo;t you furnish a special train for the funeral of President Harrison?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly we did,&rsquo; calmly replied the Superintendent, with no relaxation
+      of his features, &lsquo;and if you will only bring your father here in the same
+      shape as General Harrison was, you shall have the best train on the
+      road.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the laughter had subsided, the President said: &ldquo;I shall take pleasure
+      in accepting Mr. Garrett&rsquo;s offer, as I have no doubts whatever as to his
+      loyalty to the United States government or his respect for the occupant of
+      the Presidential office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;GOT DOWN TO THE RAISINS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      A. B. Chandler, chief of the telegraph office at the War Department,
+      occupied three rooms, one of which was called &ldquo;the President&rsquo;s room,&rdquo; so
+      much of his time did Mr. Lincoln spend there. Here he would read over the
+      telegrams received for the several heads of departments. Three copies of
+      all messages received were made&mdash;one for the President, one for the
+      War Department records and one for Secretary Stanton.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Chandler told a story as to the manner in which the President read the
+      despatches:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;President Lincoln&rsquo;s copies were kept in what we called the &lsquo;President&rsquo;s
+      drawer&rsquo; of the &lsquo;cipher desk.&rsquo; He would come in at any time of the night or
+      day, and go at once to this drawer, and take out a file of telegrams, and
+      begin at the top to read them. His position in running over these
+      telegrams was sometimes very curious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He had a habit of sitting frequently on the edge of his chair, with his
+      right knee dragged down to the floor. I remember a curious expression of
+      his when he got to the bottom of the new telegrams and began on those that
+      he had read before. It was, &lsquo;Well, I guess I have got down to the
+      raisins.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The first two or three times he said this he made no explanation, and I
+      did not ask one. But one day, after he had made the remark, he looked up
+      under his eyebrows at me with a funny twinkle in his eyes, and said: &lsquo;I
+      used to know a little girl out West who sometimes was inclined to eat too
+      much. One day she ate a good many more raisins than she ought to, and
+      followed them up with a quantity of other goodies. They made her very
+      sick. After a time the raisins began to come.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She gasped and looked at her mother and said: &lsquo;Well, I will be better now
+      I guess, for I have got down to the raisins.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;HONEST ABE&rdquo; SWALLOWS HIS ENEMIES.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0045}.jpg" alt="{0045}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0045}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Honest Abe&rsquo; Taking Them on the Half-Shell&rdquo; was one of the cartoons
+      published in 1860 by one of the illustrated periodicals. As may be seen,
+      it represents Lincoln in a &ldquo;Political Oyster House,&rdquo; preparing to swallow
+      two of his Democratic opponents for the Presidency&mdash;Douglas and
+      Breckinridge. He performed the feat at the November election. The
+      Democratic party was hopelessly split in 1860 The Northern wing nominated
+      Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, as their candidate, the Southern wing
+      naming John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky; the Constitutional Unionists
+      (the old American of Know-Nothing party) placed John Bell, of Tennessee,
+      in the field, and against these was put Abraham Lincoln, who received the
+      support of the Abolitionists.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln made short work of his antagonists when the election came around.
+      He received a large majority in the Electoral College, while nearly every
+      Northern State voted majorities for him at the polls. Douglas had but
+      twelve votes in the Electoral College, while Bell had thirty-nine. The
+      votes of the Southern States, then preparing to secede, were, for the most
+      part, thrown for Breckinridge. The popular vote was: Lincoln, 1,857,610;
+      Douglas, 1,365,976; Breckinridge, 847,953; Bell, 590,631; total vote,
+      4,662,170. In the Electoral College Lincoln received 180; Douglas, 12;
+      Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Lincoln&rsquo;s majority over all, 57.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SAVING HIS WIND.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge H. W. Beckwith of Danville, Ill., said that soon after the Ottawa
+      debate between Lincoln and Douglas he passed the Chenery House, then the
+      principal hotel in Springfield. The lobby was crowded with partisan
+      leaders from various sections of the state, and Mr. Lincoln, from his
+      greater height, was seen above the surging mass that clung about him like
+      a swarm of bees to their ruler. The day was warm, and at the first chance
+      he broke away and came out for a little fresh air, wiping the sweat from
+      his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As he passed the door he saw me,&rdquo; said Judge Beckwith, &ldquo;and, taking my
+      hand, inquired for the health and views of his &lsquo;friends over in Vermillion
+      county.&rsquo; He was assured they were wide awake, and further told that they
+      looked forward to the debate between him and Senator Douglas with deep
+      concern. From the shadow that went quickly over his face, the pained look
+      that came to give way quickly to a blaze of eyes and quiver of lips, I
+      felt that Mr. Lincoln had gone beneath my mere words and caught my inner
+      and current fears as to the result. And then, in a forgiving, jocular way
+      peculiar to him, he said: &lsquo;Sit down; I have a moment to spare, and will
+      tell you a story.&rsquo; Having been on his feet for some time, he sat on the
+      end of the stone step leading into the hotel door, while I stood closely
+      fronting him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;You have,&rsquo; he continued, &lsquo;seen two men about to fight?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, many times.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, one of them brags about what he means to do. He jumps high in the
+      air, cracking his heels together, smites his fists, and wastes his wreath
+      trying to scare somebody. You see the other fellow, he says not a word,&rsquo;&mdash;here
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s voice and manner changed to great earnestness, and repeating&mdash;&lsquo;you
+      see the other man says not a word. His arms are at his sides, his fists
+      are closely doubled up, his head is drawn to the shoulder, and his teeth
+      are set firm together. He is saving his wind for the fight, and as sure as
+      it comes off he will win it, or die a-trying.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      RIGHT FOR, ONCE, ANYHOW.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Where men bred in courts, accustomed to the world, or versed in diplomacy,
+      would use some subterfuge, or would make a polite speech, or give a shrug
+      of the shoulders, as the means of getting out of an embarrassing position,
+      Lincoln raised a laugh by some bold west-country anecdote, and moved off
+      in the cloud of merriment produced by the joke.</p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8047}.jpg" alt="{8047} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8047}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+
+<p>When Attorney-General
+      Bates was remonstrating apparently against the appointment of some
+      indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial importance, the President
+      interposed with: &ldquo;Come now, Bates, he&rsquo;s not half as bad as you think.
+      Besides that, I must tell you, he did me a good turn long ago. When I took
+      to the law, I was going to court one morning, with some ten or twelve
+      miles of bad road before me, and I had no horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The judge overtook me in his carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Hallo, Lincoln! are you not going to the court-house? Come in and I will
+      give you a seat!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I got in, and the Judge went on reading his papers. Presently the
+      carriage struck a stump on one side of the road, then it hopped off to the
+      other. I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerking from side to side in
+      his seat, so I says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a little too much this
+      morning.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, I declare, Lincoln,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;I should not much wonder if you
+      were right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since starting.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted, &lsquo;Why, you infernal
+      scoundrel, you are drunk!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great gravity,
+      the coachman said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Begorra! that&rsquo;s the first rightful decision that you have given for the
+      last twelvemonth.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      While the company were laughing, the President beat a quiet retreat from
+      the neighborhood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;PITY THE POOR ORPHAN.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      After the War was well on, and several battles had been fought, a lady
+      from Alexandria asked the President for an order to release a certain
+      church which had been taken for a Federal hospital. The President said he
+      could do nothing, as the post surgeon at Alexandria was immovable, and
+      then asked the lady why she did not donate money to build a hospital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have been very much embarrassed by the war,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;and our
+      estates are much hampered.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are not ruined?&rdquo; asked the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir, but we do not feel that we should give up anything we have
+      left.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President, after some reflection, then said: &ldquo;There are more battles
+      yet to be fought, and I think God would prefer that your church be devoted
+      to the care and alleviation of the sufferings of our poor fellows. So,
+      madam, you will excuse me. I can do nothing for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterward, in speaking of this incident, President Lincoln said that the
+      lady, as a representative of her class in Alexandria, reminded him of the
+      story of the young man who had an aged father and mother owning
+      considerable property. The young man being an only son, and believing that
+      the old people had outlived their usefulness, assassinated them both. He
+      was accused, tried and convicted of the murder. When the judge came to
+      pass sentence upon him, and called upon him to give any reason he might
+      have why the sentence of death should not be passed upon him, he with
+      great promptness replied that he hoped the court would be lenient upon him
+      because he was a poor orphan!
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;BAP.&rdquo; McNABB&rsquo;S BOOSTER.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9049}.jpg" alt="{9049}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9049}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      It is true that Lincoln did not drink, never swore, was a stranger to
+      smoking and lived a moral life generally, but he did like horse-racing and
+      chicken fighting. New Salem, Illinois, where Lincoln was &ldquo;clerking,&rdquo; was
+      known the neighborhood around as a &ldquo;fast&rdquo; town, and the average young man
+      made no very desperate resistance when tempted to join in the drinking and
+      gambling bouts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bap.&rdquo; McNabb was famous for his ability in both the raising and the
+      purchase of roosters of prime fighting quality, and when his birds fought
+      the attendance was large. It was because of the &ldquo;flunking&rdquo; of one of
+      &ldquo;Bap.&lsquo;s&rdquo; roosters that Lincoln was enabled to make a point when
+      criticising McClellan&rsquo;s unreadiness and lack of energy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One night there was a fight on the schedule, one of &ldquo;Bap.&rdquo; McNabb&rsquo;s birds
+      being a contestant. &ldquo;Bap.&rdquo; brought a little red rooster, whose fighting
+      qualities had been well advertised for days in advance, and much interest
+      was manifested in the outcome. As the result of these contests was
+      generally a quarrel, in which each man, charging foul play, seized his
+      victim, they chose Lincoln umpire, relying not only on his fairness but
+      his ability to enforce his decisions. Judge Herndon, in his &ldquo;Abraham
+      Lincoln,&rdquo; says of this notable event:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot improve on the description furnished me in February, 1865, by
+      one who was present.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They formed a ring, and the time having arrived, Lincoln, with one hand
+      on each hip and in a squatting position, cried, &lsquo;Ready.&rsquo; Into the ring
+      they toss their fowls, &lsquo;Bap.&lsquo;s&rsquo; red rooster along with the rest. But no
+      sooner had the little beauty discovered what was to be done than he
+      dropped his tail and ran.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The crowd cheered, while &lsquo;Bap.,&rsquo; in disappointment, picked him up and
+      started away, losing his quarter (entrance fee) and carrying home his
+      dishonored fowl. Once arrived at the latter place he threw his pet down
+      with a feeling of indignation and chagrin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The little fellow, out of sight of all rivals, mounted a woodpile and
+      proudly flirting out his feathers, crowed with all his might. &lsquo;Bap.&rsquo;
+      looked on in disgust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, you little cuss,&rsquo; he exclaimed, irreverently, &lsquo;you&rsquo;re great on
+      dress parade, but not worth a darn in a fight.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is said, according to Judge Herndon, that Lincoln considered McClellan
+      as &ldquo;great on dress parade,&rdquo; but not so much in a fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A LOW-DOWN TRICK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln was a candidate of the Know Nothings for the State
+      Legislature, the party was over-confident, and the Democrats pursued a
+      still-hunt. Lincoln was defeated. He compared the situation to one of the
+      camp-followers of General Taylor&rsquo;s army, who had secured a barrel of
+      cider, erected a tent, and commenced selling it to the thirsty soldiers at
+      twenty-five cents a drink, but he had sold but little before another sharp
+      one set up a tent at his back, and tapped the barrel so as to flow on his
+      side, and peddled out No. 1 cider at five cents a drink, of course,
+      getting the latter&rsquo;s entire trade on the borrowed capital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Democrats,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;had played Knownothing on a cheaper
+      scale than had the real devotees of Sam, and had raked down his pile with
+      his own cider!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      END FOR END.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8051}.jpg" alt="{8051} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8051}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Judge H. W. Beckwith, of Danville, Ill., in his &ldquo;Personal Recollections of
+      Lincoln,&rdquo; tells a story which is a good example of Lincoln&rsquo;s way of
+      condensing the law and the facts of an issue in a story: &ldquo;A man, by vile
+      words, first provoked and then made a bodily attack upon another. The
+      latter, in defending himself, gave the other much the worst of the
+      encounter. The aggressor, to get even, had the one who thrashed him tried
+      in our Circuit Court on a charge of an assault and battery. Mr. Lincoln
+      defended, and told the jury that his client was in the fix of a man who,
+      in going along the highway with a pitchfork on his shoulder, was attacked
+      by a fierce dog that ran out at him from a farmer&rsquo;s dooryard. In parrying
+      off the brute with the fork, its prongs stuck into the brute and killed
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;What made you kill my dog?&rsquo; said the farmer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;What made him try to bite me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But why did you not go at him with the other end of the pitchfork?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Why did he not come after me with his other end?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At this Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his long arms an imaginary dog, and
+      pushed its tail end toward the jury. This was the defensive plea of &lsquo;son
+      assault demesne&rsquo;&mdash;loosely, that &lsquo;the other fellow brought on the
+      fight,&rsquo;&mdash;quickly told, and in a way the dullest mind would grasp and
+      retain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LET SIX SKUNKS GO.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President had decided to select a new War Minister, and the Leading
+      Republican Senators thought the occasion was opportune to change the whole
+      seven Cabinet ministers. They, therefore, earnestly advised him to make a
+      clean sweep, and select seven new men, and so restore the waning
+      confidence of the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President listened with patient courtesy, and when the Senators had
+      concluded, he said, with a characteristic gleam of humor in his eye:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen, your request for a change of the whole Cabinet because I have
+      made one change reminds me of a story I once heard in Illinois, of a
+      farmer who was much troubled by skunks. His wife insisted on his trying to
+      get rid of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He loaded his shotgun one moonlight night and awaited developments. After
+      some time the wife heard the shotgun go off, and in a few minutes the
+      farmer entered the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;What luck have you?&rsquo; asked she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I hid myself behind the wood-pile,&rsquo; said the old man, &lsquo;with the shotgun
+      pointed towards the hen roost, and before long there appeared not one
+      skunk, but seven. I took aim, blazed away, killed one, and he raised such
+      a fearful smell that I concluded it was best to let the other six go.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Senators laughed and retired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW HE GOT BLACKSTONE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The following story was told by Mr. Lincoln to Mr. A. J. Conant, the
+      artist, who painted his portrait in Springfield in 1860:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of my store
+      with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. He asked me
+      if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in his wagon, and
+      which he said contained nothing of special value. I did not want it, but
+      to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, half a dollar for it.
+      Without further examination, I put it away in the store and forgot all
+      about it. Some time after, in overhauling things, I came upon the barrel,
+      and, emptying it upon the floor to see what it contained, I found at the
+      bottom of the rubbish a complete edition of Blackstone&rsquo;s Commentaries. I
+      began to read those famous works, and I had plenty of time; for during the
+      long summer days, when the farmers were busy with their crops, my
+      customers were few and far between. The more I read&rdquo;&mdash;this he said
+      with unusual emphasis&mdash;&ldquo;the more intensely interested I became. Never
+      in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. I read until I
+      devoured them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A JOB FOR THE NEW CABINETMAKER.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8053}.jpg" alt="{8053} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8053}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      This cartoon, labeled &ldquo;A Job for the New Cabinetmaker,&rdquo; was printed in
+      &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated Newspaper&rdquo; on February 2d, 1861, a month and
+      two days before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United
+      States. The Southern states had seceded from the Union, the Confederacy
+      was established, with Jefferson Davis as its President, the Union had been
+      split in two, and the task Lincoln had before him was to glue the two
+      parts of the Republic together. In his famous speech, delivered a short
+      time before his nomination for the Presidency by the Republican National
+      Convention at Chicago, in 1860, Lincoln had said: &ldquo;A house divided against
+      itself cannot stand; this nation cannot exist half slave and half free.&rdquo;
+       After his inauguration as President, Mr. Lincoln went to work to glue the
+      two pieces together, and after four years of bloody war, and at immense
+      cost, the job was finished; the house of the Great American Republic was
+      no longer divided; the severed sections&mdash;the North and the South&mdash;were
+      cemented tightly; the slaves were freed, peace was firmly established, and
+      the Union of states was glued together so well that the nation is stronger
+      now than ever before. Lincoln was just the man for that job, and the work
+      he did will last for all time. &ldquo;The New Cabinetmaker&rdquo; knew his business
+      thoroughly, and finished his task of glueing in a workmanlike manner. At
+      the very moment of its completion, five days after the surrender of Lee to
+      Grant at Appomattox, the Martyr President fell at the hands of the
+      assassin, J. Wilkes Booth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;I CAN STAND IT IF THEY CAN.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      United States Senator Benjamin Wade, of Ohio, Henry Winter Davis, of
+      Maryland, and Wendell Phillips were strongly opposed to President
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s re-election, and Wade and Davis issued a manifesto. Phillips
+      made several warm speeches against Lincoln and his policy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When asked if he had read the manifesto or any of Phillips&rsquo; speeches, the
+      President replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have not seen them, nor do I care to see them. I have seen enough to
+      satisfy me that I am a failure, not only in the opinion of the people in
+      rebellion, but of many distinguished politicians of my own party. But time
+      will show whether I am right or they are right, and I am content to abide
+      its decision.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have enough to look after without giving much of my time to the
+      consideration of the subject of who shall be my successor in office. The
+      position is not an easy one; and the occupant, whoever he may be, for the
+      next four years, will have little leisure to pluck a thorn or plant a rose
+      in his own pathway.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was urged that this opposition must be embarrassing to his
+      Administration, as well as damaging to the party. He replied: &ldquo;Yes, that
+      is true; but our friends, Wade, Davis, Phillips, and others are hard to
+      please. I am not capable of doing so. I cannot please them without
+      wantonly violating not only my oath, but the most vital principles upon
+      which our government was founded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As to those who, like Wade and the rest, see fit to depreciate my policy
+      and cavil at my official acts, I shall not complain of them. I accord them
+      the utmost freedom of speech and liberty of the press, but shall not
+      change the policy I have adopted in the full belief that I am right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I feel on this subject as an old Illinois farmer once expressed himself
+      while eating cheese. He was interrupted in the midst of his repast by the
+      entrance of his son, who exclaimed, &lsquo;Hold on, dad! there&rsquo;s skippers in
+      that cheese you&rsquo;re eating!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Never mind, Tom,&rsquo; said he, as he kept on munching his cheese, &lsquo;if they
+      can stand it I can.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN MISTAKEN FOR ONCE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was compelled to acknowledge that he made at least one
+      mistake in &ldquo;sizing up&rdquo; men. One day a very dignified man called at the
+      White House, and Lincoln&rsquo;s heart fell when his visitor approached. The
+      latter was portly, his face was full of apparent anxiety, and Lincoln was
+      willing to wager a year&rsquo;s salary that he represented some Society for the
+      Easy and Speedy Repression of Rebellions.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0055}.jpg" alt="{0055}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0055}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      The caller talked fluently, but at no time did he give advice or suggest a
+      way to put down the Confederacy. He was full of humor, told a clever story
+      or two, and was entirely self-possessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length the President inquired, &ldquo;You are a clergyman, are you not, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not by a jug full,&rdquo; returned the stranger heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Grasping him by the hand Lincoln shook it until the visitor squirmed. &ldquo;You
+      must lunch with us. I am glad to see you. I was afraid you were a
+      preacher.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I went to the Chicago Convention,&rdquo; the caller said, &ldquo;as a friend of Mr.
+      Seward. I have watched you narrowly ever since your inauguration, and I
+      called merely to pay my respects. What I want to say is this: I think you
+      are doing everything for the good of the country that is in the power of
+      man to do. You are on the right track. As one of your constituents I now
+      say to you, do in future as you d&mdash;&mdash; please, and I will support
+      you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was spoken with tremendous effect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln in great astonishment, &ldquo;I took you to be a
+      preacher. I thought you had come here to tell me how to take Richmond,&rdquo;
+       and he again grasped the hand of his strange visitor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Accurate and penetrating as Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s judgment was concerning men, for
+      once he had been wholly mistaken. The scene was comical in the extreme.
+      The two men stood gazing at each other. A smile broke from the lips of the
+      solemn wag and rippled over the wide expanse of his homely face like
+      sunlight overspreading a continent, and Mr. Lincoln was convulsed with
+      laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stayed to lunch.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0057}.jpg" alt="{0057}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0057}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0058}.jpg" alt="{0058}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0058}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln, while entertaining a few friends, is said to have
+      related the following anecdote of a man who knew too much:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the administration of President Jackson there was a singular young
+      gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a neighbor of
+      the President, on which account the old hero had a kind feeling for him,
+      and always got him out of difficulties with some of the higher officials,
+      to whom his singular interference was distasteful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the General
+      Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to Major H., a high
+      official, in answer to an application made by an old gentleman in Virginia
+      or Pennsylvania, for the establishment of a new postoffice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The writer of the letter said the application could not be granted, in
+      consequence of the applicant&rsquo;s &ldquo;proximity&rdquo; to another office.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the letter came into G.&lsquo;s hand to copy, being a great stickler for
+      plainness, he altered &ldquo;proximity&rdquo; to &ldquo;nearness to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; replied G., &ldquo;because I don&rsquo;t think the man would understand what
+      you mean by proximity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Major H., &ldquo;try him; put in the &lsquo;proximity&rsquo; again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which he very
+      indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty in the second war
+      for independence, and he should like to have the name of the scoundrel who
+      brought the charge of proximity or anything else wrong against him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There,&rdquo; said G., &ldquo;did I not say so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the Postmaster-General,
+      said to him: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want you any longer; you know too much.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This time G.&lsquo;s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very busy writing,
+      when a stranger called in and asked him where the Patent Office was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?&rdquo; said the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor the President&rsquo;s house?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you live in Washington, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; said G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good Lord! and don&rsquo;t you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+      President&rsquo;s House and Capitol are?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stranger,&rdquo; said G., &ldquo;I was turned out of the postoffice for knowing too
+      much. I don&rsquo;t mean to offend in that way again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am paid for keeping this book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything more you
+      may take my head.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good morning,&rdquo; said the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE LOVED A GOOD STORY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge Breese, of the Supreme bench, one of the most distinguished of
+      American jurists, and a man of great personal dignity, was about to open
+      court at Springfield, when Lincoln called out in his hearty way: &ldquo;Hold on,
+      Breese! Don&rsquo;t open court yet! Here&rsquo;s Bob Blackwell just going to tell a
+      story!&rdquo; The judge passed on without replying, evidently regarding it as
+      beneath the dignity of the Supreme Court to delay proceedings for the sake
+      of a story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HEELS RAN AWAY WITH THEM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In an argument against the opposite political party at one time during a
+      campaign, Lincoln said: &ldquo;My opponent uses a figurative expression to the
+      effect that &lsquo;the Democrats are vulnerable in the heel, but they are sound
+      in the heart and head.&rsquo; The first branch of the figure&mdash;that is the
+      Democrats are vulnerable in the heel&mdash;I admit is not merely
+      figuratively but literally true. Who that looks but for a moment at their
+      hundreds of officials scampering away with the public money to Texas, to
+      Europe, and to every spot of the earth where a villain may hope to find
+      refuge from justice, can at all doubt that they are most distressingly
+      affected in their heels with a species of running itch?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems that this malady of their heels operates on the sound-headed and
+      honest-hearted creatures very much as the cork leg in the comic song did
+      on its owner, which, when he once got started on it, the more he tried to
+      stop it, the more it would run away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At the hazard of wearing this point threadbare, I will relate an anecdote
+      the situation calls to my mind, which seems to be too strikingly in point
+      to be omitted. A witty Irish soldier, who was always boasting of his
+      bravery when no danger was near, but who invariably retreated without
+      orders at the first charge of the engagement, being asked by his captain
+      why he did so, replied, &lsquo;Captain, I have as brave a heart as Julius Caesar
+      ever had, but somehow or other, whenever danger approaches, my cowardly
+      legs will run away with it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So with the opposite party&mdash;they take the public money into their
+      hands for the most laudable purpose that wise heads and honest hearts can
+      dictate; but before they can possibly get it out again, their rascally,
+      vulnerable heels will run away with them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WANTED TO BURN HIM DOWN TO THE STUMP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Preston King once introduced A. J. Bleeker to the President, and the
+      latter, being an applicant for office, was about to hand Mr. Lincoln his
+      vouchers, when he was asked to read them. Bleeker had not read very far
+      when the President disconcerted him by the exclamation, &ldquo;Stop a minute!
+      You remind me exactly of the man who killed the dog; in fact, you are just
+      like him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9061}.jpg" alt="{9061}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9061}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In what respect?&rdquo; asked Bleeker, not feeling he had received a
+      compliment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; replied the President, &ldquo;this man had made up his mind to kill his
+      dog, an ugly brute, and proceeded to knock out his brains with a club. He
+      continued striking the dog after the latter was dead until a friend
+      protested, exclaiming, &lsquo;You needn&rsquo;t strike him any more; the dog is dead;
+      you killed him at the first blow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, yes,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;I know that; but I believe in punishment after
+      death.&rsquo; So, I see, you do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bleeker acknowledged it was possible to overdo a good thing, and then came
+      back at the President with an anecdote of a good priest who converted an
+      Indian from heathenism to Christianity; the only difficulty he had with
+      him was to get him to pray for his enemies. &ldquo;This Indian had been taught
+      to overcome and destroy all his friends he didn&rsquo;t like,&rdquo; said Bleeker,
+      &ldquo;but the priest told him that while that might be the Indian method, it
+      was not the doctrine of Christianity or the Bible. &lsquo;Saint Paul distinctly
+      says,&rsquo; the priest told him, &lsquo;If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he
+      thirst, give him drink.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Indian shook his head at this, but when the priest added, &lsquo;For in so
+      doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head,&rsquo; Poor Lo was overcome
+      with emotion, fell on his knees, and with outstretched hands and uplifted
+      eyes invoked all sorts of blessings on the heads of all his enemies,
+      supplicating for pleasant hunting-grounds, a large supply of squaws, lots
+      of papooses, and all other Indian comforts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Finally the good priest interrupted him (as you did me, Mr. President),
+      exclaiming, &lsquo;Stop, my son! You have discharged your Christian duty, and
+      have done more than enough.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, no, father,&rsquo; replied the Indian; &lsquo;let me pray! I want to burn him
+      down to the stump!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HAD A &ldquo;KICK&rdquo; COMING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the war, one of the Northern Governors, who was able, earnest and
+      untiring in aiding the administration, but always complaining, sent
+      dispatch after dispatch to the War Office, protesting against the methods
+      used in raising troops. After reading all his papers, the President said,
+      in a cheerful and reassuring tone to the Adjutant-General:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind, never mind; those dispatches don&rsquo;t mean anything. Just go
+      right ahead. The Governor is like a boy I once saw at a launching. When
+      everything was ready, they picked out a boy and sent him under the ship to
+      knock away the trigger and let her go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At the critical moment everything depended on the boy. He had to do the
+      job well by a direct, vigorous blow, and then lie flat and keep still
+      while the boat slid over him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The boy did everything right, but he yelled as if he were being murdered
+      from the time he got under the keel until he got out. I thought the hide
+      was all scraped off his back, but he wasn&rsquo;t hurt at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The master of the yard told me that this boy was always chosen for that
+      job; that he did his work well; that he never had been hurt, but that he
+      always squealed in that way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just the way with Governor&mdash;. Make up your mind that he is
+      not hurt, and that he is doing the work right, and pay no attention to his
+      squealing. He only wants to make you understand how hard his task is, and
+      that he is on hand performing it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE CASE OF BETSY ANN DOUGHERTY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Many requests and petitions made to Mr. Lincoln when he was President were
+      ludicrous and trifling, but he always entered into them with that
+      humor-loving spirit that was such a relief from the grave duties of his
+      great office.
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8063}.jpg" alt="{8063} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8063}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Once a party of Southerners called on him in behalf of one Betsy Ann
+      Dougherty. The spokesman, who was an ex-Governor, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. President, Betsy Ann Dougherty is a good woman. She lived in my
+      county and did my washing for a long time. Her husband went off and joined
+      the rebel army, and I wish you would give her a protection paper.&rdquo; The
+      solemnity of this appeal struck Mr. Lincoln as uncommonly ridiculous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two men looked at each other&mdash;the Governor desperately earnest,
+      and the President masking his humor behind the gravest exterior. At last
+      Mr. Lincoln asked, with inimitable gravity, &ldquo;Was Betsy Ann a good
+      washerwoman?&rdquo; &ldquo;Oh, yes, sir, she was, indeed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was your Betsy Ann an obliging woman?&rdquo; &ldquo;Yes, she was certainly very
+      kind,&rdquo; responded the Governor, soberly. &ldquo;Could she do other things than
+      wash?&rdquo; continued Mr. Lincoln with the same portentous gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes; she was very kind&mdash;very.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is Betsy Ann?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is now in New York, and wants to come back to Missouri, but she is
+      afraid of banishment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is anybody meddling with her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; but she is afraid to come back unless you will give her a protection
+      paper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereupon Mr. Lincoln wrote on a visiting card the following:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Betsy Ann Dougherty alone as long as she behaves herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A. LINCOLN.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He handed this card to her advocate, saying, &ldquo;Give this to Betsy Ann.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, Mr. President, couldn&rsquo;t you write a few words to the officers that
+      would insure her protection?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;officers have no time now to read letters. Tell
+      Betsy Ann to put a string in this card and hang it around her neck. When
+      the officers see this, they will keep their hands off your Betsy Ann.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HAD TO WEAR A WOODEN SWORD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Captain &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; Lincoln and his company (in the Black Hawk War) were without
+      any sort of military knowledge, and both were forced to acquire such
+      knowledge by attempts at drilling. Which was the more awkward, the &ldquo;squad&rdquo;
+       or the commander, it would have been difficult to decide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In one of Lincoln&rsquo;s earliest military problems was involved the process of
+      getting his company &ldquo;endwise&rdquo; through a gate. Finally he shouted, &ldquo;This
+      company is dismissed for two minutes, when it will fall in again on the
+      other side of the gate!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was one of the first of his company to be arraigned for unmilitary
+      conduct. Contrary to the rules he fired a gun &ldquo;within the limits,&rdquo; and had
+      his sword taken from him. The next infringement of rules was by some of
+      the men, who stole a quantity of liquor, drank it, and became unfit for
+      duty, straggling out of the ranks the next day, and not getting together
+      again until late at night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For allowing this lawlessness the captain was condemned to wear a wooden
+      sword for two days. These were merely interesting but trivial incidents of
+      the campaign. Lincoln was from the very first popular with his men,
+      although one of them told him to &ldquo;go to the devil.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; STIRRING THE &ldquo;BLACK&rdquo; COALS.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9065}.jpg" alt="{9065}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9065}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Under the caption, &ldquo;The American Difficulty,&rdquo; &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; printed on May 11th,
+      1861, the cartoon reproduced here. The following text was placed beneath
+      the illustration: PRESIDENT ABE: &ldquo;What a nice White House this would be,
+      if it were not for the blacks!&rdquo; It was the idea in England, and, in fact,
+      in all the countries on the European continent, that the War of the
+      Rebellion was fought to secure the freedom of the negro slaves. Such was
+      not the case. The freedom of the slaves was one of the necessary
+      consequences of the Civil War, but not the cause of that bloody four
+      years&rsquo; conflict. The War was the result of the secession of the states of
+      the South from the Union, and President &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; main aim was to compel the
+      seceding states to resume their places in the Federal Union of states.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The blacks did not bother President &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; in the least as he knew he would
+      be enabled to give them their freedom when the proper time came. He had
+      the project of freeing them in his mind long before he issued his
+      Emancipation Proclamation, the delay in promulgating that document being
+      due to the fact that he did not wish to estrange the hundreds of thousands
+      of patriots of the border states who were fighting for the preservation of
+      the Union, and not for the freedom of the negro slaves. President &ldquo;Abe&rdquo;
+       had patience, and everything came out all right in the end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GETTING RID OF AN ELEPHANT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Charles A. Dana, who was Assistant Secretary of War under Mr. Stanton,
+      relates the following: A certain Thompson had been giving the government
+      considerable trouble. Dana received information that Thompson was about to
+      escape to Liverpool.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Calling upon Stanton, Dana was referred to Mr. Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President was at the White House, business hours were over, Lincoln
+      was washing his hands. &lsquo;Hallo, Dana,&rsquo; said he, as I opened the door, &lsquo;what
+      is it now?&rsquo; &lsquo;Well, sir,&rsquo; I said, &lsquo;here is the Provost Marshal of Portland,
+      who reports that Jacob Thompson is to be in town to-night, and inquires
+      what orders we have to give.&rsquo; &lsquo;What does Stanton say?&rsquo; he asked. &lsquo;Arrest
+      him,&rsquo; I replied. &lsquo;Well,&rsquo; he continued, drawling his words, &lsquo;I rather guess
+      not. When you have an elephant on your hands, and he wants to run away,
+      better let him run.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GROTESQUE, YET FRIGHTFUL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The nearest Lincoln ever came to a fight was when he was in the vicinity
+      of the skirmish at Kellogg&rsquo;s Grove, in the Black Hawk War. The rangers
+      arrived at the spot after the engagement and helped bury the five men who
+      were killed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln told Noah Brooks, one of his biographers, that he &ldquo;remembered just
+      how those men looked as we rode up the little hill where their camp was.
+      The red light of the morning sun was streaming upon them as they lay,
+      heads toward us, on the ground. And every man had a round, red spot on the
+      top of his head about as big as a dollar, where the redskins had taken his
+      scalp. It was frightful, but it was grotesque; and the red sunlight seemed
+      to paint everything all over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln paused, as if recalling the vivid picture, and added, somewhat
+      irrelevantly, &ldquo;I remember that one man had on buckskin breeches.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; WAS NO DUDE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9067}.jpg" alt="{9067}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9067}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Always indifferent in matters of dress, Lincoln cut but small figure in
+      social circles, even in the earliest days of Illinois. His trousers were
+      too short, his hat too small, and, as a rule, the buttons on the back of
+      his coat were nearer his shoulder blades than his waist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No man was richer than his fellows, and there was no aristocracy; the
+      women wore linsey-woolsey of home manufacture, and dyed them in accordance
+      with the tastes of the wearers; calico was rarely seen, and a woman
+      wearing a dress of that material was the envy of her sisters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There being no shoemakers the women wore moccasins, and the men made their
+      own boots. A hunting shirt, leggins made of skins, buckskin breeches, dyed
+      green, constituted an apparel no maiden could withstand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHARACTERISTIC OF LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One man who knew Lincoln at New Salem, says the first time he saw him he
+      was lying on a trundle-bed covered with books and papers and rocking a
+      cradle with his foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole scene was entirely characteristic&mdash;Lincoln reading and
+      studying, and at the same time helping his landlady by quieting her child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A gentleman who knew Mr. Lincoln well in early manhood says: &ldquo;Lincoln at
+      this period had nothing but plenty of friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After the customary hand-shaking on one occasion in the White House at
+      Washington several gentlemen came forward and asked the President for his
+      autograph. One of them gave his name as &ldquo;Cruikshank.&rdquo; &ldquo;That reminds me,&rdquo;
+       said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;of what I used to be called when a young man&mdash;&lsquo;Long-shanks!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;PLOUGH ALL &lsquo;ROUND HIM.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Governor Blank went to the War Department one day in a towering rage:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I suppose you found it necessary to make large concessions to him, as he
+      returned from you perfectly satisfied,&rdquo; suggested a friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no,&rdquo; the President replied, &ldquo;I did not concede anything. You have
+      heard how that Illinois farmer got rid of a big log that was too big to
+      haul out, too knotty to split, and too wet and soggy to burn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, now,&rsquo; said he, in response to the inquiries of his neighbors one
+      Sunday, as to how he got rid of it, &lsquo;well, now, boys, if you won&rsquo;t divulge
+      the secret, I&rsquo;ll tell you how I got rid of it&mdash;I ploughed around it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; remarked Lincoln, in conclusion, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t tell anybody, but that&rsquo;s
+      the way I got rid of Governor Blank. I ploughed all round him, but it took
+      me three mortal hours to do it, and I was afraid every minute he&rsquo;d see
+      what I was at.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0053" id="link2H_4_0053">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;I&rsquo;VE LOST MY APPLE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      During a public &ldquo;reception,&rdquo; a farmer from one of the border counties of
+      Virginia told the President that the Union soldiers, in passing his farm,
+      had helped themselves not only to hay, but his horse, and he hoped the
+      President would urge the proper officer to consider his claim immediately.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln said that this reminded him of an old acquaintance of his,
+      &ldquo;Jack&rdquo; Chase, a lumberman on the Illinois, a steady, sober man, and the
+      best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick to take the logs over the
+      rapids; but he was skilful with a raft, and always kept her straight in
+      the channel. Finally a steamer was put on, and &ldquo;Jack&rdquo; was made captain of
+      her. He always used to take the wheel, going through the rapids. One day
+      when the boat was plunging and wallowing along the boiling current, and
+      &ldquo;Jack&rsquo;s&rdquo; utmost vigilance was being exercised to keep her in the narrow
+      channel, a boy pulled his coat-tail and hailed him with:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Mister Captain! I wish you would just stop your boat a minute&mdash;I&rsquo;ve
+      lost my apple overboard!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LOST HIS CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8069}.jpg" alt="{8069} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8069}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln prepared his first inaugural address in a room over a store in
+      Springfield. His only reference works were Henry Clay&rsquo;s great compromise
+      speech of 1850, Andrew Jackson&rsquo;s Proclamation against Nullification,
+      Webster&rsquo;s great reply to Hayne, and a copy of the Constitution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, to be inaugurated, the inaugural
+      address was placed in a special satchel and guarded with special care. At
+      Harrisburg the satchel was given in charge of Robert T. Lincoln, who
+      accompanied his father. Before the train started from Harrisburg the
+      precious satchel was missing. Robert thought he had given it to a waiter
+      at the hotel, but a long search failed to reveal the missing satchel with
+      its precious document. Lincoln was annoyed, angry, and finally in despair.
+      He felt certain that the address was lost beyond recovery, and, as it only
+      lacked ten days until the inauguration, he had no time to prepare another.
+      He had not even preserved the notes from which the original copy had been
+      written.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln went to Ward Lamon, his former law partner, then one of his
+      bodyguards, and informed him of the loss in the following words:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lamon, I guess I have lost my certificate of moral character, written by
+      myself. Bob has lost my gripsack containing my inaugural address.&rdquo; Of
+      course, the misfortune reminded him of a story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I feel,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;a good deal as the old member of the
+      Methodist Church did when he lost his wife at the camp meeting, and went
+      up to an old elder of the church and asked him if he could tell him
+      whereabouts in h&mdash;l his wife was. In fact, I am in a worse fix than
+      my Methodist friend, for if it were only a wife that were missing, mine
+      would be sure to bob up somewhere.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk at the hotel told Mr. Lincoln that he would probably find his
+      missing satchel in the baggage-room. Arriving there, Mr. Lincoln saw a
+      satchel which he thought was his, and it was passed out to him. His key
+      fitted the lock, but alas! when it was opened the satchel contained only a
+      soiled shirt, some paper collars, a pack of cards and a bottle of whisky.
+      A few minutes later the satchel containing the inaugural address was found
+      among the pile of baggage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The recovery of the address also reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story, which is
+      thus narrated by Ward Lamon in his &ldquo;Recollections of Abraham Lincoln&rdquo;:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The loss of the address and the search for it was the subject of a great
+      deal of amusement. Mr. Lincoln said many funny things in connection with
+      the incident. One of them was that he knew a fellow once who had saved up
+      fifteen hundred dollars, and had placed it in a private banking
+      establishment. The bank soon failed, and he afterward received ten per
+      cent of his investment. He then took his one hundred and fifty dollars and
+      deposited it in a savings bank, where he was sure it would be safe. In a
+      short time this bank also failed, and he received at the final settlement
+      ten per cent on the amount deposited. When the fifteen dollars was paid
+      over to him, he held it in his hand and looked at it thoughtfully; then he
+      said, &ldquo;Now, darn you, I have got you reduced to a portable shape, so I&rsquo;ll
+      put you in my pocket.&rdquo; Suiting the action to the word, Mr. Lincoln took
+      his address from the bag and carefully placed it in the inside pocket of
+      his vest, but held on to the satchel with as much interest as if it still
+      contained his &ldquo;certificate of moral character.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOTE PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8071}.jpg" alt="{8071} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8071}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The great English funny paper, London &ldquo;Punch,&rdquo; printed this cartoon on
+      September 27th, 1862. It is intended to convey the idea that Lincoln,
+      having asserted that the war would be over in ninety days, had not
+      redeemed his word: The text under the Cartoon in Punch was:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      MR. SOUTH TO MR. NORTH: &ldquo;Your &lsquo;ninety-day&rsquo; promissory note isn&rsquo;t taken up
+      yet, sirree!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The tone of the cartoon is decidedly unfriendly. The North finally took up
+      the note, but the South had to pay it. &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; was not pleased with the
+      result, but &ldquo;Mr. North&rdquo; did not care particularly what this periodical
+      thought about it. The United States, since then, has been prepared to take
+      up all of its obligations when due, but it must be acknowledged that at
+      the time this cartoon was published the outlook was rather dark and
+      gloomy. Lincoln did not despair, however; but although business was in
+      rather bad shape for a time, the financial skies finally cleared, business
+      was resumed at the old stand, and Uncle Sam&rsquo;s credit is now as good, or
+      better, than other nations&rsquo; cash in hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DOG WAS A &ldquo;LEETLE BIT AHEAD.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln could not sympathize with those Union generals who were prone to
+      indulge in high-sounding promises, but whose performances did not by any
+      means come up to their predictions as to what they would do if they ever
+      met the enemy face to face. He said one day, just after one of these
+      braggarts had been soundly thrashed by the Confederates:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These fellows remind me of the fellow who owned a dog which, so he said,
+      just hungered and thirsted to combat and eat up wolves. It was a difficult
+      matter, so the owner declared, to keep that dog from devoting the entire
+      twenty-four hours of each day to the destruction of his enemies. He just
+      &lsquo;hankered&rsquo; to get at them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One day a party of this dog-owner&rsquo;s friends thought to have some sport.
+      These friends heartily disliked wolves, and were anxious to see the dog
+      eat up a few thousand. So they organized a hunting party and invited the
+      dog-owner and the dog to go with them. They desired to be personally
+      present when the wolf-killing was in progress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was noticed that the dog-owner was not over-enthusiastic in the
+      matter; he pleaded a &lsquo;business engagement,&rsquo; but as he was the most
+      notorious and torpid of the town loafers, and wouldn&rsquo;t have recognized a
+      &lsquo;business engagement&rsquo; had he met it face to face, his excuse was treated
+      with contempt. Therefore he had to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The dog, however, was glad enough to go, and so the party started out.
+      Wolves were in plenty, and soon a pack was discovered, but when the
+      &lsquo;wolf-hound&rsquo; saw the ferocious animals he lost heart, and, putting his
+      tail between his legs, endeavored to slink away. At last&mdash;after many
+      trials&mdash;he was enticed into the small growth of underbrush where the
+      wolves had secreted themselves, and yelps of terror betrayed the fact that
+      the battle was on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Away flew the wolves, the dog among them, the hunting party following on
+      horseback. The wolves seemed frightened, and the dog was restored to
+      public favor. It really looked as if he had the savage creatures on the
+      run, as he was fighting heroically when last sighted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wolves and dog soon disappeared, and it was not until the party arrived
+      at a distant farmhouse that news of the combatants was gleaned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Have you seen anything of a wolf-dog and a pack of wolves around here?&rsquo;
+      was the question anxiously put to the male occupant of the house, who
+      stood idly leaning upon the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yep,&rsquo; was the short answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;How were they going?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Purty fast.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;What was their position when you saw them?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well,&rsquo; replied the farmer, in a most exasperatingly deliberate way, &lsquo;the
+      dog was a leetle bit ahead.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, gentlemen,&rdquo; concluded the President, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s the position in which
+      you&rsquo;ll find most of these bragging generals when they get into a fight
+      with the enemy. That&rsquo;s why I don&rsquo;t like military orators.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0057" id="link2H_4_0057">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; FIGHT WITH NEGROES.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0073}.jpg" alt="{0073}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0073}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln was nineteen years of age, he went to work for a Mr. Gentry,
+      and, in company with Gentry&rsquo;s son, took a flatboat load of provisions to
+      New Orleans. At a plantation six miles below Baton Rouge, while the boat
+      was tied up to the shore in the dead hours of the night, and Abe and Allen
+      were fast asleep in the bed, they were startled by footsteps on board.
+      They knew instantly that it was a gang of negroes come to rob and perhaps
+      murder them. Allen, thinking to frighten the negroes, called out, &ldquo;Bring
+      guns, Lincoln, and shoot them!&rdquo; Abe came without the guns, but fell among
+      the negroes with a huge bludgeon and belabored them most cruelly,
+      following them onto the bank. They rushed back to their boat and hastily
+      put out into the stream. It is said that Lincoln received a scar in this
+      tussle which he carried with him to his grave. It was on this trip that he
+      saw the workings of slavery for the first time. The sight of New Orleans
+      was like a wonderful panorama to his eyes, for never before had he seen
+      wealth, beauty, fashion and culture. He returned home with new and larger
+      ideas and stronger opinions of right and justice.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0075}.jpg" alt="{0075}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0075}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0076}.jpg" alt="{0076}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0076}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOISE LIKE A TURNIP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Every man has his own peculiar and particular way of getting at and doing
+      things,&rdquo; said President Lincoln one day, &ldquo;and he is often criticised
+      because that way is not the one adopted by others. The great idea is to
+      accomplish what you set out to do. When a man is successful in whatever he
+      attempts, he has many imitators, and the methods used are not so closely
+      scrutinized, although no man who is of good intent will resort to mean,
+      underhanded, scurvy tricks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That reminds me of a fellow out in Illinois, who had better luck in
+      getting prairie chickens than any one in the neighborhood. He had a rusty
+      old gun no other man dared to handle; he never seemed to exert himself,
+      being listless and indifferent when out after game, but he always brought
+      home all the chickens he could carry, while some of the others, with their
+      finely trained dogs and latest improved fowling-pieces, came home alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;How is it, Jake?&rsquo; inquired one sportsman, who, although a good shot, and
+      knew something about hunting, was often unfortunate, &lsquo;that you never come
+      home without a lot of birds?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jake grinned, half closed his eyes, and replied: &lsquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t know that
+      there&rsquo;s anything queer about it. I jes&rsquo; go ahead an&rsquo; git &lsquo;em.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, I know you do; but how do you do it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;You&rsquo;ll tell.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Honest, Jake, I won&rsquo;t say a word. Hope to drop dead this minute.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Never say nothing, if I tell you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Cross my heart three times.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This reassured Jake, who put his mouth close to the ear of his eager
+      questioner, and said, in a whisper:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;All you got to do is jes&rsquo; to hide in a fence corner an&rsquo; make a noise
+      like a turnip. That&rsquo;ll bring the chickens every time.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0059" id="link2H_4_0059">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WARDING OFF GOD&rsquo;S VENGEANCE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln was a candidate for re-election to the Illinois Legislature
+      in 1836, a meeting was advertised to be held in the court-house in
+      Springfield, at which candidates of opposing parties were to speak. This
+      gave men of spirit and capacity a fine opportunity to show the stuff of
+      which they were made.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      George Forquer was one of the most prominent citizens; he had been a Whig,
+      but became a Democrat&mdash;possibly for the reason that by means of the
+      change he secured the position of Government land register, from President
+      Andrew Jackson. He had the largest and finest house in the city, and there
+      was a new and striking appendage to it, called a lightning-rod! The
+      meeting was very large. Seven Whig and seven Democratic candidates spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln closed the discussion. A Kentuckian (Joshua F. Speed), who had
+      heard Henry Clay and other distinguished Kentucky orators, stood near
+      Lincoln, and stated afterward that he &ldquo;never heard a more effective
+      speaker;... the crowd seemed to be swayed by him as he pleased.&rdquo; What
+      occurred during the closing portion of this meeting must be given in full,
+      from Judge Arnold&rsquo;s book:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forquer, although not a candidate, asked to be heard for the Democrats,
+      in reply to Lincoln. He was a good speaker, and well known throughout the
+      county. His special task that day was to attack and ridicule the young
+      countryman from Salem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Turning to Lincoln, who stood within a few feet of him, he said: &lsquo;This
+      young man must be taken down, and I am truly sorry that the task devolves
+      upon me.&rsquo; He then proceeded, in a very overbearing way, and with an
+      assumption of great superiority, to attack Lincoln and his speech. He was
+      fluent and ready with the rough sarcasm of the stump, and he went on to
+      ridicule the person, dress and arguments of Lincoln with so much success
+      that Lincoln&rsquo;s friends feared that he would be embarrassed and
+      overthrown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Clary&rsquo;s Grove boys were present, and were restrained with difficulty
+      from &lsquo;getting up a fight&rsquo; in behalf of their favorite (Lincoln), they and
+      all his friends feeling that the attack was ungenerous and unmanly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln, however, stood calm, but his flashing eye and pale cheek
+      indicated his indignation. As soon as Forquer had closed he took the
+      stand, and first answered his opponent&rsquo;s arguments fully and triumphantly.
+      So impressive were his words and manner that a hearer (Joshua F. Speed)
+      believes that he can remember to this day and repeat some of the
+      expressions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Among other things he said: &lsquo;The gentleman commenced his speech by saying
+      that &ldquo;this young man,&rdquo; alluding to me, &ldquo;must be taken down.&rdquo; I am not so
+      young in years as I am in the tricks and the trades of a politician, but,&rsquo;
+      said he, pointing to Forquer, &lsquo;live long or die young, I would rather die
+      now than, like the gentleman, change my politics, and with the change
+      receive an office worth $3,000 a year, and then,&rsquo; continued he, &lsquo;feel
+      obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house, to protect a guilty
+      conscience from an offended God!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0060" id="link2H_4_0060">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      JEFF DAVIS AND CHARLES THE FIRST.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Jefferson Davis insisted on being recognized by his official title as
+      commander or President in the regular negotiation with the Government.
+      This Mr. Lincoln would not consent to.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Hunter thereupon referred to the correspondence between King Charles
+      the First and his Parliament as a precedent for a negotiation between a
+      constitutional ruler and rebels. Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s face then wore that
+      indescribable expression which generally preceded his hardest hits, and he
+      remarked: &ldquo;Upon questions of history, I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for
+      he is posted in such things, and I don&rsquo;t profess to be; but my only
+      distinct recollection of the matter is, that Charles lost his head.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0061" id="link2H_4_0061">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LOVED SOLDIERS&rsquo; HUMOR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln loved anything that savored of wit or humor among the soldiers. He
+      used to relate two stories to show, he said, that neither death nor danger
+      could quench the grim humor of the American soldier:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A soldier of the Army of the Potomac was being carried to the rear of
+      battle with both legs shot off, who, seeing a pie-woman, called out, &lsquo;Say,
+      old lady, are them pies sewed or pegged?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And there was another one of the soldiers at the battle of
+      Chancellorsville, whose regiment, waiting to be called into the fight, was
+      taking coffee. The hero of the story put to his lips a crockery mug which
+      he had carried with care through several campaigns. A stray bullet, just
+      missing the tinker&rsquo;s head, dashed the mug into fragments and left only the
+      handle on his finger. Turning his head in that direction, he scowled,
+      &lsquo;Johnny, you can&rsquo;t do that again!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0062" id="link2H_4_0062">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BAD TIME FOR A BARBECUE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Captain T. W. S. Kidd of Springfield was the crier of the court in the
+      days when Mr. Lincoln used to ride the circuit.
+    </p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9079}.jpg" alt="{9079}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9079}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was younger than he,&rdquo; says Captain Kidd, &ldquo;but he had a sort of
+      admiration for me, and never failed to get me into his stories. I was a
+      story-teller myself in those days, and he used to laugh very heartily at
+      some of the stories I told him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now and then he got me into a good deal of trouble. I was a Democrat, and
+      was in politics more or less. A good many of our Democratic voters at that
+      time were Irishmen. They came to Illinois in the days of the old canal,
+      and did their honest share in making that piece of internal improvement an
+      accomplished fact.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One time Mr. Lincoln told the story of one of those important young
+      fellows&mdash;not an Irishman&mdash;who lived in every town, and have the
+      cares of state on their shoulders. This young fellow met an Irishman on
+      the street, and called to him, officiously: &lsquo;Oh, Mike, I&rsquo;m awful glad I
+      met you. We&rsquo;ve got to do something to wake up the boys. The campaign is
+      coming on, and we&rsquo;ve got to get out voters. We&rsquo;ve just had a meeting up
+      here, and we&rsquo;re going to have the biggest barbecue that ever was heard of
+      in Illinois. We are going to roast two whole oxen, and we&rsquo;re going to have
+      Douglas and Governor Cass and some one from Kentucky, and all the big
+      Democratic guns, and we&rsquo;re going to have a great big time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;By dad, that&rsquo;s good!&rsquo; says the Irishman. &lsquo;The byes need stirrin&rsquo; up.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, and you&rsquo;re on one of the committees, and you want to hustle around
+      and get them waked up, Mike.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;When is the barbecue to be?&rsquo; asked Mike.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Friday, two weeks.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Friday, is it? Well, I&rsquo;ll make a nice committeeman, settin&rsquo; the barbecue
+      on a day with half of the Dimocratic party of Sangamon county can&rsquo;t ate a
+      bite of mate. Go on wid ye.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln told that story in one of his political speeches, and when the
+      laugh was over he said: &lsquo;Now, gentlemen, I know that story is true, for
+      Tom Kidd told it to me.&rsquo; And then the Democrats would make trouble for me
+      for a week afterward, and I&rsquo;d have to explain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0063" id="link2H_4_0063">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE&rsquo;D SEE IT AGAIN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      About two years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency he went to
+      Bloomington, Illinois, to try a case of some importance. His opponent&mdash;who
+      afterward reached a high place in his profession&mdash;was a young man of
+      ability, sensible but sensitive, and one to whom the loss of a case was a
+      great blow. He therefore studied hard and made much preparation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This particular case was submitted to the jury late at night, and,
+      although anticipating a favorable verdict, the young attorney spent a
+      sleepless night in anxiety. Early next morning he learned, to his great
+      chagrin, that he had lost the case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln met him at the court-house some time after the jury had come in,
+      and asked him what had become of his case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With lugubrious countenance and in a melancholy tone the young man
+      replied, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s gone to hell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, well,&rdquo; replied Lincoln, &ldquo;then you will see it again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0064" id="link2H_4_0064">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CALL ANOTHER WITNESS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When arguing a case in court, Mr. Lincoln never used a word which the
+      dullest juryman could not understand. Rarely, if ever, did a Latin term
+      creep into his arguments. A lawyer, quoting a legal maxim one day in
+      court, turned to Lincoln, and said: &ldquo;That is so, is it not, Mr. Lincoln?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If that&rsquo;s Latin.&rdquo; Lincoln replied, &ldquo;you had better call another witness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0065" id="link2H_4_0065">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A CONTEST WITH LITTLE &ldquo;TAD.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9081}.jpg" alt="{9081}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9081}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Carpenter, the artist, relates the following incident: &ldquo;Some
+      photographers came up to the White House to make some stereoscopic studies
+      for me of the President&rsquo;s office. They requested a dark closet in which to
+      develop the pictures, and, without a thought that I was infringing upon
+      anybody&rsquo;s rights, I took them to an unoccupied room of which little &lsquo;Tad&rsquo;
+      had taken possession a few days before, and, with the aid of a couple of
+      servants, had fitted up a miniature theater, with stage, curtains,
+      orchestra, stalls, parquette and all. Knowing that the use required would
+      interfere with none of his arrangements, I led the way to this apartment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Everything went on well, and one or two pictures had been taken, when
+      suddenly there was an uproar. The operator came back to the office and
+      said that &lsquo;Tad&rsquo; had taken great offense at the occupation of his room
+      without his consent, and had locked the door, refusing all admission.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The chemicals had been taken inside, and there was no way of getting at
+      them, he having carried off the key. In the midst of this conversation
+      &lsquo;Tad&rsquo; burst in, in a fearful passion. He laid all the blame upon me&mdash;said
+      that I had no right to use his room, and the men should not go in even to
+      get their things. He had locked the door and they should not go there
+      again&mdash;&lsquo;they had no business in his room!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln was sitting for a photograph, and was still in the chair. He
+      said, very mildly, &lsquo;Tad, go and unlock the door.&rsquo; Tad went off muttering
+      into his mother&rsquo;s room, refusing to obey. I followed him into the passage,
+      but no coaxing would pacify him. Upon my return to the President, I found
+      him still patiently in the chair, from which he had not risen. He said:
+      &lsquo;Has not the boy opened the door?&rsquo; I replied that we could do nothing with
+      him&mdash;he had gone off in a great pet. Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s lips came together
+      firmly, and then, suddenly rising, he strode across the passage with the
+      air of one bent on punishment, and disappeared in the domestic apartments.
+      Directly he returned with the key to the theater, which he unlocked
+      himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tad,&rsquo; said he, half apologetically, &lsquo;is a peculiar child. He was
+      violently excited when I went to him. I said, &ldquo;Tad, do you know that you
+      are making your father a great deal of trouble?&rdquo; He burst into tears,
+      instantly giving me up the key.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0066" id="link2H_4_0066">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      REMINDED HIM OF &ldquo;A LITTLE STORY.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln&rsquo;s attention was called to the fact that, at one time in his
+      boyhood, he had spelled the name of the Deity with a small &ldquo;g,&rdquo; he
+      replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That reminds me of a little story. It came about that a lot of
+      Confederate mail was captured by the Union forces, and, while it was not
+      exactly the proper thing to do, some of our soldiers opened several
+      letters written by the Southerners at the front to their people at home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In one of these missives the writer, in a postscript, jotted down this
+      assertion:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;We&rsquo;ll lick the Yanks termorrer, if goddlemity (God Almighty) spares our
+      lives.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That fellow was in earnest, too, as the letter was written the day before
+      the second battle of Manassas.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0067" id="link2H_4_0067">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;FETCHED SEVERAL SHORT ONES.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The first time I ever remember seeing &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; Lincoln,&rdquo; is the testimony of
+      one of his neighbors, &ldquo;was when I was a small boy and had gone with my
+      father to attend some kind of an election. One of the neighbors, James
+      Larkins, was there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Larkins was a great hand to brag on anything he owned. This time it was
+      his horse. He stepped up before &lsquo;Abe,&rsquo; who was in a crowd, and commenced
+      talking to him, boasting all the while of his animal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I have got the best horse in the country,&rsquo; he shouted to his young
+      listener. &lsquo;I ran him nine miles in exactly three minutes, and he never
+      fetched a long breath.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I presume,&rsquo; said &lsquo;Abe,&rsquo; rather dryly, &lsquo;he fetched a good many short
+      ones, though.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0068" id="link2H_4_0068">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN LUGS THE OLD MAN.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9083}.jpg" alt="{9083}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9083}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      On May 3rd, 1862, &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated Newspaper&rdquo; printed this
+      cartoon, over the title of &ldquo;Sandbag Lincoln and the Old Man of the Sea,
+      Secretary of the Navy Welles.&rdquo; It was intended to demonstrate that the
+      head of the Navy Department was incompetent to manage the affairs of the
+      Navy; also that the Navy was not doing as good work as it might.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When this cartoon was published, the United States Navy had cleared and
+      had under control the Mississippi River as far south as Memphis; had
+      blockaded all the cotton ports of the South; had assisted in the reduction
+      of a number of Confederate forts; had aided Grant at Fort Donelson and the
+      battle of Shiloh; the Monitor had whipped the ironclad terror, Merrimac
+      (the Confederates called her the Virginia); Admiral Farragut&rsquo;s fleet had
+      compelled the surrender of the city of New Orleans, the great forts which
+      had defended it, and the Federal Government obtained control of the lower
+      Mississippi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Old Man of the Sea&rdquo; was therefore, not a drag or a weight upon
+      President Lincoln, and the Navy was not so far behind in making a good
+      record as the picture would have the people of the world believe. It was
+      not long after the Monitor&rsquo;s victory that the United States Navy was the
+      finest that ever plowed the seas. The building of the Monitor also
+      revolutionized naval warfare.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0069" id="link2H_4_0069">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      McCLELLAN WAS &ldquo;INTRENCHING.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      About a week after the Chicago Convention, a gentleman from New York
+      called upon the President, in company with the Assistant Secretary of War,
+      Mr. Dana.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the course of conversation, the gentleman said: &ldquo;What do you think, Mr.
+      President, is the reason General McClellan does not reply to the letter
+      from the Chicago Convention?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln, with a characteristic twinkle of the eye, &ldquo;he
+      is intrenching!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0070" id="link2H_4_0070">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT, ANYWAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      From the day of his nomination by the Chicago convention, gifts poured in
+      upon Lincoln. Many of these came in the form of wearing apparel. Mr.
+      George Lincoln, of Brooklyn, who brought to Springfield, in January, 1861,
+      a handsome silk hat to the President-elect, the gift of a New York hatter,
+      told some friends that in receiving the hat Lincoln laughed heartily over
+      the gifts of clothing, and remarked to Mrs. Lincoln: &ldquo;Well, wife, if
+      nothing else comes out of this scrape, we are going to have some new
+      clothes, are we not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0071" id="link2H_4_0071">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      VICIOUS OXEN HAVE SHORT HORNS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In speaking of the many mean and petty acts of certain members of
+      Congress, the President, while talking on the subject one day with
+      friends, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have great sympathy for these men, because of their temper and their
+      weakness; but I am thankful that the good Lord has given to the vicious ox
+      short horns, for if their physical courage were equal to their vicious
+      disposition, some of us in this neck of the woods would get hurt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0072" id="link2H_4_0072">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S NAME FOR &ldquo;WEEPING WATER.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8085}.jpg" alt="{8085} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8085}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was speaking one time to Mr. Lincoln,&rdquo; said Governor Saunders, &ldquo;of
+      Nebraska, of a little Nebraskan settlement on the Weeping Water, a stream
+      in our State.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Weeping Water!&rsquo; said he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then with a twinkle in his eye, he continued.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I suppose the Indians out there call Minneboohoo, don&rsquo;t they? They ought
+      to, if Laughing Water is Minnehaha in their language.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0073" id="link2H_4_0073">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PETER CARTWRIGHT&rsquo;S DESCRIPTION OF LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Peter Cartwright, the famous and eccentric old Methodist preacher, who
+      used to ride a church circuit, as Mr. Lincoln and others did the court
+      circuit, did not like Lincoln very well, probably because Mr. Lincoln was
+      not a member of his flock, and once defeated the preacher for Congress.
+      This was Cartwright&rsquo;s description of Lincoln: &ldquo;This Lincoln is a man six
+      feet four inches tall, but so angular that if you should drop a plummet
+      from the center of his head it would cut him three times before it touched
+      his feet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0074" id="link2H_4_0074">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO DEATHS IN HIS HOUSE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A gentleman was relating to the President how a friend of his had been
+      driven away from New Orleans as a Unionist, and how, on his expulsion,
+      when he asked to see the writ by which he was expelled, the deputation
+      which called on him told him the Government would do nothing illegal, and
+      so they had issued no illegal writs, and simply meant to make him go of
+      his own free will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;that reminds me of a hotel-keeper down at St.
+      Louis, who boasted that he never had a death in his hotel, for whenever a
+      guest was dying in his house he carried him out to die in the gutter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0075" id="link2H_4_0075">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PAINTED HIS PRINCIPLES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The day following the adjournment of the Baltimore Convention, at which
+      President Lincoln was renominated, various political organizations called
+      to pay their respects to the President. While the Philadelphia delegation
+      was being presented, the chairman of that body, in introducing one of the
+      members, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. President, this is Mr. S., of the second district of our State,&mdash;a
+      most active and earnest friend of yours and the cause. He has, among other
+      things, been good enough to paint, and present to our league rooms, a most
+      beautiful portrait of yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln took the gentleman&rsquo;s hand in his, and shaking it
+      cordially said, with a merry voice, &ldquo;I presume, sir, in painting your
+      beautiful portrait, you took your idea of me from my principles and not
+      from my person.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0076" id="link2H_4_0076">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DIGNIFYING THE STATUTE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was married&mdash;he balked at the first date set for the ceremony
+      and did not show up at all&mdash;November 4, 1842, under most happy
+      auspices. The officiating clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Dresser, used the
+      Episcopal church service for marriage. Lincoln placed the ring upon the
+      bride&rsquo;s finger, and said, &ldquo;With this ring I now thee wed, and with all my
+      worldly goods I thee endow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Judge Thomas C. Browne, who was present, exclaimed, &ldquo;Good gracious,
+      Lincoln! the statute fixes all that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, well,&rdquo; drawled Lincoln, &ldquo;I just thought I&rsquo;d add a little dignity to
+      the statute.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0077" id="link2H_4_0077">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN CAMPAIGN MOTTOES.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9087}.jpg" alt="{9087}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9087}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The joint debates between Lincoln and Douglas were attended by crowds of
+      people, and the arrival of both at the places of speaking were in the
+      nature of a triumphal procession. In these processions there were many
+      banners bearing catch-phrases and mottoes expressing the sentiment of the
+      people on the candidates and the issues.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following were some of the mottoes on the Lincoln banners:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="mottoes" style="border-top:1px solid black;border-bottom:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black;padding:1%;margin-bottom:3%;">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Westward the star of empire takes its way;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The girls link on to Lincoln, their mothers were for Clay.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="mottoes" style="border-top:1px solid black;border-bottom:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black;padding:1%;margin-bottom:3%;">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Abe, the Giant-Killer.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="mottoes" style="border-top:1px solid black;border-bottom:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black;padding:1%;margin-bottom:3%;">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Edgar County for the Tall Sucker.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="mottoes" style="border-top:1px solid black;border-bottom:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black;padding:1%;margin-bottom:3%;">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Free Territories and Free Men,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;Free Pulpits and Free Preachers,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Free Press and a Free Pen,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;Free Schools and Free Teachers.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0078" id="link2H_4_0078">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GIVING AWAY THE CASE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Between the first election and inauguration of Mr. Lincoln the disunion
+      sentiment grew rapidly in the South, and President Buchanan&rsquo;s failure to
+      stop the open acts of secession grieved Mr. Lincoln sorely. Mr. Lincoln
+      had a long talk with his friend, Judge Gillespie, over the state of
+      affairs. One incident of the conversation is thus narrated by the Judge:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When I retired, it was the master of the house and chosen ruler of the
+      country who saw me to my room. &lsquo;Joe,&rsquo; he said, as he was about to leave
+      me, &lsquo;I am reminded and I suppose you will never forget that trial down in
+      Montgomery county, where the lawyer associated with you gave away the
+      whole case in his opening speech. I saw you signaling to him, but you
+      couldn&rsquo;t stop him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now, that&rsquo;s just the way with me and Buchanan. He is giving away the
+      case, and I have nothing to say, and can&rsquo;t stop him. Good-night.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0079" id="link2H_4_0079">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      POSING WITH A BROOMSTICK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Leonard Volk, the artist, relates that, being in Springfield when
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s nomination for President was announced, he called upon Mr.
+      Lincoln, whom he found looking smiling and happy. &ldquo;I exclaimed, &lsquo;I am the
+      first man from Chicago, I believe, who has had the honor of congratulating
+      you on your nomination for President.&rsquo; Then those two great hands took
+      both of mine with a grasp never to be forgotten, and while shaking, I
+      said, &lsquo;Now that you will doubtless be the next President of the United
+      States, I want to make a statue of you, and shall try my best to do you
+      justice.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Said he, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t doubt it, for I have come to the conclusion that you
+      are an honest man,&rsquo; and with that greeting, I thought my hands in a fair
+      way of being crushed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On the Sunday following, by agreement, I called to make a cast of Mr.
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s hands. I asked him to hold something in his hands, and told him
+      a stick would do. Thereupon he went to the woodshed, and I heard the saw
+      go, and he soon returned to the dining-room, whittling off the end of a
+      piece of broom handle. I remarked to him that he need not whittle off the
+      edges. &lsquo;Oh, well,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;I thought I would like to have it nice.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0080" id="link2H_4_0080">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;BOTH LENGTH AND BREADTH.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8089}.jpg" alt="{8089} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8089}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      During Lincoln&rsquo;s first and only term in Congress&mdash;he was elected in
+      1846&mdash;he formed quite a cordial friendship with Stephen A. Douglas, a
+      member of the United States Senate from Illinois, and the beaten one in
+      the contest as to who should secure the hand of Miss Mary Todd. Lincoln
+      was the winner; Douglas afterwards beat him for the United States Senate,
+      but Lincoln went to the White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During all of the time that they were rivals in love and in politics they
+      remained the best of friends personally. They were always glad to see each
+      other, and were frequently together. The disparity in their size was
+      always the more noticeable upon such occasions, and they well deserved
+      their nicknames of &ldquo;Long Abe&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Little Giant.&rdquo; Lincoln was the
+      tallest man in the National House of Representatives, and Douglas the
+      shortest (and perhaps broadest) man the Senate, and when they appeared on
+      the streets together much merriment was created. Lincoln, when joked about
+      the matter, replied, in a very serious tone, &ldquo;Yes, that&rsquo;s about the length
+      and breadth of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0081" id="link2H_4_0081">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; RECITES A SONG.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln couldn&rsquo;t sing, and he also lacked the faculty of musical
+      adaptation. He had a liking for certain ballads and songs, and while he
+      memorized and recited their lines, someone else did the singing. Lincoln
+      often recited for the delectation of his friends, the following, the
+      authorship of which is unknown:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="song">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The first factional fight in old Ireland, they say,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Was all on account of St. Patrick&rsquo;s birthday;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          It was somewhere about midnight without any doubt,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And certain it is, it made a great rout.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          On the eighth day of March, as some people say,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          St. Patrick at midnight he first saw the day;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          While others assert &lsquo;twas the ninth he was born&mdash;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &lsquo;Twas all a mistake&mdash;between midnight and morn.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Some blamed the baby, some blamed the clock;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Some blamed the doctor, some the crowing cock.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          With all these close questions sure no one could know,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Whether the babe was too fast or the clock was too slow.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Some fought for the eighth, for the ninth some would die;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          He who wouldn&rsquo;t see right would have a black eye.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          At length these two factions so positive grew,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          They each had a birthday, and Pat he had two.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Till Father Mulcahay who showed them their sins,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          He said none could have two birthdays but as twins.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Now boys, don&rsquo;t be fighting for the eight or the nine;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Don&rsquo;t quarrel so always, now why not combine.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Combine eight with nine. It is the mark;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Let that be the birthday. Amen! said the clerk.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          So all got blind drunk, which completed their bliss,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And they&rsquo;ve kept up the practice from that day to this.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0082" id="link2H_4_0082">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MANAGE TO KEEP HOUSE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Senator John Sherman, of Ohio, introduced his brother, William T. Sherman
+      (then a civilian) to President Lincoln in March, 1861. Sherman had offered
+      his services, but, as in the case of Grant, they had been refused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the Senator had transacted his business with the President, he said:
+      &ldquo;Mr. President, this is my brother, Colonel Sherman, who is just up from
+      Louisiana; he may give you some information you want.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To this Lincoln replied, as reported by Senator Sherman himself: &ldquo;Ah! How
+      are they getting along down there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sherman answered: &ldquo;They think they are getting along swimmingly; they are
+      prepared for war.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To which Lincoln responded: &ldquo;Oh, well, I guess we&rsquo;ll manage to keep the
+      house.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tecump,&rdquo; whose temper was not the mildest, broke out on &ldquo;Brother John&rdquo; as
+      soon as they were out of the White House, cursed the politicians roundly,
+      and wound up with, &ldquo;You have got things in a h&mdash;l of a fix, and you
+      may get out as best you can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sherman was one of the very few generals who gave Lincoln little or no
+      worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0083" id="link2H_4_0083">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GRANT &ldquo;TUMBLED&rdquo; RIGHT AWAY.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      General Grant told this story about Lincoln some years after the War:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just after receiving my commission as lieutenant-general the President
+      called me aside to speak to me privately. After a brief reference to the
+      military situation, he said he thought he could illustrate what he wanted
+      to say by a story. Said he:
+    </p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9091}.jpg" alt="{9091}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9091}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;At one time there was a great war among the animals, and one side had
+      great difficulty in getting a commander who had sufficient confidence in
+      himself. Finally they found a monkey by the name of Jocko, who said he
+      thought he could command their army if his tail could be made a little
+      longer. So they got more tail and spliced it on to his caudal appendage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;He looked at it admiringly, and then said he thought he ought to have
+      still more tail. This was added, and again he called for more. The
+      splicing process was repeated many times until they had coiled Jocko&rsquo;s
+      tail around the room, filling all the space.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Still he called for more tail, and, there being no other place to coil
+      it, they began wrapping it around his shoulders. He continued his call for
+      more, and they kept on winding the additional tail around him until its
+      weight broke him down.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I saw the point, and, rising from my chair, replied, &lsquo;Mr. President, I
+      will not call for any more assistance unless I find it impossible to do
+      with what I already have.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0084" id="link2H_4_0084">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;DON&rsquo;T KILL HIM WITH YOUR FIST.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln&rsquo;s time in
+      Washington, was a powerful man; his strength was phenomenal, and a blow
+      from his fist was like unto that coming from the business end of a sledge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lamon tells this story, the hero of which is not mentioned by name, but in
+      all probability his identity can be guessed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On one occasion, when the fears of the loyal element of the city
+      (Washington) were excited to fever-heat, a free fight near the old
+      National Theatre occurred about eleven o&rsquo;clock one night. An officer, in
+      passing the place, observed what was going on, and seeing the great number
+      of persons engaged, he felt it to be his duty to command the peace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The imperative tone of his voice stopped the fighting for a moment, but
+      the leader, a great bully, roughly pushed back the officer and told him to
+      go away or he would whip him. The officer again advanced and said, &lsquo;I
+      arrest you,&rsquo; attempting to place his hand on the man&rsquo;s shoulder, when the
+      bully struck a fearful blow at the officer&rsquo;s face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This was parried, and instantly followed by a blow from the fist of the
+      officer, striking the fellow under the chin and knocking him senseless.
+      Blood issued from his mouth, nose and ears. It was believed that the man&rsquo;s
+      neck was broken. A surgeon was called, who pronounced the case a critical
+      one, and the wounded man was hurried away on a litter to the hospital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There the physicians said there was concussion of the brain, and that the
+      man would die. All the medical skill that the officer could procure was
+      employed in the hope of saving the life of the man. His conscience smote
+      him for having, as he believed, taken the life of a fellow-creature, and
+      he was inconsolable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Being on terms of intimacy with the President, about two o&rsquo;clock that
+      night the officer went to the White House, woke up Mr. Lincoln, and
+      requested him to come into his office, where he told him his story. Mr.
+      Lincoln listened with great interest until the narrative was completed,
+      and then asked a few questions, after which he remarked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I am sorry you had to kill the man, but these are times of war, and a
+      great many men deserve killing. This one, according to your story, is one
+      of them; so give yourself no uneasiness about the matter. I will stand by
+      you.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;That is not why I came to you. I knew I did my duty, and had no fears of
+      your disapproval of what I did,&rsquo; replied the officer; and then he added:
+      &lsquo;Why I came to you was, I felt great grief over the unfortunate affair,
+      and I wanted to talk to you about it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln then said, with a smile, placing his hand on the officer&rsquo;
+      shoulder: &lsquo;You go home now and get some sleep; but let me give you this
+      piece of advice&mdash;hereafter, when you have occasion to strike a man,
+      don&rsquo;t hit him with your fist; strike him with a club, a crowbar, or with
+      something that won&rsquo;t kill him.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0085" id="link2H_4_0085">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0093}.jpg" alt="{0093}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0093}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0094}.jpg" alt="{0094}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0094}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <h2>
+      COULD BE ARBITRARY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln could be arbitrary when occasion required. This is the letter he
+      wrote to one of the Department heads:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must make a job of it, and provide a place for the bearer of this,
+      Elias Wampole. Make a job of it with the collector and have it done. You
+      can do it for me, and you must.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was no delay in taking action in this matter. Mr. Wampole, or &ldquo;Eli,&rdquo;
+       as he was thereafter known, &ldquo;got there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0086" id="link2H_4_0086">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A GENERAL BUSTIFICATION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Many amusing stories are told of President Lincoln and his gloves. At
+      about the time of his third reception he had on a tight-fitting pair of
+      white kids, which he had with difficulty got on. He saw approaching in the
+      distance an old Illinois friend named Simpson, whom he welcomed with a
+      genuine Sangamon county (Illeenoy) shake, which resulted in bursting his
+      white kid glove, with an audible sound. Then, raising his brawny hand up
+      before him, looking at it with an indescribable expression, he said, while
+      the whole procession was checked, witnessing this scene:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, my old friend, this is a general bustification. You and I were
+      never intended to wear these things. If they were stronger they might do
+      well enough to keep out the cold, but they are a failure to shake hands
+      with between old friends like us. Stand aside, Captain, and I&rsquo;ll see you
+      shortly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Simpson stood aside, and after the unwelcome ceremony was terminated he
+      rejoined his old Illinois friend in familiar intercourse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0087" id="link2H_4_0087">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MAKING QUARTERMASTERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      H. C. Whitney wrote in 1866: &ldquo;I was in Washington in the Indian service
+      for a few days before August, 1861, and I merely said to President Lincoln
+      one day: &lsquo;Everything is drifting into the war, and I guess you will have
+      to put me in the army.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President looked up from his work and said, good-humoredly: &lsquo;I&rsquo;m
+      making generals now; in a few days I will be making quartermasters, and
+      then I&rsquo;ll fix you.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0088" id="link2H_4_0088">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO POSTMASTERS IN HIS POCKET.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      In the &ldquo;Diary of a Public Man&rdquo; appears this jocose anecdote:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln walked into the corridor with us; and, as he bade us good-by
+      and thanked Blank for what he had told him, he again brightened up for a
+      moment and asked him in an abrupt kind of way, laying his hand as he spoke
+      with a queer but not uncivil familiarity on his shoulder, &lsquo;You haven&rsquo;t
+      such a thing as a postmaster in your pocket, have you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Blank stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in alarm, as
+      if he suspected a sudden attack of insanity; then Mr. Lincoln went on:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You see it seems to me kind of unnatural that you shouldn&rsquo;t have at least
+      a postmaster in your pocket. Everybody I&rsquo;ve seen for days past has had
+      foreign ministers and collectors, and all kinds, and I thought you
+      couldn&rsquo;t have got in here without having at least a postmaster get into
+      your pocket!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0089" id="link2H_4_0089">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE &ldquo;SKEWED&rdquo; THE LINE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0097}.jpg" alt="{0097}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0097}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      When a surveyor, Mr. Lincoln first platted the town of Petersburg, Ill.
+      Some twenty or thirty years afterward the property-owners along one of the
+      outlying streets had trouble in fixing their boundaries. They consulted
+      the official plat and got no relief. A committee was sent to Springfield
+      to consult the distinguished surveyor, but he failed to recall anything
+      that would give them aid, and could only refer them to the record. The
+      dispute therefore went into the courts. While the trial was pending, an
+      old Irishman named McGuire, who had worked for some farmer during the
+      summer, returned to town for the winter. The case being mentioned in his
+      presence, he promptly said: &ldquo;I can tell you all about it. I helped carry
+      the chain when Abe Lincoln laid out this town. Over there where they are
+      quarreling about the lines, when he was locating the street, he
+      straightened up from his instrument and said: &lsquo;If I run that street right
+      through, it will cut three or four feet off the end of &mdash;&mdash;&lsquo;s
+      house. It&rsquo;s all he&rsquo;s got in the world and he never could get another. I
+      reckon it won&rsquo;t hurt anything out here if I skew the line a little and
+      miss him.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The line was &ldquo;skewed,&rdquo; and hence the trouble, and more testimony furnished
+      as to Lincoln&rsquo;s abounding kindness of heart, that would not willingly harm
+      any human being.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0090" id="link2H_4_0090">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;WHEREAS,&rdquo; HE STOLE NOTHING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the most celebrated courts-martial during the War was that of
+      Franklin W. Smith and his brother, charged with defrauding the government.
+      These men bore a high character for integrity. At this time, however,
+      courts-martial were seldom invoked for any other purpose than to convict
+      the accused, and the Smiths shared the usual fate of persons whose cases
+      were submitted to such arbitrament. They were kept in prison, their papers
+      seized, their business destroyed, and their reputations ruined, all of
+      which was followed by a conviction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The finding of the court was submitted to the President, who, after a
+      careful investigation, disapproved the judgment, and wrote the following
+      endorsement upon the papers:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whereas, Franklin W. Smith had transactions with the Navy Department to
+      the amount of a million and a quarter of dollars; and:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whereas, he had a chance to steal at least a quarter of a million and was
+      only charged with stealing twenty-two hundred dollars, and the question
+      now is about his stealing one hundred, I don&rsquo;t believe he stole anything
+      at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Therefore, the record and the findings are disapproved, declared null and
+      void, and the defendants are fully discharged.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0091" id="link2H_4_0091">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOT LIKE THE POPE&rsquo;S BULL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln, after listening to the arguments and appeals of a
+      committee which called upon him at the White House not long before the
+      Emancipation Proclamation was issued, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will see must
+      necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope&rsquo;s bull against the comet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0092" id="link2H_4_0092">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      COULD HE TELL?
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A &ldquo;high&rdquo; private of the One Hundred and Fortieth Infantry Regiment,
+      Pennsylvania Volunteers, wounded at Chancellorsville, was taken to
+      Washington. One day, as he was becoming convalescent, a whisper ran down
+      the long row of cots that the President was in the building and would soon
+      pass by. Instantly every boy in blue who was able arose, stood erect,
+      hands to the side, ready to salute his Commander-in-Chief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Pennsylvanian stood six feet seven inches in his stockings. Lincoln
+      was six feet four. As the President approached this giant towering above
+      him, he stopped in amazement, and casting his eyes from head to foot and
+      from foot to head, as if contemplating the immense distance from one
+      extremity to the other, he stood for a moment speechless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length, extending his hand, he exclaimed, &ldquo;Hello, comrade, do you know
+      when your feet get cold?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0093" id="link2H_4_0093">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DARNED UNCOMFORTABLE SITTING.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8099}.jpg" alt="{8099} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8099}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated Newspaper&rdquo; of March 2nd, 1861, two days
+      previous to the inauguration of President-elect Lincoln, contained the
+      caricature reproduced here. It was intended to convey the idea that the
+      National Administration would thereafter depend upon the support of
+      bayonets to uphold it, and the text underneath the picture ran as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      OLD ABE: &ldquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s all well enough to say that I must support the dignity
+      of my high office by force&mdash;but it&rsquo;s darned uncomfortable sitting, I
+      can tell yer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This journal was not entirely friendly to the new Chief Magistrate, but it
+      could not see into the future. Many of the leading publications of the
+      East, among them some of those which condemned slavery and were opposed to
+      secession, did not believe Lincoln was the man for the emergency, but
+      instead of doing what they could do to help him along, they attacked him
+      most viciously. No man, save Washington, was more brutally lied about than
+      Lincoln, but he bore all the slurs and thrusts, not to mention the open,
+      cruel antagonism of those who should have been his warmest friends, with a
+      fortitude and patience few men have ever shown. He was on the right road,
+      and awaited the time when his course should receive the approval it
+      merited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0094" id="link2H_4_0094">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;WHAT&rsquo;S-HIS-NAME&rdquo; GOT THERE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      General James B. Fry told a good one on Secretary of War Stanton, who was
+      worsted in a contention with the President. Several brigadier-generals
+      were to be selected, and Lincoln maintained that &ldquo;something must be done
+      in the interest of the Dutch.&rdquo; Many complaints had come from prominent
+      men, born in the Fatherland, but who were fighting for the Union.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, I want Schimmelpfennig given one of those brigadierships.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Stanton was stubborn and headstrong, as usual, but his manner and tone
+      indicated that the President would have his own way in the end. However,
+      he was not to be beaten without having made a fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, Mr. President,&rdquo; insisted the Iron War Secretary, &ldquo;it may be that
+      this Mr. Schim&mdash;what&rsquo;s-his-name&mdash;has no recommendations showing
+      his fitness. Perhaps he can&rsquo;t speak English.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t matter a bit, Stanton,&rdquo; retorted Lincoln, &ldquo;he may be deaf
+      and dumb for all I know, but whatever language he speaks, if any, we can
+      furnish troops who will understand what he says. That name of his will
+      make up for any differences in religion, politics or understanding, and
+      I&rsquo;ll take the risk of his coming out all right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, slamming his great hand upon the Secretary&rsquo;s desk, he said,
+      &ldquo;Schim-mel-fen-nig must be appointed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he was, there and then.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0095" id="link2H_4_0095">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A REALLY GREAT GENERAL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you know General A&mdash;?&rdquo; queried the President one day to a friend
+      who had &ldquo;dropped in&rdquo; at the White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly; but you are not wasting any time thinking about him, are you?&rdquo;
+       was the rejoinder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You wrong him,&rdquo; responded the President, &ldquo;he is a really great man, a
+      philosopher.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you make that out? He isn&rsquo;t worth the powder and ball necessary to
+      kill him so I have heard military men say,&rdquo; the friend remarked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is a mighty thinker,&rdquo; the President returned, &ldquo;because he has mastered
+      that ancient and wise admonition, &lsquo;Know thyself;&rsquo; he has formed an
+      intimate acquaintance with himself, knows as well for what he is fitted
+      and unfitted as any man living. Without doubt he is a remarkable man. This
+      War has not produced another like him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How is it you are so highly pleased with General A&mdash;&mdash; all at
+      once?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the reason,&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln, with a merry twinkle of the eye,
+      &ldquo;greatly to my relief, and to the interests of the country, he has
+      resigned. The country should express its gratitude in some substantial
+      way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0096" id="link2H_4_0096">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;SHRUNK UP NORTH.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      There was no member of the Cabinet from the South when Attorney-General
+      Bates handed in his resignation, and President Lincoln had a great deal of
+      trouble in making a selection. Finally Titian F. Coffey consented to fill
+      the vacant place for a time, and did so until the appointment of Mr.
+      Speed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In conversation with Mr. Coffey the President quaintly remarked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My Cabinet has shrunk up North, and I must find a Southern man. I suppose
+      if the twelve Apostles were to be chosen nowadays, the shrieks of locality
+      would have to be heeded.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0097" id="link2H_4_0097">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN ADOPTED THE SUGGESTION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It is not generally known that President Lincoln adopted a suggestion made
+      by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase in regard to the Emancipation
+      Proclamation, and incorporated it in that famous document.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the President had read it to the members of the Cabinet he asked if
+      he had omitted anything which should be added or inserted to strengthen
+      it. It will be remembered that the closing paragraph of the Proclamation
+      reads in this way:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted
+      by the Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the
+      gracious favor of Almighty God!&rdquo; President Lincoln&rsquo;s draft of the paper
+      ended with the word &ldquo;mankind,&rdquo; and the words, &ldquo;and the gracious favor of
+      Almighty God,&rdquo; were those suggested by Secretary Chase.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0098" id="link2H_4_0098">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was the President&rsquo;s overweening desire to accommodate all persons who
+      came to him soliciting favors, but the opportunity was never offered until
+      an untimely and unthinking disease, which possessed many of the
+      characteristics of one of the most dreaded maladies, confined him to his
+      bed at the White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The rumor spread that the President was afflicted with this disease, while
+      the truth was that it was merely a very mild attack of varioloid. The
+      office-seekers didn&rsquo;t know the facts, and for once the Executive Mansion
+      was clear of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day, a man from the West, who didn&rsquo;t read the papers, but wanted the
+      postoffice in his town, called at the White House. The President, being
+      then practically a well man, saw him. The caller was engaged in a voluble
+      endeavor to put his capabilities in the most favorable light, when the
+      President interrupted him with the remark that he would be compelled to
+      make the interview short, as his doctor was due.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Mr. President, are you sick?&rdquo; queried the visitor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, nothing much,&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;but the physician says he fears
+      the worst.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What worst, may I ask?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Smallpox,&rdquo; was the answer; &ldquo;but you needn&rsquo;t be scared. I&rsquo;m only in the
+      first stages now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The visitor grabbed his hat, sprang from his chair, and without a word
+      bolted for the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be in a hurry,&rdquo; said the President placidly; &ldquo;sit down and talk
+      awhile.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thank you, sir; I&rsquo;ll call again,&rdquo; shouted the Westerner, as he
+      disappeared through the opening in the wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, that&rsquo;s the way with people,&rdquo; the President said, when relating the
+      story afterward. &ldquo;When I can&rsquo;t give them what they want, they&rsquo;re
+      dissatisfied, and say harsh things about me; but when I&rsquo;ve something to
+      give to everybody they scamper off.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0099" id="link2H_4_0099">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9103}.jpg" alt="{9103}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9103}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      An applicant for a sutlership in the army relates this story: &ldquo;In the
+      winter of 1864, after serving three years in the Union Army, and being
+      honorably discharged, I made application for the post sutlership at Point
+      Lookout. My father being interested, we made application to Mr. Stanton,
+      the Secretary of War. We obtained an audience, and were ushered into the
+      presence of the most pompous man I ever met. As I entered he waved his
+      hand for me to stop at a given distance from him, and then put these
+      questions, viz.:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Did you serve three years in the army?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I did, sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Were you honorably discharged?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I was, sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Let me see your discharge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I gave it to him. He looked it over, then said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Were you ever wounded?&rsquo; I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg,
+      May 5, 1861.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He then said: &lsquo;I think we can give this position to a soldier who has
+      lost an arm or leg, he being more deserving; and he then said I looked
+      hearty and healthy enough to serve three years more. He would not give me
+      a chance to argue my case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The audience was at an end. He waved his hand to me. I was then dismissed
+      from the august presence of the Honorable Secretary of War.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My father was waiting for me in the hallway, who saw by my countenance
+      that I was not successful. I said to my father:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us more satisfaction.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He said it would do me no good, but we went over. Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s reception
+      room was full of ladies and gentlemen when we entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My turn soon came. Lincoln turned to my father and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possible with your
+      business, as it is growing late.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My father then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him. Lincoln
+      then said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your business as quickly as possible.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was but one chair by Lincoln, so he motioned my father to sit,
+      while I stood. My father stated the business to him as stated above. He
+      then said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Have you seen Mr. Stanton?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We told him yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stanton&rsquo;s business; I cannot interfere with him;
+      he attends to all these matters and I am sorry I cannot help you.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to revive our spirits.
+      He succeeded well with my father, who was a Lincoln man, and who was a
+      staunch Republican.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln then said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now, gentlemen, I will tell you, what it is; I have thousands of
+      applications like this every day, but we cannot satisfy all for this
+      reason, that these positions are like office seekers&mdash;there are too
+      many pigs for the teats.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed their
+      handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But the joke of &lsquo;Old Abe&rsquo;
+      put us all in a good humor. We then left the presence of the greatest and
+      most just man who ever lived to fill the Presidential chair.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0100" id="link2H_4_0100">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GREELEY CARRIES LINCOLN TO THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      No sooner was Abraham Lincoln made the candidate for the Presidency of the
+      Republican Party, in 1860, than the opposition began to lampoon and
+      caricature him. In the cartoon here reproduced, which is given the title
+      of:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Republican Party Going to the Right House,&rdquo; Lincoln is represented as
+      entering the Lunatic Asylum, riding on a rail, carried by Horace Greeley,
+      the great Abolitionist; Lincoln, followed by his &ldquo;fellow-cranks,&rdquo; is
+      assuring the latter that the millennium is &ldquo;going to begin,&rdquo; and that all
+      requests will be granted.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0105}.jpg" alt="{0105}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0105}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s followers are depicted as those men and women composing the
+      &ldquo;free love&rdquo; element; those who want religion abolished; negroes, who want
+      it understood that the white man has no rights his black brother is bound
+      to respect; women suffragists, who demand that men be made subject to
+      female authority; tramps, who insist upon free lodging-houses; criminals,
+      who demand the right to steal from all they meet; and toughs, who want the
+      police forces abolished, so that &ldquo;the b&rsquo;hoys&rdquo; can &ldquo;run wid de masheen,&rdquo;
+       and have &ldquo;a muss&rdquo; whenever they feel like it, without interference by the
+      authorities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0101" id="link2H_4_0101">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE LAST TIME HE SAW DOUGLAS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Speaking of his last meeting with Judge Douglas, Mr. Lincoln said: &ldquo;One
+      day Douglas came rushing in and said he had just got a telegraph dispatch
+      from some friends in Illinois urging him to come out and help set things
+      right in Egypt, and that he would go, or stay in Washington, just where I
+      thought he could do the most good.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told him to do as he chose, but that probably he could do best in
+      Illinois. Upon that he shook hands with me, and hurried away to catch the
+      next train. I never saw him again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0102" id="link2H_4_0102">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HURT HIS LEGS LESS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was one of the attorneys in a case of considerable importance,
+      court being held in a very small and dilapidated schoolhouse out in the
+      country; Lincoln was compelled to stoop very much in order to enter the
+      door, and the seats were so low that he doubled up his legs like a
+      jackknife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was obliged to sit upon a school bench, and just in front of him
+      was another, making the distance between him and the seat in front of him
+      very narrow and uncomfortable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His position was almost unbearable, and in order to carry out his
+      preference which he secured as often as possible, and that was &ldquo;to sit as
+      near to the jury as convenient,&rdquo; he took advantage of his discomfort and
+      finally said to the Judge on the &ldquo;bench&rdquo;:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your Honor, with your permission, I&rsquo;ll sit up nearer to the gentlemen of
+      the jury, for it hurts my legs less to rub my calves against the bench
+      than it does to skin my shins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0103" id="link2H_4_0103">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A LITTLE SHY OR GRAMMAR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Mr. Lincoln had prepared his brief letter accepting the Presidential
+      nomination he took it to Dr. Newton Bateman, the State Superintendent of
+      Education.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Schoolmaster,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;here is my letter of acceptance. I am not
+      very strong on grammar and I wish you to see if it is all right. I
+      wouldn&rsquo;t like to have any mistakes in it.&rdquo;.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The doctor took the letter and after reading it, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is only one change I should suggest, Mr. Lincoln, you have written
+      &lsquo;It shall be my care to not violate or disregard it in any part,&rsquo; you
+      should have written &lsquo;not to violate.&rsquo; Never split an infinitive, is the
+      rule.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln took the manuscript, regarding it a moment with a puzzled air,
+      &ldquo;So you think I better put those two little fellows end to end, do you?&rdquo;
+       he said as he made the change.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0104" id="link2H_4_0104">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS FIRST SATIRICAL WRITING.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9107}.jpg" alt="{9107}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9107}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Reuben and Charles Grigsby were married in Spencer county, Indiana, on the
+      same day to Elizabeth Ray and Matilda Hawkins, respectively. They met the
+      next day at the home of Reuben Grigsby, Sr., and held a double infare, to
+      which most of the county was invited, with the exception of the Lincolns.
+      This Abraham duly resented, and it resulted in his first attempt at
+      satirical writing, which he called &ldquo;The Chronicles of Reuben.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The manuscript was lost, and not recovered until 1865, when a house
+      belonging to one of the Grigsbys was torn down. In the loft a boy found a
+      roll of musty old papers, and was intently reading them, when he was asked
+      what he was doing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Reading a portion of the Scriptures that haven&rsquo;t been revealed yet,&rdquo; was
+      the response. This was Lincoln&rsquo;s &ldquo;Chronicles,&rdquo; which is herewith given:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;THE CHRONICLES OF REUBEN.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, there was a man whose name was Reuben, and the same was very great
+      in substance, in horses and cattle and swine, and a very great household.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It came to pass when the sons of Reuben grew up that they were desirous
+      of taking to themselves wives, and, being too well known as to honor in
+      their own country, they took a journey into a far country and there
+      procured for themselves wives.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It came to pass also that when they were about to make the return home
+      they sent a messenger before them to bear the tidings to their parents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These, inquiring of the messenger what time their sons and wives would
+      come, made a great feast and called all their kinsmen and neighbors in,
+      and made great preparation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When the time drew nigh, they sent out two men to meet the grooms and
+      their brides, with a trumpet to welcome them, and to accompany them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When they came near unto the house of Reuben, the father, the messenger
+      came before them and gave a shout, and the whole multitude ran out with
+      shouts of joy and music, playing on all kinds of instruments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some were playing on harps, some on viols, and some blowing on rams&rsquo;
+      horns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some also were casting dust and ashes toward Heaven, and chief among them
+      all was Josiah, blowing his bugle and making sounds so great the
+      neighboring hills and valleys echoed with the resounding acclamation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When they had played and their harps had sounded till the grooms and
+      brides approached the gates, Reuben, the father, met them and welcomed
+      them to his house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wedding feast being now ready, they were all invited to sit down and
+      eat, placing the bridegrooms and their brides at each end of the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Waiters were then appointed to serve and wait on the guests. When all had
+      eaten and were full and merry, they went out again and played and sung
+      till night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And when they had made an end of feasting and rejoicing the multitude
+      dispersed, each going to his own home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The family then took seats with their waiters to converse while
+      preparations were being made in two upper chambers for the brides and
+      grooms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This being done, the waiters took the two brides upstairs, placing one in
+      a room at the right hand of the stairs and the other on the left.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The waiters came down, and Nancy, the mother, then gave directions to the
+      waiters of the bridegrooms, and they took them upstairs, but placed them
+      in the wrong rooms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The waiters then all came downstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the mother, being fearful of a mistake, made inquiry of the waiters,
+      and learning the true facts, took the light and sprang upstairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It came to pass she ran to one of the rooms and exclaimed, &lsquo;O Lord,
+      Reuben, you are with the wrong wife.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The young men, both alarmed at this, ran out with such violence against
+      each other, they came near knocking each other down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The tumult gave evidence to those below that the mistake was certain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At last they all came down and had a long conversation about who made the
+      mistake, but it could not be decided.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So ended the chapter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The original manuscript of &ldquo;The Chronicles of Reuben&rdquo; was last in the
+      possession of Redmond Grigsby, of Rockport, Indiana. A newspaper which had
+      obtained a copy of the &ldquo;Chronicles,&rdquo; sent a reporter to interview
+      Elizabeth Grigsby, or Aunt Betsy, as she was called, and asked her about
+      the famous manuscript and the mistake made at the double wedding.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, they did have a joke on us,&rdquo; said Aunt Betsy. &ldquo;They said my man got
+      into the wrong room and Charles got into my room. But it wasn&rsquo;t so.
+      Lincoln just wrote that for mischief. Abe and my man often laughed about
+      that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0105" id="link2H_4_0105">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LIKELY TO DO IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      An officer, having had some trouble with General Sherman, being very
+      angry, presented himself before Mr. Lincoln, who was visiting the camp,
+      and said, &ldquo;Mr. President, I have a cause of grievance. This morning I went
+      to General Sherman and he threatened to shoot me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Threatened to shoot you?&rdquo; asked Mr. Lincoln. &ldquo;Well, (in a stage whisper)
+      if I were you I would keep away from him; if he threatens to shoot, I
+      would not trust him, for I believe he would do it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0106" id="link2H_4_0106">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;THE ENEMY ARE &lsquo;OURN&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Early in the Presidential campaign of 1864, President Lincoln said one
+      night to a late caller at the White House:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have met the enemy and they are &lsquo;ourn!&rsquo; I think the cabal of
+      obstructionists &lsquo;am busted.&rsquo; I feel certain that, if I live, I am going to
+      be re-elected. Whether I deserve to be or not, it is not for me to say;
+      but on the score even of remunerative chances for speculative service, I
+      now am inspired with the hope that our disturbed country further requires
+      the valuable services of your humble servant. &lsquo;Jordan has been a hard road
+      to travel,&rsquo; but I feel now that, notwithstanding the enemies I have made
+      and the faults I have committed, I&rsquo;ll be dumped on the right side of that
+      stream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope, however, that I may never have another four years of such
+      anxiety, tribulation and abuse. My only ambition is and has been to put
+      down the rebellion and restore peace, after which I want to resign my
+      office, go abroad, take some rest, study foreign governments, see
+      something of foreign life, and in my old age die in peace with all of the
+      good of God&rsquo;s creatures.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0107" id="link2H_4_0107">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;AND&mdash;HERE I AM!&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      An old acquaintance of the President visited him in Washington. Lincoln
+      desired to give him a place. Thus encouraged, the visitor, who was an
+      honest man, but wholly inexperienced in public affairs or business, asked
+      for a high office, Superintendent of the Mint.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was aghast, and said: &ldquo;Good gracious! Why didn&rsquo;t he ask to
+      be Secretary of the Treasury, and have done with it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterward, he said: &ldquo;Well, now, I never thought Mr.&mdash;&mdash; had
+      anything more than average ability, when we were young men together. But,
+      then, I suppose he thought the same thing about me, and&mdash;here I am!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0108" id="link2H_4_0108">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SAFE AS LONG AS THEY WERE GOOD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At the celebrated Peace Conference, whereat there was much &ldquo;pow-wow&rdquo; and
+      no result, President Lincoln, in response to certain remarks by the
+      Confederate commissioners, commented with some severity upon the conduct
+      of the Confederate leaders, saying they had plainly forfeited all right to
+      immunity from punishment for their treason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Being positive and unequivocal in stating his views concerning individual
+      treason, his words were of ominous import. There was a pause, during which
+      Commissioner Hunter regarded the speaker with a steady, searching look. At
+      length, carefully measuring his words, Mr. Hunter said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, Mr. President, if we understand you correctly, you think that we of
+      the Confederacy have committed treason; are traitors to your Government;
+      have forfeited our rights, and are proper subjects for the hangman. Is not
+      that about what your words imply?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied President Lincoln, &ldquo;you have stated the proposition better
+      than I did. That is about the size of it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Another pause, and a painful one succeeded, and then Hunter, with a
+      pleasant smile remarked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Mr. Lincoln, we have about concluded that we shall not be hanged as
+      long as you are President&mdash;if we behave ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Hunter meant what he said.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0111}.jpg" alt="{0111}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0111}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0112}.jpg" alt="{0112}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0112}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0109" id="link2H_4_0109">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;SMELT NO ROYALTY IN OUR CARRIAGE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      On one occasion, in going to meet an appointment in the southern part of
+      the Sucker State&mdash;that section of Illinois called Egypt&mdash;Lincoln,
+      with other friends, was traveling in the &ldquo;caboose&rdquo; of a freight train,
+      when the freight was switched off the main track to allow a special train
+      to pass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s more aristocratic rival (Stephen A. Douglas) was being conveyed
+      to the same town in this special. The passing train was decorated with
+      banners and flags, and carried a band of music, which was playing &ldquo;Hail to
+      the Chief.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As the train whistled past, Lincoln broke out in a fit of laughter, and
+      said: &ldquo;Boys, the gentleman in that car evidently smelt no royalty in our
+      carriage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0110" id="link2H_4_0110">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HELL A MILE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Ward Lamon told this story of President Lincoln, whom he found one day in
+      a particularly gloomy frame of mind. Lamon said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President remarked, as I came in, &lsquo;I fear I have made Senator Wade,
+      of Ohio, my enemy for life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;How?&rsquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well,&rsquo; continued the President, &lsquo;Wade was here just now urging me to
+      dismiss Grant, and, in response to something he said, I remarked,
+      &ldquo;Senator, that reminds me of a story.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;What did Wade say?&rsquo; I inquired of the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;He said, in a petulant way,&rsquo; the President responded, &lsquo;&ldquo;It is with you,
+      sir, all story, story! You are the father of every military blunder that
+      has been made during the war. You are on your road to hell, sir, with this
+      government, by your obstinacy, and you are not a mile off this minute.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;What did you say then?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I good-naturedly said to him,&rsquo; the President replied, &lsquo;&ldquo;Senator, that is
+      just about from here to the Capitol, is it not?&rdquo; He was very angry,
+      grabbed up his hat and cane, and went away.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0111" id="link2H_4_0111">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS &ldquo;GLASS HACK&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln had not been in the White House very long before Mrs.
+      Lincoln became seized with the idea that a fine new barouche was about the
+      proper thing for &ldquo;the first lady in the land.&rdquo; The President did not care
+      particularly about it one way or the other, and told his wife to order
+      whatever she wanted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln forgot all about the new vehicle, and was overcome with
+      astonishment one afternoon when, having acceded to Mrs. Lincoln&rsquo;s desire
+      to go driving, he found a beautiful barouche standing in front of the door
+      of the White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His wife watched him with an amused smile, but the only remark he made
+      was, &ldquo;Well, Mary, that&rsquo;s about the slickest &lsquo;glass hack&rsquo; in town, isn&rsquo;t
+      it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0112" id="link2H_4_0112">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LEAVE HIM KICKING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, in the days of his youth, was often unfaithful to his Quaker
+      traditions. On the day of election in 1840, word came to him that one
+      Radford, a Democratic contractor, had taken possession of one of the
+      polling places with his workmen, and was preventing the Whigs from voting.
+      Lincoln started off at a gait which showed his interest in the matter in
+      hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He went up to Radford and persuaded him to leave the polls, remarking at
+      the same time: &ldquo;Radford, you&rsquo;ll spoil and blow, if you live much longer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Radford&rsquo;s prudence prevented an actual collision, which, it is said,
+      Lincoln regretted. He told his friend Speed he wanted Radford to show
+      fight so that he might &ldquo;knock him down and leave him kicking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0113" id="link2H_4_0113">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;WHO COMMENCED THIS FUSS?&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was at all times an advocate of peace, provided it could
+      be obtained honorably and with credit to the United States. As to the
+      cause of the Civil War, which side of Mason and Dixon&rsquo;s line was
+      responsible for it, who fired the first shots, who were the aggressors,
+      etc., Lincoln did not seem to bother about; he wanted to preserve the
+      Union, above all things. Slavery, he was assured, was dead, but he thought
+      the former slaveholders should be recompensed.
+    </p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9115}.jpg" alt="{9115}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9115}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      To illustrate his feelings in the matter he told this story:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some of the supporters of the Union cause are opposed to accommodate or
+      yield to the South in any manner or way because the Confederates began the
+      war; were determined to take their States out of the Union, and,
+      consequently, should be held responsible to the last stage for whatever
+      may come in the future. Now this reminds me of a good story I heard once,
+      when I lived in Illinois.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A vicious bull in a pasture took after everybody who tried to cross the
+      lot, and one day a neighbor of the owner was the victim. This man was a
+      speedy fellow and got to a friendly tree ahead of the bull, but not in
+      time to climb the tree. So he led the enraged animal a merry race around
+      the tree, finally succeeding in seizing the bull by the tail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The bull, being at a disadvantage, not able to either catch the man or
+      release his tail, was mad enough to eat nails; he dug up the earth with
+      his feet, scattered gravel all around, bellowed until you could hear him
+      for two miles or more, and at length broke into a dead run, the man
+      hanging onto his tail all the time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;While the bull, much out of temper, was legging it to the best of his
+      ability, his tormentor, still clinging to the tail, asked, &lsquo;Darn you, who
+      commenced this fuss?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It&rsquo;s our duty to settle this fuss at the earliest possible moment, no
+      matter who commenced it. That&rsquo;s my idea of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0114" id="link2H_4_0114">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; LITTLE JOKE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When General W. T. Sherman, November 12th, 1864, severed all communication
+      with the North and started for Savannah with his magnificent army of sixty
+      thousand men, there was much anxiety for a month as to his whereabouts.
+      President Lincoln, in response to an inquiry, said: &ldquo;I know what hole
+      Sherman went in at, but I don&rsquo;t know what hole he&rsquo;ll come out at.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Colonel McClure had been in consultation with the President one day, about
+      two weeks after Sherman&rsquo;s disappearance, and in this connection related
+      this incident:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was leaving the room, and just as I reached the door the President
+      turned around, and, with a merry twinkling of the eye, inquired, &lsquo;McClure,
+      wouldn&rsquo;t you like to hear something from Sherman?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The inquiry electrified me at the instant, as it seemed to imply that
+      Lincoln had some information on the subject. I immediately answered, &lsquo;Yes,
+      most of all, I should like to hear from Sherman.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To this President Lincoln answered, with a hearty laugh: &lsquo;Well, I&rsquo;ll be
+      hanged if I wouldn&rsquo;t myself.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0115" id="link2H_4_0115">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHAT SUMMER THOUGHT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Although himself a most polished, even a fastidious, gentleman, Senator
+      Sumner never allowed Lincoln&rsquo;s homely ways to hide his great qualities. He
+      gave him a respect and esteem at the start which others accorded only
+      after experience. The Senator was most tactful, too, in his dealings with
+      Mrs. Lincoln, and soon had a firm footing in the household. That he was
+      proud of this, perhaps a little boastful, there is no doubt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln himself appreciated this. &ldquo;Sumner thinks he runs me,&rdquo; he said,
+      with an amused twinkle, one day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0116" id="link2H_4_0116">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A USELESS DOG.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8117}.jpg" alt="{8117} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8117}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      When Hood&rsquo;s army had been scattered into fragments, President Lincoln,
+      elated by the defeat of what had so long been a menacing force on the
+      borders of Tennessee was reminded by its collapse of the fate of a savage
+      dog belonging to one of his neighbors in the frontier settlements in which
+      he lived in his youth. &ldquo;The dog,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;was the terror of the
+      neighborhood, and its owner, a churlish and quarrelsome fellow, took
+      pleasure in the brute&rsquo;s forcible attitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Finally, all other means having failed to subdue the creature, a man
+      loaded a lump of meat with a charge of powder, to which was attached a
+      slow fuse; this was dropped where the dreaded dog would find it, and the
+      animal gulped down the tempting bait.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was a dull rumbling, a muffled explosion, and fragments of the dog
+      were seen flying in every direction. The grieved owner, picking up the
+      shattered remains of his cruel favorite, said: &lsquo;He was a good dog, but as
+      a dog, his days of usefulness are over.&rsquo; Hood&rsquo;s army was a good army,&rdquo;
+       said Lincoln, by way of comment, &ldquo;and we were all afraid of it, but as an
+      army, its usefulness is gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0117" id="link2H_4_0117">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ORIGIN OF THE &ldquo;INFLUENCE&rdquo; STORY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington, called one day on
+      General Halleck, then Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, and,
+      presuming upon a familiar acquaintance in California a few years since,
+      solicited a pass outside of our lines to see a brother in Virginia, not
+      thinking that he would meet with a refusal, as both his brother and
+      himself were good Union men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have been deceived too often,&rdquo; said General Halleck, &ldquo;and I regret I
+      can&rsquo;t grant it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of with the
+      same result. Finally, he obtained an interview with Mr. Lincoln, and
+      stated his case.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you applied to General Halleck?&rdquo; inquired the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and met with a flat refusal,&rdquo; said Judge B.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you must see Stanton,&rdquo; continued the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have, and with the same result,&rdquo; was the reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, then,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, &ldquo;I can do nothing; for you
+      must know that I have very little influence with this Administration,
+      although I hope to have more with the next.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0118" id="link2H_4_0118">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FELT SORRY FOR BOTH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Many ladies attended the famous debates between Lincoln and Douglas, and
+      they were the most unprejudiced listeners. &ldquo;I can recall only one fact of
+      the debates,&rdquo; says Mrs. William Crotty, of Seneca, Illinois, &ldquo;that I felt
+      so sorry for Lincoln while Douglas was speaking, and then to my surprise I
+      felt so sorry for Douglas when Lincoln replied.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The disinterested to whom it was an intellectual game, felt the power and
+      charm of both men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0119" id="link2H_4_0119">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What made the deepest impression upon you?&rdquo; inquired a friend one day,
+      &ldquo;when you stood in the presence of the Falls of Niagara, the greatest of
+      natural wonders?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The thing that struck me most forcibly when I saw the Falls,&rdquo; Lincoln
+      responded, with characteristic deliberation, &ldquo;was, where in the world did
+      all that water come from?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0120" id="link2H_4_0120">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;LONG ABE&rdquo; FOUR YEARS LONGER.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8119}.jpg" alt="{8119} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8119}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The second election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency of the United
+      States was the reward of his courage and genius bestowed upon him by the
+      people of the Union States. General George B. McClellan was his opponent
+      in 1864 upon the platform that &ldquo;the War is a failure,&rdquo; and carried but
+      three States&mdash;New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. The States which did
+      not think the War was a failure were those in New England, New York,
+      Pennsylvania, all the Western commonwealths, West Virginia, Tennessee,
+      Louisiana, Arkansas and the new State of Nevada, admitted into the Union
+      on October 31st. President Lincoln&rsquo;s popular majority over McClellan, who
+      never did much toward making the War a success, was more than four hundred
+      thousand. Underneath the cartoon reproduced here, from &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly&rdquo;
+       of November 26th, 1864, were the words, &ldquo;Long Abraham Lincoln a Little
+      Longer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But the beloved President&rsquo;s time upon earth was not to be much longer, as
+      he was assassinated just one month and ten days after his second
+      inauguration. Indeed, the words, &ldquo;a little longer,&rdquo; printed below the
+      cartoon, were strangely prophetic, although not intended to be such.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The people of the United States had learned to love &ldquo;Long Abe,&rdquo; their
+      affection being of a purely personal nature, in the main. No other Chief
+      Executive was regarded as so sincerely the friend of the great mass of the
+      inhabitants of the Republic as Lincoln. He was, in truth, one of &ldquo;the
+      common people,&rdquo; having been born among them, and lived as one of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s great height made him an easy subject for the cartoonist, and
+      they used it in his favor as well as against him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0121" id="link2H_4_0121">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ALL SICKER&rsquo;N YOUR MAN.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      A Commissioner to the Hawaiian Islands was to be appointed, and eight
+      applicants had filed their papers, when a delegation from the South
+      appeared at the White House on behalf of a ninth. Not only was their man
+      fit&mdash;so the delegation urged&mdash;but was also in bad health, and a
+      residence in that balmy climate would be of great benefit to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was rather impatient that day, and before the members of the
+      delegation had fairly started in, suddenly closed the interview with this
+      remark:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen, I am sorry to say that there are eight other applicants for
+      that place, and they are all &lsquo;sicker&rsquo;n&rsquo; your man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0122" id="link2H_4_0122">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EASIER TO EMPTY THE POTOMAC.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      An officer of low volunteer rank persisted in telling and re-telling his
+      troubles to the President on a summer afternoon when Lincoln was tired and
+      careworn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After listening patiently, he finally turned upon the man, and, looking
+      wearily out upon the broad Potomac in the distance, said in a peremptory
+      tone that ended the interview:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, my man, go away, go away. I cannot meddle in your case. I could as
+      easily bail out the Potomac River with a teaspoon as attend to all the
+      details of the army.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0123" id="link2H_4_0123">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE WANTED A STEADY HAND.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln by Secretary
+      Seward, for the President&rsquo;s signature, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it
+      in the ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held it a
+      moment, then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little
+      hesitation, he again took up the pen and went through the same movement as
+      before. Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have been shaking hands since nine o&rsquo;clock this morning, and my right
+      arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be for
+      this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the
+      Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say, &lsquo;He
+      hesitated.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and slowly, firmly
+      wrote &ldquo;Abraham Lincoln,&rdquo; with which the whole world is now familiar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He then looked up, smiled, and said, &ldquo;That will do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0124" id="link2H_4_0124">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN SAW STANTON ABOUT IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lovejoy, heading a committee of Western men, discussed an important
+      scheme with the President, and the gentlemen were then directed to explain
+      it to Secretary of War Stanton.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon presenting themselves to the Secretary, and showing the President&rsquo;s
+      order, the Secretary said: &ldquo;Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He did, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then he is a d&mdash;d fool,&rdquo; said the angry Secretary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you mean to say that the President is a d&mdash;d fool?&rdquo; asked
+      Lovejoy, in amazement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The bewildered Illinoisan betook himself at once to the President and
+      related the result of the conference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did Stanton say I was a d&mdash;d fool?&rdquo; asked Lincoln at the close of
+      the recital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He did, sir, and repeated it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After a moment&rsquo;s pause, and looking up, the President said: &ldquo;If Stanton
+      said I was a d&mdash;d fool, then I must be one, for he is nearly always
+      right, and generally says what he means. I will slip over and see him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0125" id="link2H_4_0125">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MRS. LINCOLN&rsquo;S SURPRISE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A good story is told of how Mrs. Lincoln made a little surprise for her
+      husband.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the early days it was customary for lawyers to go from one county to
+      another on horseback, a journey which often required several weeks. On
+      returning from one of these trips, late one night, Mr. Lincoln dismounted
+      from his horse at the familiar corner and then turned to go into the
+      house, but stopped; a perfectly unknown structure was before him.
+      Surprised, and thinking there must be some mistake, he went across the way
+      and knocked at a neighbor&rsquo;s door. The family had retired, and so called
+      out:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe Lincoln,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;I am looking for my house. I thought it was
+      across the way, but when I went away a few weeks ago there was only a
+      one-story house there and now there is a two-story house in its place. I
+      think I must be lost.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The neighbors then explained that Mrs. Lincoln had added another story
+      during his absence. And Mr. Lincoln laughed and went to his remodeled
+      house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0126" id="link2H_4_0126">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MENACE TO THE GOVERNMENT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The persistence of office-seekers nearly drove President Lincoln wild.
+      They slipped in through the half-opened doors of the Executive Mansion;
+      they dogged his steps if he walked; they edged their way through the
+      crowds and thrust their papers in his hands when he rode; and, taking it
+      all in all, they well-nigh worried him to death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He once said that if the Government passed through the Rebellion without
+      dismemberment there was the strongest danger of its falling a prey to the
+      rapacity of the office-seeking class.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live without
+      work, will finally test the strength of our institutions,&rdquo; were the words
+      he used.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0127" id="link2H_4_0127">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TROOPS COULDN&rsquo;T FLY OVER IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On April 20th a delegation from Baltimore appeared at the White House and
+      begged the President that troops for Washington be sent around and not
+      through Baltimore.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln replied, laughingly: &ldquo;If I grant this concession, you
+      will be back tomorrow asking that no troops be marched &lsquo;around&rsquo; it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was right. That afternoon, and again on Sunday and Monday,
+      committees sought him, protesting that Maryland soil should not be
+      &ldquo;polluted&rdquo; by the feet of soldiers marching against the South.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President had but one reply: &ldquo;We must have troops, and as they can
+      neither crawl under Maryland nor fly over it, they must come across it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0128" id="link2H_4_0128">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PAT WAS &ldquo;FORNINST THE GOVERNMENT.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      The Governor-General of Canada, with some of his principal officers,
+      visited President Lincoln in the summer of 1864.
+    </p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9123}.jpg" alt="{9123}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9123}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      They had been very troublesome in harboring blockade runners, and they
+      were said to have carried on a large trade from their ports with the
+      Confederates. Lincoln treated his guests with great courtesy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a pleasant interview, the Governor, alluding to the coming
+      Presidential election said, jokingly, but with a grain of sarcasm: &ldquo;I
+      understand Mr. President, that everybody votes in this country. If we
+      remain until November, can we vote?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remind me,&rdquo; replied the President, &ldquo;of a countryman of yours, a green
+      emigrant from Ireland. Pat arrived on election day, and perhaps was as
+      eager as your Excellency to vote, and to vote early, and late and often.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So, upon landing at Castle Garden, he hastened to the nearest voting
+      place, and as he approached, the judge who received the ballots inquired,
+      &lsquo;Who do you want to vote for? On which side are you?&rsquo; Poor Pat was
+      embarrassed; he did not know who were the candidates. He stopped,
+      scratched his head, then, with the readiness of his countrymen, he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I am forninst the Government, anyhow. Tell me, if your Honor plase:
+      which is the rebellion side, and I&rsquo;ll tell you haw I want to vote. In ould
+      Ireland, I was always on the rebellion side, and, by Saint Patrick, I&rsquo;ll
+      do that same in America.&rsquo; Your Excellency,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;would, I
+      should think, not be at all at a loss on which side to vote!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0129" id="link2H_4_0129">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;CAN&rsquo;T SPARE THIS MAN.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      One night, about eleven o&rsquo;clock, Colonel A. K. McClure, whose intimacy
+      with President Lincoln was so great that he could obtain admittance to the
+      Executive Mansion at any and all hours, called at the White House to urge
+      Mr. Lincoln to remove General Grant from command.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After listening patiently for a long time, the President, gathering
+      himself up in his chair, said, with the utmost earnestness:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t spare this man; he fights!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In relating the particulars of this interview, Colonel McClure said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was all he said, but I knew that it was enough, and that Grant was
+      safe in Lincoln&rsquo;s hands against his countless hosts of enemies. The only
+      man in all the nation who had the power to save Grant was Lincoln, and he
+      had decided to do it. He was not influenced by any personal partiality for
+      Grant, for they had never met.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was not until after the battle of Shiloh, fought on the 6th and 7th of
+      April, 1862, that Lincoln was placed in a position to exercise a
+      controlling influence in shaping the destiny of Grant. The first reports
+      from the Shiloh battle-field created profound alarm throughout the entire
+      country, and the wildest exaggerations were spread in a floodtide of
+      vituperation against Grant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The few of to-day who can recall the inflamed condition of public
+      sentiment against Grant caused by the disastrous first day&rsquo;s battle at
+      Shiloh will remember that he was denounced as incompetent for his command
+      by the public journals of all parties in the North, and with almost entire
+      unanimity by Senators and Congressmen, regardless of political affinities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I appealed to Lincoln for his own sake to remove Grant at once, and in
+      giving my reasons for it I simply voiced the admittedly overwhelming
+      protest from the loyal people of the land against Grant&rsquo;s continuance in
+      command.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did not forget that Lincoln was the one man who never allowed himself
+      to appear as wantonly defying public sentiment. It seemed to me impossible
+      for him to save Grant without taking a crushing load of condemnation upon
+      himself; but Lincoln was wiser than all those around him, and he not only
+      saved Grant, but he saved him by such well-concerted effort that he soon
+      won popular applause from those who were most violent in demanding Grant&rsquo;s
+      dismissal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0130" id="link2H_4_0130">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS TEETH CHATTERED.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8125}.jpg" alt="{8125} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8125}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      During the Lincoln-Douglas joint debates of 1858, the latter accused
+      Lincoln of having, when in Congress, voted against the appropriation for
+      supplies to be sent the United States soldiers in Mexico. In reply,
+      Lincoln said: &ldquo;This is a perversion of the facts. I was opposed to the
+      policy of the administration in declaring war against Mexico; but when war
+      was declared I never failed to vote for the support of any proposition
+      looking to the comfort of our poor fellows who were maintaining the
+      dignity of our flag in a war that I thought unnecessary and unjust.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He gradually became more and more excited; his voice thrilled and his
+      whole frame shook. Sitting on the stand was O. B. Ficklin, who had served
+      in Congress with Lincoln in 1847. Lincoln reached back, took Ficklin by
+      the coat-collar, back of his neck, and in no gentle manner lifted him from
+      his seat as if he had been a kitten, and roared: &ldquo;Fellow-citizens, here is
+      Ficklin, who was at that time in Congress with me, and he knows it is a
+      lie.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He shook Ficklin until his teeth chattered. Fearing he would shake
+      Ficklin&rsquo;s head off, Ward Lamon grasped Lincoln&rsquo;s hand and broke his grip.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the speaking was over, Ficklin, who had warm personal friendship
+      with him, said: &ldquo;Lincoln, you nearly shook all the Democracy out of me
+      to-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0131" id="link2H_4_0131">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;AARON GOT HIS COMMISSION.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was censured for appointing one that had zealously
+      opposed his second term.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He replied: &ldquo;Well, I suppose Judge E., having been disappointed before,
+      did behave pretty ugly, but that wouldn&rsquo;t make him any less fit for the
+      place; and I think I have Scriptural authority for appointing him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remember when the Lord was on Mount Sinai getting out a commission
+      for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the mountain making a false
+      god for the people to worship. Yet Aaron got his commission, you know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0132" id="link2H_4_0132">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AND THE MINISTERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At the time of Lincoln&rsquo;s nomination, at Chicago, Mr. Newton Bateman,
+      Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois, occupied a
+      room adjoining and opening into the Executive Chamber at Springfield.
+      Frequently this door was open during Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s receptions, and
+      throughout the seven months or more of his occupation he saw him nearly
+      every day. Often, when Mr. Lincoln was tired, he closed the door against
+      all intruders, and called Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk. On
+      one of these occasions, Mr. Lincoln took up a book containing canvass of
+      the city of Springfield, in which he lived, showing the candidate for whom
+      each citizen had declared it his intention to vote in the approaching
+      election. Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s friends had, doubtless at his own request, placed
+      the result of the canvass in his hands. This was towards the close of
+      October, and only a few days before election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a
+      seat by his side, having previously locked all the doors, he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us look over this book; I wish particularly to see how the ministers
+      if Springfield are going to vote.&rdquo; The leaves were turned, one by one, and
+      as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln frequently asked if this one and
+      that one was not a minister, or an elder, or a member of such and such a
+      church, and sadly expressed his surprise on receiving an affirmative
+      answer. In that manner he went through the book, and then he closed it,
+      and sat silently for some minutes regarding a memorandum in pencil which
+      lay before him. At length he turned to Mr. Bateman, with a face full of
+      sadness, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here are twenty-three ministers of different denominations, and all of
+      them are against me but three, and here are a great many prominent members
+      of churches, a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bateman, I am not a
+      Christian&mdash;God knows I would be one&mdash;but I have carefully read
+      the Bible, and I do not so understand this book,&rdquo; and he drew forth a
+      pocket New Testament.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These men well know,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;that I am for freedom in the
+      Territories, freedom everywhere, as free as the Constitution and the laws
+      will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this, and
+      yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human bondage
+      cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me; I do not
+      understand it at all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Mr. Lincoln paused&mdash;paused for long minutes, his features
+      surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked up and down the
+      reception-room in the effort to retain or regain his self-possession.
+      Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling voice and cheeks wet with
+      tears:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the
+      storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and
+      work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but
+      Truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is
+      right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them that a
+      house divided against itself cannot stand; and Christ and Reason say the
+      same, and they will find it so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Douglas doesn&rsquo;t care whether slavery is voted up or down, but God cares,
+      and humanity cares, and I care; and with God&rsquo;s help I shall not fail. I
+      may not see the end, but it will come, and I shall be vindicated; and
+      these men will find they have not read their Bible right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Much of this was uttered as if he were speaking to himself, and with a
+      sad, earnest solemnity of manner impossible to be described. After a pause
+      he resumed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Doesn&rsquo;t it seem strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of this
+      contest? No revelation could make it plainer to me that slavery or the
+      Government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as I
+      look at it, but for this rock on which I stand&rdquo; (alluding to the Testament
+      which he still held in his hand), &ldquo;especially with the knowledge of how
+      these ministers are going to vote. It seems as if God had borne with this
+      thing (slavery) until the teachers of religion have come to defend it from
+      the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character and sanction; and now
+      the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everything he said was of a peculiarly deep, tender, and religious tone,
+      and all was tinged with a touching melancholy. He repeatedly referred to
+      his conviction that the day of wrath was at hand, and that he was to be an
+      actor in the terrible struggle which would issue in the overthrow of
+      slavery, although he might not live to see the end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After further reference to a belief in the Divine Providence and the fact
+      of God in history, the conversation turned upon prayer. He freely stated
+      his belief in the duty, privilege, and efficacy of prayer, and intimated,
+      in no unmistakable terms, that he had sought in that way Divine guidance
+      and favor. The effect of this conversation upon the mind of Mr. Bateman, a
+      Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lincoln profoundly respected, was to convince
+      him that Mr. Lincoln had, in a quiet way, found a path to the Christian
+      standpoint&mdash;that he had found God, and rested on the eternal truth of
+      God. As the two men were about to separate, Mr. Bateman remarked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this
+      class of subjects; certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the
+      sentiments you have expressed to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He replied quickly: &ldquo;I know they are, but I think more on these subjects
+      than upon all others, and I have done so for years; and I am willing you
+      should know it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0129}.jpg" alt="{0129}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0129}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0130}.jpg" alt="{0130}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0130}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0133" id="link2H_4_0133">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HARDTACK BETTER THAN GENERALS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Secretary of War Stanton told the President the following story, which
+      greatly amused the latter, as he was especially fond of a joke at the
+      expense of some high military or civil dignitary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stanton had little or no sense of humor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Secretary Stanton was making a trip up the Broad River in North
+      Carolina, in a tugboat, a Federal picket yelled out, &ldquo;What have you got on
+      board of that tug?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The severe and dignified answer was, &ldquo;The Secretary of War and
+      Major-General Foster.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Instantly the picket roared back, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got Major-Generals enough up
+      here. Why don&rsquo;t you bring us up some hardtack?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0134" id="link2H_4_0134">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOT THE PREACHER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A story told by a Cabinet member tended to show how accurately Lincoln
+      could calculate political results in advance&mdash;a faculty which
+      remained with him all his life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A friend, who was a Democrat, had come to him early in the canvass and
+      told him he wanted to see him elected, but did not like to vote against
+      his party; still he would vote for him, if the contest was to be so close
+      that every vote was needed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A short time before the election Lincoln said to him: &lsquo;I have got the
+      preacher, and I don&rsquo;t want your vote.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0135" id="link2H_4_0135">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BIG JOKE ON HALLECK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When General Halleck was Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, with
+      headquarters at Washington, President Lincoln unconsciously played a big
+      practical joke upon that dignified officer. The President had spent the
+      night at the Soldiers&rsquo; Home, and the next morning asked Captain Derickson,
+      commanding the company of Pennsylvania soldiers, which was the
+      Presidential guard at the White House and the Home&mdash;wherever the
+      President happened to be&mdash;to go to town with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Derickson told the story in a most entertaining way:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When we entered the city, Mr. Lincoln said he would call at General
+      Halleck&rsquo;s headquarters and get what news had been received from the army
+      during the night. I informed him that General Cullum, chief aid to General
+      Halleck, was raised in Meadville, and that I knew him when I was a boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He replied, &lsquo;Then we must see both the gentlemen.&rsquo; When the carriage
+      stopped, he requested me to remain seated, and said he would bring the
+      gentlemen down to see me, the office being on the second floor. In a short
+      time the President came down, followed by the other gentlemen. When he
+      introduced them to me, General Cullum recognized and seemed pleased to see
+      me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In General Halleck I thought I discovered a kind of quizzical look, as
+      much as to say, &lsquo;Isn&rsquo;t this rather a big joke to ask the
+      Commander-in-Chief of the army down to the street to be introduced to a
+      country captain?&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0136" id="link2H_4_0136">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STORIES BETTER THAN DOCTORS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A gentleman, visiting a hospital at Washington, heard an occupant of one
+      of the beds laughing and talking about the President, who had been there a
+      short time before and gladdened the wounded with some of his stories. The
+      soldier seemed in such good spirits that the gentleman inquired:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must be very slightly wounded?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied the brave fellow, &ldquo;very slightly&mdash;I have only lost one
+      leg, and I&rsquo;d be glad enough to lose the other, if I could hear some more
+      of &lsquo;Old Abe&rsquo;s&rsquo; stories.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0137" id="link2H_4_0137">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SHORT, BUT EXCITING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      William B. Wilson, employed in the telegraph office at the War Department,
+      ran over to the White House one day to summon Mr. Lincoln. He described
+      the trip back to the War Department in this manner:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Calling one of his two younger boys to join him, we then started from the
+      White House, between stately trees, along a gravel path which led to the
+      rear of the old War Department building. It was a warm day, and Mr.
+      Lincoln wore as part of his costume a faded gray linen duster which hung
+      loosely around his long gaunt frame; his kindly eye was beaming with good
+      nature, and his ever-thoughtful brow was unruffled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We had barely reached the gravel walk before he stooped over, picked up a
+      round smooth pebble, and shooting it off his thumb, challenged us to a
+      game of &lsquo;followings,&rsquo; which we accepted. Each in turn tried to hit the
+      outlying stone, which was being constantly projected onward by the
+      President. The game was short, but exciting; the cheerfulness of
+      childhood, the ambition of young manhood, and the gravity of the statesman
+      were all injected into it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The game was not won until the steps of the War Department were reached.
+      Every inch of progression was toughly contested, and when the President
+      was declared victor, it was only by a hand span. He appeared to be as much
+      pleased as if he had won a battle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0138" id="link2H_4_0138">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MR. BULL DIDN&rsquo;T GET HIS COTTON.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9133}.jpg" alt="{9133}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9133}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Because of the blockade, by the Union fleets, of the Southern cotton
+      ports, England was deprived of her supply of cotton, and scores of
+      thousands of British operatives were thrown out of employment by the
+      closing of the cotton mills at Manchester and other cities in Great
+      Britain. England (John Bull) felt so badly about this that the British
+      wanted to go to war on account of it, but when the United States eagle
+      ruffled up its wings the English thought over the business and concluded
+      not to fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly&rdquo; of May 16th, 1863, contained the cartoon we reproduce,
+      which shows John Bull as manifesting much anxiety regarding the cotton he
+      had bought from the Southern planters, but which the latter could not
+      deliver. Beneath the cartoon is this bit of dialogue between John Bull and
+      President Lincoln: MR. BULL (confiding creature): &ldquo;Hi want my cotton,
+      bought at fi&rsquo;pence a pound.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      MR. LINCOLN: &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t know anything about it, my dear sir. Your friends, the
+      rebels, are burning all the cotton they can find, and I confiscate the
+      rest. Good-morning, John!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As President Lincoln has a big fifteen-inch gun at his side, the black
+      muzzle of which is pressed tightly against Mr. Bull&rsquo;s waistcoat, the
+      President, to all appearances, has the best of the argument &ldquo;by a long
+      shot.&rdquo; Anyhow, Mr. Bull had nothing more to say, but gave the cotton
+      matter up as a bad piece of business, and pocketed the loss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0139" id="link2H_4_0139">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STICK TO AMERICAN PRINCIPLES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln&rsquo;s first conclusion (that Mason and Slidell should be
+      released) was the real ground on which the Administration submitted. &ldquo;We
+      must stick to American principles concerning the rights of neutrals.&rdquo; It
+      was to many, as Secretary of the Treasury Chase declared it was to him,
+      &ldquo;gall and wormwood.&rdquo; James Russell Lowell&rsquo;s verse expressed best the
+      popular feeling:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We give the critters back, John, Cos Abram thought &lsquo;twas right; It warn&rsquo;t
+      your bullyin&rsquo; clack, John, Provokin&rsquo; us to fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The decision raised Mr. Lincoln immeasurably in the view of thoughtful
+      men, especially in England.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0140" id="link2H_4_0140">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      USED &ldquo;RUDE TACT.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      General John C. Fremont, with headquarters at St. Louis, astonished the
+      country by issuing a proclamation declaring, among other things, that the
+      property, real and personal, of all the persons in the State of Missouri
+      who should take up arms against the United States, or who should be
+      directly proved to have taken an active part with its enemies in the
+      field, would be confiscated to public use and their slaves, if they had
+      any, declared freemen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was dismayed; he modified that part of the proclamation
+      referring to slaves, and finally replaced Fremont with General Hunter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Fremont (daughter of Senator T. H. Benton), her husband&rsquo;s real chief
+      of staff, flew to Washington and sought Mr. Lincoln. It was midnight, but
+      the President gave her an audience. Without waiting for an explanation,
+      she violently charged him with sending an enemy to Missouri to look into
+      Fremont&rsquo;s case, and threatening that if Fremont desired to he could set up
+      a government for himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had to exercise all the rude tact I have to avoid quarreling with her,&rdquo;
+       said Mr. Lincoln afterwards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0141" id="link2H_4_0141">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; ON A WOODPILE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8135}.jpg" alt="{8135} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8135}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s attempt to make a lawyer of himself under adverse and
+      unpromising circumstances&mdash;he was a bare-footed farm-hand&mdash;excited
+      comment. And it was not to be wondered. One old man, who was yet alive as
+      late as 1901, had often employed Lincoln to do farm work for him, and was
+      surprised to find him one day sitting barefoot on the summit of a woodpile
+      and attentively reading a book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This being an unusual thing for farm-hands in that early day to do,&rdquo; said
+      the old man, when relating the story, &ldquo;I asked him what he was reading.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I&rsquo;m not reading,&rsquo; he answered. &lsquo;I&rsquo;m studying.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Studying what?&rsquo; I inquired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Law, sir,&rsquo; was the emphatic response.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was really too much for me, as I looked at him sitting there proud as
+      Cicero. &lsquo;Great God Almighty!&rsquo; I exclaimed, and passed on.&rdquo; Lincoln merely
+      laughed and resumed his &ldquo;studies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0142" id="link2H_4_0142">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TAKING DOWN A DANDY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In a political campaign, Lincoln once replied to Colonel Richard Taylor, a
+      self-conceited, dandified man, who wore a gold chain and ruffled shirt.
+      His party at that time was posing as the hard-working bone and sinew of
+      the land, while the Whigs were stigmatized as aristocrats, ruffled-shirt
+      gentry. Taylor making a sweeping gesture, his overcoat became torn open,
+      displaying his finery. Lincoln in reply said, laying his hand on his
+      jeans-clad breast:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here is your aristocrat, one of your silk-stocking gentry, at your
+      service.&rdquo; Then, spreading out his hands, bronzed and gaunt with toil:
+      &ldquo;Here is your rag-basin with lily-white hands. Yes, I suppose, according
+      to my friend Taylor, I am a bloated aristocrat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0143" id="link2H_4_0143">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHEN OLD ABE GOT MAD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Soon after hostilities broke out between the North and South, Congress
+      appointed a Committee on the Conduct of the War. This committee beset Mr.
+      Lincoln and urged all sorts of measures. Its members were aggressive and
+      patriotic, and one thing they determined upon was that the Army of the
+      Potomac should move. But it was not until March that they became convinced
+      that anything would be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day early in that month, Senator Chandler, of Michigan, a member of
+      the committee, met George W. Julian. He was in high glee. &ldquo;&lsquo;Old&rsquo; Abe is
+      mad,&rdquo; said Julian, &ldquo;and the War will now go on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0144" id="link2H_4_0144">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WANTED TO &ldquo;BORROW&rdquo; THE ARMY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      During one of the periods when things were at a standstill, the Washington
+      authorities, being unable to force General McClellan to assume an
+      aggressive attitude, President Lincoln went to the general&rsquo;s headquarters
+      to have a talk with him, but for some reason he was unable to get an
+      audience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln returned to the White House much disturbed at his failure to
+      see the commander of the Union forces, and immediately sent for two
+      general officers, to have a consultation. On their arrival, he told them
+      he must have some one to talk to about the situation, and as he had failed
+      to see General McClellan, he wished their views as to the possibility or
+      probability of commencing active operations with the Army of the Potomac.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Something&rsquo;s got to be done,&rdquo; said the President, emphatically, &ldquo;and done
+      right away, or the bottom will fall out of the whole thing. Now, if
+      McClellan doesn&rsquo;t want to use the army for awhile, I&rsquo;d like to borrow it
+      from him and see if I can&rsquo;t do something or other with it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If McClellan can&rsquo;t fish, he ought at least to be cutting bait at a time
+      like this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0145" id="link2H_4_0145">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      YOUNG &ldquo;SUCKER&rdquo; VISITORS.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9137}.jpg" alt="{9137}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9137}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      After Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s nomination for the Presidency, the Executive Chamber,
+      a large, fine room in the State House at Springfield, was set apart for
+      him, where he met the public until after his election.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As illustrative of the nature of many of his calls, the following incident
+      was related by Mr. Holland, an eye-witness: &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln being in
+      conversation with a gentleman one day, two raw, plainly-dressed young
+      &lsquo;Suckers&rsquo; entered the room, and bashfully lingered near the door. As soon
+      as he observed them, and saw their embarrassment, he rose and walked to
+      them, saying: &lsquo;How do you do, my good fellows? What can I do for you? Will
+      you sit down?&rsquo; The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of the two, declined
+      to sit, and explained the object of the call thus: He had had a talk about
+      the relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his companion, and had asserted his
+      belief that they were of exactly the same height. He had come in to verify
+      his judgment. Mr. Lincoln smiled, went and got his cane, and, placing the
+      end of it upon the wall, said&rdquo; &lsquo;Here, young man, come under here.&rsquo; &ldquo;The
+      young man came under the cane as Mr. Lincoln held it, and when it was
+      perfectly adjusted to his height, Mr. Lincoln said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now, come out, and hold the cane.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This he did, while Mr. Lincoln stood under. Rubbing his head back and
+      forth to see that it worked easily under the measurement, he stepped out,
+      and declared to the sagacious fellow who was curiously looking on, that he
+      had guessed with remarkable accuracy&mdash;that he and the young man were
+      exactly the same height. Then he shook hands with them and sent them on
+      their way. Mr. Lincoln would just as soon have thought of cutting off his
+      right hand as he would have thought of turning those boys away with the
+      impression that they had in any way insulted his dignity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0146" id="link2H_4_0146">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;AND YOU DON&rsquo;T WEAR HOOPSKIRTS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      An Ohio Senator had an appointment with President Lincoln at six o&rsquo;clock,
+      and as he entered the vestibule of the White House his attention was
+      attracted toward a poorly clad young woman, who was violently sobbing. He
+      asked her the cause of her distress. She said she had been ordered away by
+      the servants, after vainly waiting many hours to see the President about
+      her only brother, who had been condemned to death. Her story was this:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She and her brother were foreigners, and orphans. They had been in this
+      country several years. Her brother enlisted in the army, but, through bad
+      influences, was induced to desert. He was captured, tried and sentenced to
+      be shot&mdash;the old story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor girl had obtained the signatures of some persons who had formerly
+      known him, to a petition for a pardon, and alone had come to Washington to
+      lay the case before the President. Thronged as the waiting-rooms always
+      were, she had passed the long hours of two days trying in vain to get an
+      audience, and had at length been ordered away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman&rsquo;s feelings were touched. He said to her that he had come to
+      see the President, but did not know as he should succeed. He told her,
+      however, to follow him upstairs, and he would see what could be done for
+      her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just before reaching the door, Mr. Lincoln came out, and, meeting his
+      friend, said good-humoredly, &ldquo;Are you not ahead of time?&rdquo; The gentleman
+      showed him his watch, with the hand upon the hour of six.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; returned Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;I have been so busy to-day that I have not
+      had time to get a lunch. Go in and sit down; I will be back directly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman made the young woman accompany him into the office, and when
+      they were seated, said to her: &ldquo;Now, my good girl, I want you to muster
+      all the courage you have in the world. When the President comes back, he
+      will sit down in that armchair. I shall get up to speak to him, and as I
+      do so you must force yourself between us, and insist upon his examination
+      of your papers, telling him it is a case of life and death, and admits of
+      no delay.&rdquo; These instructions were carried out to the letter. Mr. Lincoln
+      was at first somewhat surprised at the apparent forwardness of the young
+      woman, but observing her distressed appearance, he ceased conversation
+      with his friend, and commenced an examination of the document she had
+      placed in his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Glancing from it to the face of the petitioner, whose tears had broken
+      forth afresh, he studied its expression for a moment, and then his eye
+      fell upon her scanty but neat dress. Instantly his face lighted up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My poor girl,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;you have come here with no Governor, or Senator,
+      or member of Congress to plead your cause. You seem honest and truthful;
+      and you don&rsquo;t wear hoopskirts&mdash;and I will be whipped but I will
+      pardon your brother.&rdquo; And he did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0147" id="link2H_4_0147">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LIEUTENANT TAD LINCOLN&rsquo;S SENTINELS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln&rsquo;s favorite son, Tad, having been sportively commissioned
+      a lieutenant in the United States Army by Secretary Stanton, procured
+      several muskets and drilled the men-servants of the house in the manual of
+      arms without attracting the attention of his father. And one night, to his
+      consternation, he put them all on duty, and relieved the regular sentries,
+      who, seeing the lad in full uniform, or perhaps appreciating the joke,
+      gladly went to their quarters. His brother objected; but Tad insisted upon
+      his rights as an officer. The President laughed but declined to interfere,
+      but when the lad had lost his little authority in his boyish sleep, the
+      Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States went down and
+      personally discharged the sentries his son had put on the post.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0148" id="link2H_4_0148">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DOUGLAS HELD LINCOLN&rsquo;S HAT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Mr. Lincoln delivered his first inaugural he was introduced by his
+      friend, United States Senator E. D. Baker, of Oregon. He carried a cane
+      and a little roll&mdash;the manuscript of his inaugural address. There was
+      moment&rsquo;s pause after the introduction, as he vainly looked for a spot
+      where he might place his high silk hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen A. Douglas, the political antagonist of his whole public life, the
+      man who had pressed him hardest in the campaign of 1860, was seated just
+      behind him. Douglas stepped forward quickly, and took the hat which Mr.
+      Lincoln held helplessly in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I can&rsquo;t be President,&rdquo; Douglas whispered smilingly to Mrs. Brown, a
+      cousin of Mrs. Lincoln and a member of the President&rsquo;s party, &ldquo;I at least
+      can hold his hat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0149" id="link2H_4_0149">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE DEAD MAN SPOKE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln once said in a speech: &ldquo;Fellow-citizens, my friend, Mr.
+      Douglas, made the startling announcement to-day that the Whigs are all
+      dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If that be so, fellow-citizens, you will now experience the novelty of
+      hearing a speech from a dead man; and I suppose you might properly say, in
+      the language of the old hymn:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0150" id="link2H_4_0150">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MILITARY SNAILS NOT SPEEDY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln&mdash;as he himself put it in conversation one day with
+      a friend&mdash;&ldquo;fairly ached&rdquo; for his generals to &ldquo;get down to business.&rdquo;
+       These slow generals he termed &ldquo;snails.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Grant, Sherman and Sheridan were his favorites, for they were aggressive.
+      They did not wait for the enemy to attack. Too many of the others were
+      &ldquo;lingerers,&rdquo; as Lincoln called them. They were magnificent in defense, and
+      stubborn and brave, but their names figured too much on the &ldquo;waiting
+      list.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The greatest fault Lincoln found with so many of the commanders on the
+      Union side was their unwillingness to move until everything was exactly to
+      their liking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln could not understand why these leaders of Northern armies
+      hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0151" id="link2H_4_0151">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      OUTRAN THE JACK-RABBIT.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9141}.jpg" alt="{9141}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9141}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      When the Union forces were routed in the first battle of Bull Run, there
+      were many civilians present, who had gone out from Washington to witness
+      the battle. Among the number were several Congressmen. One of these was a
+      tall, long-legged fellow, who wore a long-tailed coat and a high plug hat.
+      When the retreat began, this Congressman was in the lead of the entire
+      crowd fleeing toward Washington. He outran all the rest, and was the first
+      man to arrive in the city. No person ever made such good use of long legs
+      as this Congressman. His immense stride carried him yards at every bound.
+      He went over ditches and gullies at a single leap, and cleared a six-foot
+      fence with a foot to spare. As he went over the fence his plug hat blew
+      off, but he did not pause. With his long coat-tails flying in the wind, he
+      continued straight ahead for Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many of those behind him were scared almost to death, but the flying
+      Congressman was such a comical figure that they had to laugh in spite of
+      their terror.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln enjoyed the description of how this Congressman led the race
+      from Bull&rsquo;s Run, and laughed at it heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never knew but one fellow who could run like that,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and he
+      was a young man out in Illinois. He had been sparking a girl, much against
+      the wishes of her father. In fact, the old man took such a dislike to him
+      that he threatened to shoot him if he ever caught him around his premises
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One evening the young man learned that the girl&rsquo;s father had gone to the
+      city, and he ventured out to the house. He was sitting in the parlor, with
+      his arm around Betsy&rsquo;s waist, when he suddenly spied the old man coming
+      around the corner of the house with a shotgun. Leaping through a window
+      into the garden, he started down a path at the top of his speed. He was a
+      long-legged fellow, and could run like greased lightning. Just then a
+      jack-rabbit jumped up in the path in front of him. In about two leaps he
+      overtook the rabbit. Giving it a kick that sent it high in the air, he
+      exclaimed: &lsquo;Git out of the road, gosh dern you, and let somebody run that
+      knows how.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;that the long-legged Congressman, when he
+      saw the rebel muskets, must have felt a good deal like that young fellow
+      did when he saw the old man&rsquo;s shot-gun.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkfooling" id="linkfooling">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;FOOLING&rdquo; THE PEOPLE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was a strong believer in the virtue of dealing honestly with the
+      people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens,&rdquo; he said to a
+      caller at the White House, &ldquo;you can never regain their respect and esteem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can
+      even fool some of the people all the time; but you can&rsquo;t fool all of the
+      people all the time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0152" id="link2H_4_0152">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE, YOU CAN&rsquo;T PLAY THAT ON ME.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      The night President-elect Lincoln arrived at Washington, one man was
+      observed watching Lincoln very closely as he walked out of the railroad
+      station. Standing a little to one side, the man looked very sharply at
+      Lincoln, and, as the latter passed, seized hold of his hand, and said in a
+      loud tone of voice, &ldquo;Abe, you can&rsquo;t play that on me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ward Lamon and the others with Lincoln were instantly alarmed, and would
+      have struck the stranger had not Lincoln hastily said, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t strike him!
+      It is Washburne. Don&rsquo;t you know him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Seward had given Congressman Washburne a hint of the time the train
+      would arrive, and he had the right to be at the station when the train
+      steamed in, but his indiscreet manner of loudly addressing the
+      President-elect might have led to serious consequences to the latter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0153" id="link2H_4_0153">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS &ldquo;BROAD&rdquo; STORIES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Rose Linder Wilkinson, who often accompanied her father, Judge
+      Linder, in the days when he rode circuit with Mr. Lincoln, tells the
+      following story:
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8143}.jpg" alt="{8143} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8143}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At night, as a rule, the lawyers spent awhile in the parlor, and
+      permitted the women who happened to be along to sit with them. But after
+      half an hour or so we would notice it was time for us to leave them. I
+      remember traveling the circuit one season when the young wife of one of
+      the lawyers was with him. The place was so crowded that she and I were
+      made to sleep together. When the time came for banishing us from the
+      parlor, we went up to our room and sat there till bed-time, listening to
+      the roars that followed each ether swiftly while those lawyers down-stairs
+      told stories and laughed till the rafters rang.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the morning Mr. Lincoln said to me: &lsquo;Rose, did we disturb your sleep
+      last night?&rsquo; I answered, &lsquo;No, I had no sleep&rsquo;&mdash;which was not entirely
+      true but the retort amused him. Then the young lawyer&rsquo;s wife complained to
+      him that we were not fairly used. We came along with them, young women,
+      and when they were having the best time we were sent away like children to
+      go to bed in the dark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But, Madame,&rsquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &lsquo;you would not enjoy the things we laugh
+      at.&rsquo; And then he entered into a discussion on what have been termed his
+      &lsquo;broad&rsquo; stories. He deplored the fact that men seemed to remember them
+      longer and with less effort than any others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My father said: &lsquo;But, Lincoln, I don&rsquo;t remember the &ldquo;broad&rdquo; part of your
+      stories so much as I do the moral that is in them,&rsquo; and it was a thing in
+      which they were all agreed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0154" id="link2H_4_0154">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SORRY FOR THE HORSES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When President Lincoln heard of the Confederate raid at Fairfax, in which
+      a brigadier-general and a number of valuable horses were captured, he
+      gravely observed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I am sorry for the horses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sorry for the horses, Mr. President!&rdquo; exclaimed the Secretary of War,
+      raising his spectacles and throwing himself back in his chair in
+      astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied Mr., Lincoln, &ldquo;I can make a brigadier-general in five
+      minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten horses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0155" id="link2H_4_0155">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MILD REBUKE TO A DOCTOR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Dr. Jerome Walker, of Brooklyn, told how Mr. Lincoln once administered to
+      him a mild rebuke. The doctor was showing Mr. Lincoln through the hospital
+      at City Point.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Finally, after visiting the wards occupied by our invalid and
+      convalescing soldiers,&rdquo; said Dr. Walker, &ldquo;we came to three wards occupied
+      by sick and wounded Southern prisoners. With a feeling of patriotic duty,
+      I said: &lsquo;Mr. President, you won&rsquo;t want to go in there; they are only
+      rebels.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will never forget how he stopped and gently laid his large hand upon my
+      shoulder and quietly answered, &lsquo;You mean Confederates!&rsquo; And I have meant
+      Confederates ever since.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was nothing left for me to do after the President&rsquo;s remark but to
+      go with him through these three wards; and I could not see but that he was
+      just as kind, his hand-shakings just as hearty, his interest just as real
+      for the welfare of the men, as when he was among our own soldiers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0156" id="link2H_4_0156">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      COLD MOLASSES WAS SWIFTER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old Pap,&rdquo; as the soldiers called General George H. Thomas, was
+      aggravatingly slow at a time when the President wanted him to &ldquo;get a move
+      on&rdquo;; in fact, the gallant &ldquo;Rock of Chickamauga&rdquo; was evidently entered in a
+      snail-race.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some of my generals are so slow,&rdquo; regretfully remarked Lincoln one day,
+      &ldquo;that molasses in the coldest days of winter is a race horse compared to
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They&rsquo;re brave enough, but somehow or other they get fastened in a fence
+      corner, and can&rsquo;t figure their way out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0157" id="link2H_4_0157">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN CALLS MEDILL A COWARD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Joseph Medill, for many years editor of the Chicago Tribune, not long
+      before his death, told the following story regarding the &ldquo;talking to&rdquo;
+       President Lincoln gave himself and two other Chicago gentlemen who went to
+      Washington to see about reducing Chicago&rsquo;s quota of troops after the call
+      for extra men was made by the President in 1864:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In 1864, when the call for extra troops came, Chicago revolted. She had
+      already sent 22,000 troops up to that time, and was drained. When the call
+      came there were no young men to go, and no aliens except what were bought.
+      The citizens held a mass meeting and appointed three persons, of whom I
+      was one, to go to Washington and ask Stanton to give Cook County a new
+      enrollment. On reaching Washington, we went to Stanton with our statement.
+      He refused entirely to give us the desired aid. Then we went to Lincoln.
+      &lsquo;I cannot do it,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;but I will go with you to the War Department,
+      and Stanton and I will hear both sides.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So we all went over to the War Department together. Stanton and General
+      Frye were there, and they, of course, contended that the quota should not
+      be changed. The argument went on for some time, and was finally referred
+      to Lincoln, who had been sitting silently listening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall never forget how he suddenly lifted his head and turned on us a
+      black and frowning face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Gentlemen,&rsquo; he said, in a voice full of bitterness, &lsquo;after Boston,
+      Chicago has been the chief instrument in bringing war on this country. The
+      Northwest has opposed the South as New England has opposed the South. It
+      is you who are largely responsible for making blood flow as it has.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;You called for war until we had it. You called for Emancipation, and I
+      have given it to you. Whatever you have asked, you have had. Now you come
+      here begging to be let off from the call for men, which I have made to
+      carry out the war which you demanded. You ought to be ashamed of
+      yourselves. I have a right to expect better things of you.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Go home and raise your six thousand extra men. And you, Medill, you are
+      acting like a coward. You and your Tribune have had more influence than
+      any paper in the Northwest in making this war. You can influence great
+      masses, and yet you cry to be spared at a moment when your cause is
+      suffering. Go home and send us those men!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t say anything. It was the first time I ever was whipped, and I
+      didn&rsquo;t have an answer. We all got up and went out, and when the door
+      closed one of my colleagues said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, gentlemen, the old man is right. We ought to be ashamed of
+      ourselves. Let us never say anything about this, but go home and raise the
+      men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And we did&mdash;six thousand men&mdash;making twenty-eight thousand in
+      the War from a city of one hundred and fifty-six thousand. But there might
+      have been crape on every door, almost, in Chicago, for every family had
+      lost a son or a husband. I lost two brothers. It was hard for the
+      mothers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0147}.jpg" alt="{0147}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0147}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0148}.jpg" alt="{0148}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0148}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0158" id="link2H_4_0158">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THEY DIDN&rsquo;T BUILD IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In 1862 a delegation of New York millionaires waited upon President
+      Lincoln to request that he furnish a gunboat for the protection of New
+      York harbor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln, after listening patiently, said: &ldquo;Gentlemen, the credit of
+      the Government is at a very low ebb; greenbacks are not worth more than
+      forty or fifty cents on the dollar; it is impossible for me, in the
+      present condition of things, to furnish you a gunboat, and, in this
+      condition of things, if I was worth half as much as you, gentlemen, are
+      represented to be, and as badly frightened as you seem to be, I would
+      build a gunboat and give it to the Government.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0159" id="link2H_4_0159">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STANTON&rsquo;S ABUSE OF LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln&rsquo;s sense of duty to the country, together with his keen
+      judgment of men, often led to the appointment of persons unfriendly to
+      him. Some of these appointees were, as well, not loyal to the National
+      Government, for that matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Regarding Secretary of War Stanton&rsquo;s attitude toward Lincoln, Colonel A.
+      K. McClure, who was very close to President Lincoln, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After Stanton&rsquo;s retirement from the Buchanan Cabinet when Lincoln was
+      inaugurated, he maintained the closest confidential relations with
+      Buchanan, and wrote him many letters expressing the utmost contempt for
+      Lincoln, the Cabinet, the Republican Congress, and the general policy of
+      the Administration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These letters speak freely of the &lsquo;painful imbecility of Lincoln,&rsquo; of the
+      &lsquo;venality and corruption&rsquo; which ran riot in the government, and expressed
+      the belief that no better condition of things was possible &lsquo;until Jeff
+      Davis turns out the whole concern.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was firmly impressed for some weeks after the battle of Bull Run that
+      the government was utterly overthrown, as he repeatedly refers to the
+      coming of Davis into the National Capital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In one letter he says that &lsquo;in less than thirty days Davis will be in
+      possession of Washington;&rsquo; and it is an open secret that Stanton advised
+      the revolutionary overthrow of the Lincoln government, to be replaced by
+      General McClellan as military dictator. These letters, bad as they are,
+      are not the worst letters written by Stanton to Buchanan. Some of them
+      were so violent in their expressions against Lincoln and the
+      administration that they have been charitably withheld from the public,
+      but they remain in the possession of the surviving relatives of President
+      Buchanan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course, Lincoln had no knowledge of the bitterness exhibited by
+      Stanton to himself personally and to his administration, but if he had
+      known the worst that Stanton ever said or wrote about him, I doubt not
+      that he would have called him to the Cabinet in January, 1862. The
+      disasters the army suffered made Lincoln forgetful of everything but the
+      single duty of suppressing the rebellion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln was not long in discovering that in his new Secretary of War he
+      had an invaluable but most troublesome Cabinet officer, but he saw only
+      the great and good offices that Stanton was performing for the imperilled
+      Republic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Confidence was restored in financial circles by the appointment of
+      Stanton, and his name as War Minister did more to strengthen the faith of
+      the people in the government credit than would have been probable from the
+      appointment of any other man of that day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was a terror to all the hordes of jobbers and speculators and
+      camp-followers whose appetites had been whetted by a great war, and he
+      enforced the strictest discipline throughout our armies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was seldom capable of being civil to any officer away from the army on
+      leave of absence unless he had been summoned by the government for
+      conference or special duty, and he issued the strictest orders from time
+      to time to drive the throng of military idlers from the capital and keep
+      them at their posts. He was stern to savagery in his enforcement of
+      military law. The wearied sentinel who slept at his post found no mercy in
+      the heart of Stanton, and many times did Lincoln&rsquo;s humanity overrule his
+      fiery minister.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Any neglect of military duty was sure of the swiftest punishment, and
+      seldom did he make even just allowance for inevitable military disaster.
+      He had profound, unfaltering faith in the Union cause, and, above all, he
+      had unfaltering faith in himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He believed that he was in all things except in name Commander-in-Chief
+      of the armies and the navy of the nation, and it was with unconcealed
+      reluctance that he at times deferred to the authority of the President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0160" id="link2H_4_0160">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE NEGRO AND THE CROCODILE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In one of his political speeches, Judge Douglas made use of the following
+      figure of speech: &ldquo;As between the crocodile and the negro, I take the side
+      of the negro; but as between the negro and the white man&mdash;I would go
+      for the white man every time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, at home, noted that; and afterwards, when he had occasion to
+      refer to the remark, he said: &ldquo;I believe that this is a sort of
+      proposition in proportion, which may be stated thus: &lsquo;As the negro is to
+      the white man, so is the crocodile to the negro; and as the negro may
+      rightfully treat the crocodile as a beast or reptile, so the white man may
+      rightfully treat the negro as a beast or reptile.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0161" id="link2H_4_0161">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN WAS READY TO FIGHT.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9151}.jpg" alt="{9151}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9151}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      On one occasion, Colonel Baker was speaking in a court-house, which had
+      been a storehouse, and, on making some remarks that were offensive to
+      certain political rowdies in the crowd, they cried: &ldquo;Take him off the
+      stand!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Immediate confusion followed, and there was an attempt to carry the demand
+      into execution. Directly over the speaker&rsquo;s head was an old skylight, at
+      which it appeared Mr. Lincoln had been listening to the speech. In an
+      instant, Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s feet came through the skylight, followed by his
+      tall and sinewy frame, and he was standing by Colonel Baker&rsquo;s side. He
+      raised his hand and the assembly subsided into silence. &ldquo;Gentlemen,&rdquo; said
+      Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;let us not disgrace the age and country in which we live.
+      This is a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed. Mr. Baker has a
+      right to speak, and ought to be permitted to do so. I am here to protect
+      him, and no man shall take him from this stand if I can prevent it.&rdquo; The
+      suddenness of his appearance, his perfect calmness and fairness, and the
+      knowledge that he would do what he had promised to do, quieted all
+      disturbance, and the speaker concluded his remarks without difficulty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0162" id="link2H_4_0162">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IT WAS UP-HILL WORK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Two young men called on the President from Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln
+      shook hands with them, and asked about the crops, the weather, etc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Finally one of the young men said, &ldquo;Mother is not well, and she sent me up
+      to inquire of you how the suit about the Wells property is getting on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, in the same even tone with which he had asked the question, said:
+      &ldquo;Give my best wishes and respects to your mother, and tell her I have so
+      many outside matters to attend to now that I have put that case, and
+      others, in the hands of a lawyer friend of mine, and if you will call on
+      him (giving name and address) he will give you the information you want.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After they had gone, a friend, who was present, said: &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln, you
+      did not seem to know the young men?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He laughed and replied: &ldquo;No, I had never seen them before, and I had to
+      beat around the bush until I found who they were. It was up-hill work, but
+      I topped it at last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0163" id="link2H_4_0163">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LEE&rsquo;S SLIM ANIMAL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln wrote to General Hooker on June 5, 1863, warning Hooker
+      not to run any risk of being entangled on the Rappahannock &ldquo;like an ox
+      jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs, front and rear,
+      without a fair chance to give one way or kick the other.&rdquo; On the 10th he
+      warned Hooker not to go south of the Rappahannock upon Lee&rsquo;s moving north
+      of it. &ldquo;I think Lee&rsquo;s army and not Richmond is your true objective power.
+      If he comes toward the upper Potomac, follow on his flank, and on the
+      inside track, shortening your lines while he lengthens his. Fight him,
+      too, when opportunity offers. If he stay where he is, fret him, and fret
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the 14th again he says: &ldquo;So far as we can make out here, the enemy have
+      Milroy surrounded at Winchester, and Tyler at Martinsburg. If they could
+      hold out for a few days, could you help them? If the head of Lee&rsquo;s army is
+      at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the flank road between
+      Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim
+      somewhere; could you not break him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0164" id="link2H_4_0164">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MRS. NORTH AND HER ATTORNEY.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0153}.jpg" alt="{0153}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0153}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      In the issue of London &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; of September 24th, 1864, President Lincoln
+      is pictured as sitting at a table in his law office, while in a chair to
+      his right is a client, Mrs. North. The latter is a fine client for any
+      attorney to have on his list, being wealthy and liberal, but as the lady
+      is giving her counsel, who has represented her in a legal way for four
+      years, notice that she proposes to put her legal business in the hands of
+      another lawyer, the dejected look upon the face of Attorney Lincoln is
+      easily accounted for. &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; puts these words in the lady&rsquo;s mouth:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      MRS. NORTH: &ldquo;You see, Mr. Lincoln, we have failed utterly in our course of
+      action; I want peace, and so, if you cannot effect an amicable
+      arrangement, I must put the case into other hands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In this cartoon, &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; merely reflected the idea, or sentiment, current
+      in England in 1864, that the North was much dissatisfied with the War
+      policy of President Lincoln; and would surely elect General McClellan to
+      succeed the Westerner in the White House. At the election McClellan
+      carried but one Northern State&mdash;New Jersey, where he was born&mdash;President
+      Lincoln sweeping the country like a prairie fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; had evidently been deceived by some bold, bad man, who wanted a
+      little spending money, and sold the prediction to the funny journal with a
+      certificate of character attached, written by&mdash;possibly&mdash;a
+      member of the Horse Marines. &ldquo;Punch,&rdquo; was very much disgusted to find that
+      its credulity and faith in mankind had been so imposed upon, especially
+      when the election returns showed that &ldquo;the-War-is-a-failure&rdquo; candidate ran
+      so slowly that Lincoln passed him as easily as though the Democratic
+      nominee was tied to a post.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0165" id="link2H_4_0165">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SATISFACTION TO THE SOUL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the far-away days when &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; went to school in Indiana, they had
+      exercises, exhibitions and speaking-meetings in the schoolhouse or the
+      church, and &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was the &ldquo;star.&rdquo; His father was a Democrat, and at that
+      time &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; agreed with his parent. He would frequently make political and
+      other speeches to the boys and explain tangled questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Booneville was the county seat of Warrick county, situated about fifteen
+      miles from Gentryville. Thither &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; walked to be present at the sittings
+      of the court, and listened attentively to the trials and the speeches of
+      the lawyers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the trials was that of a murderer. He was defended by Mr. John
+      Breckinridge, and at the conclusion of his speech &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was so
+      enthusiastic that he ventured to compliment him. Breckinridge looked at
+      the shabby boy, thanked him, and passed on his way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many years afterwards, in 1862, Breckinridge called on the President, and
+      he was told, &ldquo;It was the best speech that I, up to that time, had ever
+      heard. If I could, as I then thought, make as good a speech as that, my
+      soul would be satisfied.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0166" id="link2H_4_0166">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WITHDREW THE COLT.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8155}.jpg" alt="{8155} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8155}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Alcott, of Elgin, Ill., tells of seeing Mr. Lincoln coming away from
+      church unusually early one Sunday morning. &ldquo;The sermon could not have been
+      more than half way through,&rdquo; says Mr. Alcott. &ldquo;&lsquo;Tad&rsquo; was slung across his
+      left arm like a pair of saddlebags, and Mr. Lincoln was striding along
+      with long, deliberate steps toward his home. On one of the street corners
+      he encountered a group of his fellow-townsmen. Mr. Lincoln anticipated the
+      question which was about to be put by the group, and, taking his figure of
+      speech from practices with which they were only too familiar, said:
+      &lsquo;Gentlemen, I entered this colt, but he kicked around so I had to withdraw
+      him.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0167" id="link2H_4_0167">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;TAD&rdquo; GOT HIS DOLLAR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      No matter who was with the President, or how intently absorbed, his little
+      son &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; was always welcome. He almost always accompanied his father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once, on the way to Fortress Monroe, he became very troublesome. The
+      President was much engaged in conversation with the party who accompanied
+      him, and he at length said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tad,&rsquo; if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any more until we
+      get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you a dollar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The hope of reward was effectual for awhile in securing silence, but,
+      boylike, &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; soon forgot his promise, and was as noisy as ever. Upon
+      reaching their destination, however, he said, very promptly: &ldquo;Father, I
+      want my dollar.&rdquo; Mr. Lincoln looked at him half-reproachfully for an
+      instant, and then, taking from his pocketbook a dollar note, he said
+      &ldquo;Well, my son, at any rate, I will keep my part of the bargain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0168" id="link2H_4_0168">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TELLS AN EDITOR ABOUT NASBY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Henry J. Raymond, the famous New York editor, thus tells of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      fondness for the Nasby letters:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It has been well said by a profound critic of Shakespeare, and it occurs
+      to me as very appropriate in this connection, that the spirit which held
+      the woe of Lear and the tragedy of &ldquo;Hamlet&rdquo; would have broken had it not
+      also had the humor of the &ldquo;Merry Wives of Windsor&rdquo; and the merriment of
+      the &ldquo;Midsummer Night&rsquo;s Dream.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is as true of Mr. Lincoln as it was of Shakespeare. The capacity to
+      tell and enjoy a good anecdote no doubt prolonged his life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Saturday evening before he left Washington to go to the front, just
+      previous to the capture of Richmond, I was with him from seven o&rsquo;clock
+      till nearly twelve. It had been one of his most trying days. The pressure
+      of office-seekers was greater at this juncture than I ever knew it to be,
+      and he was almost worn out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Among the callers that evening was a party composed of two Senators, a
+      Representative, an ex-Lieutenant-Governor of a Western State, and several
+      private citizens. They had business of great importance, involving the
+      necessity of the President&rsquo;s examination of voluminous documents. Pushing
+      everything aside, he said to one of the party:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Have you seen the Nasby papers?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;No, I have not,&rsquo; was the reply; &lsquo;who is Nasby?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There is a chap out in Ohio,&rsquo; returned the President, &lsquo;who has been
+      writing a series of letters in the newspapers over the signature of
+      Petroleum V. Nasby. Some one sent me a pamphlet collection of them the
+      other day. I am going to write to &ldquo;Petroleum&rdquo; to come down here, and I
+      intend to tell him if he will communicate his talent to me, I will swap
+      places with him!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thereupon he arose, went to a drawer in his desk, and, taking out the
+      &lsquo;Letters,&rsquo; sat down and read one to the company, finding in their
+      enjoyment of it the temporary excitement and relief which another man
+      would have found in a glass of wine. The instant he had ceased, the book
+      was thrown aside, his countenance relapsed into its habitual serious
+      expression, and the business was entered upon with the utmost
+      earnestness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0169" id="link2H_4_0169">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LONG AND SHORT OF IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On the occasion of a serenade, the President was called for by the crowd
+      assembled. He appeared at a window with his wife (who was somewhat below
+      the medium height), and made the following &ldquo;brief remarks&rdquo;:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here I am, and here is Mrs. Lincoln. That&rsquo;s the long and the short of
+      it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0170" id="link2H_4_0170">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MORE PEGS THAN HOLES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Some gentlemen were once finding fault with the President because certain
+      generals were not given commands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fact is,&rdquo; replied President Lincoln, &ldquo;I have got more pegs than I
+      have holes to put them in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0171" id="link2H_4_0171">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;WEBSTER COULDN&rsquo;T HAVE DONE MORE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln &ldquo;got even&rdquo; with the Illinois Central Railroad Company, in 1855, in
+      a most substantial way, at the same time secured sweet revenge for an
+      insult, unwarranted in every way, put upon him by one of the officials of
+      that corporation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln and Herndon defended the Illinois Central Railroad in an action
+      brought by McLean County, Illinois, in August, 1853, to recover taxes
+      alleged to be due the county from the road. The Legislature had granted
+      the road immunity from taxation, and this was a case intended to test the
+      constitutionality of the law. The road sent a retainer fee of $250.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the lower court the case was decided in favor of the railroad. An
+      appeal to the Supreme Court followed, was argued twice, and finally
+      decided in favor of the road. This last decision was rendered some time in
+      1855. Lincoln then went to Chicago and presented the bill for legal
+      services. Lincoln and Herndon only asked for $2,000 more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The official to whom he was referred, after looking at the bill, expressed
+      great surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, sir,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;this is as much as Daniel Webster himself would
+      have charged. We cannot allow such a claim.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; asked Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We could have hired first-class lawyers at that figure,&rdquo; was the
+      response.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We won the case, didn&rsquo;t we?&rdquo; queried Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; replied the official.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Daniel Webster, then,&rdquo; retorted Lincoln in no amiable tone, &ldquo;couldn&rsquo;t
+      have done more,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; walked out of the official&rsquo;s office.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln withdrew the bill, and started for home. On the way he stopped at
+      Bloomington, where he met Grant Goodrich, Archibald Williams, Norman B.
+      Judd, O. H. Browning, and other attorneys, who, on learning of his modest
+      charge for the valuable services rendered the railroad, induced him to
+      increase the demand to $5,000, and to bring suit for that sum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was done at once. On the trial six lawyers certified that the bill
+      was reasonable, and judgment for that sum went by default; the judgment
+      was promptly paid, and, of course, his partner, Herndon, got &ldquo;your half
+      Billy,&rdquo; without delay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0172" id="link2H_4_0172">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN MET CLAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When a member of Congress, Lincoln went to Lexington, Kentucky, to hear
+      Henry Clay speak. The Westerner, a Kentuckian by birth, and destined to
+      reach the great goal Clay had so often sought, wanted to meet the &ldquo;Millboy
+      of the Slashes.&rdquo; The address was a tame affair, as was the personal
+      greeting when Lincoln made himself known. Clay was courteous, but cold. He
+      may never have heard of the man, then in his presence, who was to secure,
+      without solicitation, the prize which he for many years had unsuccessfully
+      sought. Lincoln was disenchanted; his ideal was shattered. One reason why
+      Clay had not realized his ambition had become apparent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clay was cool and dignified; Lincoln was cordial and hearty. Clay&rsquo;s hand
+      was bloodless and frosty, with no vigorous grip in it; Lincoln&rsquo;s was warm,
+      and its clasp was expressive of kindliness and sympathy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0173" id="link2H_4_0173">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      REMINDED &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; OF A LITTLE JOKE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9159}.jpg" alt="{9159}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9159}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln had a little joke at the expense of General George B.
+      McClellan, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in opposition to
+      the Westerner in 1864. McClellan was nominated by the Democratic National
+      Convention, which assembled at Chicago, but after he had been named, and
+      also during the campaign, the military candidate was characteristically
+      slow in coming to the front.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln had his eye upon every move made by General McClellan
+      during the campaign, and when reference was made one day, in his presence,
+      to the deliberation and caution of the New Jerseyite, Mr. Lincoln
+      remarked, with a twinkle in his eye, &ldquo;Perhaps he is intrenching.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The cartoon we reproduce appeared in &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly,&rdquo; September 17th,
+      1864, and shows General McClellan, with his little spade in hand, being
+      subjected to the scrutiny of the President&mdash;the man who gave
+      McClellan, when the latter was Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces,
+      every opportunity in the world to distinguish himself. There is a smile on
+      the face of &ldquo;Honest Abe,&rdquo; which shows conclusively that he does not regard
+      his political opponent as likely to prove formidable in any way. President
+      Lincoln &ldquo;sized up&rdquo; McClellan in 1861-2, and knew, to a fraction, how much
+      of a man he was, what he could do, and how he went about doing it.
+      McClellan was no politician, while the President was the shrewdest of
+      political diplomats.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0174" id="link2H_4_0174">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS DIGNITY SAVED HIM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Washington had become an armed camp, and full of soldiers, President
+      Lincoln and his Cabinet officers drove daily to one or another of these
+      camps. Very often his outing for the day was attending some ceremony
+      incident to camp life: a military funeral, a camp wedding, a review, a
+      flag-raising. He did not often make speeches. &ldquo;I have made a great many
+      poor speeches,&rdquo; he said one day, in excusing himself, &ldquo;and I now feel
+      relieved that my dignity does not permit me to be a public speaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0175" id="link2H_4_0175">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE MAN HE WAS LOOKING FOR
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge Kelly, of Pennsylvania, who was one of the committee to advise
+      Lincoln of his nomination, and who was himself a great many feet high, had
+      been eyeing Lincoln&rsquo;s lofty form with a mixture of admiration and possibly
+      jealousy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This had not escaped Lincoln, and as he shook hands with the judge he
+      inquired, &ldquo;What is your height?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Six feet three. What is yours, Mr. Lincoln?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Six feet four.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said the judge, &ldquo;Pennsylvania bows to Illinois. My dear man, for
+      years my heart has been aching for a President that I could look up to,
+      and I&rsquo;ve at last found him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0176" id="link2H_4_0176">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS CABINET CHANCES POOR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Jeriah Bonham, in describing a visit he paid Lincoln at his room in
+      the State House at Springfield, where he found him quite alone, except
+      that two of his children, one of whom was &ldquo;Tad,&rdquo; were with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The door was open.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We walked in and were at once recognized and seated&mdash;the two boys
+      still continuing their play about the room. &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; was spinning his top;
+      and Lincoln, as we entered, had just finished adjusting the string for him
+      so as to give the top the greatest degree of force. He remarked that he
+      was having a little fun with the boys.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At another time, at Lincoln&rsquo;s residence, &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; came into the room, and,
+      putting his hand to his mouth, and his mouth to his father&rsquo;s ear, said, in
+      a boy&rsquo;s whisper: &ldquo;Ma says come to supper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All heard the announcement; and Lincoln, perceiving this, said: &ldquo;You have
+      heard, gentlemen, the announcement concerning the interesting state of
+      things in the dining-room. It will never do for me, if elected, to make
+      this young man a member of my Cabinet, for it is plain he cannot be
+      trusted with secrets of state.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkheaded" id="linkheaded">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE GENERAL WAS &ldquo;HEADED IN&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8161}.jpg" alt="{8161} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8161}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      A Union general, operating with his command in West Virginia, allowed
+      himself and his men to be trapped, and it was feared his force would be
+      captured by the Confederates. The President heard the report read by the
+      operator, as it came over the wire, and remarked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Once there was a man out West who was &lsquo;heading&rsquo; a barrel, as they used to
+      call it. He worked like a good fellow in driving down the hoops, but just
+      about the time he thought he had the job done, the head would fall in.
+      Then he had to do the work all over again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All at once a bright idea entered his brain, and he wondered how it was
+      he hadn&rsquo;t figured it out before. His boy, a bright, smart lad, was
+      standing by, very much interested in the business, and, lifting the young
+      one up, he put him inside the barrel, telling him to hold the head in its
+      proper place, while he pounded down the hoops on the sides. This worked
+      like a charm, and he soon had the &lsquo;heading&rsquo; done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then he realized that his boy was inside the barrel, and how to get him
+      out he couldn&rsquo;t for his life figure out. General Blank is now inside the
+      barrel, &lsquo;headed in,&rsquo; and the job now is to get him out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0177" id="link2H_4_0177">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SUGAR-COATED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Government Printer Defrees, when one of the President&rsquo;s messages was being
+      printed, was a good deal disturbed by the use of the term &ldquo;sugar-coated,&rdquo;
+       and finally went to Mr. Lincoln about it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Their relations to each other being of the most intimate character, he
+      told the President frankly that he ought to remember that a message to
+      Congress was a different affair from a speech at a mass meeting in
+      Illinois; that the messages became a part of history, and should be
+      written accordingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is the matter now?&rdquo; inquired the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; said Defrees, &ldquo;you have used an undignified expression in the
+      message&rdquo;; and, reading the paragraph aloud, he added, &ldquo;I would alter the
+      structure of that, if I were you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Defrees,&rdquo; replied the President, &ldquo;that word expresses exactly my idea,
+      and I am not going to change it. The time will never come in this country
+      when people won&rsquo;t know exactly what &lsquo;sugar-coated&rsquo; means.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0178" id="link2H_4_0178">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      COULD MAKE &ldquo;RABBIT-TRACKS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      When a grocery clerk at New Salem, the annual election came around. A Mr.
+      Graham was clerk, but his assistant was absent, and it was necessary to
+      find a man to fill his place. Lincoln, a &ldquo;tall young man,&rdquo; had already
+      concentrated on himself the attention of the people of the town, and
+      Graham easily discovered him. Asking him if he could write, &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; modestly
+      replied, &ldquo;I can make a few rabbit-tracks.&rdquo; His rabbit-tracks proving to be
+      legible and even graceful, he was employed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The voters soon discovered that the new assistant clerk was honest and
+      fair, and performed his duties satisfactorily, and when, the work done, he
+      began to &ldquo;entertain them with stories,&rdquo; they found that their town had
+      made a valuable personal and social acquisition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0179" id="link2H_4_0179">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN PROTECTED CURRENCY ISSUES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Marshal Ward Lamon was in President Lincoln&rsquo;s office in the White House
+      one day, and casually asked the President if he knew how the currency of
+      the country was made. Greenbacks were then under full headway of
+      circulation, these bits of paper being the representatives of United State
+      money.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our currency,&rdquo; was the President&rsquo;s answer, &ldquo;is made, as the lawyers would
+      put it, in their legal way, in the following manner, to-wit: The official
+      engraver strikes off the sheets, passes them over to the Register of the
+      Currency, who, after placing his earmarks upon them, signs the same; the
+      Register turns them over to old Father Spinner, who proceeds to embellish
+      them with his wonderful signature at the bottom; Father Spinner sends them
+      to Secretary of the Treasury Chase, and he, as a final act in the matter,
+      issues them to the public as money&mdash;and may the good Lord help any
+      fellow that doesn&rsquo;t take all he can honestly get of them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking from his pocket a $5 greenback, with a twinkle in his eye, the
+      President then said: &ldquo;Look at Spinner&rsquo;s signature! Was there ever anything
+      like it on earth? Yet it is unmistakable; no one will ever be able to
+      counterfeit it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lamon then goes on to say:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But,&rsquo; I said, &lsquo;you certainly don&rsquo;t suppose that Spinner actually wrote
+      his name on that bill, do you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly, I do; why not?&rsquo; queried Mr. Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I then asked, &lsquo;How much of this currency have we afloat?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He remained thoughtful for a moment, and then stated the amount.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I continued: &lsquo;How many times do you think a man can write a signature
+      like Spinner&rsquo;s in the course of twenty-four hours?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The beam of hilarity left the countenance of the President at once. He
+      put the greenback into his vest pocket, and walked the floor; after awhile
+      he stopped, heaved a long breath and said: &lsquo;This thing frightens me!&rsquo; He
+      then rang for a messenger and told him to ask the Secretary of the
+      Treasury to please come over to see him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Chase soon put in an appearance; President Lincoln stated the cause
+      of his alarm, and asked Mr. Chase to explain in detail the operations,
+      methods, system of checks, etc., in his office, and a lengthy discussion
+      followed, President Lincoln contending there were not sufficient
+      safeguards afforded in any degree in the money-making department, and
+      Secretary Chase insisting that every protection was afforded he could
+      devise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterward the President called the attention of Congress to this important
+      question, and devices were adopted whereby a check was put upon the issue
+      of greenbacks that no spurious ones ever came out of the Treasury
+      Department, at least. Counterfeiters were busy, though, but this was not
+      the fault of the Treasury.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0180" id="link2H_4_0180">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S APOLOGY TO GRANT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;General Grant is a copious worker and fighter,&rdquo; President Lincoln wrote
+      to General Burnside in July, 1863, &ldquo;but a meagre writer or telegrapher.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Grant never wrote a report until the battle was over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln wrote a letter to General Grant on July 13th, 1863,
+      which indicated the strength of the hold the successful fighter had upon
+      the man in the White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It ran as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not remember that you and I ever met personally.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable
+      service you have done the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I write to say a word further.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do
+      what you finally did&mdash;march the troops across the neck, run the
+      batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any
+      faith, except a general hope, that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo
+      Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and vicinity, I
+      thought you should go down the river and join General Banks; and when you
+      turned northward, east of Big Black, I feared it was a mistake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and I
+      was wrong.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0165}.jpg" alt="{0165}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0165}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0166}.jpg" alt="{0166}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0166}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0181" id="link2H_4_0181">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN SAID &ldquo;BY JING.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln never used profanity, except when he quoted it to illustrate a
+      point in a story. His favorite expressions when he spoke with emphasis
+      were &ldquo;By dear!&rdquo; and &ldquo;By jing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Just preceding the Civil War he sent Ward Lamon on a ticklish mission to
+      South Carolina.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the proposed trip was mentioned to Secretary Seward, he opposed it,
+      saying, &ldquo;Mr. President, I fear you are sending Lamon to his grave. I am
+      afraid they will kill him in Charleston, where the people are excited and
+      desperate. We can&rsquo;t spare Lamon, and we shall feel badly if anything
+      happens to him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln said in reply: &ldquo;I have known Lamon to be in many a close
+      place, and he has never, been in one that he didn&rsquo;t get out of, somehow.
+      By jing! I&rsquo;ll risk him. Go ahead, Lamon, and God bless you! If you can&rsquo;t
+      bring back any good news, bring a palmetto.&rdquo; Lamon brought back a palmetto
+      branch, but no promise of peace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0183" id="link2H_4_0183">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IT TICKLED THE LITTLE WOMAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln had been in the telegraph office at Springfield during the casting
+      of the first and second ballots in the Republican National Convention at
+      Chicago, and then left and went over to the office of the State Journal,
+      where he was sitting conversing with friends while the third ballot was
+      being taken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a few moments came across the wires the announcement of the result. The
+      superintendent of the telegraph company wrote on a scrap of paper: &ldquo;Mr.
+      Lincoln, you are nominated on the third ballot,&rdquo; and a boy ran with the
+      message to Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at it in silence, amid the shouts of those around him; then
+      rising and putting it in his pocket, he said quietly: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a little
+      woman down at our house would like to hear this; I&rsquo;ll go down and tell
+      her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0184" id="link2H_4_0184">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;SHALL ALL FALL TOGETHER.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      After Lincoln had finished that celebrated speech in &ldquo;Egypt&rdquo; (as a section
+      of Southern Illinois was formerly designated), in the course of which he
+      seized Congressman Ficklin by the coat collar and shook him fiercely, he
+      apologized. In return, Ficklin said Lincoln had &ldquo;nearly shaken the
+      Democracy out of him.&rdquo; To this Lincoln replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That reminds me of what Paul said to Agrippa, which, in language and
+      substance, was about this: &lsquo;I would to God that such Democracy as you
+      folks here in Egypt have were not only almost, but altogether, shaken out
+      of, not only you, but all that heard me this day, and that you would all
+      join in assisting in shaking off the shackles of the bondmen by all
+      legitimate means, so that this country may be made free as the good Lord
+      intended it.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Said Ficklin in rejoinder: &ldquo;Lincoln, I remember of reading somewhere in
+      the same book from which you get your Agrippa story, that Paul, whom you
+      seem to desire to personate, admonished all servants (slaves) to be
+      obedient to them that are their masters according to the flesh, in fear
+      and trembling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would seem that neither our Savior nor Paul saw the iniquity of
+      slavery as you and your party do. But you must not think that where you
+      fail by argument to convince an old friend like myself and win him over to
+      your heterodox abolition opinions, you are justified in resorting to
+      violence such as you practiced on me to-day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, I never had such a shaking up in the whole course of my life.
+      Recollect that that good old book that you quote from somewhere says in
+      effect this: &lsquo;Woe be unto him who goeth to Egypt for help, for he shall
+      fall. The holpen shall fall, and they shall all fall together.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0185" id="link2H_4_0185">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DEAD DOG NO CURE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s quarrel with Shields was his last personal encounter. In later
+      years it became his duty to give an official reprimand to a young officer
+      who had been court-martialed for a quarrel with one of his associates. The
+      reprimand is probably the gentlest on record:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare
+      time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the
+      consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss of
+      self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal
+      right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in contesting for
+      the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0186" id="link2H_4_0186">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;THOROUGH&rdquo; IS A GOOD WORD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Some one came to the President with a story about a plot to accomplish
+      some mischief in the Government. Lincoln listened to what was a very
+      superficial and ill-formed story, and then said: &ldquo;There is one thing that
+      I have learned, and that you have not. It is only one word&mdash;&lsquo;thorough.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, bringing his hand down on the table with a thump to emphasize his
+      meaning, he added, &ldquo;thorough!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0187" id="link2H_4_0187">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE CABINET WAS A-SETTIN&rsquo;.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9169}.jpg" alt="{9169}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9169}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Being in Washington one day, the Rev. Robert Collyer thought he&rsquo;d take a
+      look around. In passing through the grounds surrounding the White House,
+      he cast a glance toward the Presidential residence, and was astonished to
+      see three pairs of feet resting on the ledge of an open window in one of
+      the apartments of the second story. The divine paused for a moment, calmly
+      surveyed the unique spectacle, and then resumed his walk toward the War
+      Department.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seeing a laborer at work not far from the Executive Mansion, Mr. Collyer
+      asked him what it all meant. To whom did the feet belong, and,
+      particularly, the mammoth ones? &ldquo;You old fool,&rdquo; answered the workman,
+      &ldquo;that&rsquo;s the Cabinet, which is a-settin&rsquo;, an&rsquo; them thar big feet belongs to
+      &lsquo;Old Abe.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0188" id="link2H_4_0188">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A BULLET THROUGH HIS HAT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A soldier tells the following story of an attempt upon the life of Mr.
+      Lincoln &ldquo;One night I was doing sentinel duty at the entrance to the
+      Soldiers&rsquo; Home. This was about the middle of August, 1864. About eleven
+      o&rsquo;clock I heard a rifle shot, in the direction of the city, and shortly
+      afterwards I heard approaching hoof-beats. In two or three minutes a horse
+      came dashing up. I recognized the belated President. The President was
+      bareheaded. The President simply thought that his horse had taken fright
+      at the discharge of the firearms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On going back to the place where the shot had been heard, we found the
+      President&rsquo;s hat. It was a plain silk hat, and upon examination we
+      discovered a bullet hole through the crown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The next day, upon receiving the hat, the President remarked that it was
+      made by some foolish marksman, and was not intended for him; but added
+      that he wished nothing said about the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President said, philosophically: &lsquo;I long ago made up my mind that if
+      anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. Besides, in this case, it seems
+      to me, the man who would succeed me would be just as objectionable to my
+      enemies&mdash;if I have any.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One dark night, as he was going out with a friend, he took along a heavy
+      cane, remarking, good-naturedly: &lsquo;Mother (Mrs. Lincoln) has got a notion
+      into her head that I shall be assassinated, and to please her I take a
+      cane when I go over to the War Department at night&mdash;when I don&rsquo;t
+      forget it.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0189" id="link2H_4_0189">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO KIND TO GET TO HEAVEN ON.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Two ladies from Tennessee called at the White House one day and begged Mr.
+      Lincoln to release their husbands, who were rebel prisoners at Johnson&rsquo;s
+      Island. One of the fair petitioners urged as a reason for the liberation
+      of her husband that he was a very religious man, and rang the changes on
+      this pious plea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;you say your husband is a religious man.
+      Perhaps I am not a good judge of such matters, but in my opinion the
+      religion that makes men rebel and fight against their government is not
+      the genuine article; nor is the religion the right sort which reconciles
+      them to the idea of eating their bread in the sweat of other men&rsquo;s faces.
+      It is not the kind to get to heaven on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later, however, the order of release was made, President Lincoln
+      remarking, with impressive solemnity, that he would expect the ladies to
+      subdue the rebellious spirit of their husbands, and to that end he thought
+      it would be well to reform their religion. &ldquo;True patriotism,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;is
+      better than the wrong kind of piety.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0190" id="link2H_4_0190">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE ONLY REAL PEACEMAKER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the Presidential campaign of 1864 much ill-feeling was displayed by
+      the opposition to President Lincoln. The Democratic managers issued
+      posters of large dimensions, picturing the Washington Administration as
+      one determined to rule or ruin the country, while the only salvation for
+      the United States was the election of McClellan.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0171}.jpg" alt="{0171}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0171}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      We reproduce one of these 1864 campaign posters on this page, the title of
+      which is, &ldquo;The True Issue; or &lsquo;That&rsquo;s What&rsquo;s the Matter.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The dominant idea or purpose of the cartoon-poster was to demonstrate
+      McClellan&rsquo;s availability. Lincoln, the Abolitionist, and Davis, the
+      Secessionist, are pictured as bigots of the worst sort, who were
+      determined that peace should not be restored to the distracted country,
+      except upon the lines laid down by them. McClellan, the patriotic
+      peacemaker, is shown as the man who believed in the preservation of the
+      Union above all things&mdash;a man who had no fads nor vagaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This peacemaker, McClellan, standing upon &ldquo;the War-is-a-failure&rdquo; platform,
+      is portrayed as a military chieftain, who would stand no nonsense; who
+      would compel Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Davis to cease their quarreling; who
+      would order the soldiers on both sides to quit their blood-letting and
+      send the combatants back to the farm, workshop and counting-house; and the
+      man whose election would restore order out of chaos, and make everything
+      bright and lovely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0191" id="link2H_4_0191">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE APPLE WOMAN&rsquo;S PASS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One day when President Lincoln was receiving callers a buxom Irish woman
+      came into the office, and, standing before the President, with her hands
+      on her hips, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln, can&rsquo;t I sell apples on the railroad?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln replied: &ldquo;Certainly, madam, you can sell all you wish.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you must give me a pass, or the soldiers will not let
+      me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln then wrote a few lines and gave them to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thank you, sir; God bless you!&rdquo; she exclaimed as she departed joyfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0192" id="link2H_4_0192">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SPLIT RAILS BY THE YARD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was in the spring of 1830 that &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; Lincoln, &ldquo;wearing a jean jacket,
+      shrunken buckskin trousers, a coonskin cap, and driving an ox-team,&rdquo;
+       became a citizen of Illinois. He was physically and mentally equipped for
+      pioneer work. His first desire was to obtain a new and decent suit of
+      clothes, but, as he had no money, he was glad to arrange with Nancy Miller
+      to make him a pair of trousers, he to split four hundred fence rails for
+      each yard of cloth&mdash;fourteen hundred rails in all. &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; got the
+      clothes after awhile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was three miles from his father&rsquo;s cabin to her wood-lot, where he made
+      the forest ring with the sound of his ax. &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; had helped his father plow
+      fifteen acres of land, and split enough rails to fence it, and he then
+      helped to plow fifty acres for another settler.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0193" id="link2H_4_0193">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE QUESTION OF LEGS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Whenever the people of Lincoln&rsquo;s neighborhood engaged in dispute; whenever
+      a bet was to be decided; when they differed on points of religion or
+      politics; when they wanted to get out of trouble, or desired advice
+      regarding anything on the earth, below it, above it, or under the sea,
+      they went to &ldquo;Abe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Two fellows, after a hot dispute lasting some hours, over the problem as
+      to how long a man&rsquo;s legs should be in proportion to the size of his body,
+      stamped into Lincoln&rsquo;s office one day and put the question to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln listened gravely to the arguments advanced by both contestants,
+      spent some time in &ldquo;reflecting&rdquo; upon the matter, and then, turning around
+      in his chair and facing the disputants, delivered his opinion with all the
+      gravity of a judge sentencing a fellow-being to death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This question has been a source of controversy,&rdquo; he said, slowly and
+      deliberately, &ldquo;for untold ages, and it is about time it should be
+      definitely decided. It has led to bloodshed in the past, and there is no
+      reason to suppose it will not lead to the same in the future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After much thought and consideration, not to mention mental worry and
+      anxiety, it is my opinion, all side issues being swept aside, that a man&rsquo;s
+      lower limbs, in order to preserve harmony of proportion, should be at
+      least long enough to reach from his body to the ground.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0194" id="link2H_4_0194">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TOO MANY WIDOWS ALREADY.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A Union officer in conversation one day told this story:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The first week I was with my command there were twenty-four deserters
+      sentenced by court-martial to be shot, and the warrants for their
+      execution were sent to the President to be signed. He refused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I went to Washington and had an interview. I said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Mr. President, unless these men are made an example of, the army itself
+      is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty to the many.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He replied: &lsquo;Mr. General, there are already too many weeping widows in
+      the United States. For God&rsquo;s sake, don&rsquo;t ask me to add to the number, for
+      I won&rsquo;t do it.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0195" id="link2H_4_0195">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOD NEEDED THAT CHURCH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the early stages of the war, after several battles had been fought,
+      Union troops seized a church in Alexandria, Va., and used it as a
+      hospital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A prominent lady of the congregation went to Washington to see Mr. Lincoln
+      and try to get an order for its release.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you applied to the surgeon in charge at Alexandria?&rdquo; inquired Mr.
+      Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, but I can do nothing with him,&rdquo; was the reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, madam,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;that is an end of it, then. We put him
+      there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose
+      that he knows better what should be done under the circumstances than I
+      do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady&rsquo;s face showed her keen disappointment. In order to learn her
+      sentiment, Mr. Lincoln asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How much would you be willing to subscribe toward building a hospital
+      there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She said that the war had depreciated Southern property so much that she
+      could afford to give but little.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This war is not over yet,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;and there will likely be
+      another fight very soon. That church may be very useful in which to house
+      our wounded soldiers. It is my candid opinion that God needs that church
+      for our wounded fellows; so, madam, I can do nothing for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0196" id="link2H_4_0196">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE MAN DOWN SOUTH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      An amusing instance of the President&rsquo;s preoccupation of mind occurred at
+      one of his levees, when he was shaking hands with a host of visitors
+      passing him in a continuous stream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An intimate acquaintance received the usual conventional hand-shake and
+      salutation, but perceiving that he was not recognized, kept his ground
+      instead of moving on, and spoke again, when the President, roused to a dim
+      consciousness that something unusual had happened, perceived who stood
+      before him, and, seizing his friend&rsquo;s hand, shook it again heartily,
+      saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you do? How do you do? Excuse me for not noticing you. I was
+      thinking of a man down South.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The man down South&rdquo; was General W. T. Sherman, then on his march to the
+      sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0197" id="link2H_4_0197">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      COULDN&rsquo;T LET GO THE HOG.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Governor Custer of Pennsylvania described the terrible butchery at
+      the battle of Fredericksburg, Mr. Lincoln was almost broken-hearted.
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8175}.jpg" alt="{8175} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8175}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The Governor regretted that his description had so sadly affected the
+      President. He remarked: &ldquo;I would give all I possess to know how to rescue
+      you from this terrible war.&rdquo; Then Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s wonderful recuperative
+      powers asserted themselves and this marvelous man was himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s whole aspect suddenly changed, and he relieved his mind by
+      telling a story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This reminds me, Governor,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;of an old farmer out in Illinois
+      that I used to know.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He took it into his head to go into hog-raising. He sent out to Europe
+      and imported the finest breed of hogs he could buy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The prize hog was put in a pen, and the farmer&rsquo;s two mischievous boys,
+      James and John, were told to be sure not to let it out. But James, the
+      worst of the two, let the brute out the next day. The hog went straight
+      for the boys, and drove John up a tree, then the hog went for the seat of
+      James&rsquo; trousers, and the only way the boy could save himself was by
+      holding on to the hog&rsquo;s tail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The hog would not give up his hunt, nor the boy his hold! After they had
+      made a good many circles around the tree, the boy&rsquo;s courage began to give
+      out, and he shouted to his brother, &lsquo;I say, John, come down, quick, and
+      help me let go this hog!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Governor, that is exactly my case. I wish some one would come and
+      help me to let the hog go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0198" id="link2H_4_0198">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE CABINET LINCOLN WANTED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge Joseph Gillespie, of Chicago, was a firm friend of Mr. Lincoln, and
+      went to Springfield to see him shortly before his departure for the
+      inauguration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was,&rdquo; said judge Gillespie, &ldquo;Lincoln&rsquo;s Gethsemane. He feared he was
+      not the man for the great position and the great events which confronted
+      him. Untried in national affairs, unversed in international diplomacy,
+      unacquainted with the men who were foremost in the politics of the nation,
+      he groaned when he saw the inevitable War of the Rebellion coming on. It
+      was in humility of spirit that he told me he believed that the American
+      people had made a mistake in selecting him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the course of our conversation he told me if he could select his
+      cabinet from the old bar that had traveled the circuit with him in the
+      early days, he believed he could avoid war or settle it without a battle,
+      even after the fact of secession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But, Mr. Lincoln,&rsquo; said I, &lsquo;those old lawyers are all Democrats.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I know it,&rsquo; was his reply. &lsquo;But I would rather have Democrats whom I
+      know than Republicans I don&rsquo;t know.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0199" id="link2H_4_0199">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      READY FOR &ldquo;BUTCHER-DAY.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Leonard Swett told this eminently characteristic story:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I remember one day being in his room when Lincoln was sitting at his
+      table with a large pile of papers before him, and after a pleasant talk he
+      turned quite abruptly and said: &lsquo;Get out of the way, Swett; to-morrow is
+      butcher-day, and I must go through these papers and see if I cannot find
+      some excuse to let these poor fellows off.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The pile of papers he had were the records of courts-martial of men who
+      on the following day were to be shot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0200" id="link2H_4_0200">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;THE BAD BIRD AND THE MUDSILL.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9177}.jpg" alt="{9177}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9177}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      It took quite a long time, as well as the lives of thousands of men, to
+      say nothing of the cost in money, to take Richmond, the Capital City of
+      the Confederacy. In this cartoon, taken from &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated
+      Newspaper,&rdquo; of February 21, 1863, Jeff Davis is sitting upon the Secession
+      eggs in the &ldquo;Richmond&rdquo; nest, smiling down upon President Lincoln, who is
+      up to his waist in the Mud of Difficulties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President finally waded through the morass, in which he had become
+      immersed, got to the tree, climbed its trunk, reached the limb, upon which
+      the &ldquo;bad bird&rdquo; had built its nest, threw the mother out, destroyed the
+      eggs of Secession and then took the nest away with him, leaving the &ldquo;bad
+      bird&rdquo; without any home at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;bad bird&rdquo; had its laugh first, but the last laugh belonged to the
+      &ldquo;mudsill,&rdquo; as the cartoonist was pleased to call the President of the
+      United States. It is true that the President got his clothes and hat all
+      covered with mud, but as the job was a dirty one, as well as one that had
+      to be done, the President didn&rsquo;t care. He was able to get another suit of
+      clothes, as well as another hat, but the &ldquo;bad bird&rdquo; couldn&rsquo;t, and didn&rsquo;t,
+      get another nest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The laugh was on the &ldquo;bad bird&rdquo; after all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0201" id="link2H_4_0201">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GAVE THE SOLDIER HIS FISH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Once, when asked what he remembered about the war with Great Britain,
+      Lincoln replied: &ldquo;Nothing but this: I had been fishing one day and caught
+      a little fish, which I was taking home. I met a soldier in the road, and,
+      having been always told at home that we must be good to the soldiers, I
+      gave him my fish.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This must have been about 1814, when &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was five years of age.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0202" id="link2H_4_0202">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A PECULIAR LAWYER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was once associate counsel for a defendant in a murder case. He
+      listened to the testimony given by witness after witness against his
+      client, until his honest heart could stand it no longer; then, turning to
+      his associate, he said: &ldquo;The man is guilty; you defend him&mdash;I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo;
+       and when his associate secured a verdict of acquittal, Lincoln refused to
+      share the fee to the extent of one cent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln would never advise clients to enter into unwise or unjust
+      lawsuits, always preferring to refuse a retainer rather than be a party to
+      a case which did not commend itself to his sense of justice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0203" id="link2H_4_0203">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IF THEY&rsquo;D ONLY &ldquo;SKIP.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      General Creswell called at the White House to see the President the day of
+      the latter&rsquo;s assassination. An old friend, serving in the Confederate
+      ranks, had been captured by the Union troops and sent to prison. He had
+      drawn an affidavit setting forth what he knew about the man, particularly
+      mentioning extenuating circumstances.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Creswell found the President very happy. He was greeted with: &ldquo;Creswell,
+      old fellow, everything is bright this morning. The War is over. It has
+      been a tough time, but we have lived it out,&mdash;or some of us have,&rdquo;
+       and he dropped his voice a little on the last clause of the sentence. &ldquo;But
+      it is over; we are going to have good times now, and a united country.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      General Creswell told his story, read his affidavit, and said, &ldquo;I know the
+      man has acted like a fool, but he is my friend, and a good fellow; let him
+      out; give him to me, and I will be responsible that he won&rsquo;t have anything
+      more to do with the rebs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Creswell,&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;you make me think of a lot of young
+      folks who once started out Maying. To reach their destination, they had to
+      cross a shallow stream, and did so by means of an old flatboat. When the
+      time came to return, they found to their dismay that the old scow had
+      disappeared. They were in sore trouble, and thought over all manner of
+      devices for getting over the water, but without avail.
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8179}.jpg" alt="{8179} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8179}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After a time, one of the boys proposed that each fellow should pick up
+      the girl he liked best and wade over with her. The masterly proposition
+      was carried out, until all that were left upon the island was a little
+      short chap and a great, long, gothic-built, elderly lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Creswell, you are trying to leave me in the same predicament. You
+      fellows are all getting your own friends out of this scrape; and you will
+      succeed in carrying off one after another, until nobody but Jeff Davis and
+      myself will be left on the island, and then I won&rsquo;t know what to do. How
+      should I feel? How should I look, lugging him over?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess the way to avoid such an embarrassing situation is to let them
+      all out at once.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He made a somewhat similar illustration at an informal Cabinet meeting, at
+      which the disposition of Jefferson Davis and other prominent Confederates
+      was discussed. Each member of the Cabinet gave his opinion; most of them
+      were for hanging the traitors, or for some severe punishment. President
+      Lincoln said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Finally, Joshua F. Speed, his old and confidential friend, who had been
+      invited to the meeting, said, &ldquo;I have heard the opinion of your Ministers,
+      and would like to hear yours.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Josh,&rdquo; replied President Lincoln, &ldquo;when I was a boy in Indiana, I
+      went to a neighbor&rsquo;s house one morning and found a boy of my own size
+      holding a coon by a string. I asked him what he had and what he was doing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He says, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s a coon. Dad cotched six last night, and killed all but
+      this poor little cuss. Dad told me to hold him until he came back, and I&rsquo;m
+      afraid he&rsquo;s going to kill this one too; and oh, &ldquo;Abe,&rdquo; I do wish he would
+      get away!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, why don&rsquo;t you let him loose?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;That wouldn&rsquo;t be right; and if I let him go, Dad would give me h&mdash;.
+      But if he got away himself, it would be all right.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;if Jeff Davis and those other fellows will
+      only get away, it will be all right. But if we should catch them, and I
+      should let them go, &lsquo;Dad would give me h&mdash;!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0204" id="link2H_4_0204">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FATHER OF THE &ldquo;GREENBACK.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Don Piatt, a noted journalist of Washington, told the story of the first
+      proposition to President Lincoln to issue interest-bearing notes as
+      currency, as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Amasa Walker, a distinguished financier of New England, suggested that
+      notes issued directly from the Government to the people, as currency,
+      should bear interest. This for the purpose, not only of making the notes
+      popular, but for the purpose of preventing inflation, by inducing people
+      to hoard the notes as an investment when the demands of trade would fail
+      to call them into circulation as a currency.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This idea struck David Taylor, of Ohio, with such force that he sought
+      Mr. Lincoln and urged him to put the project into immediate execution. The
+      President listened patiently, and at the end said, &lsquo;That is a good idea,
+      Taylor, but you must go to Chase. He is running that end of the machine,
+      and has time to consider your proposition.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Taylor sought the Secretary of the Treasury, and laid before him Amasa
+      Walker&rsquo;s plan. Secretary Chase heard him through in a cold, unpleasant
+      manner, and then said: &lsquo;That is all very well, Mr. Taylor; but there is
+      one little obstacle in the way that makes the plan impracticable, and that
+      is the Constitution.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Saying this, he turned to his desk, as if dismissing both Mr. Taylor and
+      his proposition at the same moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The poor enthusiast felt rebuked and humiliated. He returned to the
+      President, however, and reported his defeat. Mr. Lincoln looked at the
+      would-be financier with the expression at times so peculiar to his homely
+      face, that left one in doubt whether he was jesting or in earnest.
+      &lsquo;Taylor!&rsquo; he exclaimed, &lsquo;go back to Chase and tell him not to bother
+      himself about the Constitution. Say that I have that sacred instrument
+      here at the White House, and I am guarding it with great care.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Taylor demurred to this, on the ground that Secretary Chase showed by his
+      manner that he knew all about it, and didn&rsquo;t wish to be bored by any
+      suggestion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;We&rsquo;ll see about that,&rsquo; said the President, and taking a card from the
+      table, he wrote upon it:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;The Secretary of the Treasury will please consider Mr. Taylor&rsquo;s
+      proposition. We must have money, and I think this a good way to get it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;A. LINCOLN.&rsquo;&rdquo; <a name="link2H_4_0205" id="link2H_4_0205">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MAJOR ANDERSON&rsquo;S BAD MEMORY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Among the men whom Captain Lincoln met in the Black Hawk campaign were
+      Lieutenant-Colonel Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, President
+      of the Confederacy, and Lieutenant Robert Anderson, all of the United
+      States Army.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Judge Arnold, in his &ldquo;Life of Abraham Lincoln,&rdquo; relates that Lincoln and
+      Anderson did not meet again until some time in 1861. After Anderson had
+      evacuated Fort Sumter, on visiting Washington, he called at the White
+      House to pay his respects to the President. Lincoln expressed his thanks
+      to Anderson for his conduct at Fort Sumter, and then said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Major, do you remember of ever meeting me before?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Mr. President, I have no recollection of ever having had that
+      pleasure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My memory is better than yours,&rdquo; said Lincoln; &ldquo;you mustered me into the
+      service of the United States in 1832, at Dixon&rsquo;s Ferry, in the Black Hawk
+      war.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0206" id="link2H_4_0206">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO VANDERBILT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In February, 1860, not long before his nomination for the Presidency,
+      Lincoln made several speeches in Eastern cities. To an Illinois
+      acquaintance, whom he met at the Astor House, in New York, he said: &ldquo;I
+      have the cottage at Springfield, and about three thousand dollars in
+      money. If they make me Vice-President with Seward, as some say they will,
+      I hope I shall be able to increase it to twenty thousand, and that is as
+      much as any man ought to want.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0183}.jpg" alt="{0183}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0183}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0184}.jpg" alt="{0184}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0184}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0207" id="link2H_4_0207">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SQUASHED A BRUTAL LIE.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      In September, 1864, a New York paper printed the following brutal story:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A few days after the battle of Antietam, the President was driving over
+      the field in an ambulance, accompanied by Marshal Lamon, General McClellan
+      and another officer. Heavy details of men were engaged in the task of
+      burying the dead. The ambulance had just reached the neighborhood of the
+      old stone bridge, where the dead were piled highest, when Mr. Lincoln,
+      suddenly slapping Marshal Lamon on the knee, exclaimed: &lsquo;Come, Lamon, give
+      us that song about &ldquo;Picayune Butler&rdquo;; McClellan has never heard it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Not now, if you please,&rsquo; said General McClellan, with a shudder; &lsquo;I
+      would prefer to hear it some other place and time.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln refused to pay any attention to the story, would not
+      read the comments made upon it by the newspapers, and would permit neither
+      denial nor explanation to be made. The National election was coming on,
+      and the President&rsquo;s friends appealed to him to settle the matter for once
+      and all. Marshal Lamon was particularly insistent, but the President
+      merely said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the thing alone. If I have not established character enough to give
+      the lie to this charge, I can only say that I am mistaken in my own
+      estimate of myself. In politics, every man must skin his own skunk. These
+      fellows are welcome to the hide of this one. Its body has already given
+      forth its unsavory odor.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Lamon would not &ldquo;let the thing alone.&rdquo; He submitted to Lincoln a draft
+      of what he conceived to be a suitable explanation, after reading which the
+      President said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lamon, your &lsquo;explanation&rsquo; is entirely too belligerent in tone for so
+      grave a matter. There is a heap of &lsquo;cussedness&rsquo; mixed up with your usual
+      amiability, and you are at times too fond of a fight. If I were you, I
+      would simply state the facts as they were. I would give the statement as
+      you have here, without the pepper and salt. Let me try my hand at it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President then took up a pen and wrote the following, which was copied
+      and sent out as Marshal Lamon&rsquo;s refutation of the shameless slander:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President has known me intimately for nearly twenty years, and has
+      often heard me sing little ditties. The battle of Antietam was fought on
+      the 17th day of September, 1862. On the first day of October, just two
+      weeks after the battle, the President, with some others, including myself,
+      started from Washington to visit the Army, reaching Harper&rsquo;s Ferry at noon
+      of that day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In a short while General McClellan came from his headquarters near the
+      battleground, joined the President, and with him reviewed the troops at
+      Bolivar Heights that afternoon, and at night returned to his headquarters,
+      leaving the President at Harper&rsquo;s Ferry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On the morning of the second, the President, with General Sumner,
+      reviewed the troops respectively at Loudon Heights and Maryland Heights,
+      and at about noon started to General McClellan&rsquo;s headquarters, reaching
+      there only in time to see very little before night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On the morning of the third all started on a review of the Third Corps
+      and the cavalry, in the vicinity of the Antietam battle-ground. After
+      getting through with General Burnside&rsquo;s corps, at the suggestion of
+      General McClellan, he and the President left their horses to be led, and
+      went into an ambulance to go to General Fitz John Porter&rsquo;s corps, which
+      was two or three miles distant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am not sure whether the President and General McClellan were in the
+      same ambulance, or in different ones; but myself and some others were in
+      the same with the President. On the way, and on no part of the
+      battleground, and on what suggestions I do not remember, the President
+      asked me to sing the little sad song that follows (&ldquo;Twenty Years Ago,
+      Tom&rdquo;), which he had often heard me sing, and had always seemed to like
+      very much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After it was over, some one of the party (I do not think it was the
+      President) asked me to sing something else; and I sang two or three little
+      comic things, of which &lsquo;Picayune Butler&rsquo; was one. Porter&rsquo;s corps was
+      reached and reviewed; then the battle-ground was passed over, and the most
+      noted parts examined; then, in succession, the cavalry and Franklin&rsquo;s
+      corps were reviewed, and the President and party returned to General
+      McClellan&rsquo;s headquarters at the end of a very hard, hot and dusty day&rsquo;s
+      work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Next day (the 4th), the President and General McClellan visited such of
+      the wounded as still remained in the vicinity, including the now lamented
+      General Richardson; then proceeded to and examined the South-Mountain
+      battle-ground, at which point they parted, General McClellan returning to
+      his camp, and the President returning to Washington, seeing, on the way,
+      General Hartsoff, who lay wounded at Frederick Town.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the whole story of the singing and its surroundings. Neither
+      General McClellan nor any one else made any objections to the singing; the
+      place was not on the battle-field; the time was sixteen days after the
+      battle; no dead body was seen during the whole time the President was
+      absent from Washington, nor even a grave that had not been rained on since
+      the time it was made.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0208" id="link2H_4_0208">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ONE WAR AT A TIME.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Nothing in Lincoln&rsquo;s entire career better illustrated the surprising
+      resources of his mind than his manner of dealing with &ldquo;The Trent Affair.&rdquo;
+       The readiness and ability with which he met this perilous emergency, in a
+      field entirely new to his experience, was worthy the most accomplished
+      diplomat and statesman. Admirable, also, was his cool courage and
+      self-reliance in following a course radically opposed to the prevailing
+      sentiment throughout the country and in Congress, and contrary to the
+      advice of his own Cabinet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary of the Navy Welles hastened to approve officially the act of
+      Captain Wilkes in apprehending the Confederate Commissioners Mason and
+      Slidell, Secretary Stanton publicly applauded, and even Secretary of State
+      Seward, whose long public career had made him especially conservative,
+      stated that he was opposed to any concession or surrender of Mason and
+      Slidell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Lincoln, with great sagacity, simply said, &ldquo;One war at a time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0209" id="link2H_4_0209">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PRESIDENT LINCOLN&rsquo;S LAST PUBLIC ADDRESS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President made his last public address on the evening of April 11th,
+      1865, to a gathering at the White House. Said he:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the
+      principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace, whose
+      joyous expression cannot be restrained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not
+      be forgotten.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing be
+      overlooked; their honors must not be parceled out with others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting
+      the good news to you; but no part of the honor, for plan or execution, is
+      mine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To General Grant, his skillful officers and brave men, all belongs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0210" id="link2H_4_0210">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO OTHERS LIKE THEM.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9187}.jpg" alt="{9187}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9187}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      One day an old lady from the country called on President Lincoln, her
+      tanned face peering up to his through a pair of spectacles. Her errand was
+      to present Mr. Lincoln a pair of stockings of her own make a yard long.
+      Kind tears came to his eyes as she spoke to him, and then, holding the
+      stockings one in each hand, dangling wide apart for general inspection, he
+      assured her that he should take them with him to Washington, where (and
+      here his eyes twinkled) he was sure he should not be able to find any like
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Quite a number of well-known men were in the room with the President when
+      the old lady made her presentation. Among them was George S. Boutwell, who
+      afterwards became Secretary of the Treasury.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The amusement of the company was not at all diminished by Mr. Boutwell&rsquo;s
+      remark, that the lady had evidently made a very correct estimate of Mr.
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s latitude and longitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0211" id="link2H_4_0211">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CASH WAS AT HAND.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was appointed postmaster at New Salem by President Jackson. The
+      office was given him because everybody liked him, and because he was the
+      only man willing to take it who could make out the returns. Lincoln was
+      pleased, because it gave him a chance to read every newspaper taken in the
+      vicinity. He had never been able to get half the newspapers he wanted
+      before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Years after the postoffice had been discontinued and Lincoln had become a
+      practicing lawyer at Springfield, an agent of the Postoffice Department
+      entered his office and inquired if Abraham Lincoln was within. Lincoln
+      responded to his name, and was informed that the agent had called to
+      collect the balance due the Department since the discontinuance of the New
+      Salem office.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A shade of perplexity passed over Lincoln&rsquo;s face, which did not escape the
+      notice of friends present. One of them said at once:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled out from a pile of books a
+      little old trunk, and, returning to the table, asked the agent how much
+      the amount of his debt was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sum was named, and then Lincoln opened the trunk, pulled out a little
+      package of coin wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted out the exact sum,
+      amounting to more than seventeen dollars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the agent had left the room, he remarked quietly that he had never
+      used any man&rsquo;s money but his own. Although this sum had been in his hands
+      during all those years, he had never regarded it as available, even for
+      any temporary use of his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0212" id="link2H_4_0212">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WELCOMED THE LITTLE GIRLS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At a Saturday afternoon reception at the White House, many persons noticed
+      three little girls, poorly dressed, the children of some mechanic or
+      laboring man, who had followed the visitors into the White House to
+      gratify their curiosity. They passed around from room to room, and were
+      hastening through the reception-room, with some trepidation, when the
+      President called to them:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Little girls, are you going to pass me without shaking hands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he bent his tall, awkward form down, and shook each little girl
+      warmly by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was spellbound by the
+      incident, so simple in itself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0213" id="link2H_4_0213">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;DON&rsquo;T SWAP HORSES&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0189}.jpg" alt="{0189}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0189}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Uncle Sam was pretty well satisfied with his horse, &ldquo;Old Abe,&rdquo; and, as
+      shown at the Presidential election of 1864, made up his mind to keep him,
+      and not &ldquo;swap&rdquo; the tried and true animal for a strange one. &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s
+      Weekly&rdquo; of November 12th, 1864, had a cartoon which illustrated how the
+      people of the United States felt about the matter better than anything
+      published at the time. We reproduce it on this page. Beneath the picture
+      was this text:
+    </p>
+
+    <p>
+      JOHN BULL: &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you ride the other horse a bit? He&rsquo;s the best
+      animal.&rdquo; (Pointing to McClellan in the bushes at the rear.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      BROTHER JONATHAN: &ldquo;Well, that may be; but the fact is, OLD ABE is just
+      where I can put my finger on him; and as for the other&mdash;though they
+      say he&rsquo;s some when out in the scrub yonder&mdash;I never know where to
+      find him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0214" id="link2H_4_0214">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MOST VALUABLE POLITICAL ATTRIBUTE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One time I remember I asked Mr. Lincoln what attribute he considered most
+      valuable to the successful politician,&rdquo; said Captain T. W. S. Kidd, of
+      Springfield.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He laid his hand on my shoulder and said, very earnestly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;To be able to raise a cause which shall produce an effect, and then
+      fight the effect.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The more you think about it, the more profound does it become.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0215" id="link2H_4_0215">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; RESENTED THE INSULT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A cashiered officer, seeking to be restored through the power of the
+      executive, became insolent, because the President, who believed the man
+      guilty, would not accede to his repeated requests, at last said, &ldquo;Well,
+      Mr. President, I see you are fully determined not to do me justice!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was too aggravating even for Mr. Lincoln; rising he suddenly seized
+      the disgraced officer by the coat collar, and marched him forcibly to the
+      door, saying as he ejected him into the passage:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir, I give you fair warning never to show your face in this room again.
+      I can bear censure, but not insult. I never wish to see your face again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0216" id="link2H_4_0216">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ONE MAN ISN&rsquo;T MISSED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Salmon P. Chase, when Secretary of the Treasury, had a disagreement with
+      other members of the Cabinet, and resigned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was urged not to accept it, as &ldquo;Secretary Chase is to-day a
+      national necessity,&rdquo; his advisers said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How mistaken you are!&rdquo; Lincoln quietly observed. &ldquo;Yet it is not strange;
+      I used to have similar notions. No! If we should all be turned out
+      to-morrow, and could come back here in a week, we should find our places
+      filled by a lot of fellows doing just as well as we did, and in many
+      instances better.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, this reminds me of what the Irishman said. His verdict was that &lsquo;in
+      this country one man is as good as another; and, for the matter of that,
+      very often a great deal better.&rsquo; No; this Government does not depend upon
+      the life of any man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0217" id="link2H_4_0217">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;STRETCHED THE FACTS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      George B. Lincoln, a prominent merchant of Brooklyn, was traveling through
+      the West in 1855-56, and found himself one night in a town on the Illinois
+      River, by the name of Naples. The only tavern of the place had evidently
+      been constructed with reference to business on a small scale. Poor as the
+      prospect seemed, Mr. Lincoln had no alternative but to put up at the
+      place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The supper-room was also used as a lodging-room. Mr. Lincoln told his host
+      that he thought he would &ldquo;go to bed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bed!&rdquo; echoed the landlord. &ldquo;There is no bed for you in this house unless
+      you sleep with that man yonder. He has the only one we have to spare.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; returned Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;the gentleman has possession, and perhaps
+      would not like a bed-fellow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon this a grizzly head appeared out of the pillows, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is your name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They call me Lincoln at home,&rdquo; was the reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln!&rdquo; repeated the stranger; &ldquo;any connection of our Illinois
+      Abraham?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln. &ldquo;I fear not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the old gentleman, &ldquo;I will let any man by the name of
+      &lsquo;Lincoln&rsquo; sleep with me, just for the sake of the name. You have heard of
+      Abe?&rdquo; he inquired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, very often,&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln. &ldquo;No man could travel far in
+      this State without hearing of him, and I would be very glad to claim
+      connection if I could do so honestly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the old gentleman, &ldquo;my name is Simmons. &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; and I used to
+      live and work together when young men. Many a job of woodcutting and
+      rail-splitting have I done up with him. Abe Lincoln was the likeliest boy
+      in God&rsquo;s world. He would work all day as hard as any of us and study by
+      firelight in the log-house half the night; and in this way he made himself
+      a thorough, practical surveyor. Once, during those days, I was in the
+      upper part of the State, and I met General Ewing, whom President Jackson
+      had sent to the Northwest to make surveys. I told him about Abe Lincoln,
+      what a student he was, and that I wanted he should give him a job. He
+      looked over his memorandum, and, holding out a paper, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There is County must be surveyed; if your friend can do the work
+      properly, I shall be glad to have him undertake it&mdash;the compensation
+      will be six hundred dollars.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pleased as I could be, I hastened to Abe, after I got home, with an
+      account of what I had secured for him. He was sitting before the fire in
+      the log-cabin when I told him; and what do you think was his answer? When
+      I finished, he looked up very quietly, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Mr. Simmons, I thank you very sincerely for your kindness, but I don&rsquo;t
+      think I will undertake the job.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;In the name of wonder,&rsquo; said I, &lsquo;why? Six hundred does not grow upon
+      every bush out here in Illinois.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I know that,&rsquo; said Abe, &lsquo;and I need the money bad enough, Simmons, as
+      you know; but I have never been under obligation to a Democratic
+      Administration, and I never intend to be so long as I can get my living
+      another way. General Ewing must find another man to do his work.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A friend related this story to the President one day, and asked him if it
+      were true.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pollard Simmons!&rdquo; said Lincoln. &ldquo;Well do I remember him. It is correct
+      about our working together, but the old man must have stretched the facts
+      somewhat about the survey of the county. I think I should have been very
+      glad of the job at the time, no matter what Administration was in power.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0218" id="link2H_4_0218">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IT LENGTHENED THE WAR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln said, long before the National political campaign of
+      1864 had opened:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If the unworthy ambition of politicians and the jealousy that exists in
+      the army could be repressed, and all unite in a common aim and a common
+      endeavor, the rebellion would soon be crushed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0219" id="link2H_4_0219">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS THEORY OF THE REBELLION.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9193}.jpg" alt="{9193}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9193}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The President once explained to a friend the theory of the Rebellion by
+      the aid of the maps before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Running his long fore-finger down the map, he stopped at Virginia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must drive them away from here&rdquo; (Manassas Gap), he said, &ldquo;and clear
+      them out of this part of the State so that they cannot threaten us here
+      (Washington) and get into Maryland.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We must keep up a good and thorough blockade of their ports. We must
+      march an army into East Tennessee and liberate the Union sentiment there.
+      Finally we must rely on the people growing tired and saying to their
+      leaders, &lsquo;We have had enough of this thing, we will bear it no longer.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Such was President Lincoln&rsquo;s plan for heading off the Rebellion in the
+      summer of 1861. How it enlarged as the War progressed, from a call for
+      seventy thousand volunteers to one for five hundred thousand men and
+      $500,000,000 is a matter of well-known history.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0220" id="link2H_4_0220">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      RAN AWAY WHEN VICTORIOUS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Three or four days after the battle of Bull Run, some gentlemen who had
+      been on the field called upon the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He inquired very minutely regarding all the circumstances of the affair,
+      and, after listening with the utmost attention, said, with a touch of
+      humor: &ldquo;So it is your notion that we whipped the rebels and then ran away
+      from them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0221" id="link2H_4_0221">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WANTED STANTON SPANKED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Old Dennis Hanks was sent to Washington at one time by persons interested
+      in securing the release from jail of several men accused of being
+      copperheads. It was thought Old Dennis might have some influence with the
+      President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter heard Dennis&rsquo; story and then said: &ldquo;I will send for Mr.
+      Stanton. It is his business.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary Stanton came into the room, stormed up and down, and said the
+      men ought to be punished more than they were. Mr. Lincoln sat quietly in
+      his chair and waited for the tempest to subside, and then quietly said to
+      Stanton he would like to have the papers next day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he had gone, Dennis said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Abe,&rsquo; if I was as big and as ugly as you are, I would take him over my
+      knee and spank him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President replied: &ldquo;No, Stanton is an able and valuable man for this
+      Nation, and I am glad to bear his anger for the service he can give the
+      Nation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0222" id="link2H_4_0222">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STANTON WAS OUT OF TOWN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The quaint remark of the President to an applicant, &ldquo;My dear sir, I have
+      not much influence with the Administration,&rdquo; was one of Lincoln&rsquo;s little
+      jokes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, once replied to an order from the President
+      to give a colonel a commission in place of the resigning brigadier:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shan&rsquo;t do it, sir! I shan&rsquo;t do it! It isn&rsquo;t the way to do it, sir, and
+      I shan&rsquo;t do it. I don&rsquo;t propose to argue the question with you, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A few days after, the friend of the applicant who had presented the order
+      to Secretary Stanton called upon the President and related his reception.
+      A look of vexation came over the face of the President, and he seemed
+      unwilling to talk of it, and desired the friend to see him another day. He
+      did so, when he gave his visitor a positive order for the promotion. The
+      latter told him he would not speak to Secretary Stanton again until he
+      apologized.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;Stanton has gone to Fortress Monroe, and Dana
+      is acting. He will attend to it for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This he said with a manner of relief, as if it was a piece of good luck to
+      find a man there who would obey his orders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The nomination was sent to the Senate and confirmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0223" id="link2H_4_0223">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IDENTIFIED THE COLORED MAN.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9195}.jpg" alt="{9195}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9195}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Many applications reached Lincoln as he passed to and from the White House
+      and the War Department. One day as he crossed the park he was stopped by a
+      negro, who told him a pitiful story. The President wrote him out a check,
+      which read. &ldquo;Pay to colored man with one leg five dollars.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0224" id="link2H_4_0224">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      OFFICE SEEKERS WORSE THAN WAR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When the Republican party came into power, Washington swarmed with
+      office-seekers. They overran the White House and gave the President great
+      annoyance. The incongruity of a man in his position, and with the very
+      life of the country at stake, pausing to appoint postmasters, struck Mr.
+      Lincoln forcibly. &ldquo;What is the matter, Mr. Lincoln,&rdquo; said a friend one
+      day, when he saw him looking particularly grave and dispirited. &ldquo;Has
+      anything gone wrong at the front?&rdquo; &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said the President, with a tired
+      smile. &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t the war; it&rsquo;s the postoffice at Brownsville, Missouri.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0225" id="link2H_4_0225">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE &ldquo;SET &lsquo;EM UP.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Immediately after Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s nomination for President at the Chicago
+      Convention, a committee, of which Governor Morgan, of New York, was
+      chairman, visited him in Springfield, Ill., where he was officially
+      informed of his nomination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After this ceremony had passed, Mr. Lincoln remarked to the company that
+      as a fit ending to an interview so important and interesting as that which
+      had just taken place, he supposed good manners would require that he
+      should treat the committee with something to drink; and opening the door
+      that led into the rear, he called out, &ldquo;Mary! Mary!&rdquo; A girl responded to
+      the call, to whom Mr. Lincoln spoke a few words in an undertone, and,
+      closing the door, returned again and talked with his guests. In a few
+      minutes the maid entered, bearing a large waiter, containing several glass
+      tumblers, and a large pitcher, and placed them upon the center-table. Mr.
+      Lincoln arose, and, gravely addressing the company, said: &ldquo;Gentlemen, we
+      must pledge our mutual health in the most healthy beverage that God has
+      given to man&mdash;it is the only beverage I have ever used or allowed my
+      family to use, and I cannot conscientiously depart from it on the present
+      occasion. It is pure Adam&rsquo;s ale from the spring.&rdquo; And, taking the tumbler,
+      he touched it to his lips, and pledged them his highest respects in a cup
+      of cold water. Of course, all his guests admired his consistency, and
+      joined in his example.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0226" id="link2H_4_0226">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WASN&rsquo;T STANTON&rsquo;S SAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A few days before the President&rsquo;s death, Secretary Stanton tendered his
+      resignation as Secretary of War. He accompanied the act with a most
+      heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s constant friendship and faithful
+      devotion to the country, saying, also, that he, as Secretary, had accepted
+      the position to hold it only until the war should end, and that now he
+      felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary&rsquo;s words, and, tearing in
+      pieces the paper containing the resignation, and throwing his arms about
+      the Secretary, he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public servant, and
+      it is not for you to say when you will no longer be needed here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Several friends of both parties were present on the occasion, and there
+      was not a dry eye that witnessed the scene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0227" id="link2H_4_0227">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;JEFFY&rdquo; THREW UP THE SPONGE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9197}.jpg" alt="{9197}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9197}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      When the War was fairly on, many people were astonished to find that &ldquo;Old
+      Abe&rdquo; was a fighter from &ldquo;way back.&rdquo; No one was the victim of greater
+      amazement than Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of
+      America. Davis found out that &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was not only a hard hitter, but had
+      staying qualities of a high order. It was a fight to a &ldquo;finish&rdquo; with
+      &ldquo;Abe,&rdquo; no compromises being accepted. Over the title, &ldquo;North and South,&rdquo;
+       the issue of &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated Newspaper&rdquo; of December 24th,
+      1864, contained the cartoon, see reproduce on this page. Underneath the
+      picture were the lines:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Jeffy, when you think you have had enough of this, say so, and I&rsquo;ll
+      leave off.&rdquo; (See President&rsquo;s message.) In his message to Congress,
+      December 6th,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln said: &ldquo;No attempt at negotiation with the insurgent
+      leader could result in any good. He would accept of nothing short of the
+      severance of the Union.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore, Father Abraham, getting &ldquo;Jeffy&rsquo;s&rdquo; head &ldquo;in chancery,&rdquo; proceeded
+      to change the appearance and size of the secessionist&rsquo;s countenance, much
+      to the grief and discomfort of the Southerner. It was Lincoln&rsquo;s idea to
+      re-establish the Union, and he carried out his purpose to the very letter.
+      But he didn&rsquo;t &ldquo;leave off&rdquo; until &ldquo;Jeffy&rdquo; cried &ldquo;enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0228" id="link2H_4_0228">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DIDN&rsquo;T KNOW GRANT&rsquo;S PREFERENCE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In October, 1864, President Lincoln, while he knew his re-election to the
+      White House was in no sense doubtful, knew that if he lost New York and
+      with it Pennsylvania on the home vote, the moral effect of his triumph
+      would be broken and his power to prosecute the war and make peace would be
+      greatly impaired. Colonel A. K. McClure was with Lincoln a good deal of
+      the time previous to the November election, and tells this story:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His usually sad face was deeply shadowed with sorrow when I told him that
+      I saw no reasonable prospect of carrying Pennsylvania on the home vote,
+      although we had about held our own in the hand-to-hand conflict through
+      which we were passing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, what is to be done?&rsquo; was Lincoln&rsquo;s inquiry, after the whole
+      situation had been presented to him. I answered that the solution of the
+      problem was a very simple and easy one&mdash;that Grant was idle in front
+      of Petersburg; that Sheridan had won all possible victories in the Valley;
+      and that if five thousand Pennsylvania soldiers could be furloughed home
+      from each army, the election could be carried without doubt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln&rsquo;s face&rsquo; brightened instantly at the suggestion, and I saw that he
+      was quite ready to execute it. I said to him: &lsquo;Of course, you can trust
+      want to make the suggestion to him to furlough five thousand Pennsylvania
+      troops for two weeks?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;To my surprise, Lincoln made no answer, and the bright face of a few
+      moments before was instantly shadowed again. I was much disconcerted, as I
+      supposed that Grant was the one man to whom Lincoln could turn with
+      absolute confidence as his friend. I then said, with some earnestness:
+      &lsquo;Surely, Mr. President, you can trust Grant with a confidential suggestion
+      to furlough Pennsylvania troops?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln remained silent and evidently distressed at the proposition I was
+      pressing upon him. After a few moments, and speaking with emphasis, I
+      said: &lsquo;It can&rsquo;t be possible that Grant is not your friend; he can&rsquo;t be
+      such an ingrate?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln hesitated for some time, and then answered in these words: &lsquo;Well,
+      McClure, I have no reason to believe that Grant prefers my election to
+      that of McClellan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe Lincoln was mistaken in his distrust of Grant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0229" id="link2H_4_0229">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      JUSTICE vs. NUMBERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was constantly bothered by members of delegations of
+      &ldquo;goody-goodies,&rdquo; who knew all about running the War, but had no inside
+      information as to what was going on. Yet, they poured out their advice in
+      streams, until the President was heartily sick of the whole business, and
+      wished the War would find some way to kill off these nuisances.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How many men have the Confederates now in the field?&rdquo; asked one of these
+      bores one day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;About one million two hundred thousand,&rdquo; replied the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, my! Not so many as that, surely, Mr. Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They have fully twelve hundred thousand, no doubt of it. You see, all of
+      our generals when they get whipped say the enemy outnumbers them from
+      three or five to one, and I must believe them. We have four hundred
+      thousand men in the field, and three times four make twelve,&mdash;don&rsquo;t
+      you see it? It is as plain to be seen as the nose on a man&rsquo;s face; and at
+      the rate things are now going, with the great amount of speculation and
+      the small crop of fighting, it will take a long time to overcome twelve
+      hundred thousand rebels in arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If they can get subsistence they have everything else, except a just
+      cause. Yet it is said that &lsquo;thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel
+      just.&rsquo; I am willing, however, to risk our advantage of thrice in justice
+      against their thrice in numbers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0230" id="link2H_4_0230">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO FALSE PRIDE IN LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      General McClellan had little or no conception of the greatness of Abraham
+      Lincoln. As time went on, he began to show plainly his contempt of the
+      President, frequently allowing him to wait in the ante-room of his house
+      while he transacted business with others. This discourtesy was so open
+      that McClellan&rsquo;s staff noticed it, and newspaper correspondents commented
+      on it. The President was too keen not to see the situation, but he was
+      strong enough to ignore it. It was a battle he wanted from McClellan, not
+      deference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will hold McClellan&rsquo;s horse, if he will only bring us success,&rdquo; he said
+      one day.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0201}.jpg" alt="{0201}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0201}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0202}.jpg" alt="{0202}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0202}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0231" id="link2H_4_0231">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EXTRA MEMBER OF THE CABINET.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      G. H. Giddings was selected as the bearer of a message from the President
+      to Governor Sam Houston, of Texas. A conflict had arisen there between the
+      Southern party and the Governor, Sam Houston, and on March 18 the latter
+      had been deposed. When Mr. Lincoln heard of this, he decided to try to get
+      a message to the Governor, offering United States support if he would put
+      himself at the head of the Union party of the State.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Giddings thus told of his interview with the President:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He said to me that the message was of such importance that, before
+      handing it to me, he would read it to me. Before beginning to read he
+      said, &lsquo;This is a confidential and secret message. No one besides my
+      Cabinet and myself knows anything about it, and we are all sworn to
+      secrecy. I am going to swear you in as one of my Cabinet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And then he said to me in a jocular way, &lsquo;Hold up your right hand,&rsquo; which
+      I did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now,&rsquo; said he, consider yourself a member of my Cabinet.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0232" id="link2H_4_0232">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW LINCOLN WAS ABUSED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      With the possible exception of President Washington, whose political
+      opponents did not hesitate to rob the vocabulary of vulgarity and
+      wickedness whenever they desired to vilify the Chief Magistrate, Lincoln
+      was the most and &ldquo;best&rdquo; abused man who ever held office in the United
+      States. During the first half of his initial term there was no epithet
+      which was not applied to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One newspaper in New York habitually characterized him as &ldquo;that hideous
+      baboon at the other end of the avenue,&rdquo; and declared that &ldquo;Barnum should
+      buy and exhibit him as a zoological curiosity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Although the President did not, to all appearances, exhibit annoyance
+      because of the various diatribes printed and spoken, yet the fact is that
+      his life was so cruelly embittered by these and other expressions quite as
+      virulent, that he often declared to those most intimate with him, &ldquo;I would
+      rather be dead than, as President, thus abused in the house of my
+      friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0233" id="link2H_4_0233">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW &ldquo;FIGHTING JOE&rdquo; WAS APPOINTED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      General &ldquo;Joe&rdquo; Hooker, the fourth commander of the noble but unfortunate
+      Army of the Potomac, was appointed to that position by President Lincoln
+      in January, 1863. General Scott, for some reason, disliked Hooker and
+      would not appoint him. Hooker, after some months of discouraging waiting,
+      decided to return to California, and called to pay his respects to
+      President Lincoln. He was introduced as Captain Hooker, and to the
+      surprise of the President began the following speech:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. President, my friend makes a mistake. I am not Captain Hooker, but
+      was once Lieutenant-Colonel Hooker of the regular army. I was lately a
+      farmer in California, but since the Rebellion broke out I have been trying
+      to get into service, but I find I am not wanted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am about to return home; but before going, I was anxious to pay my
+      respects to you, and express my wishes for your personal welfare and
+      success in quelling this Rebellion. And I want to say to you a word more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was at Bull Run the other day, Mr. President, and it is no vanity in me
+      to say, I am a darned sight better general than you had on the field.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was said, not in the tone of a braggart, but of a man who knew what
+      he was talking about. Hooker did not return to California, but in a few
+      weeks Captain Hooker received from the President a commission as
+      Brigadier-General Hooker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0234" id="link2H_4_0234">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      KEPT HIS COURAGE UP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President, like old King Saul, when his term was about to expire, was
+      in a quandary concerning a further lease of the Presidential office. He
+      consulted again the &ldquo;prophetess&rdquo; of Georgetown, immortalized by his
+      patronage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She retired to an inner chamber, and, after raising and consulting more
+      than a dozen of distinguished spirits from Hades, she returned to the
+      reception-parlor, where the chief magistrate awaited her, and declared
+      that General Grant would capture Richmond, and that &ldquo;Honest Old Abe&rdquo; would
+      be next President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She, however, as the report goes, told him to beware of Chase.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0235" id="link2H_4_0235">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A FORTUNE-TELLER&rsquo;S PREDICTION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln had been born and reared among people who were believers in
+      premonitions and supernatural appearances all his life, and he once
+      declared to his friends that he was &ldquo;from boyhood superstitious.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He at one time said to Judge Arnold that &ldquo;the near approach of the
+      important events of his life were indicated by a presentiment or a strange
+      dream, or in some other mysterious way it was impressed upon him that
+      something important was to occur.&rdquo; This was earlier than 1850.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is said that on his second visit to New Orleans, Lincoln and his
+      companion, John Hanks, visited an old fortune-teller&mdash;a voodoo
+      negress. Tradition says that &ldquo;during the interview she became very much
+      excited, and after various predictions, exclaimed: &lsquo;You will be President,
+      and all the negroes will be free.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That the old voodoo negress should have foretold that the visitor would be
+      President is not at all incredible. She doubtless told this to many
+      aspiring lads, but Lincoln, so it is avowed took the prophecy seriously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0236" id="link2H_4_0236">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TOO MUCH POWDER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      So great was Lincoln&rsquo;s anxiety for the success of the Union arms that he
+      considered no labor on his part too arduous, and spent much of his time in
+      looking after even the small details.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Admiral Dahlgren was sent for one morning by the President, who said
+      &ldquo;Well, captain, here&rsquo;s a letter about some new powder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After reading the letter he showed the sample of powder, and remarked that
+      he had burned some of it, and did not believe it was a good article&mdash;here
+      was too much residuum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will show you,&rdquo; he said; and getting a small piece of paper, placed
+      thereupon some of the powder, then went to the fire and with the tongs
+      picked up a coal, which he blew, clapped it on the powder, and after the
+      resulting explosion, added, &ldquo;You see there is too much left there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0237" id="link2H_4_0237">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SLEEP STANDING UP.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9205}.jpg" alt="{9205}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9205}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      McClellan was a thorn in Lincoln&rsquo;s side&mdash;&ldquo;always up in the air,&rdquo; as
+      the President put it&mdash;and yet he hesitated to remove him. &ldquo;The Young
+      Napoleon&rdquo; was a good organizer, but no fighter. Lincoln sent him
+      everything necessary in the way of men, ammunition, artillery and
+      equipments, but he was forever unready.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Instead of making a forward movement at the time expected, he would notify
+      the President that he must have more men. These were given him as rapidly
+      as possible, and then would come a demand for more horses, more this and
+      that, usually winding up with a demand for still &ldquo;more men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln bore it all in patience for a long time, but one day, when he had
+      received another request for more men, he made a vigorous protest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I gave McClellan all the men he asks for,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;they
+      couldn&rsquo;t find room to lie down. They&rsquo;d have to sleep standing up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0238" id="link2H_4_0238">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT ANOTHER BATTLE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      General Meade, after the great victory at Gettysburg, was again face to
+      face with General Lee shortly afterwards at Williamsport, and even the
+      former&rsquo;s warmest friends agree that he might have won in another battle,
+      but he took no action. He was not a &ldquo;pushing&rdquo; man like Grant. It was this
+      negligence on the part of Meade that lost him the rank of
+      Lieutenant-General, conferred upon General Sheridan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A friend of Meade&rsquo;s, speaking to President Lincoln and intimating that
+      Meade should have, after that battle, been made Commander-in-Chief of the
+      Union Armies, received this reply from Lincoln:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, don&rsquo;t misunderstand me about General Meade. I am profoundly grateful
+      down to the bottom of my boots for what he did at Gettysburg, but I think
+      that if I had been General Meade I would have fought another battle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0239" id="link2H_4_0239">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN UPBRAIDED LAMON.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In one of his reminiscences of Lincoln, Ward Lamon tells how keenly the
+      President-elect always regretted the &ldquo;sneaking in act&rdquo; when he made the
+      celebrated &ldquo;midnight ride,&rdquo; which he took under protest, and landed him in
+      Washington known to but a few. Lamon says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President was convinced that he committed a grave mistake in
+      listening to the solicitations of a &lsquo;professional spy&rsquo; and of friends too
+      easily alarmed, and frequently upbraided me for having aided him to
+      degrade himself at the very moment in all his life when his behavior
+      should have exhibited the utmost dignity and composure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Neither he nor the country generally then understood the true facts
+      concerning the dangers to his life. It is now an acknowledged fact that
+      there never was a moment from the day he crossed the Maryland line, up to
+      the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by
+      violence, and that his life was spared until the night of the 14th of
+      April, 1865, only through the ceaseless and watchful care of the guards
+      thrown around him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0240" id="link2H_4_0240">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MARKED OUT A FEW WORDS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was calm and unmoved when England and France were
+      blustering and threatening war. At Lincoln&rsquo;s instance Secretary of State
+      Seward notified the English Cabinet and the French Emperor that as ours
+      was merely a family quarrel of a strictly private and confidential nature,
+      there was no call for meddling; also that they would have a war on their
+      hands in a very few minutes if they didn&rsquo;t keep their hands off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many of Seward&rsquo;s notes were couched in decidedly peppery terms, some
+      expressions being so tart that President Lincoln ran his pen through them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0241" id="link2H_4_0241">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN SILENCES SEWARD.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8207}.jpg" alt="{8207} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8207}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      General Farnsworth told the writer nearly twenty years ago that, being in
+      the War Office one day, Secretary Stanton told him that at the last
+      Cabinet meeting he had learned a lesson he should never forget, and
+      thought he had obtained an insight into Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s wonderful power over
+      the masses. The Secretary said a Cabinet meeting was called to consider
+      our relations with England in regard to the Mason-Slidell affair. One
+      after another of the Cabinet presented his views, and Mr. Seward read an
+      elaborate diplomatic dispatch, which he had prepared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Finally Mr. Lincoln read what he termed &ldquo;a few brief remarks upon the
+      subject,&rdquo; and asked the opinions of his auditors. They unanimously agreed
+      that our side of the question needed no more argument than was contained
+      in the President&rsquo;s &ldquo;few brief remarks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Seward said he would be glad to adopt the remarks, and, giving them
+      more of the phraseology usual in diplomatic circles, send them to Lord
+      Palmerston, the British premier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Secretary Stanton, &ldquo;came the demonstration. The President,
+      half wheeling in his seat, threw one leg over the chair-arm, and, holding
+      the letter in his hand, said, &lsquo;Seward, do you suppose Palmerston will
+      understand our position from that letter, just as it is?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly, Mr. President.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Do you suppose the London Times will?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Do you suppose the average Englishman of affairs will?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly; it cannot be mistaken in England.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Do you suppose that a hackman out on his box (pointing to the street)
+      will understand it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Very readily, Mr. President.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Very well, Seward, I guess we&rsquo;ll let her slide just as she is.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the letter did &lsquo;slide,&rsquo; and settled the whole business in a manner
+      that was effective.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0242" id="link2H_4_0242">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BROUGHT THE HUSBAND UP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One morning President Lincoln asked Major Eckert, on duty at the White
+      House, &ldquo;Who is that woman crying out in the hall? What is the matter with
+      her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eckert said it was a woman who had come a long distance expecting to go
+      down to the army to see her husband. An order had gone out a short time
+      before to allow no women in the army, except in special cases.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln sat moodily for a moment after hearing this story, and
+      suddenly looking up, said, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s send her down. You write the order,
+      Major.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Major Eckert hesitated a moment, and replied, &ldquo;Would it not be better for
+      Colonel Hardie to write the order?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;that is better; let Hardie write it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The major went out, and soon returned, saying, &ldquo;Mr. President, would it
+      not be better in this case to let the woman&rsquo;s husband come to Washington?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s face lighted up with pleasure. &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; was the
+      President&rsquo;s answer in a relieved tone; &ldquo;that&rsquo;s the best way; bring him
+      up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The order was written, and the man was sent to Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0243" id="link2H_4_0243">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO WAR WITHOUT BLOOD-LETTING.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t carry on war without blood-letting,&rdquo; said Lincoln one day.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The President, although almost feminine in his kind-heartedness, knew not
+      only this, but also that large bodies of soldiers in camp were at the
+      mercy of diseases of every sort, the result being a heavy casualty list.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of the (estimated) half-million men of the Union armies who gave up their
+      lives in the War of the Rebellion&mdash;1861-65&mdash;fully seventy-five
+      per cent died of disease. The soldiers killed upon the field of battle
+      constituted a comparatively small proportion of the casualties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0244" id="link2H_4_0244">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S TWO DIFFICULTIES.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9209}.jpg" alt="{9209}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9209}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      London &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; caricatured President Lincoln in every possible way,
+      holding him and the Union cause up to the ridicule of the world so far as
+      it could. On August 23rd, 1862, its cartoon entitled &ldquo;Lincoln&rsquo;s Two
+      Difficulties&rdquo; had the text underneath: LINCOLN: &ldquo;What? No money! No men!&rdquo;
+       &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; desired to create the impression that the Washington Government
+      was in a bad way, lacking both money and men for the purpose of putting
+      down the Rebellion; that the United States Treasury was bankrupt, and the
+      people of the North so devoid of patriotism that they would not send men
+      for the army to assist in destroying the Confederacy. The truth is, that
+      when this cartoon was printed the North had five hundred thousand men in
+      the field, and, before the War closed, had provided fully two million and
+      a half troops. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury which showed
+      the financial affairs and situation of the United States up to July, 1862.
+      The receipts of the National Government for the year ending June 30th,
+      1862, were $10,000,000 in excess of the expenditures, although the War was
+      costing the country $2,000,000 per day; the credit of the United States
+      was good, and business matters were in a satisfactory state. The Navy, by
+      August 23rd, 1862, had received eighteen thousand additional men, and was
+      in fine shape; the people of the North stood ready to supply anything the
+      Government needed, so that, all things taken together, the &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; cartoon
+      was not exactly true, as the facts and figures abundantly proved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0245" id="link2H_4_0245">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHITE ELEPHANT ON HIS HANDS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      An old and intimate friend from Springfield called on President Lincoln
+      and found him much depressed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was reclining on a sofa, but rising suddenly he said to his
+      friend:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know better than any man living that from my boyhood up my ambition
+      was to be President. I am President of one part of this divided country at
+      least; but look at me! Oh, I wish I had never been born!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve a white elephant on my hands&mdash;one hard to manage. With a fire
+      in my front and rear to contend with, the jealousies of the military
+      commanders, and not receiving that cordial co-operative support from
+      Congress that could reasonably be expected with an active and formidable
+      enemy in the field threatening the very life-blood of the Government, my
+      position is anything but a bed of roses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0246" id="link2H_4_0246">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHEN LINCOLN AND GRANT CLASHED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Ward Lamon, one of President Lincoln&rsquo;s law partners, and his most intimate
+      friend in Washington, has this to relate:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am not aware that there was ever a serious discord or misunderstanding
+      between Mr. Lincoln and General Grant, except on a single occasion. From
+      the commencement of the struggle, Lincoln&rsquo;s policy was to break the
+      backbone of the Confederacy by depriving it of its principal means of
+      subsistence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cotton was its vital aliment; deprive it of this, and the rebellion must
+      necessarily collapse. The Hon. Elihu B. Washburne from the outset was
+      opposed to any contraband traffic with the Confederates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln had given permits and passes through the lines to two persons&mdash;Mr.
+      Joseph Mattox of Maryland and General Singleton of Illinois&mdash;to
+      enable them to bring cotton and other Southern products from Virginia.
+      Washburne heard of it, called immediately on Mr. Lincoln, and, after
+      remonstrating with him on the impropriety of such a demarche, threatened
+      to have General Grant countermand the permits if they were not revoked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naturally, both became excited. Lincoln declared that he did not believe
+      General Grant would take upon himself the responsibility of such an act.
+      &lsquo;I will show you, sir; I will show you whether Grant will do it or not,&rsquo;
+      responded Mr. Washburne, as he abruptly withdrew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the next boat, subsequent to this interview, the Congressman left
+      Washington for the headquarters of General Grant. He returned shortly
+      afterward to the city, and so likewise did Mattox and Singleton. Grant had
+      countermanded the permits.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Under all the circumstances, it was, naturally, a source of exultation to
+      Mr. Washburne and his friends, and of corresponding surprise and
+      mortification to the President. The latter, however, said nothing further
+      than this:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I wonder when General Grant changed his mind on this subject? He was the
+      first man, after the commencement of this War, to grant a permit for the
+      passage of cotton through the lines, and that to his own father.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President, however, never showed any resentment toward General Grant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In referring afterwards to the subject, the President said: &lsquo;It made me
+      feel my insignificance keenly at the moment; but if my friends Washburne,
+      Henry Wilson and others derive pleasure from so unworthy a victory over
+      me, I leave them to its full enjoyment.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This ripple on the otherwise unruffled current of their intercourse did
+      not disturb the personal relations between Lincoln and Grant; but there
+      was little cordiality between the President and Messrs. Washburne and
+      Wilson afterwards.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0247" id="link2H_4_0247">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WON JAMES GORDON BENNETT&rsquo;S SUPPORT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The story as to how President Lincoln won the support of James Gordon
+      Bennett, Sr., founder of the New York Herald, is a most interesting one.
+      It was one of Lincoln&rsquo;s shrewdest political acts, and was brought about by
+      the tender, in an autograph letter, of the French Mission to Bennett.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The New York Times was the only paper in the metropolis which supported
+      him heartily, and President Lincoln knew how important it was to have the
+      support of the Herald. He therefore, according to the way Colonel McClure
+      tells it, carefully studied how to bring its editor into close touch with
+      himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The outlook for Lincoln&rsquo;s re-election was not promising. Bennett had
+      strongly advocated the nomination of General McClellan by the Democrats,
+      and that was ominous of hostility to Lincoln; and when McClellan was
+      nominated he was accepted on all sides as a most formidable candidate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was in this emergency that Lincoln&rsquo;s political sagacity served him
+      sufficiently to win the Herald to his cause, and it was done by the
+      confidential tender of the French Mission. Bennett did not break over to
+      Lincoln at once, but he went by gradual approaches.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His first step was to declare in favor of an entirely new candidate, which
+      was an utter impossibility. He opened a &ldquo;leader&rdquo; in the Herald on the
+      subject in this way: &ldquo;Lincoln has proved a failure; McClellan has proved a
+      failure; Fremont has proved a failure; let us have a new candidate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, McClellan and Fremont were then all in the field as nominated
+      candidates, and the Fremont defection was a serious threat to Lincoln. Of
+      course, neither Lincoln nor McClellan declined, and the Herald, failing to
+      get the new man it knew to be an impossibility, squarely advocated
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s re-election.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Without consulting any one, and without any public announcement: whatever,
+      Lincoln wrote to Bennett, asking him to accept the mission to France. The
+      offer was declined. Bennett valued the offer very much more than the
+      office, and from that day until the day of the President&rsquo;s death he was
+      one of Lincoln&rsquo;s most appreciative friends and hearty supporters on his
+      own independent line.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0248" id="link2H_4_0248">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STOOD BY THE &ldquo;SILENT MAN.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Once, in reply to a delegation, which visited the White House, the members
+      of which were unusually vociferous in their demands that the Silent Man
+      (as General Grant was called) should be relieved from duty, the President
+      remarked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What I want and what the people want is generals who will fight battles
+      and win victories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Grant has done this, and I propose to stand by him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This declaration found its way into the newspapers, and Lincoln was upheld
+      by the people of the North, who, also, wanted &ldquo;generals who will fight
+      battles and win victories.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0249" id="link2H_4_0249">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A VERY BRAINY NUBBIN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward met Alexander H. Stephens,
+      Vice-President of the Confederacy, on February 2nd, 1865, on the River
+      Queen, at Fortress Monroe. Stephens was enveloped in overcoats and shawls,
+      and had the appearance of a fair-sized man. He began to take off one
+      wrapping after another, until the small, shriveled old man stood before
+      them.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0213}.jpg" alt="{0213}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0213}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln quietly said to Seward: &ldquo;This is the largest shucking for so small
+      a nubbin that I ever saw.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln had a friendly conference, but presented his ultimatum
+      that the one and only condition of peace was that Confederates &ldquo;must cease
+      their resistance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0250" id="link2H_4_0250">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SENT TO HIS &ldquo;FRIENDS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the Civil War, Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, had shown himself,
+      in the National House of Representatives and elsewhere, one of the
+      bitterest and most outspoken of all the men of that class which insisted
+      that &ldquo;the war was a failure.&rdquo; He declared that it was the design of &ldquo;those
+      in power to establish a despotism,&rdquo; and that they had &ldquo;no intention of
+      restoring the Union.&rdquo; He denounced the conscription which had been
+      ordered, and declared that men who submitted to be drafted into the army
+      were &ldquo;unworthy to be called free men.&rdquo; He spoke of the President as &ldquo;King
+      Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Such utterances at this time, when the Government was exerting itself to
+      the utmost to recruit the armies, were dangerous, and Vallandigham was
+      arrested, tried by court-martial at Cincinnati, and sentenced to be placed
+      in confinement during the war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Burnside, in command at Cincinnati, approved the sentence, and
+      ordered that he be sent to Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor; but the
+      President ordered that he be sent &ldquo;beyond our lines into those of his
+      friends.&rdquo; He was therefore escorted to the Confederate lines in Tennessee,
+      thence going to Richmond. He did not meet with a very cordial reception
+      there, and finally sought refuge in Canada.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Vallandigham died in a most peculiar way some years after the close of the
+      War, and it was thought by many that his death was the result of
+      premeditation upon his part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0251" id="link2H_4_0251">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GO DOWN WITH COLORS FLYING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In August, 1864, the President called for five hundred thousand more men.
+      The country was much depressed. The Confederates had, in comparatively
+      small force, only a short time before, been to the very gates of
+      Washington, and returned almost unharmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Presidential election was impending. Many thought another call for men
+      at such a time would insure, if not destroy, Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s chances for
+      re-election. A friend said as much to him one day, after the President had
+      told him of his purpose to make such a call.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As to my re-election,&rdquo; replied Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;it matters not. We must have
+      the men. If I go down, I intend to go, like the Cumberland, with my colors
+      flying!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0252" id="link2H_4_0252">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ALL WERE TRAGEDIES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The cartoon reproduced below was published in &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly&rdquo; on January
+      31st, 1863, the explanatory text, underneath, reading in this way:
+    </p>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8215}.jpg" alt="{8215} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8215}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      MANAGER LINCOLN: &ldquo;Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to say that the tragedy
+      entitled &lsquo;The Army of the Potomac&rsquo; has been withdrawn on account of
+      quarrels among the leading performers, and I have substituted three new
+      and striking farces, or burlesques, one, entitled &lsquo;The Repulse of
+      Vicksburg,&rsquo; by the well-known favorite, E. M. Stanton, Esq., and the
+      others, &lsquo;The Loss of the Harriet Lane,&rsquo; and &lsquo;The Exploits of the Alabama&rsquo;&mdash;a
+      very sweet thing in farces, I assure you&mdash;by the veteran composer,
+      Gideon Welles. (Unbounded applause by the Copperheads).&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In July, after this cartoon appeared, the Army of the Potomac defeated Lee
+      at Gettysburg, and sounded the death-knell of the Confederacy; General
+      Hooker, with his corps from this Army opened the Tennessee River, thus
+      affording some relief to the Union troops in Chattanooga; Hooker&rsquo;s men
+      also captured Lookout Mountain, and assisted in taking Missionary Ridge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Grant converted the farce &ldquo;The Repulse of Vicksburg&rdquo; into a
+      tragedy for the Copperheads, taking that stronghold on July 4th, and
+      Captain Winslow, with the Union man-of-war Kearsarge, meeting the
+      Confederate privateer Alabama, off the coast of France, near Cherbourg,
+      fought the famous ship to a finish and sunk her. Thus the tragedy of &ldquo;The
+      Army of the Potomac&rdquo; was given after all, and Playwright Stanton and
+      Composer Welles were vindicated, their compositions having been received
+      by the public with great favor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0253" id="link2H_4_0253">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;HE&rsquo;S THE BEST OF US.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Secretary of State Seward did not appreciate President Lincoln&rsquo;s ability
+      until he had been associated with him for quite a time, but he was
+      awakened to a full realization of the greatness of the Chief Executive
+      &ldquo;all of a sudden.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Having submitted &ldquo;Some Thoughts for the President&rsquo;s Consideration&rdquo;&mdash;a
+      lengthy paper intended as an outline of the policy, both domestic and
+      foreign, the Administration should pursue&mdash;he was not more surprised
+      at the magnanimity and kindness of President Lincoln&rsquo;s reply than the
+      thorough mastery of the subject displayed by the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few months later, when the Secretary had begun to understand Mr.
+      Lincoln, he was quick and generous to acknowledge his power.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Executive force and vigor are rare qualities,&rdquo; he wrote to Mrs. Seward.
+      &ldquo;The President is the best of us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0254" id="link2H_4_0254">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW LINCOLN &ldquo;COMPOSED.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Superintendent Chandler, of the Telegraph Office in the War Department,
+      once told how President Lincoln wrote telegrams. Said he:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. His method of
+      composition was slow and laborious. It was evident that he thought out
+      what he was going to say before he touched his pen to the paper. He would
+      sit looking out of the window, his left elbow on the table, his hand
+      scratching his temple, his lips moving, and frequently he spoke the
+      sentence aloud or in a half whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After he was satisfied that he had the proper expression, he would write
+      it out. If one examines the originals of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s telegrams and
+      letters, he will find very few erasures and very little interlining. This
+      was because he had them definitely in his mind before writing them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In this he was the exact opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with feverish
+      haste, often scratching out words, and interlining frequently. Sometimes
+      he would seize a sheet which he had filled, and impatiently tear it into
+      pieces.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0255" id="link2H_4_0255">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HAMLIN MIGHT DO IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Several United States Senators urged President Lincoln to muster Southern
+      slaves into the Union Army. Lincoln replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen, I have put thousands of muskets into the hands of loyal
+      citizens of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Western North Carolina. They have
+      said they could defend themselves, if they had guns. I have given them the
+      guns. Now, these men do not believe in mustering-in the negro. If I do it,
+      these thousands of muskets will be turned against us. We should lose more
+      than we should gain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Being still further urged, President Lincoln gave them this answer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t do it. I can&rsquo;t see it as you do. You may be
+      right, and I may be wrong; but I&rsquo;ll tell you what I can do; I can resign
+      in favor of Mr. Hamlin. Perhaps Mr. Hamlin could do it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The matter ended there, for the time being.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0256" id="link2H_4_0256">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE GUN SHOT BETTER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President took a lively interest in all new firearm improvements and
+      inventions, and it sometimes happened that, when an inventor could get
+      nobody else in the Government to listen to him, the President would
+      personally test his gun. A former clerk in the Navy Department tells an
+      incident illustrative.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one striding
+      up and down the hall muttering: &ldquo;I do wonder if they have gone already and
+      left the building all alone.&rdquo; Looking out, the clerk was surprised to see
+      the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evening,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln. &ldquo;I was just looking for that man who
+      goes shooting with me sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk knew Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain messenger of the Ordnance
+      Department who had been accustomed to going with him to test weapons, but
+      as this man had gone home, the clerk offered his services. Together they
+      went to the lawn south of the White House, where Mr. Lincoln fixed up a
+      target cut from a sheet of white Congressional notepaper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then pacing off a distance of about eighty or a hundred feet,&rdquo; writes the
+      clerk, &ldquo;he raised the rifle to a level, took a quick aim, and drove the
+      round of seven shots in quick succession, the bullets shooting all around
+      the target like a Gatling gun and one striking near the center.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I believe I can make this gun shoot better,&rsquo; said Mr. Lincoln, after we
+      had looked at the result of the first fire. With this he took from his
+      vest pocket a small wooden sight which he had whittled from a pine stick,
+      and adjusted it over the sight of the carbine. He then shot two rounds,
+      and of the fourteen bullets nearly a dozen hit the paper!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0219}.jpg" alt="{0219}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0219}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0220}.jpg" alt="{0220}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0220}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0257" id="link2H_4_0257">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LENIENT WITH McCLELLAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      General McClellan, aside from his lack of aggressiveness, fretted the
+      President greatly with his complaints about military matters, his
+      obtrusive criticism regarding political matters, and especially at his
+      insulting declaration to the Secretary of War, dated June 28th, 1862, just
+      after his retreat to the James River.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Halleck was made Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces in July,
+      1862, and September 1st McClellan was called to Washington. The day before
+      he had written his wife that &ldquo;as a matter of self-respect, I cannot go
+      there.&rdquo; President Lincoln and General Halleck called at McClellan&rsquo;s house,
+      and the President said: &ldquo;As a favor to me, I wish you would take command
+      of the fortifications of Washington and all the troops for the defense of
+      the capital.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln thought highly of McClellan&rsquo;s ability as an organizer and his
+      strength in defense, yet any other President would have had him
+      court-martialed for using this language, which appeared in McClellan&rsquo;s
+      letter of June 28th:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you
+      or to any other person in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice
+      this army.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This letter, although addressed to the Secretary of War, distinctly
+      embraced the President in the grave charge of conspiracy to defeat
+      McClellan&rsquo;s army and sacrifice thousands of the lives of his soldiers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0258" id="link2H_4_0258">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DIDN&rsquo;T WANT A MILITARY REPUTATION.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Lincoln was averse to being put up as a military hero.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      When General Cass was a candidate for the Presidency his friends sought to
+      endow him with a military reputation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, at that time a representative in Congress, delivered a speech
+      before the House, which, in its allusion to Mr. Cass, was exquisitely
+      sarcastic and irresistibly humorous:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the way, Mr. Speaker,&rdquo; said Lincoln, &ldquo;do you know I am a military
+      hero?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled, and came
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speaking of General Cass&rsquo;s career reminds me of my own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was not at Stillman&rsquo;s defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass to
+      Hull&rsquo;s surrender; and like him I saw the place very soon afterwards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break,
+      but I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If General Cass went in advance of me picking whortleberries, I guess I
+      surpassed him in charging upon the wild onion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a
+      good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes, and although I never
+      fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say that I was often very hungry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln concluded by saying that if he ever turned Democrat and should run
+      for the Presidency, he hoped they would not make fun of him by attempting
+      to make him a military hero.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0259" id="link2H_4_0259">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;SURRENDER NO SLAVE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      About March, 1862, General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at Fortress
+      Monroe, advised President Lincoln that he had determined to regard all
+      slaves coming into his camps as contraband of war, and to employ their
+      labor under fair compensation, and Secretary of War Stanton replied to
+      him, in behalf of the President, approving his course, and saying, &ldquo;You
+      are not to interfere between master and slave on the one hand, nor
+      surrender slaves who may come within your lines.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a significant milestone of progress to the great end that was
+      thereafter to be reached.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0260" id="link2H_4_0260">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CONSCRIPTING DEAD MEN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln being found fault with for making another &ldquo;call,&rdquo; said that if
+      the country required it, he would continue to do so until the matter stood
+      as described by a Western provost marshal, who says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I listened a short time since to a butternut-clad individual, who
+      succeeded in making good his escape, expatiate most eloquently on the
+      rigidness with which the conscription was enforced south of the Tennessee
+      River. His response to a question propounded by a citizen ran somewhat in
+      this wise:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Do they conscript close over the river?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Stranger, I should think they did! They take every man who hasn&rsquo;t been
+      dead more than two days!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If this is correct, the Confederacy has at least a ghost of a chance
+      left.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And of another, a Methodist minister in Kansas, living on a small salary,
+      who was greatly troubled to get his quarterly instalment. He at last told
+      the non-paying trustees that he must have his money, as he was suffering
+      for the necessaries of life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Money!&rdquo; replied the trustees; &ldquo;you preach for money? We thought you
+      preached for the good of souls!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Souls!&rdquo; responded the reverend; &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t eat souls; and if I could it
+      would take a thousand such as yours to make a meal!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That soul is the point, sir,&rdquo; said the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0261" id="link2H_4_0261">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S REJECTED MANUSCRIPT.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8223}.jpg" alt="{8223} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8223}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      On February 5th, 1865, President Lincoln formulated a message to Congress,
+      proposing the payment of $400,000,000 to the South as compensation for
+      slaves lost by emancipation, and submitted it to his Cabinet, only to be
+      unanimously rejected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln sadly accepted the decision, and filed away the manuscript
+      message, together with this indorsement thereon, to which his signature
+      was added: &ldquo;February 5, 1865. To-day these papers, which explain
+      themselves, were drawn up and submitted to the Cabinet unanimously
+      disapproved by them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When the proposed message was disapproved, Lincoln soberly asked: &ldquo;How
+      long will the war last?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To this none could make answer, and he added: &ldquo;We are spending now, in
+      carrying on the war, $3,000,000 a day, which will amount to all this
+      money, besides all the lives.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0262" id="link2H_4_0262">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AS A STORY WRITER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In his youth, Mr. Lincoln once got an idea for a thrilling, romantic
+      story. One day, in Springfield, he was sitting with his feet on the window
+      sill, chatting with an acquaintance, when he suddenly changed the drift of
+      the conversation by saying: &ldquo;Did you ever write out a story in your mind?
+      I did when I was a little codger. One day a wagon with a lady and two
+      girls and a man broke down near us, and while they were fixing up, they
+      cooked in our kitchen. The woman had books and read us stories, and they
+      were the first I had ever heard. I took a great fancy to one of the girls;
+      and when they were gone I thought of her a great deal, and one day when I
+      was sitting out in the sun by the house I wrote out a story in my mind. I
+      thought I took my father&rsquo;s horse and followed the wagon, and finally I
+      found it, and they were surprised to see me. I talked with the girl, and
+      persuaded her to elope with me; and that night I put her on my horse, and
+      we started off across the prairie. After several hours we came to a camp;
+      and when we rode up we found it was the one we had left a few hours
+      before, and went in. The next night we tried again, and the same thing
+      happened&mdash;the horse came back to the same place; and then we
+      concluded that we ought not to elope. I stayed until I had persuaded her
+      father to give her to me. I always meant to write that story out and
+      publish it, and I began once; but I concluded that it was not much of a
+      story. But I think that was the beginning of love with me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0263" id="link2H_4_0263">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S IDEAS ON CROSSING A RIVER WHEN HE GOT TO IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s reply to a Springfield (Illinois) clergyman, who asked him what
+      was to be his policy on the slavery question was most apt:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, your question is rather a cool one, but I will answer it by telling
+      you a story:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know Father B., the old Methodist preacher? and you know Fox River
+      and its freshets?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, once in the presence of Father B., a young Methodist was worrying
+      about Fox River, and expressing fears that he should be prevented from
+      fulfilling some of his appointments by a freshet in the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Father B. checked him in his gravest manner. Said he:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Young man, I have always made it a rule in my life not to cross Fox
+      River till I get to it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;I am not going to worry myself over the
+      slavery question till I get to it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A few days afterward a Methodist minister called on the President, and on
+      being presented to him, said, simply:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. President, I have come to tell you that I think we have got to Fox
+      River!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln thanked the clergyman, and laughed heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0264" id="link2H_4_0264">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PRESIDENT NOMINATED FIRST.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The day of Lincoln&rsquo;s second nomination for the Presidency he forgot all
+      about the Republican National Convention, sitting at Baltimore, and
+      wandered over to the War Department. While there, a telegram came
+      announcing the nomination of Johnson as Vice-President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What,&rdquo; said Lincoln to the operator, &ldquo;do they nominate a Vice-President
+      before they do a President?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; replied the astonished official, &ldquo;have you not heard of your own
+      nomination? It was sent to the White House two hours ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is all right,&rdquo; replied the President; &ldquo;I shall probably find it on my
+      return.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0265" id="link2H_4_0265">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;THEM GILLITEENS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9225}.jpg" alt="{9225}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9225}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The illustrated newspapers of the United States and England had a good
+      deal of fun, not only with President Lincoln, but the latter&rsquo;s Cabinet
+      officers and military commanders as well. It was said by these funny
+      publications that the President had set up a guillotine in his
+      &ldquo;back-yard,&rdquo; where all those who offended were beheaded with both
+      neatness, and despatch. &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly&rdquo; of January 3rd, 1863, contained
+      a cartoon labeled &ldquo;Those Guillotines; a Little Incident at the White
+      House,&rdquo; the personages figuring in the &ldquo;incident&rdquo; being Secretary of War
+      Stanton and a Union general who had been unfortunate enough to lose a
+      battle to the Confederates. Beneath the cartoon was the following
+      dialogue:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      SERVANT: &ldquo;If ye plase, sir, them Gilliteens has arrove.&rdquo; MR. LINCOLN: &ldquo;All
+      right, Michael. Now, gentlemen, will you be kind enough to step out in the
+      back-yard?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The hair and whiskers of Secretary of War Stanton are ruffled and awry,
+      and his features are not calm and undisturbed, indicating that he has an
+      idea of what&rsquo;s the matter in that back-yard; the countenance of the
+      officer in the rear of the Secretary of War wears rather an anxious, or
+      worried, look, and his hair isn&rsquo;t combed smoothly, either.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln&rsquo;s frequent changes among army commanders&mdash;before he
+      found Grant, Sherman and Sheridan&mdash;afforded an opportunity the
+      caricaturists did not neglect, and some very clever cartoons were the
+      consequence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0266" id="link2H_4_0266">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;CONSIDER THE SYMPATHY OF LINCOLN.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Consider the sympathy of Abraham Lincoln. Do you know the story of William
+      Scott, private? He was a boy from a Vermont farm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There had been a long march, and the night succeeding it he had stood on
+      picket. The next day there had been another long march, and that night
+      William Scott had volunteered to stand guard in the place of a sick
+      comrade who had been drawn for the duty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was too much for William Scott. He was too tired. He had been found
+      sleeping on his beat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The army was at Chain Bridge. It was in a dangerous neighborhood.
+      Discipline must be kept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      William Scott was apprehended, tried by court-martial, sentenced to be
+      shot. News of the case was carried to Lincoln. William Scott was a
+      prisoner in his tent, expecting to be shot next day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the flaps of his tent were parted, and Lincoln stood before him. Scott
+      said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President was the kindest man I had ever seen; I knew him at once by
+      a Lincoln medal I had long worn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was scared at first, for I had never before talked with a great man;
+      but Mr. Lincoln was so easy with me, so gentle, that I soon forgot my
+      fright.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He asked me all about the people at home, the neighbors, the farm, and
+      where I went to school, and who my schoolmates were. Then he asked me
+      about mother and how she looked; and I was glad I could take her
+      photograph from my bosom and show it to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He said how thankful I ought to be that my mother still lived, and how,
+      if he were in my place, he would try to make her a proud mother, and never
+      cause her a sorrow or a tear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot remember it all, but every word was so kind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He had said nothing yet about that dreadful next morning; I thought it
+      must be that he was so kind-hearted that he didn&rsquo;t like to speak of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But why did he say so much about my mother, and my not causing her a
+      sorrow or a tear, when I knew that I must die the next morning?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I supposed that was something that would have to go unexplained; and
+      so I determined to brace up and tell him that I did not feel a bit guilty,
+      and ask him wouldn&rsquo;t he fix it so that the firing party would not be from
+      our regiment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was going to be the hardest of all&mdash;to die by the hands of my
+      comrades.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just as I was going to ask him this favor, he stood up, and he says to
+      me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;My boy, stand up here and look me in the face.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did as he bade me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;My boy,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I believe you
+      when you tell me that you could not keep awake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But I have been put to a good deal of trouble on your account.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I have had to come up here from Washington when I have got a great deal
+      to do; and what I want to know is, how are you going to pay my bill?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was a big lump in my throat; I could scarcely speak. I had expected
+      to die, you see, and had kind of got used to thinking that way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To have it all changed in a minute! But I got it crowded down, and
+      managed to say:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln! I hope I am as grateful as ever a man can be
+      to you for saving my life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But it comes upon me sudden and unexpected like. I didn&rsquo;t lay out for it
+      at all; but there is some way to pay you, and I will find it after a
+      little.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There is the bounty in the savings bank; I guess we could borrow some
+      money on the mortgage of the farm.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There was my pay was something, and if he would wait until pay-day I was
+      sure the boys would help; so I thought we could make it up if it wasn&rsquo;t
+      more than five or six hundred dollars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But it is a great deal more than that,&rsquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I said I didn&rsquo;t just see how, but I was sure I would find some way&mdash;if
+      I lived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then Mr. Lincoln put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my face
+      as if he was sorry, and said; &ldquo;&lsquo;My boy, my bill is a very large one. Your
+      friends cannot pay it, nor your bounty, nor the farm, nor all your
+      comrades!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There is only one man in all the world who can pay it, and his name is
+      William Scott!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;If from this day William Scott does his duty, so that, if I was there
+      when he comes to die, he can look me in the face as he does now, and say,
+      I have kept my promise, and I have done my duty as a soldier, then my debt
+      will be paid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Will you make that promise and try to keep it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The promise was given. Thenceforward there never was such a soldier as
+      William Scott.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This is the record of the end. It was after one of the awful battles of
+      the Peninsula. He was shot all to pieces. He said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boys, I shall never see another battle. I supposed this would be my last.
+      I haven&rsquo;t much to say.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You all know what you can tell them at home about me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have tried to do the right thing! If any of you ever have the chance I
+      wish you would tell President Lincoln that I have never forgotten the kind
+      words he said to me at the Chain Bridge; that I have tried to be a good
+      soldier and true to the flag; that I should have paid my whole debt to him
+      if I had lived; and that now, when I know that I am dying, I think of his
+      kind face, and thank him again, because he gave me the chance to fall like
+      a soldier in battle, and not like a coward, by the hands of my comrades.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      What wonder that Secretary Stanton said, as he gazed upon the tall form
+      and kindly face as he lay there, smitten down by the assassin&rsquo;s bullet,
+      &ldquo;There lies the most perfect ruler of men who ever lived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0267" id="link2H_4_0267">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SAVED A LIFE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One day during the Black Hawk War a poor old Indian came into the camp
+      with a paper of safe conduct from General Lewis Cass in his possession.
+      The members of Lincoln&rsquo;s company were greatly exasperated by late Indian
+      barbarities, among them the horrible murder of a number of women and
+      children, and were about to kill him; they said the safe-conduct paper was
+      a forgery, and approached the old savage with muskets cocked to shoot him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln rushed forward, struck up the weapons with his hands, and standing
+      in front of the victim, declared to the Indian that he should not be
+      killed. It was with great difficulty that the men could be kept from their
+      purpose, but the courage and firmness of Lincoln thwarted them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was physically one of the bravest of men, as his company
+      discovered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0268" id="link2H_4_0268">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN PLAYED BALL.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8229}.jpg" alt="{8229} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8229}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Frank P. Blair, of Chicago, tells an incident, showing Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s love
+      for children and how thoroughly he entered into all of their sports:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;During the war my grandfather, Francis P. Blair, Sr., lived at Silver
+      Springs, north of Washington, seven miles from the White House. It was a
+      magnificent place of four or five hundred acres, with an extensive lawn in
+      the rear of the house. The grandchildren gathered there frequently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There were eight or ten of us, our ages ranging from eight to twelve
+      years. Although I was but seven or eight years of age, Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      visits were of such importance to us boys as to leave a clear impression
+      on my memory. He drove out to the place quite frequently. We boys, for
+      hours at a time played &lsquo;town ball&rsquo; on the vast lawn, and Mr. Lincoln would
+      join ardently in the sport. I remember vividly how he ran with the
+      children; how long were his strides, and how far his coat-tails stuck out
+      behind, and how we tried to hit him with the ball, as he ran the bases. He
+      entered into the spirit of the play as completely as any of us, and we
+      invariably hailed his coming with delight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0269" id="link2H_4_0269">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS PASSES TO RICHMOND NOT HONORED.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A man called upon the President and solicited a pass for Richmond.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;I would be very happy to oblige, if my passes
+      were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the past two years,
+      given passes to two hundred and fifty thousand men to go to Richmond, and
+      not one has got there yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The applicant quietly and respectfully withdrew on his tiptoes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0270" id="link2H_4_0270">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;PUBLIC HANGMAN&rdquo; FOR THE UNITED STATES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A certain United States Senator, who believed that every man who believed
+      in secession should be hanged, asked the President what he intended to do
+      when the War was over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Reconstruct the machinery of this Government,&rdquo; quickly replied Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are certainly crazy,&rdquo; was the Senator&rsquo;s heated response. &ldquo;You talk as
+      if treason was not henceforth to be made odious, but that the traitors,
+      cutthroats and authors of this War should not only go unpunished, but
+      receive encouragement to repeat their treason with impunity! They should
+      be hanged higher than Haman, sir! Yes, higher than any malefactor the
+      world has ever known!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was entirely unmoved, but, after a moment&rsquo;s pause, put a
+      question which all but drove his visitor insane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Senator, suppose that when this hanging arrangement has been agreed
+      upon, you accept the post of Chief Executioner. If you will take the
+      office, I will make you a brigadier general and Public Hangman for the
+      United States. That would just about suit you, wouldn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am a gentleman, sir,&rdquo; returned the Senator, &ldquo;and I certainly thought
+      you knew me better than to believe me capable of doing such dirty work.
+      You are jesting, Mr. President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was extremely patient, exhibiting no signs of ire, and to
+      this bit of temper on the part of the Senator responded:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You speak of being a gentleman; yet you forget that in this free country
+      all men are equal, the vagrant and the gentleman standing on the same
+      ground when it comes to rights and duties, particularly in time of war.
+      Therefore, being a gentleman, as you claim, and a law-abiding citizen, I
+      trust, you are not exempt from doing even the dirty work at which your
+      high spirit revolts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was too much for the Senator, who quitted the room abruptly, and
+      never again showed his face in the White House while Lincoln occupied it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He won&rsquo;t bother me again,&rdquo; was the President&rsquo;s remark as he departed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0271" id="link2H_4_0271">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FEW, BUT BOISTEROUS.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8231}.jpg" alt="{8231} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8231}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was a very quiet man, and went about his business in a quiet way,
+      making the least noise possible. He heartily disliked those boisterous
+      people who were constantly deluging him with advice, and shouting at the
+      tops of their voices whenever they appeared at the White House. &ldquo;These
+      noisy people create a great clamor,&rdquo; said he one day, in conversation with
+      some personal friends, &ldquo;and remind me, by the way, of a good story I heard
+      out in Illinois while I was practicing, or trying to practice, some law
+      there. I will say, though, that I practiced more law than I ever got paid
+      for.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A fellow who lived just out of town, on the bank of a large marsh,
+      conceived a big idea in the money-making line. He took it to a prominent
+      merchant, and began to develop his plans and specifications. &lsquo;There are at
+      least ten million frogs in that marsh near me, an&rsquo; I&rsquo;ll just arrest a
+      couple of carloads of them and hand them over to you. You can send them to
+      the big cities and make lots of money for both of us. Frogs&rsquo; legs are
+      great delicacies in the big towns, an&rsquo; not very plentiful. It won&rsquo;t take
+      me more&rsquo;n two or three days to pick &lsquo;em. They make so much noise my family
+      can&rsquo;t sleep, and by this deal I&rsquo;ll get rid of a nuisance and gather in
+      some cash.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The merchant agreed to the proposition, promised the fellow he would pay
+      him well for the two carloads. Two days passed, then three, and finally
+      two weeks were gone before the fellow showed up again, carrying a small
+      basket. He looked weary and &lsquo;done up,&rsquo; and he wasn&rsquo;t talkative a bit. He
+      threw the basket on the counter with the remark, &lsquo;There&rsquo;s your frogs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;You haven&rsquo;t two carloads in that basket, have you?&rsquo; inquired the
+      merchant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;No,&rsquo; was the reply, &lsquo;and there ain&rsquo;t no two carloads in all this blasted
+      world.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I thought you said there were at least ten millions of &lsquo;em in that marsh
+      near you, according to the noise they made,&rsquo; observed the merchant. &lsquo;Your
+      people couldn&rsquo;t sleep because of &lsquo;em.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well,&rsquo; said the fellow, &lsquo;accordin&rsquo; to the noise they made, there was, I
+      thought, a hundred million of &lsquo;em, but when I had waded and swum that
+      there marsh day and night fer two blessed weeks, I couldn&rsquo;t harvest but
+      six. There&rsquo;s two or three left yet, an&rsquo; the marsh is as noisy as it uster
+      be. We haven&rsquo;t catched up on any of our lost sleep yet. Now, you can have
+      these here six, an&rsquo; I won&rsquo;t charge you a cent fer &lsquo;em.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can see by this little yarn,&rdquo; remarked the President, &ldquo;that these
+      boisterous people make too much noise in proportion to their numbers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0272" id="link2H_4_0272">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      KEEP PEGGING AWAY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Being asked one time by an &ldquo;anxious&rdquo; visitor as to what he would do in
+      certain contingencies&mdash;provided the rebellion was not subdued after
+      three or four years of effort on the part of the Government?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; replied the President, &ldquo;there is no alternative but to keep
+      &lsquo;pegging&rsquo; away!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0273" id="link2H_4_0273">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BEWARE OF THE TAIL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      After the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation, Governor Morgan, of New
+      York, was at the White House one day, when the President said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not agree with those who say that slavery is dead. We are like
+      whalers who have been long on a chase&mdash;we have at last got the
+      harpoon into the monster, but we must now look how we steer, or, with one
+      &lsquo;flop&rsquo; of his tail, he will yet send us all into eternity!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0274" id="link2H_4_0274">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;LINCOLN&rsquo;S DREAM.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was depicted as a headsman in a cartoon printed in
+      &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated Newspaper,&rdquo; on February 14, 1863, the title of
+      the picture being &ldquo;Lincoln&rsquo;s Dreams; or, There&rsquo;s a Good Time Coming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0233}.jpg" alt="{0233}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0233}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      The cartoon, reproduced here, represents, on the right, the Union Generals
+      who had been defeated by the Confederates in battle, and had suffered
+      decapitation in consequence&mdash;McDowell, who lost at Bull Run;
+      McClellan, who failed to take Richmond, when within twelve miles of that
+      city and no opposition, comparatively; and Burnside, who was so badly
+      whipped at Fredericksburg. To the left of the block, where the President
+      is standing with the bloody axe in his hand, are shown the members of the
+      Cabinet&mdash;Secretary of State Seward, Secretary of War Stanton,
+      Secretary of the Navy Welles, and others&mdash;each awaiting his turn.
+      This part of the &ldquo;Dream&rdquo; was never realized, however, as the President did
+      not decapitate any of his Cabinet officers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the idea of the cartoonist to hold Lincoln up as a man who would
+      not countenance failure upon the part of subordinates, but visit the
+      severest punishment upon those commanders who did not win victories. After
+      Burnside&rsquo;s defeat at Fredericksburg, he was relieved by Hooker, who
+      suffered disaster at Chancellorsville; Hooker was relieved by Meade, who
+      won at Gettysburg, but was refused promotion because he did not follow up
+      and crush Lee; Rosecrans was all but defeated at Chickamauga, and gave way
+      to Grant, who, of all the Union commanders, had never suffered defeat.
+      Grant was Lincoln&rsquo;s ideal fighting man, and the &ldquo;Old Commander&rdquo; was never
+      superseded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0275" id="link2H_4_0275">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THERE WAS NO NEED OF A STORY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Dr. Hovey, of Dansville, New York, thought he would call and see the
+      President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon arriving at the White House he found the President on horseback,
+      ready for a start.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Approaching him, he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;President Lincoln, I thought I would call and see you before leaving the
+      city, and hear you tell a story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President greeted him pleasantly, and asked where he was from.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From Western New York.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s a good enough country without stories,&rdquo; replied the
+      President, and off he rode.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0276" id="link2H_4_0276">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN A MAN OF SIMPLE HABITS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s habits at the White House were as simple as they were at his old
+      home in Illinois.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He never alluded to himself as &ldquo;President,&rdquo; or as occupying &ldquo;the
+      Presidency.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His office he always designated as &ldquo;the place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Call me Lincoln,&rdquo; said he to a friend; &ldquo;Mr. President&rdquo; had become so very
+      tiresome to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you see a newsboy down the street, send him up this way,&rdquo; said he to a
+      passenger, as he stood waiting for the morning news at his gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Friends cautioned him about exposing himself so openly in the midst of
+      enemies; but he never heeded them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He frequently walked the streets at night, entirely unprotected; and felt
+      any check upon his movements a great annoyance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He delighted to see his familiar Western friends; and he gave them always
+      a cordial welcome.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He met them on the old footing, and fell at once into the accustomed
+      habits of talk and story-telling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An old acquaintance, with his wife, visited Washington. Mr. and Mrs.
+      Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the Presidential carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It should be stated in advance that the two men had probably never seen
+      each other with gloves on in their lives, unless when they were used as
+      protection from the cold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The question of each&mdash;Lincoln at the White House, and his friend at
+      the hotel&mdash;was, whether he should wear gloves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of course the ladies urged gloves; but Lincoln only put his in his pocket,
+      to be used or not, according to the circumstances.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, to take in their
+      friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his wife&rsquo;s persuasions,
+      very handsomely gloved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moment he took his seat he began to draw off the clinging kids, while
+      Lincoln began to draw his on!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! no! no!&rdquo; protested his friend, tugging at his gloves. &ldquo;It is none of
+      my doings; put up your gloves, Mr. Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and had their ride
+      after their old fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0277" id="link2H_4_0277">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS LAST SPEECH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was reading the draft of a speech. Edward, the
+      conservative but dignified butler of the White House, was seen struggling
+      with Tad and trying to drag him back from the window from which was waving
+      a Confederate flag, captured in some fight and given to the boy. Edward
+      conquered and Tad, rushing to find his father, met him coming forward to
+      make, as it proved, his last speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The speech began with these words, &ldquo;We meet this evening, not in sorrow,
+      but in gladness of heart.&rdquo; Having his speech written in loose leaves, and
+      being compelled to hold a candle in the other hand, he would let the loose
+      leaves drop to the floor one by one. &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; picked them up as they fell,
+      and impatiently called for more as they fell from his father&rsquo;s hand.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0237}.jpg" alt="{0237}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0237}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0238}.jpg" alt="{0238}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0238}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0278" id="link2H_4_0278">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW BEFORE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln, while entertaining a few select friends, is said to
+      have related the following anecdote of a man who knew too much:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was a careful, painstaking fellow, who always wanted to be absolutely
+      exact, and as a result he frequently got the ill-will of his less careful
+      superiors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the administration of President Jackson there was a singular young
+      gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a neighbor of
+      the President, on which account the old hero had a kind feeling for him,
+      and always got him out of difficulties with some of the higher officials,
+      to whom his singular interference was distasteful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the General
+      Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to Major H., a high
+      official, in answer to an application made by an old gentleman in Virginia
+      or Pennsylvania, for the establishment of a new postoffice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The writer of the letter said the application could not be granted, in
+      consequence of the applicant&rsquo;s &ldquo;proximity&rdquo; to another office.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the letter came into G.&lsquo;s hand to copy, being a great stickler for
+      plainness, he altered &ldquo;proximity&rdquo; to &ldquo;nearness to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; replied G., &ldquo;because I don&rsquo;t think the man would understand what
+      you mean by proximity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Major H., &ldquo;try him; put in the &lsquo;proximity&rsquo; again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which he very
+      indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty in the second war
+      for independence, and he should like to have the name of the scoundrel who
+      brought the charge of proximity or anything else wrong against him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There,&rdquo; said G., &ldquo;did I not say so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the Postmaster-General,
+      said to him: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want you any longer; you know too much.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This time G.&lsquo;s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very busy writing,
+      when a stranger called in and asked him where the Patent Office was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?&rdquo; said the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor the President&rsquo;s house?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you live in Washington, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; said G.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good Lord! and don&rsquo;t you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+      President&rsquo;s house and Capitol are?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stranger,&rdquo; said G., &ldquo;I was turned out of the postoffice for knowing too
+      much. I don&rsquo;t mean to offend in that way again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am paid for keeping this book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything more you
+      may take my head.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good morning,&rdquo; said the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0279" id="link2H_4_0279">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN BELIEVED IN EDUCATION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That every man may receive at least a moderate education, and thereby be
+      enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he
+      may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an
+      object of vital importance; even on this account alone, to say nothing of
+      the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being able to read
+      the Scriptures and other works, both of a religious and moral nature, for
+      themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For my part, I desire to see the time when education, by its means,
+      morality, sobriety, enterprise and integrity, shall become much more
+      general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power to
+      contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might have a
+      tendency to accelerate the happy period.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0280" id="link2H_4_0280">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN ON THE DRED SCOTT DECISION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 26th, 1857, Lincoln referred to
+      the decision of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, of the United States Supreme
+      Court, in the Dred Scott case, in this manner:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Chief justice does not directly assert, but plainly assumes as a
+      fact, that the public estimate of the black man is more favorable now than
+      it was in the days of the Revolution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In those days, by common consent, the spread of the black man&rsquo;s bondage
+      in the new countries was prohibited; but now Congress decides that it will
+      not continue the prohibition, and the Supreme Court decides that it could
+      not if it would.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all,
+      and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the
+      negro universal and eternal, it is assailed and sneered at, and
+      constructed and hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from
+      their graves, they could not at all recognize it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All the powers of earth seem combining against the slave; Mammon is after
+      him, ambition follows, philosophy follows, and the theology of the day is
+      fast joining the cry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0281" id="link2H_4_0281">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN MADE MANY NOTABLE SPEECHES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Abraham Lincoln made many notable addresses and speeches during his career
+      previous to the time of his election to the Presidency.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, beautiful in thought and expression as they were, they were not
+      appreciated by those who heard and read them until after the people of the
+      United States and the world had come to understand the man who delivered
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln had the rare and valuable faculty of putting the most sublime
+      feeling into his speeches; and he never found it necessary to incumber his
+      wisest, wittiest and most famous sayings with a weakening mass of words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He put his thoughts into the simplest language, so that all might
+      comprehend, and he never said anything which was not full of the deepest
+      meaning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0282" id="link2H_4_0282">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHAT AILED THE BOYS.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8241}.jpg" alt="{8241} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8241}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Roland Diller, who was one of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s neighbors in Springfield,
+      tells the following:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was called to the door one day by the cries of children in the street,
+      and there was Mr. Lincoln, striding by with two of his boys, both of whom
+      were wailing aloud. &lsquo;Why, Mr. Lincoln, what&rsquo;s the matter with the boys?&rsquo; I
+      asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Just what&rsquo;s the matter with the whole world,&rsquo; Lincoln replied. &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got
+      three walnuts, and each wants two.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0283" id="link2H_4_0283">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TAD&rsquo;S CONFEDERATE FLAG.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the prettiest incidents in the closing days of the Civil War
+      occurred when the troops, &lsquo;marching home again,&rsquo; passed in grand form, if
+      with well-worn uniforms and tattered bunting, before the White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Naturally, an immense crowd had assembled on the streets, the lawns,
+      porches, balconies, and windows, even those of the executive mansion
+      itself being crowded to excess. A central figure was that of the
+      President, Abraham Lincoln, who, with bared head, unfurled and waved our
+      Nation&rsquo;s flag in the midst of lusty cheers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But suddenly there was an unexpected sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A small boy leaned forward and sent streaming to the air the banner of the
+      boys in gray. It was an old flag which had been captured from the
+      Confederates, and which the urchin, the President&rsquo;s second son, Tad, had
+      obtained possession of and considered an additional triumph to unfurl on
+      this all-important day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Vainly did the servant who had followed him to the window plead with him
+      to desist. No, Master Tad, Pet of the White House, was not to be prevented
+      from adding to the loyal demonstration of the hour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To his surprise, however, the crowd viewed it differently. Had it floated
+      from any other window in the capital that day, no doubt it would have been
+      the target of contempt and abuse; but when the President, understanding
+      what had happened, turned, with a smile on his grand, plain face, and
+      showed his approval by a gesture and expression, cheer after cheer rent
+      the air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0284" id="link2H_4_0284">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CALLED BLESSINGS ON THE AMERICAN WOMEN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln attended a Ladies&rsquo; Fair for the benefit of the Union
+      soldiers, at Washington, March 16th, 1864.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In his remarks he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I appear to say but a word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily upon all
+      classes of people, but the most heavily upon the soldiers. For it has been
+      said, &lsquo;All that a man hath will he give for his life,&rsquo; and, while all
+      contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life at stake, and
+      often yields it up in his country&rsquo;s cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The highest merit, then, is due the soldiers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In this extraordinary war extraordinary developments have manifested
+      themselves such as have not been seen in former wars; and among these
+      manifestations nothing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the
+      relief of suffering soldiers and their families, and the chief agents in
+      these fairs are the women of America!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy; I have never
+      studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that if all
+      that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the world in
+      praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them
+      justice for their conduct during the war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will close by saying, God bless the women of America!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0285" id="link2H_4_0285">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S &ldquo;ORDER NO. 252.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8243}.jpg" alt="{8243} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8243}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      After the United States had enlisted former negro slaves as soldiers to
+      fight alongside the Northern troops for the maintenance of the integrity
+      of the Union, so great was the indignation of the Confederate Government
+      that President Davis declared he would not recognize blacks captured in
+      battle and in uniform as prisoners of war. This meant that he would have
+      them returned to their previous owners, have them flogged and fined for
+      running away from their masters, or even shot if he felt like it. This
+      attitude of the President of the Confederate States of America led to the
+      promulgation of President Lincoln&rsquo;s famous &ldquo;Order No. 252,&rdquo; which, in
+      effect, was a notification to the commanding officers of the Southern
+      forces that if negro prisoners of war were not treated as such, the Union
+      commanders would retaliate. &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly&rdquo; of August 15th, 1863,
+      contained a clever cartoon, which we reproduce, representing President
+      Lincoln holding the South by the collar, while &ldquo;Old Abe&rdquo; shouts the
+      following words of warning to Jeff Davis, who, cat-o&rsquo;-nine-tails in hand,
+      is in pursuit of a terrified little negro boy:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      MR. LINCOLN: &ldquo;Look here, Jeff Davis! If you lay a finger on that boy, to
+      hurt him, I&rsquo;ll lick this ugly cub of yours within an inch of his life!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Much to the surprise of the Confederates, the negro soldiers fought
+      valiantly; they were fearless when well led, obeyed orders without
+      hesitation, were amenable to discipline, and were eager and anxious, at
+      all times, to do their duty. In battle they were formidable opponents, and
+      in using the bayonet were the equal of the best trained troops. The
+      Southerners hated them beyond power of expression.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0286" id="link2H_4_0286">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TALKED TO THE NEGROES OF RICHMOND.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President walked through the streets of Richmond&mdash;without a guard
+      except a few seamen&mdash;in company with his son &ldquo;Tad,&rdquo; and Admiral
+      Porter, on April 4th, 1865, the day following the evacuation of the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Colored people gathered about him on every side, eager to see and thank
+      their liberator. Mr. Lincoln addressed the following remarks to one of
+      these gatherings:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My poor friends, you are free&mdash;free as air. You can cast off the
+      name of slave and trample upon it; it will come to you no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Liberty is your birthright. God gave it to you as He gave it to others,
+      and it is a sin that you have been deprived of it for so many years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you must try to deserve this priceless boon. Let the world see that
+      you merit it, and are able to maintain it by your good work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let your joy carry you into excesses; learn the laws, and obey
+      them. Obey God&rsquo;s commandments, and thank Him for giving you liberty, for
+      to Him you owe all things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, now, let me pass on; I have but little time to spare.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I want to see the Capitol, and must return at once to Washington to
+      secure to you that liberty which you seem to prize so highly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0287" id="link2H_4_0287">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; ADDED A SAVING CLAUSE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln fell in love with Miss Mary S. Owens about 1833 or so, and, while
+      she was attracted toward him she was not passionately fond of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s letter of proposal of marriage, sent by him to Miss Owens, while
+      singular, unique, and decidedly unconventional, was certainly not very
+      ardent. He, after the fashion of the lawyer, presented the matter very
+      cautiously, and pleaded his own cause; then presented her side of the
+      case, advised her not &ldquo;to do it,&rdquo; and agreed to abide by her decision.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Owens respected Lincoln, but promptly rejected him&mdash;really very
+      much to &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; relief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0288" id="link2H_4_0288">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW &ldquo;JACK&rdquo; WAS &ldquo;DONE UP.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Not far from New Salem, Illinois, at a place called Clary&rsquo;s Grove, a gang
+      of frontier ruffians had established headquarters, and the champion
+      wrestler of &ldquo;The Grove&rdquo; was &ldquo;Jack&rdquo; Armstrong, a bully of the worst type.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Learning that Abraham was something of a wrestler himself, &ldquo;Jack&rdquo; sent him
+      a challenge. At that time and in that community a refusal would have
+      resulted in social and business ostracism, not to mention the stigma of
+      cowardice which would attach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a great day for New Salem and &ldquo;The Grove&rdquo; when Lincoln and
+      Armstrong met. Settlers within a radius of fifty miles flocked to the
+      scene, and the wagers laid were heavy and many. Armstrong proved a
+      weakling in the hands of the powerful Kentuckian, and &ldquo;Jack&rsquo;s&rdquo; adherents
+      were about to mob Lincoln when the latter&rsquo;s friends saved him from
+      probable death by rushing to the rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0289" id="link2H_4_0289">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ANGELS COULDN&rsquo;T SWEAR IT RIGHT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President was once speaking about an attack made on him by the
+      Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War for a certain alleged
+      blunder in the Southwest&mdash;the matter involved being one which had
+      fallen directly under the observation of the army officer to whom he was
+      talking, who possessed official evidence completely upsetting all the
+      conclusions of the Committee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Might it not be well for me,&rdquo; queried the officer, &ldquo;to set this matter
+      right in a letter to some paper, stating the facts as they actually
+      transpired?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no,&rdquo; replied the President, &ldquo;at least, not now. If I were to try to
+      read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as
+      well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how the
+      very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end
+      brings me out all right, what is said against me won&rsquo;t amount to anything.
+      If the end brings me out wrong, ten thousand angels swearing I was right
+      would make no difference.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0290" id="link2H_4_0290">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MUST GO, AND GO TO STAY.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Ward Hill Lamon was President Lincoln&rsquo;s Cerberus, his watch dog, guardian,
+      friend, companion and confidant. Some days before Lincoln&rsquo;s departure for
+      Washington to be inaugurated, he wrote to Lamon at Bloomington, that he
+      desired to see him at once. He went to Springfield, and Lincoln said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hill, on the 11th I go to Washington, and I want you to go along with me.
+      Our friends have already asked me to send you as Consul to Paris. You know
+      I would cheerfully give you anything for which our friends may ask or
+      which you may desire, but it looks as if we might have war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In that case I want you with me. In fact, I must have you. So get
+      yourself ready and come along. It will be handy to have you around. If
+      there is to be a fight, I want you to help me to do my share of it, as you
+      have done in times past. You must go, and go to stay.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This is Lamon&rsquo;s version of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0291" id="link2H_4_0291">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN WASN&rsquo;T BUYING NOMINATIONS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      To a party who wished to be empowered to negotiate reward for promises of
+      influence in the Chicago Convention, 1860, Mr. Lincoln replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, gentlemen; I have not asked the nomination, and I will not now buy it
+      with pledges.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I am nominated and elected, I shall not go into the Presidency as the
+      tool of this man or that man, or as the property of any factor or clique.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0292" id="link2H_4_0292">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE ENVIED THE SOLDIER AT THE FRONT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      After some very bad news had come in from the army in the field, Lincoln
+      remarked to Schuyler Colfax:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How willingly would I exchange places to-day with the soldier who sleeps
+      on the ground in the Army of the Potomac!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0293" id="link2H_4_0293">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DON&rsquo;T TRUST TOO FAR
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0247}.jpg" alt="{0247}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0247}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      In the campaign of 1852, Lincoln, in reply to Douglas&rsquo; speech, wherein he
+      spoke of confidence in Providence, replied: &ldquo;Let us stand by our candidate
+      (General Scott) as faithfully as he has always stood by our country, and I
+      much doubt if we do not perceive a slight abatement of Judge Douglas&rsquo;
+      confidence in Providence as well as the people. I suspect that confidence
+      is not more firmly fixed with the judge than it was with the old woman
+      whose horse ran away with her in a buggy. She said she &lsquo;trusted in
+      Providence till the britchen broke,&rsquo; and then she &lsquo;didn&rsquo;t know what in
+      airth to do.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0294" id="link2H_4_0294">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE&rsquo;D &ldquo;RISK THE DICTATORSHIP.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s great generosity to his leaders was shown when, in January,
+      1863, he assigned &ldquo;Fighting Joe&rdquo; Hooker to the command of the Army of the
+      Potomac. Hooker had believed in a military dictatorship, and it was an
+      open secret that McClellan might have become such had he possessed the
+      nerve. Lincoln, however, was not bothered by this prattle, as he did not
+      think enough of it to relieve McClellan of his command. The President said
+      to Hooker:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying
+      that both the army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it was
+      not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only
+      those generals who gain success can be dictators.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the
+      dictatorship.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln also believed Hooker had not given cordial support to General
+      Burnside when he was in command of the army. In Lincoln&rsquo;s own peculiarly
+      plain language, he told Hooker that he had done &ldquo;a great wrong to the
+      country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0295" id="link2H_4_0295">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MAJOR GENERAL, I RECKON.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      At one time the President had the appointment of a large additional number
+      of brigadier and major generals. Among the immense number of applications,
+      Mr. Lincoln came upon one wherein the claims of a certain worthy (not in
+      the service at all), &ldquo;for a generalship&rdquo; were glowingly set forth. But the
+      applicant didn&rsquo;t specify whether he wanted to be brigadier or major
+      general.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President observed this difficulty, and solved it by a lucid
+      indorsement. The clerk, on receiving the paper again, found written across
+      its back, &ldquo;Major General, I reckon. A. Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0296" id="link2H_4_0296">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WOULD SEE THE TRACKS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge Herndon, Lincoln&rsquo;s law partner, said that he never saw Lincoln more
+      cheerful than on the day previous to his departure from Springfield for
+      Washington, and Judge Gillespie, who visited him a few days earlier, found
+      him in excellent spirits.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told him that I believed it would do him good to get down to
+      Washington,&rdquo; said Herndon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know it will,&rdquo; Lincoln replied. &ldquo;I only wish I could have got there to
+      lock the door before the horse was stolen. But when I get to the spot, I
+      can find the tracks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0297" id="link2H_4_0297">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; GAVE HER A &ldquo;SURE TIP.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9249}.jpg" alt="{9249}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9249}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      If all the days Lincoln attended school were added together, they would
+      not make a single year&rsquo;s time, and he never studied grammar or geography
+      or any of the higher branches. His first teacher in Indiana was Hazel
+      Dorsey, who opened a school in a log schoolhouse a mile and a half from
+      the Lincoln cabin. The building had holes for windows, which were covered
+      over with greased paper to admit light. The roof was just high enough for
+      a man to stand erect. It did not take long to demonstrate that &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was
+      superior to any scholar in his class. His next teacher was Andrew
+      Crawford, who taught in the winter of 1822-3, in the same little
+      schoolhouse. &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was an excellent speller, and it is said that he liked
+      to show off his knowledge, especially if he could help out his less
+      fortunate schoolmates. One day the teacher gave out the word &ldquo;defied.&rdquo; A
+      large class was on the floor, but it seemed that no one would be able to
+      spell it. The teacher declared he would keep the whole class in all day
+      and night if &ldquo;defied&rdquo; was not spelled correctly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the word came around to Katy Roby, she was standing where she could
+      see young &ldquo;Abe.&rdquo; She started, &ldquo;d-e-f,&rdquo; and while trying to decide whether
+      to spell the word with an &ldquo;i&rdquo; or a &ldquo;y,&rdquo; she noticed that Abe had his
+      finger on his eye and a smile on his face, and instantly took the hint.
+      She spelled the word correctly and school was dismissed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0298" id="link2H_4_0298">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE PRESIDENT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF HIM.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Lincoln never forgot anyone or anything.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      At one of the afternoon receptions at the White House a stranger shook
+      hands with him, and, as he did so, remarked casually, that he was elected
+      to Congress about the time Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s term as representative expired,
+      which happened many years before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;You are from&mdash;&rdquo; (mentioning the State).
+      &ldquo;I remember reading of your election in a newspaper one morning on a
+      steamboat going down to Mount Vernon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At another time a gentleman addressed him, saying, &ldquo;I presume, Mr.
+      President, you have forgotten me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; was the prompt reply; &ldquo;your name is Flood. I saw you last, twelve
+      years ago, at&mdash;&rdquo; (naming the place and the occasion).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad to see,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;that the Flood goes on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Subsequent to his re-election a deputation of bankers from various
+      sections were introduced one day by the Secretary of the Treasury.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a few moments of general conversation, Lincoln turned to one of them
+      and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your district did not give me so strong a vote at the last election as it
+      did in 1860.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think, sir, that you must be mistaken,&rdquo; replied the banker. &ldquo;I have the
+      impression that your majority was considerably increased at the last
+      election.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; rejoined the President, &ldquo;you fell off about six hundred votes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then taking down from the bookcase the official canvass of 1860 and 1864,
+      he referred to the vote of the district named, and proved to be quite
+      right in his assertion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0299" id="link2H_4_0299">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ONLY HALF A MAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As President Lincoln, arm in arm with ex-President Buchanan, entered the
+      Capitol, and passed into the Senate Chamber, filled to overflowing with
+      Senators, members of the Diplomatic Corps, and visitors, the contrast
+      between the two men struck every observer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Buchanan was so withered and bowed with age,&rdquo; wrote George W. Julian,
+      of Indiana, who was among the spectators, &ldquo;that in contrast with the
+      towering form of Mr. Lincoln he seemed little more than half a man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0300" id="link2H_4_0300">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GRANT CONGRATULATED LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As soon as the result of the Presidential election of 1864 was known,
+      General Grant telegraphed from City Point his congratulations, and added
+      that &ldquo;the election having passed off quietly... is a victory worth more to
+      the country than a battle won.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0301" id="link2H_4_0301">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;BRUTUS AND CAESAR.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9251}.jpg" alt="{9251}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9251}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      London &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; persistently maintained throughout the War for the Union
+      that the question of what to do with the blacks was the most bothersome of
+      all the problems President Lincoln had to solve. &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; thought the
+      Rebellion had its origin in an effort to determine whether there should or
+      should not be slavery in the United States, and was fought with this as
+      the main end in view. &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; of August 15th, 1863, contained the cartoon
+      reproduced on this page, the title being &ldquo;Brutus and Caesar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was pictured as Brutus, while the ghost of Caesar, which
+      appeared in the tent of the American Brutus during the dark hours of the
+      night, was represented in the shape of a husky and anything but ghost-like
+      African, whose complexion would tend to make the blackest tar look like
+      skimmed milk in comparison. This was the text below the cartoon: (From the
+      American Edition of Shakespeare.) The Tent of Brutus (Lincoln). Night.
+      Enter the Ghost of Caesar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      BRUTUS: &ldquo;Wall, now! Do tell! Who&rsquo;s you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      CAESAR: &ldquo;I am dy ebil genus, Massa Linking. Dis child am awful
+      impressional!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Punch&rsquo;s&rdquo; cartoons were decidedly unfriendly in tone toward President
+      Lincoln, some of them being not only objectionable in the display of bad
+      taste, but offensive and vulgar. It is true that after the assassination
+      of the President, &ldquo;Punch,&rdquo; in illustrations, paid marked and deserved
+      tribute to the memory of the Great Emancipator, but it had little that was
+      good to say of him while he was among the living and engaged in carrying
+      out the great work for which he was destined to win eternal fame.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0302" id="link2H_4_0302">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW STANTON GOT INTO THE CABINET.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln, well aware of Stanton&rsquo;s unfriendliness, was surprised
+      when Secretary of the Treasury Chase told him that Stanton had expressed
+      the opinion that the arrest of the Confederate Commissioners, Mason and
+      Slidell, was legal and justified by international law. The President asked
+      Secretary Chase to invite Stanton to the White House, and Stanton came.
+      Mr. Lincoln thanked him for the opinion he had expressed, and asked him to
+      put it in writing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stanton complied, the President read it carefully, and, after putting it
+      away, astounded Stanton by offering him the portfolio of War. Stanton was
+      a Democrat, had been one of the President&rsquo;s most persistent vilifiers, and
+      could not realize, at first, that Lincoln meant what he said. He managed,
+      however to say:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am both surprised and embarrassed, Mr. President, and would ask a
+      couple of days to consider this most important matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln fully understood what was going on in Stanton&rsquo;s mind, and then
+      said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is a very critical period in the life of the nation, Mr. Stanton, as
+      you are well aware, and I well know you are as much interested in
+      sustaining the government as myself or any other man. This is no time to
+      consider mere party issues. The life of the nation is in danger. I need
+      the best counsellors around me. I have every confidence in your judgment,
+      and have concluded to ask you to become one of my counsellors. The office
+      of the Secretary of War will soon be vacant, and I am anxious to have you
+      take Mr. Cameron&rsquo;s place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Stanton decided to accept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkfather" id="linkfather">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; LIKE HIS FATHER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; Lincoln&rsquo;s father was never at loss for an answer. An old neighbor of
+      Thomas Lincoln&mdash;&ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; father&mdash;was passing the Lincoln farm one
+      day, when he saw &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; father grubbing up some hazelnut bushes, and said
+      to him: &ldquo;Why, Grandpap, I thought you wanted to sell your farm?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And so I do,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;but I ain&rsquo;t goin&rsquo; to let my farm know it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rsquo; jes&rsquo; like his father,&rdquo; the old ones would say.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0303" id="link2H_4_0303">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;NO MOON AT ALL.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the most notable of Lincoln&rsquo;s law cases was that in which he
+      defended William D. Armstrong, charged with murder. The case was one which
+      was watched during its progress with intense interest, and it had a most
+      dramatic ending.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The defendant was the son of Jack and Hannah Armstrong. The father was
+      dead, but Hannah, who had been very motherly and helpful to Lincoln during
+      his life at New Salem, was still living, and asked Lincoln to defend him.
+      Young Armstrong had been a wild lad, and was often in bad company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The principal witness had sworn that he saw young Armstrong strike the
+      fatal blow, the moon being very bright at the time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln brought forward the almanac, which showed that at the time the
+      murder was committed there was no moon at all. In his argument, Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      speech was so feelingly made that at its close all the men in the jury-box
+      were in tears. It was just half an hour when the jury returned a verdict
+      of acquittal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln would accept no fee except the thanks of the anxious mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0304" id="link2H_4_0304">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; A SUPERB MIMIC.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s reading in his early days embraced a wide range. He was
+      particularly fond of all stories containing fun, wit and humor, and every
+      one of these he came across he learned by heart, thus adding to his
+      personal store.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He improved as a reciter and retailer of the stories he had read and
+      heard, and as the reciter of tales of his own invention, and he had ready
+      and eager auditors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Judge Herndon, in his &ldquo;Abraham Lincoln,&rdquo; relates that as a mimic Lincoln
+      was unequalled. An old neighbor said: &ldquo;His laugh was striking. Such
+      awkward gestures belonged to no other man. They attracted universal
+      attention, from the old and sedate down to the schoolboy. Then, in a few
+      moments, he was as calm and thoughtful as a judge on the bench, and as
+      ready to give advice on the most important matters; fun and gravity grew
+      on him alike.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0305" id="link2H_4_0305">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHY HE WAS CALLED &ldquo;HONEST ABE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the year Lincoln was in Denton Offutt&rsquo;s store at New Salem, that
+      gentleman, whose business was somewhat widely and unwisely spread about
+      the country, ceased to prosper in his finances and finally failed. The
+      store was shut up, the mill was closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of
+      business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The year had been one of great advance, in many respects. He had made new
+      and valuable acquaintances, read many books, mastered the grammar of his
+      own tongue, won multitudes of friends, and became ready for a step still
+      further in advance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Those who could appreciate brains respected him, and those whose ideas of
+      a man related to his muscles were devoted to him. It was while he was
+      performing the work of the store that he acquired the sobriquet of &ldquo;Honest
+      Abe&rdquo;&mdash;a characterization he never dishonored, and an abbreviation
+      that he never outgrew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was judge, arbitrator, referee, umpire, authority, in all disputes,
+      games and matches of man-flesh, horse-flesh, a pacificator in all
+      quarrels; everybody&rsquo;s friend; the best-natured, the most sensible, the
+      best-informed, the most modest and unassuming, the kindest, gentlest,
+      roughest, strongest, best fellow in all New Salem and the region round
+      about.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0255}.jpg" alt="{0255}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0255}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0256}.jpg" alt="{0256}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0256}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0306" id="link2H_4_0306">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; NAME REMAINED ON THE SIGN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Enduring friendship and love of old associations were prominent
+      characteristics of President Lincoln. When about to leave Springfield for
+      Washington, he went to the dingy little law office which had sheltered his
+      saddest hours.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat down on the couch, and said to his law partner, Judge Herndon:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Billy, you and I have been together for more than twenty years, and have
+      never passed a word. Will you let my name stay on the old sign until I
+      come back from Washington?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The tears started to Herndon&rsquo;s eyes. He put out his hand. &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln,&rdquo;
+       said he, &ldquo;I never will have any other partner while you live&rdquo;; and to the
+      day of assassination, all the doings of the firm were in the name of
+      &ldquo;Lincoln &amp; Herndon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0307" id="link2H_4_0307">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      VERY HOMELY AT FIRST SIGHT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Early in January, 1861, Colonel Alex. K. McClure, of Philadelphia,
+      received a telegram from President-elect Lincoln, asking him (McClure) to
+      visit him at Springfield, Illinois. Colonel McClure described his
+      disappointment at first sight of Lincoln in these words:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I went directly from the depot to Lincoln&rsquo;s house and rang the bell,
+      which was answered by Lincoln himself opening the door. I doubt whether a
+      wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tall, gaunt, ungainly, ill clad, with a homeliness of manner that was
+      unique in itself, I confess that my heart sank within me as I remembered
+      that this was the man chosen by a great nation to become its ruler in the
+      gravest period of its history.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I remember his dress as if it were but yesterday&mdash;snuff-colored and
+      slouchy pantaloons, open black vest, held by a few brass buttons; straight
+      or evening dresscoat, with tightly fitting sleeves to exaggerate his long,
+      bony arms, and all supplemented by an awkwardness that was uncommon among
+      men of intelligence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such was the picture I met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We sat down
+      in his plainly furnished parlor, and were uninterrupted during the nearly
+      four hours that I remained with him, and little by little, as his
+      earnestness, sincerity and candor were developed in conversation, I forgot
+      all the grotesque qualities which so confounded me when I first greeted
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0308" id="link2H_4_0308">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE MAN TO TRUST.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If a man is honest in his mind,&rdquo; said Lincoln one day, long before he
+      became President, &ldquo;you are pretty safe in trusting him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0309" id="link2H_4_0309">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;WUZ GOIN&rsquo; TER BE &lsquo;HITCHED.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; nephew&mdash;or one of them&mdash;related a story in connection
+      with Lincoln&rsquo;s first love (Anne Rutledge), and his subsequent marriage to
+      Miss Mary Todd. This nephew was a plain, every-day farmer, and thought
+      everything of his uncle, whose greatness he quite thoroughly appreciated,
+      although he did not pose to any extreme as the relative of a President of
+      the United States.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Said he one day, in telling his story:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Us child&rsquo;en, w&rsquo;en we heerd Uncle &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; wuz a-goin&rsquo; to be married, axed
+      Gran&rsquo;ma ef Uncle &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; never hed hed a gal afore, an&rsquo; she says, sez she,
+      &lsquo;Well, &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; wuz never a han&rsquo; nohow to run &lsquo;round visitin&rsquo; much, or go
+      with the gals, neither, but he did fall in love with a Anne Rutledge, who
+      lived out near Springfield, an&rsquo; after she died he&rsquo;d come home an&rsquo; ev&rsquo;ry
+      time he&rsquo;d talk &lsquo;bout her, he cried dreadful. He never could talk of her
+      nohow &lsquo;thout he&rsquo;d jes&rsquo; cry an&rsquo; cry, like a young feller.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Onct he tol&rsquo; Gran&rsquo;ma they wuz goin&rsquo; ter be hitched, they havin&rsquo; promised
+      each other, an&rsquo; thet is all we ever heered &lsquo;bout it. But, so it wuz, that
+      arter Uncle &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; hed got over his mournin&rsquo;, he wuz married ter a woman
+      w&rsquo;ich hed lived down in Kentuck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; hisself tol&rsquo; us he wuz married the nex&rsquo; time he come up ter
+      our place, an&rsquo; w&rsquo;en we ast him why he didn&rsquo;t bring his wife up to see us,
+      he said: &lsquo;She&rsquo;s very busy and can&rsquo;t come.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But we knowed better&rsquo;n that. He wuz too proud to bring her up, &rsquo;cause
+      nothin&rsquo; would suit her, nohow. She wuzn&rsquo;t raised the way we wuz, an&rsquo; wuz
+      different from us, and we heerd, tu, she wuz as proud as cud be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, an&rsquo; he never brought none uv the child&rsquo;en, neither.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But then, Uncle &lsquo;Abe,&rsquo; he wuzn&rsquo;t to blame. We never thought he wuz stuck
+      up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0310" id="link2H_4_0310">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE PROPOSED TO SAVE THE UNION.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Replying to an editorial written by Horace Greeley, the President wrote:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or to
+      destroy slavery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I
+      could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do
+      that.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it
+      helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not
+      believe it would help to save the Union.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause,
+      and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0311" id="link2H_4_0311">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9259}.jpg" alt="{9259}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9259}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE SAME OLD RUM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of President Lincoln&rsquo;s friends, visiting at the White House, was
+      finding considerable fault with the constant agitation in Congress of the
+      slavery question. He remarked that, after the adoption of the Emancipation
+      policy, he had hoped for something new.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was a man down in Maine,&rdquo; said the President, in reply, &ldquo;who kept a
+      grocery store, and a lot of fellows used to loaf around for their toddy.
+      He only gave &lsquo;em New England rum, and they drank pretty considerable of
+      it. But after awhile they began to get tired of that, and kept asking for
+      something new&mdash;something new&mdash;all the time. Well, one night,
+      when the whole crowd were around, the grocer brought out his glasses, and
+      says he, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got something New for you to drink, boys, now.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Honor bright?&rsquo; said they.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Honor bright,&rsquo; says he, and with that he sets out a jug. &lsquo;Thar&rsquo; says he,
+      &lsquo;that&rsquo;s something new; it&rsquo;s New England rum!&rsquo; says he.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; remarked the President, in conclusion, &ldquo;I guess we&rsquo;re a good deal
+      like that crowd, and Congress is a good deal like that store-keeper!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0312" id="link2H_4_0312">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SAVED LINCOLN&rsquo;S LIFE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Mr. Lincoln was quite a small boy he met with an accident that almost
+      cost him his life. He was saved by Austin Gollaher, a young playmate. Mr.
+      Gollaher lived to be more than ninety years of age, and to the day of his
+      death related with great pride his boyhood association with Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; Mr. Gollaher once said, &ldquo;the story that I once saved Abraham
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s life is true. He and I had been going to school together for a
+      year or more, and had become greatly attached to each other. Then school
+      disbanded on account of there being so few scholars, and we did not see
+      each other much for a long while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One Sunday my mother visited the Lincolns, and I was taken along. &lsquo;Abe&rsquo;
+      and I played around all day. Finally, we concluded to cross the creek to
+      hunt for some partridges young Lincoln had seen the day before. The creek
+      was swollen by a recent rain, and, in crossing on the narrow footlog,
+      &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; fell in. Neither of us could swim. I got a long pole and held it out
+      to &lsquo;Abe,&rsquo; who grabbed it. Then I pulled him ashore.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was almost dead, and I was badly scared. I rolled and pounded him in
+      good earnest. Then I got him by the arms and shook him, the water
+      meanwhile pouring out of his mouth. By this means I succeeded in bringing
+      him to, and he was soon all right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then a new difficulty confronted us. If our mothers discovered our wet
+      clothes they would whip us. This we dreaded from experience, and
+      determined to avoid. It was June, the sun was very warm, and we soon dried
+      our clothing by spreading it on the rocks about us. We promised never to
+      tell the story, and I never did until after Lincoln&rsquo;s tragic end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0313" id="link2H_4_0313">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WOULD NOT RECALL A SINGLE WORD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In conversation with some friends at the White House on New Year&rsquo;s
+      evening, 1863, President Lincoln said, concerning his Emancipation
+      Proclamation:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand was tired, but my
+      resolution was firm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told them in September, if they did not return to their allegiance, and
+      cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at this pillar of their
+      strength.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now the promise shall be kept, and not one word of it will I ever
+      recall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0314" id="link2H_4_0314">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      OLD BROOM BEST AFTER ALL.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9261}.jpg" alt="{9261}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9261}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      During the time the enemies of General Grant were making their bitterest
+      attacks upon him, and demanding that the President remove him from
+      command, &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated Newspaper,&rdquo; of June 13, 1863, came
+      out with the cartoon reproduced. The text printed under the picture was to
+      the following effect:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      OLD ABE: &ldquo;Greeley be hanged! I want no more new brooms. I begin to think
+      that the worst thing about my old ones was in not being handled right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The old broom the President holds in his right hand is labeled &ldquo;Grant.&rdquo;
+       The latter had captured Fort Donelson, defeated the Confederates at
+      Shiloh, Iuka, Port Gibson, and other places, and had Vicksburg in his iron
+      grasp. When the demand was made that Lincoln depose Grant, the President
+      answered, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t spare this man; he fights!&rdquo; Grant never lost a battle
+      and when he found the enemy he always fought him. McClellan, Burnside,
+      Pope and Hooker had been found wanting, so Lincoln pinned his faith to
+      Grant. As noted in the cartoon, Horace Greeley, editor of the New York
+      Tribune, Thurlow Weed, and others wanted Lincoln to try some other new
+      brooms, but President Lincoln was wearied with defeats, and wanted a few
+      victories to offset them. Therefore; he stood by Grant, who gave him
+      victories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0315" id="link2H_4_0315">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOD WITH A LITTLE &ldquo;g.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Abraham Lincoln
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;his hand and pen
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          he will be good
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;but god Knows When
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      These lines were found written in young Lincoln&rsquo;s own hand at the bottom
+      of a page whereon he had been ciphering. Lincoln always wrote a clear,
+      regular &ldquo;fist.&rdquo; In this instance he evidently did not appreciate the
+      sacredness of the name of the Deity, when he used a little &ldquo;g.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln once said he did not remember the time when he could not write.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0316" id="link2H_4_0316">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; LOG.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was the custom in Sangamon for the &ldquo;menfolks&rdquo; to gather at noon and in
+      the evening, when resting, in a convenient lane near the mill. They had
+      rolled out a long peeled log, on which they lounged while they whittled
+      and talked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln had not been long in Sangamon before he joined this circle. At
+      once he became a favorite by his jokes and good-humor. As soon as he
+      appeared at the assembly ground the men would start him to story-telling.
+      So irresistibly droll were his &ldquo;yarns&rdquo; that whenever he&rsquo;d end up in his
+      unexpected way the boys on the log would whoop and roll off. The result of
+      the rolling off was to polish the log like a mirror. The men, recognizing
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s part in this polishing, christened their seat &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s log.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Long after Lincoln had disappeared from Sangamon, &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s log&rdquo; remained,
+      and until it had rotted away people pointed it out, and repeated the droll
+      stories of the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0317" id="link2H_4_0317">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IT WAS A FINE FIZZLE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9263}.jpg" alt="{9263}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9263}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln, in company with General Grant, was inspecting the Dutch
+      Gap Canal at City Point. &ldquo;Grant, do you know what this reminds me of? Out
+      in Springfield, Ill., there was a blacksmith who, not having much to do,
+      took a piece of soft iron and attempted to weld it into an agricultural
+      implement, but discovered that the iron would not hold out; then he
+      concluded it would make a claw hammer; but having too much iron, attempted
+      to make an ax, but decided after working awhile that there was not enough
+      iron left. Finally, becoming disgusted, he filled the forge full of coal
+      and brought the iron to a white heat; then with his tongs he lifted it
+      from the bed of coals, and thrusting it into a tub of water near by,
+      exclaimed: &lsquo;Well, if I can&rsquo;t make anything else of you, I will make a
+      fizzle, anyhow.&rsquo;&rdquo; &ldquo;I was afraid that was about what we had done with the
+      Dutch Gap Canal,&rdquo; said General Grant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0318" id="link2H_4_0318">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A TEETOTALER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln was in the Black Hawk War as captain, the volunteer soldiers
+      drank in with delight the jests and stories of the tall captain. Aesop&rsquo;s
+      Fables were given a new dress, and the tales of the wild adventures that
+      he had brought from Kentucky and Indiana were many, but his inspiration
+      was never stimulated by recourse to the whisky jug.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When his grateful and delighted auditors pressed this on him he had one
+      reply: &ldquo;Thank you, I never drink it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0319" id="link2H_4_0319">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOT TO &ldquo;OPEN SHOP&rdquo; THERE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was passing down Pennsylvania avenue in Washington one
+      day, when a man came running after him, hailed him, and thrust a bundle of
+      papers in his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It angered him not a little, and he pitched the papers back, saying, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m
+      not going to open shop here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0320" id="link2H_4_0320">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WE HAVE LIBERTY OF ALL KINDS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln delivered a remarkable speech at Springfield, Illinois, when but
+      twenty-eight years of age, upon the liberty possessed by the people of the
+      United States.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In part, he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the American
+      people, find our account running under date of the nineteenth century of
+      the Christian era.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of
+      the earth as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity
+      of climate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We find ourselves under the government of a system of political
+      institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious
+      liberty than any of which history of former times tells us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal
+      inheritors of these fundamental blessings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We toiled not in the acquisition or establishment of them; they are a
+      legacy bequeathed to us by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now
+      lamented and departed race of ancestors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Theirs was the task (and nobly did they perform it) to possess
+      themselves, us, of this goodly land, to uprear upon its hills and valleys
+      a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; &lsquo;tis ours to transmit
+      these&mdash;the former unprofaned by the foot of an intruder, the latter
+      undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by usurpation&mdash;to the
+      generation that fate shall permit the world to know.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This task, gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to
+      posterity&mdash;all imperatively require us faithfully to perform.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How, then, shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect the
+      approach of danger?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the ocean and
+      crush us at a blow?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa, combined, with all the
+      treasures of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a
+      Bonaparte for a commander, could not, by force, take a drink from the
+      Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At what point, then, is this approach of danger to be expected?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I answer, if ever it reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot
+      come from abroad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by suicide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope I am not over-wary; but, if I am not, there is even now something
+      of ill-omen amongst us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country, the
+      disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions in lieu of the
+      sober judgment of courts, and the worse than savage mobs for the executive
+      ministers of justice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This disposition is awfully fearful in any community, and that it now
+      exists in ours, though grating to our feelings to admit it, it would be a
+      violation of truth and an insult to deny.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Accounts of outrages committed by mobs form the every-day news of the
+      times.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They have pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana; they are
+      neither peculiar to the eternal snows of the former, nor the burning sun
+      of the latter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are not the creatures of climate, neither are they confined to the
+      slave-holding or non-slave-holding States.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alike they spring up among the pleasure-hunting Southerners and the
+      order-loving citizens of the land of steady habits.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whatever, then, their cause may be, it is common to the whole country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they may
+      undertake, may ever be found, whose ambition would aspire to nothing
+      beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or Presidential chair; but such
+      belong not to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a
+      Napoleon? Never!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto
+      unexplored.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seeks no distinction in adding story to story upon the monuments of
+      fame, erected to the memory of others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It scorns to tread in the footpaths of any predecessor, however
+      illustrious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It thirsts and burns for distinction, and, if possible, it will have it,
+      whether at the expense of emancipating the slaves or enslaving freemen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Another reason which once was, but which to the same extent is now no
+      more, has done much in maintaining our institutions thus far.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean the powerful influence which the interesting scenes of the
+      Revolution had upon the passions of the people, as distinguished from
+      their judgment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But these histories are gone. They can be read no more forever. They were
+      a fortress of strength.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what the invading foeman could never do, the silent artillery of time
+      has done, the levelling of the walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They were a forest of giant oaks, but the all-resisting hurricane swept
+      over them and left only here and there a lone trunk, despoiled of its
+      verdure, shorn of its foliage, unshading and unshaded, to murmur in a few
+      more gentle breezes and to combat with its mutilated limbs a few more rude
+      storms, then to sink and be no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They were the pillars of the temple of liberty, and now that they have
+      crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, the descendants, supply
+      the places with pillars hewn from the same solid quarry of sober reason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Passion has helped us, but can do so no more. It will in future be our
+      enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Reason&mdash;cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason&mdash;must furnish
+      all the materials for our support and defense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let those materials be molded into general intelligence, sound morality,
+      and, in particular, a reverence for the Constitution and the laws; and
+      then our country shall continue to improve, and our nation, revering his
+      name, and permitting no hostile foot to pass or desecrate his
+      resting-place, shall be the first to hear the last trump that shall awaken
+      our Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest as the rock of its basis,
+      and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution, &lsquo;the gates
+      of hell shall not prevail against it.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0321" id="link2H_4_0321">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TOM CORWINS&rsquo;S LATEST STORY.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9267}.jpg" alt="{9267}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9267}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      One of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s warm friends was Dr. Robert Boal, of Lacon, Illinois.
+      Telling of a visit he paid to the White House soon after Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      inauguration, he said: &ldquo;I found him the same Lincoln as a struggling
+      lawyer and politician that I did in Washington as President of the United
+      States, yet there was a dignity and self-possession about him in his high
+      official authority. I paid him a second call in the evening. He had thrown
+      off his reserve somewhat, and would walk up and down the room with his
+      hands to his sides and laugh at the joke he was telling, or at one that
+      was told to him. I remember one story he told to me on this occasion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tom Corwin, of Ohio, had been down to Alexandria, Va., that day and had
+      come back and told Lincoln a story which pleased him so much that he broke
+      out in a hearty laugh and said: &lsquo;I must tell you Tom Corwin&rsquo;s latest. Tom
+      met an old man at Alexandria who knew George Washington, and he told Tom
+      that George Washington often swore. Now, Corwin&rsquo;s father had always held
+      the father of our country up as a faultless person and told his son to
+      follow in his footsteps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;"Well,&rdquo; said Corwin, &ldquo;when I heard that George Washington was addicted
+      to the vices and infirmities of man, I felt so relieved that I just
+      shouted for joy.&rdquo;&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0322" id="link2H_4_0322">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;CATCH &lsquo;EM AND CHEAT &lsquo;EM.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      The lawyers on the circuit traveled by Lincoln got together one night and
+      tried him on the charge of accepting fees which tended to lower the
+      established rates. It was the understood rule that a lawyer should accept
+      all the client could be induced to pay. The tribunal was known as &ldquo;The
+      Ogmathorial Court.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ward Lamon, his law partner at the time, tells about it:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln was found guilty and fined for his awful crime against the
+      pockets of his brethren of the bar. The fine he paid with great good
+      humor, and then kept the crowd of lawyers in uproarious laughter until
+      after midnight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He persisted in his revolt, however, declaring that with his consent his
+      firm should never during its life, or after its dissolution, deserve the
+      reputation enjoyed by those shining lights of the profession, &lsquo;Catch &lsquo;em
+      and Cheat &lsquo;em.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0323" id="link2H_4_0323">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A JURYMAN&rsquo;S SCORN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln had assisted in the prosecution of a man who had robbed his
+      neighbor&rsquo;s hen roosts. Jogging home along the highway with the foreman of
+      the jury that had convicted the hen stealer, he was complimented by
+      Lincoln on the zeal and ability of the prosecution, and remarked: &ldquo;Why,
+      when the country was young, and I was stronger than I am now, I didn&rsquo;t
+      mind packing off a sheep now and again, but stealing hens!&rdquo; The good man&rsquo;s
+      scorn could not find words to express his opinion of a man who would steal
+      hens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0324" id="link2H_4_0324">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE &ldquo;BROKE&rdquo; TO WIN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A lawyer, who was a stranger to Mr. Lincoln, once expressed to General
+      Linder the opinion that Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s practice of telling stories to the
+      jury was a waste of time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t lay that flattering unction to your soul,&rdquo; Linder answered;
+      &ldquo;Lincoln is like Tansey&rsquo;s horse, he &lsquo;breaks to win.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0325" id="link2H_4_0325">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WANTED HER CHILDREN BACK.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0269}.jpg" alt="{0269}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0269}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      On the 3rd of January, 1863, &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly&rdquo; appeared with a cartoon
+      representing Columbia indignantly demanding of President Lincoln and
+      Secretary of War Stanton that they restore to her those of her sons killed
+      in battle. Below the picture is the reading matter:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      COLUMBIA: &ldquo;Where are my 15,000 sons&mdash;murdered at Fredericksburg?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      LINCOLN: &ldquo;This reminds me of a little joke&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      COLUMBIA: &ldquo;Go tell your joke at Springfield!!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The battle of Fredericksburg was fought on December 13th, 1862, between
+      General Burnside, commanding the Army of the Potomac, and General Lee&rsquo;s
+      force. The Union troops, time and again, assaulted the heights where the
+      Confederates had taken position, but were driven back with frightful
+      losses. The enemy, being behind breastworks, suffered comparatively
+      little. At the beginning of the fight the Confederate line was broken, but
+      the result of the engagement was disastrous to the Union cause. Burnside
+      had one thousand one hundred and fifty-two killed, nine thousand one
+      hundred and one wounded, and three thousand two hundred and thirty-four
+      missing, a total of thirteen thousand seven hundred and seventy-one.
+      General Lee&rsquo;s losses, all told, were not much more than five thousand men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Burnside had succeeded McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac,
+      mainly, it was said, through the influence of Secretary of War Stanton.
+      Three months before, McClellan had defeated Lee at Antietam, the bloodiest
+      battle of the War, Lee&rsquo;s losses footing up more than thirteen thousand
+      men. At Fredericksburg, Burnside had about one hundred and twenty thousand
+      men; at Antietam, McClellan had about eighty thousand. It has been
+      maintained that Burnside should not have fought this battle, the chances
+      of success being so few.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0326" id="link2H_4_0326">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SIX FEET FOUR AT SEVENTEEN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; school teacher, Crawford, endeavored to teach his pupils some of
+      the manners of the &ldquo;polite society&rdquo; of Indiana&mdash;1823 or so. This was
+      a part of his system:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the pupils would retire, and then come in as a stranger, and
+      another pupil would have to introduce him to all the members of the school
+      n what was considered &ldquo;good manners.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; wore a linsey-woolsey shirt, buckskin breeches which were too
+      short and very tight, and low shoes, and was tall and awkward, he no doubt
+      created considerable merriment when his turn came. He was growing at a
+      fearful rate; he was fifteen years of age, and two years later attained
+      his full height of six feet four inches.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0327" id="link2H_4_0327">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HAD RESPECT FOR THE EGGS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Early in 1831, &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was one of the guests of honor at a boat-launching,
+      he and two others having built the craft. The affair was a notable one,
+      people being present from the territory surrounding. A large party came
+      from Springfield with an ample supply of whisky, to give the boat and its
+      builders a send-off. It was a sort of bipartisan mass-meeting, but there
+      was one prevailing spirit, that born of rye and corn. Speeches were made
+      in the best of feeling, some in favor of Andrew Jackson and some in favor
+      of Henry Clay. Abraham Lincoln, the cook, told a number of funny stories,
+      and it is recorded that they were not of too refined a character to suit
+      the taste of his audience. A sleight-of-hand performer was present, and
+      among other tricks performed, he fried some eggs in Lincoln&rsquo;s hat. Judge
+      Herndon says, as explanatory to the delay in passing up the hat for the
+      experiment, Lincoln drolly observed: &ldquo;It was out of respect for the eggs,
+      not care for my hat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0328" id="link2H_4_0328">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW WAS THE MILK UPSET?
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      William G. Greene, an old-time friend of Lincoln, was a student at
+      Illinois College, and one summer brought home with him, on a vacation,
+      Richard Yates (afterwards Governor of Illinois) and some other boys, and,
+      in order to entertain them, took them up to see Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He found him in his usual position and at his usual occupation&mdash;flat
+      on his back, on a cellar door, reading a newspaper. This was the manner in
+      which a President of the United States and a Governor of Illinois became
+      acquainted with each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Greene says Lincoln repeated the whole of Burns, and a large quantity of
+      Shakespeare for the entertainment of the college boys, and, in return, was
+      invited to dine with them on bread and milk. How he managed to upset his
+      bowl of milk is not a matter of history, but the fact is that he did so,
+      as is the further fact that Greene&rsquo;s mother, who loved Lincoln, tried to
+      smooth over the accident and relieve the young man&rsquo;s embarrassment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0329" id="link2H_4_0329">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;PULLED FODDER&rdquo; FOR A BOOK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Once &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; borrowed Weems&rsquo; &ldquo;Life of Washington&rdquo; from Joseph Crawford, a
+      neighbor. &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; devoured it; read it and re-read it, and when asleep put
+      it by him between the logs of the wall. One night a rain storm wet it
+      through and ruined it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve no money,&rdquo; said &ldquo;Abe,&rdquo; when reporting the disaster to Crawford, &ldquo;but
+      I&rsquo;ll work it out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right,&rdquo; was Crawford&rsquo;s response; &ldquo;you pull fodder for three days, an&rsquo;
+      the book is your&rsquo;n.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; pulled the fodder, but he never forgave Crawford for putting so much
+      work upon him. He never lost an opportunity to crack a joke at his
+      expense, and the name &ldquo;Blue-nose Crawford&rdquo; &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; applied to him stuck to
+      him throughout his life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0330" id="link2H_4_0330">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PRAISES HIS RIVAL FOR OFFICE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for the Legislature, it was the practice
+      at that date in Illinois for two rival candidates to travel over the
+      district together. The custom led to much good-natured raillery between
+      them; and in such contests Lincoln was rarely, if ever, worsted. He could
+      even turn the generosity of a rival to account by his whimsical treatment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On one occasion, says Mr. Weir, a former resident of Sangamon county, he
+      had driven out from Springfield in company with a political opponent to
+      engage in joint debate. The carriage, it seems, belonged to his opponent.
+      In addressing the gathering of farmers that met them, Lincoln was lavish
+      in praise of the generosity of his friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am too poor to own a carriage,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but my friend has generously
+      invited me to ride with him. I want you to vote for me if you will; but if
+      not then vote for my opponent, for he is a fine man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His extravagant and persistent praise of his opponent appealed to the
+      sense of humor in his rural audience, to whom his inability to own a
+      carriage was by no means a disqualification.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0273}.jpg" alt="{0273}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0273}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0274}.jpg" alt="{0274}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0274}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0331" id="link2H_4_0331">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ONE THING &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; DIDN&rsquo;T LOVE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln admitted that he was not particularly energetic when it came to
+      real hard work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My father,&rdquo; said he one day, &ldquo;taught me how to work, but not to love it.
+      I never did like to work, and I don&rsquo;t deny it. I&rsquo;d rather read, tell
+      stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh&mdash;anything but work.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0332" id="link2H_4_0332">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE MODESTY OF GENIUS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The opening of the year 1860 found Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s name freely mentioned in
+      connection with the Republican nomination for the Presidency. To be
+      classed with Seward, Chase, McLean, and other celebrities, was enough to
+      stimulate any Illinois lawyer&rsquo;s pride; but in Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s case, if it
+      had any such effect, he was most artful in concealing it. Now and then,
+      some ardent friend, an editor, for example, would run his name up to the
+      masthead, but in all cases he discouraged the attempt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In regard to the matter you spoke of,&rdquo; he answered one man who proposed
+      his name, &ldquo;I beg you will not give it a further mention. Seriously, I do
+      not think I am fit for the Presidency.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0333" id="link2H_4_0333">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHY SHE MARRIED HIM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      There was a &ldquo;social&rdquo; at Lincoln&rsquo;s house in Springfield, and &ldquo;Abe&rdquo;
+       introduced his wife to Ward Lamon, his law partner. Lamon tells the story
+      in these words:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After introducing me to Mrs. Lincoln, he left us in conversation. I
+      remarked to her that her husband was a great favorite in the eastern part
+      of the State, where I had been stopping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; she replied, &lsquo;he is a great favorite everywhere. He is to be
+      President of the United States some day; if I had not thought so I never
+      would have married him, for you can see he is not pretty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But look at him, doesn&rsquo;t he look as if he would make a magnificent
+      President?&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0334" id="link2H_4_0334">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NIAGARA FALLS.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      (Written By Abraham Lincoln.)
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The following article on Niagara Falls, in Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s handwriting, was
+      found among his papers after his death:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Niagara Falls! By what mysterious power is it that millions and millions
+      are drawn from all parts of the world to gaze upon Niagara Falls? There is
+      no mystery about the thing itself. Every effect is just as any intelligent
+      man, knowing the causes, would anticipate without seeing it. If the water
+      moving onward in a great river reaches a point where there is a
+      perpendicular jog of a hundred feet in descent in the bottom of the river,
+      it is plain the water will have a violent and continuous plunge at that
+      point. It is also plain, the water, thus plunging, will foam and roar, and
+      send up a mist continuously, in which last, during sunshine, there will be
+      perpetual rainbows. The mere physical of Niagara Falls is only this. Yet
+      this is really a very small part of that world&rsquo;s wonder. Its power to
+      excite reflection and emotion is its great charm. The geologist will
+      demonstrate that the plunge, or fall, was once at Lake Ontario, and has
+      worn its way back to its present position; he will ascertain how fast it
+      is wearing now, and so get a basis for determining how long it has been
+      wearing back from Lake Ontario, and finally demonstrate by it that this
+      world is at least fourteen thousand years old. A philosopher of a slightly
+      different turn will say, &lsquo;Niagara Falls is only the lip of the basin out
+      of which pours all the surplus water which rains down on two or three
+      hundred thousand square miles of the earth&rsquo;s surface.&rsquo; He will estimate
+      with approximate accuracy that five hundred thousand tons of water fall
+      with their full weight a distance of a hundred feet each minute&mdash;thus
+      exerting a force equal to the lifting of the same weight, through the same
+      space, in the same time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But still there is more. It calls up the indefinite past. When Columbus
+      first sought this continent&mdash;when Christ suffered on the cross&mdash;when
+      Moses led Israel through the Red Sea&mdash;nay, even when Adam first came
+      from the hand of his Maker; then, as now, Niagara was roaring here. The
+      eyes of that species of extinct giants whose bones fill the mounds of
+      America have gazed on Niagara, as ours do now. Contemporary with the first
+      race of men, and older than the first man, Niagara is strong and fresh
+      to-day as ten thousand years ago. The Mammoth and Mastodon, so long dead
+      that fragments of their monstrous bones alone testify that they ever
+      lived, have gazed on Niagara&mdash;in that long, long time never still for
+      a single moment (never dried), never froze, never slept, never rested.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0335" id="link2H_4_0335">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MADE IT HOT FOR LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A lady relative, who lived for two years with the Lincolns, said that Mr.
+      Lincoln was in the habit of lying on the floor with the back of a chair
+      for a pillow when he read.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening, when in this position in the hall, a knock was heard at the
+      front door, and, although in his shirtsleeves, he answered the call. Two
+      ladies were at the door, whom he invited into the parlor, notifying them
+      in his open, familiar way, that he would &ldquo;trot the women folks out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Lincoln, from an adjoining room, witnessed the ladies&rsquo; entrance, and,
+      overhearing her husband&rsquo;s jocose expression, her indignation was so
+      instantaneous she made the situation exceedingly interesting for him, and
+      he was glad to retreat from the house. He did not return till very late at
+      night, and then slipped quietly in at a rear door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0336" id="link2H_4_0336">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WOULDN&rsquo;T HOLD TITLE AGAINST HIM.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9277}.jpg" alt="{9277}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9277}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      During the rebellion the Austrian Minister to the United States Government
+      introduced to the President a count, a subject of the Austrian government,
+      who was desirous of obtaining a position in the American army.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Being introduced by the accredited Minister of Austria he required no
+      further recommendation to secure the appointment; but, fearing that his
+      importance might not be fully appreciated by the republican President, the
+      count was particular in impressing the fact upon him that he bore that
+      title, and that his family was ancient and highly respectable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln listened with attention, until this unnecessary
+      commendation was mentioned; then, with a merry twinkle in his eye, he
+      tapped the aristocratic sprig of hereditary nobility on the shoulder in
+      the most fatherly way, as if the gentleman had made a confession of some
+      unfortunate circumstance connected with his lineage, for which he was in
+      no way responsible, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind, you shall be treated with just as much consideration for all
+      that. I will see to it that your bearing a title shan&rsquo;t hurt you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0337" id="link2H_4_0337">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ONLY ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A young man living in Kentucky had been enticed into the rebel army. After
+      a few months he became disgusted, and managed to make his way back home.
+      Soon after his arrival, the Union officer in command of the military
+      stationed in the town had him arrested as a rebel spy, and, after a
+      military trial he was condemned to be hanged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was seen by one of his friends from Kentucky, who
+      explained his errand and asked for mercy. &ldquo;Oh, yes, I understand; some one
+      has been crying, and worked upon your feelings, and you have come here to
+      work on mine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend then went more into detail, and assured him of his belief in
+      the truth of the story. After some deliberation, Mr. Lincoln, evidently
+      scarcely more than half convinced, but still preferring to err on the side
+      of mercy, replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If a man had more than one life, I think a little hanging would not hurt
+      this one; but after he is once dead we cannot bring him back, no matter
+      how sorry we may be; so the boy shall be pardoned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And a reprieve was given on the spot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0338" id="link2H_4_0338">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      COULDN&rsquo;T LOCATE HIS BIRTHPLACE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      While the celebrated artist, Hicks, was engaged in painting Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      portrait, just after the former&rsquo;s first nomination for the Presidency, he
+      asked the great statesman if he could point out the precise spot where he
+      was born.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln thought the matter over for a day or two, and then gave the artist
+      the following memorandum:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Springfield, Ill., June 14, 1860
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin county, Kentucky, at a point
+      within the now county of Larue, a mile or a mile and a half from where
+      Rodgen&rsquo;s mill now is. My parents being dead, and my own memory not
+      serving, I know no means of identifying the precise locality. It was on
+      Nolen Creek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A. LINCOLN.&rdquo; <a name="link2H_4_0339" id="link2H_4_0339">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;SAMBO&rdquo; WAS &ldquo;AFEARED.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8279}.jpg" alt="{8279} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8279}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      In his message to Congress in December, 1864, just after his re-election,
+      President Lincoln, in his message of December 6th, let himself out, in
+      plain, unmistakable terms, to the effect that the freedmen should never be
+      placed in bondage again. &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated Newspaper&rdquo; of
+      December 24th, 1864, printed the cartoon we herewith reproduce, the text
+      underneath running in this way:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      UNCLE ABE: &ldquo;Sambo, you are not handsome, any more than myself, but as to
+      sending you back to your old master, I&rsquo;m not the man to do it&mdash;and,
+      what&rsquo;s more, I won&rsquo;t.&rdquo; (Vice President&rsquo;s message.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Congress, at the previous sitting, had neglected to pass the resolution
+      for the Constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery, but, on the 31st of
+      January, 1865, the resolution was finally adopted, and the United States
+      Constitution soon had the new feature as one of its clauses, the necessary
+      number of State Legislatures approving it. President Lincoln regarded the
+      passage of this resolution by Congress as most important, as the
+      amendment, in his mind, covered whatever defects a rigid construction of
+      the Constitution might find in his Emancipation Proclamation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the latter was issued, negroes were allowed to enlist in the Army,
+      and they fought well and bravely. After the War, in the reorganization of
+      the Regular Army, four regiments of colored men were provided for&mdash;the
+      Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry.
+      In the cartoon, Sambo has evidently been asking &ldquo;Uncle Abe&rdquo; as to the
+      probability or possibility of his being again enslaved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0340" id="link2H_4_0340">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHEN MONEY MIGHT BE USED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Some Lincoln enthusiast in Kansas, with much more pretensions than power,
+      wrote him in March, 1860 proposing to furnish a Lincoln delegation from
+      that State to the Chicago Convention, and suggesting that Lincoln should
+      pay the legitimate expenses of organizing, electing, and taking to the
+      convention the promised Lincoln delegates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To this Lincoln replied that &ldquo;in the main, the use of money is wrong, but
+      for certain objects in a political contest the use of some is both right
+      and indispensable.&rdquo; And he added: &ldquo;If you shall be appointed a delegate to
+      Chicago, I will furnish $100 to bear the expenses of the trip.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He heard nothing further from the Kansas man until he saw an announcement
+      in the newspapers that Kansas had elected delegates and instructed them
+      for Seward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0341" id="link2H_4_0341">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; WAS NO BEAUTY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s military service in the Back Hawk war had increased his
+      popularity at New Salem, and he was put up as a candidate for the
+      Legislature.
+    </p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9281}.jpg" alt="{9281}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9281}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      A. Y. Ellis describes his personal appearance at this time as follows: &ldquo;He
+      wore a mixed jean coat, claw-hammer style, short in the sleeves and
+      bob-tailed; in fact, it was so short in the tail that he could not sit on
+      it; flax and tow linen pantaloons and a straw hat. I think he wore a vest,
+      but do not remember how it looked; he wore pot-metal boots.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0342" id="link2H_4_0342">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;HE&rsquo;S JUST BEAUTIFUL.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s great love for children easily won their confidence.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      A little girl, who had been told that the President was very homely, was
+      taken by her father to see the President at the White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln took her upon his knee and chatted with her for a moment in his
+      merry way, when she turned to her father and exclaimed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, Pa! he isn&rsquo;t ugly at all; he&rsquo;s just beautiful!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0343" id="link2H_4_0343">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BIG ENOUGH HOG FOR HIM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      To a curiosity-seeker who desired a permit to pass the lines to visit the
+      field of Bull Run, after the first battle, Lincoln made the following
+      reply:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A man in Cortlandt county raised a porker of such unusual size that
+      strangers went out of their way to see it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One of them the other day met the old gentleman and inquired about the
+      animal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Wall, yes,&rsquo; the old fellow said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got such a critter, mi&rsquo;ty big un;
+      but I guess I&rsquo;ll have to charge you about a shillin&rsquo; for lookin&rsquo; at him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The stranger looked at the old man for a minute or so, pulled out the
+      desired coin, handed it to him and started to go off. &lsquo;Hold on,&rsquo; said the
+      other, &lsquo;don&rsquo;t you want to see the hog?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;No,&rsquo; said the stranger; &lsquo;I have seen as big a hog as I want to see!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you will find that fact the case with yourself, if you should happen
+      to see a few live rebels there as well as dead ones.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0344" id="link2H_4_0344">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; OFFERS A SPEECH FOR SOMETHING TO EAT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln&rsquo;s special train from Springfield to Washington reached the
+      Illinois State line, there was a stop for dinner. There was such a crowd
+      that Lincoln could scarcely reach the dining-room. &ldquo;Gentlemen,&rdquo; said he,
+      as he surveyed the crowd, &ldquo;if you will make me a little path, so that I
+      can get through and get something to eat, I will make you a speech when I
+      get back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0345" id="link2H_4_0345">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THEY UNDERSTOOD EACH OTHER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When complaints were made to President Lincoln by victims of Secretary of
+      War Stanton&rsquo;s harshness, rudeness, and refusal to be obliging&mdash;particularly
+      in cases where Secretary Stanton had refused to honor Lincoln&rsquo;s passes
+      through the lines&mdash;the President would often remark to this effect &ldquo;I
+      cannot always be sure that permits given by me ought to be granted. There
+      is an understanding between myself and Stanton that when I send a request
+      to him which cannot consistently be granted, he is to refuse to honor it.
+      This he sometimes does.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0346" id="link2H_4_0346">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FEW FENCE RAILS LEFT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There won&rsquo;t be a tar barrel left in Illinois to-night,&rdquo; said Senator
+      Stephen A. Douglas, in Washington, to his Senatorial friends, who asked
+      him, when the news of the nomination of Lincoln reached them, &ldquo;Who is this
+      man Lincoln, anyhow?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Douglas was right. Not only the tar barrels, but half the fences of the
+      State of Illinois went up in the fire of rejoicing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0347" id="link2H_4_0347">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE &ldquo;GREAT SNOW&rdquo; OF 1830-31.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In explanation of Lincoln&rsquo;s great popularity, D. W. Bartlett, in his &ldquo;Life
+      and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln,&rdquo; published in 1860 makes this statement
+      of &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; efficient service to his neighbors in the &ldquo;Great Snow&rdquo; of
+      1830-31:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The deep snow which occurred in 1830-31 was one of the chief troubles
+      endured by the early settlers of central and southern Illinois. Its
+      consequences lasted through several years. The people were ill-prepared to
+      meet it, as the weather had been mild and pleasant&mdash;unprecedentedly
+      so up to Christmas&mdash;when a snow-storm set in which lasted two days,
+      something never before known even among the traditions of the Indians, and
+      never approached in the weather of any winter since.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The pioneers who came into the State (then a territory) in 1800 say the
+      average depth of snow was never, previous to 1830, more than knee-deep to
+      an ordinary man, while it was breast-high all that winter. It became
+      crusted over, so as, in some cases, to bear teams. Cattle and horses
+      perished, the winter wheat was killed, the meager stock of provisions ran
+      out, and during the three months&rsquo; continuance of the snow, ice and
+      continuous cold weather the most wealthy settlers came near starving,
+      while some of the poor ones actually did. It was in the midst of such
+      scenes that Abraham Lincoln attained his majority, and commenced his
+      career of bold and manly independence.....
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Communication between house and house was often entirely obstructed for
+      teams, so that the young and strong men had to do all the traveling on
+      foot; carrying from one neighbor what of his store he could spare to
+      another, and bringing back in return something of his store sorely needed.
+      Men living five, ten, twenty and thirty miles apart were called
+      &lsquo;neighbors&rsquo; then. Young Lincoln was always ready to perform these acts of
+      humanity, and was foremost in the counsels of the settlers when their
+      troubles seemed gathering like a thick cloud about them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0348" id="link2H_4_0348">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CREDITOR PAID DEBTORS DEBT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A certain rich man in Springfield, Illinois, sued a poor attorney for
+      $2.50, and Lincoln was asked to prosecute the case. Lincoln urged the
+      creditor to let the matter drop, adding, &ldquo;You can make nothing out of him,
+      and it will cost you a good deal more than the debt to bring suit.&rdquo; The
+      creditor was still determined to have his way, and threatened to seek some
+      other attorney. Lincoln then said, &ldquo;Well, if you are determined that suit
+      should be brought, I will bring it; but my charge will be $10.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The money was paid him, and peremptory orders were given that the suit be
+      brought that day. After the client&rsquo;s departure Lincoln went out of the
+      office, returning in about an hour with an amused look on his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Asked what pleased him, he replied, &ldquo;I brought suit against &mdash;&mdash;,
+      and then hunted him up, told him what I had done, handed him half of the
+      $10, and we went over to the squire&rsquo;s office. He confessed judgment and
+      paid the bill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln added that he didn&rsquo;t see any other way to make things satisfactory
+      for his client as well as the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0349" id="link2H_4_0349">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HELPED OUT THE SOLDIERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge Thomas B. Bryan, of Chicago, a member of the Union Defense Committee
+      during the War, related the following concerning the original copy of the
+      Emancipation Proclamation:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I asked Mr. Lincoln for the original draft of the Proclamation,&rdquo; said
+      Judge Bryan, &ldquo;for the benefit of our Sanitary Fair, in 1865. He sent it
+      and accompanied it with a note in which he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I had intended to keep this paper, but if it will help the soldiers, I
+      give it to you.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The paper was put up at auction and brought $3,000. The buyer afterward
+      sold it again to friends of Mr. Lincoln at a greatly advanced price, and
+      it was placed in the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, where it was
+      burned in the great fire of 1871.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0350" id="link2H_4_0350">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EVERY FELLOW FOR HIMSELF.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      An elegantly dressed young Virginian assured Lincoln that he had done a
+      great deal of hard manual labor in his time. Much amused at this solemn
+      declaration, Lincoln said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes; you Virginians shed barrels of perspiration while standing off
+      at a distance and superintending the work your slaves do for you. It is
+      different with us. Here it is every fellow for himself, or he doesn&rsquo;t get
+      there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0351" id="link2H_4_0351">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;BUTCHER-KNIFE BOYS&rdquo; AT THE POLLS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When young Lincoln had fully demonstrated that he was the champion
+      wrestler in the country surrounding New Salem, the men of &ldquo;de gang&rdquo; at
+      Clary&rsquo;s Grove, whose leader &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; had downed, were his sworn political
+      friends and allies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Their work at the polls was remarkably effective. When the &ldquo;Butcherknife
+      boys,&rdquo; the &ldquo;huge-pawed boys,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;half-horse-half-alligator men&rdquo;
+       declared for a candidate the latter was never defeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0352" id="link2H_4_0352">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO &ldquo;SECOND COMING&rdquo; FOR SPRINGFIELD.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9285}.jpg" alt="{9285}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9285}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Soon after the opening of Congress in 1861, Mr. Shannon, from California,
+      made the customary call at the White House. In the conversation that
+      ensued, Mr Shannon said: &ldquo;Mr. President, I met an old friend of yours in
+      California last summer, a Mr. Campbell, who had a good deal to say of your
+      Springfield life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; returned Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;I am glad to hear of him. Campbell used to be
+      a dry fellow in those days,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;For a time he was Secretary of
+      State. One day during the legislative vacation, a meek, cadaverous-looking
+      man, with a white neck-cloth, introduced himself to him at his office,
+      and, stating that he had been informed that Mr. C. had the letting of the
+      hall of representatives, he wished to secure it, if possible, for a course
+      of lectures he desired to deliver in Springfield.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;May I ask,&rsquo; said the Secretary, &lsquo;what is to be the subject of your
+      lectures?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly,&rsquo; was the reply, with a very solemn expression of countenance.
+      &lsquo;The course I wish to deliver is on the Second Coming of our Lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;It is of no use,&rsquo; said C.; &lsquo;if you will take my advice, you will not
+      waste your time in this city. It is my private opinion that, if the Lord
+      has been in Springfield once, He will never come the second time!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0353" id="link2H_4_0353">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW HE WON A FRIEND.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      J. S. Moulton, of Chicago, a master in chancery and influential in public
+      affairs, looked upon the candidacy of Mr. Lincoln for President as
+      something in the nature of a joke. He did not rate the Illinois man in the
+      same class with the giants of the East. In fact he had expressed himself
+      as by no means friendly to the Lincoln cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Still he had been a good friend to Lincoln and had often met him when the
+      Springfield lawyer came to Chicago. Mr. Lincoln heard of Moulton&rsquo;s
+      attitude, but did not see Moulton until after the election, when the
+      President-elect came to Chicago and was tendered a reception at one of the
+      big hotels.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Moulton went up in the line to pay his respects to the newly-elected chief
+      magistrate, purely as a formality, he explained to his companions. As
+      Moulton came along the line Mr. Lincoln grasped Moulton&rsquo;s hand with his
+      right, and with his left took the master of chancery by the shoulder and
+      pulled him out of the line.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t belong in that line, Moulton,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln. &ldquo;You belong
+      here by me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everyone at the reception was a witness to the honoring of Moulton. From
+      that hour every faculty that Moulton possessed was at the service of the
+      President. A little act of kindness, skillfully bestowed, had won him; and
+      he stayed on to the end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0354" id="link2H_4_0354">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NEVER SUED A CLIENT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      If a client did not pay, Lincoln did not believe in suing for the fee.
+      When a fee was paid him his custom was to divide the money into two equal
+      parts, put one part into his pocket, and the other into an envelope
+      labeled &ldquo;Herndon&rsquo;s share.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0355" id="link2H_4_0355">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE LINCOLN HOUSEHOLD GOODS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It is recorded that when &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was born, the household goods of his father
+      consisted of a few cooking utensils, a little bedding, some carpenter
+      tools, and four hundred gallons of the fierce product of the mountain
+      still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0356" id="link2H_4_0356">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      RUNNING THE MACHINE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0287}.jpg" alt="{0287}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0287}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      One of the cartoon-posters issued by the Democratic National Campaign
+      Committee in the fall of 1864 is given here. It had the legend, &ldquo;Running
+      the Machine,&rdquo; printed beneath; the &ldquo;machine&rdquo; was Secretary Chase&rsquo;s
+      &ldquo;Greenback Mill,&rdquo; and the mill was turning out paper money by the million
+      to satisfy the demands of greedy contractors. &ldquo;Uncle Abe&rdquo; is pictured as
+      about to tell one of his funny stories, of which the scene &ldquo;reminds&rdquo; him;
+      Secretary of War Stanton is receiving a message from the front, describing
+      a great victory, in which one prisoner and one gun were taken; Secretary
+      of State Seward is handing an order to a messenger for the arrest of a man
+      who had called him a &ldquo;humbug,&rdquo; the habeas corpus being suspended
+      throughout the Union at that period; Secretary of the Navy Welles&mdash;the
+      long-haired, long-bearded man at the head of the table&mdash;is figuring
+      out a naval problem; at the side of the table, opposite &ldquo;Uncle Abe,&rdquo; are
+      seated two Government contractors, shouting for &ldquo;more greenbacks,&rdquo; and at
+      the extreme left is Secretary of the Treasury Fessenden (who succeeded
+      Chase when the latter was made Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
+      Court), who complains that he cannot satisfy the greed of the contractors
+      for &ldquo;more greenbacks,&rdquo; although he is grinding away at the mill day and
+      night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0357" id="link2H_4_0357">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WAS &ldquo;BOSS&rdquo; WHEN NECESSARY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was the actual head of the administration, and whenever he chose
+      to do so he controlled Secretary of War Stanton as well as the other
+      Cabinet ministers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary Stanton on one occasion said: &ldquo;Now, Mr. President, those are the
+      facts and you must see that your order cannot be executed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln replied in a somewhat positive tone: &ldquo;Mr. Secretary, I reckon
+      you&rsquo;ll have to execute the order.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Stanton replied with vigor: &ldquo;Mr. President, I cannot do it. This order is
+      an improper one, and I cannot execute it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln fixed his eyes upon Stanton, and, in a firm voice and accent that
+      clearly showed his determination, said: &ldquo;Mr. Secretary, it will have to be
+      done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0358" id="link2H_4_0358">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;RATHER STARVE THAN SWINDLE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Ward Lamon, once Lincoln&rsquo;s law partner, relates a story which places
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s high sense of honor in a prominent light. In a certain case,
+      Lincoln and Lamon being retained by a gentleman named Scott, Lamon put the
+      fee at $250, and Scott agreed to pay it. Says Lamon:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Scott expected a contest, but, to his surprise, the case was tried inside
+      of twenty minutes; our success was complete. Scott was satisfied, and
+      cheerfully paid over the money to me inside the bar, Lincoln looking on.
+      Scott then went out, and Lincoln asked, &lsquo;What did you charge that man?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told him $250. Said he: &lsquo;Lamon, that is all wrong. The service was not
+      worth that sum. Give him back at least half of it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I protested that the fee was fixed in advance; that Scott was perfectly
+      satisfied, and had so expressed himself. &lsquo;That may be,&rsquo; retorted Lincoln,
+      with a look of distress and of undisguised displeasure, &lsquo;but I am not
+      satisfied. This is positively wrong. Go, call him back and return half the
+      money at least, or I will not receive one cent of it for my share.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did go, and Scott was astonished when I handed back half the fee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This conversation had attracted the attention of the lawyers and the
+      court. Judge David Davis, then on our circuit bench (afterwards Associate
+      Justice on the United States Supreme bench), called Lincoln to him. The
+      Judge never could whisper, but in this instance he probably did his best.
+      At all events, in attempting to whisper to Lincoln he trumpeted his rebuke
+      in about these words, and in rasping tones that could be heard all over
+      the court-room: &lsquo;Lincoln, I have been watching you and Lamon. You are
+      impoverishing this bar by your picayune charges of fees, and the lawyers
+      have reason to complain of you. You are now almost as poor as Lazarus, and
+      if you don&rsquo;t make people pay you more for your services you will die as
+      poor as Job&rsquo;s turkey!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Judge O. L. Davis, the leading lawyer in that part of the State, promptly
+      applauded this malediction from the bench; but Lincoln was immovable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;That money,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;comes out of the pocket of a poor, demented girl,
+      and I would rather starve than swindle her in this manner.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0359" id="link2H_4_0359">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DON&rsquo;T AIM TOO HIGH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Billy, don&rsquo;t shoot too high&mdash;aim lower, and the common people will
+      understand you,&rdquo; Lincoln once said to a brother lawyer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are the ones you want to reach&mdash;at least, they are the ones you
+      ought to reach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The educated and refined people will understand you, anyway. If you aim
+      too high, your idea will go over the heads of the masses, and only hit
+      those who need no hitting.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0360" id="link2H_4_0360">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOT MUCH AT RAIL-SPLITTING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One who afterward became one of Lincoln&rsquo;s most devoted friends and
+      adherents tells this story regarding the manner in which Lincoln received
+      him when they met for the first time:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After a comical survey of my fashionable toggery,&mdash;my swallow-tail
+      coat, white neck-cloth, and ruffled shirt (an astonishing outfit for a
+      young limb of the law in that settlement), Lincoln said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Going to try your hand at the law, are you? I should know at a glance
+      that you were a Virginian; but I don&rsquo;t think you would succeed at
+      splitting rails. That was my occupation at your age, and I don&rsquo;t think I
+      have taken as much pleasure in anything else from that day to this.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0361" id="link2H_4_0361">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GAVE THE SOLDIER THE PREFERENCE.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      July 27th, 1863, Lincoln wrote the Postmaster-General:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yesterday little indorsements of mine went to you in two cases of
+      postmasterships, sought for widows whose husbands have fallen in the
+      battles of this war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These cases, occurring on the same day, brought me to reflect more
+      attentively than what I had before done as to what is fairly due from us
+      here in dispensing of patronage toward the men who, by fighting our
+      battles, bear the chief burden of saving our country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My conclusion is that, other claims and qualifications being equal, they
+      have the right, and this is especially applicable to the disabled soldier
+      and the deceased soldier&rsquo;s family.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0291}.jpg" alt="{0291}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0291}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0292}.jpg" alt="{0292}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0292}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0362" id="link2H_4_0362">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT SCARED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When told how uneasy all had been at his going to Richmond, Lincoln
+      replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, if any one else had been President and had gone to Richmond, I would
+      have been alarmed; but I was not scared about myself a bit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0363" id="link2H_4_0363">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      JEFF. DAVIS&rsquo; REPLY TO LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On the 20th of July, 1864, Horace Greeley crossed into Canada to confer
+      with refugee rebels at Niagara. He bore with him this paper from the
+      President:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Whom It May Concern: Any proposition which embraces the restoration of
+      peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery,
+      and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now
+      at war with the United States, will be received and considered by the
+      executive government of the United States, and will be met by liberal
+      terms and other substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or
+      bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To this Jefferson Davis replied: &ldquo;We are not fighting for slavery; we are
+      fighting for independence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0364" id="link2H_4_0364">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN WAS a GENTLEMAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was compelled to contend with the results of the ill-judged zeal
+      of politicians, who forced ahead his flatboat and rail-splitting record,
+      with the homely surroundings of his earlier days, and thus, obscured for
+      the time, the other fact that, always having the heart, he had long since
+      acquired the manners of a true gentleman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, too, did he suffer from Eastern censors, who did not take those
+      surroundings into account, and allowed nothing for his originality of
+      character. One of these critics heard at Washington that Mr. Lincoln, in
+      speaking at different times of some move or thing, said &ldquo;it had petered
+      out;&rdquo; that some other one&rsquo;s plan &ldquo;wouldn&rsquo;t gibe;&rdquo; and being asked if the
+      War and the cause of the Union were not a great care to him, replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is a heavy hog to hold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The first two phrases are so familiar here in the West that they need no
+      explanation. Of the last and more pioneer one it may be said that it had a
+      special force, and was peculiarly Lincoln-like in the way applied by him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the early times in Illinois, those having hogs, did their own killing,
+      assisted by their neighbors. Stripped of its hair, one held the carcass
+      nearly perpendicular in the air, head down, while others put one point of
+      the gambrel-bar through a slit in its hock, then over the string-pole, and
+      the other point through the other hock, and so swung the animal clear of
+      the ground. While all this was being done, it took a good man to &ldquo;hold the
+      hog,&rdquo; greasy, warmly moist, and weighing some two hundred pounds. And
+      often those with the gambrel prolonged the strain, being provokingly slow,
+      in hopes to make the holder drop his burden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This latter thought is again expressed where President Lincoln, writing of
+      the peace which he hoped would &ldquo;come soon, to stay; and so come as to be
+      worth the keeping in all future time,&rdquo; added that while there would &ldquo;be
+      some black men who can remember that with silent tongue and clenched teeth
+      and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to
+      this great consummation,&rdquo; he feared there would &ldquo;be some white ones unable
+      to forget that, with malignant heart and deceitful tongue, they had
+      striven to hinder it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had two seemingly opposite elements little understood by strangers, and
+      which those in more intimate relations with him find difficult to explain;
+      an open, boyish tongue when in a happy mood, and with this a reserve of
+      power, a force of thought that impressed itself without words on observers
+      in his presence. With the cares of the nation on his mind, he became more
+      meditative, and lost much of his lively ways remembered &ldquo;back in
+      Illinois.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0365" id="link2H_4_0365">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS POOR RELATIONS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the most beautiful traits of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s character was his
+      considerate regard for the poor and obscure relatives he had left,
+      plodding along in their humble ways of life. Wherever upon his circuit he
+      found them, he always went to their dwellings, ate with them, and, when
+      convenient, made their houses his home. He never assumed in their presence
+      the slightest superiority to them. He gave them money when they needed it
+      and he had it. Countless times he was known to leave his companions at the
+      village hotel, after a hard day&rsquo;s work in the court-room, and spend the
+      evening with these old friends and companions of his humbler days. On one
+      occasion, when urged not to go, he replied, &ldquo;Why, Aunt&rsquo;s heart would be
+      broken if I should leave town without calling upon her;&rdquo; yet, he was
+      obliged to walk several miles to make the call.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0366" id="link2H_4_0366">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DESERTER&rsquo;S SINS WASHED OUT IN BLOOD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      This was the reply made by Lincoln to an application for the pardon of a
+      soldier who had shown himself brave in war, had been severely wounded, but
+      afterward deserted:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you say he was once badly wounded?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, as the Scriptures say that in the shedding of blood is the
+      remission of sins, I guess we&rsquo;ll have to let him off this time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0367" id="link2H_4_0367">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9295}.jpg" alt="{9295}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9295}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <h2>
+      SURE CURE FOR BOILS.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      President Lincoln and Postmaster-General Blair were talking of the war.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Blair,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;did you ever know that fright has sometimes
+      proven a cure for boils?&rdquo; &ldquo;No, Mr. President, how is that?&rdquo; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell
+      you. Not long ago when a colonel, with his cavalry, was at the front, and
+      the Rebs were making things rather lively for us, the colonel was ordered
+      out to a reconnaissance. He was troubled at the time with a big boil where
+      it made horseback riding decidedly uncomfortable. He finally dismounted
+      and ordered the troops forward without him. Soon he was startled by the
+      rapid reports of pistols and the helter-skelter approach of his troops in
+      full retreat before a yelling rebel force. He forgot everything but the
+      yells, sprang into his saddle, and made capital time over the fences and
+      ditches till safe within the lines. The pain from his boil was gone, and
+      the boil, too, and the colonel swore that there was no cure for boils so
+      sure as fright from rebel yells.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0368" id="link2H_4_0368">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PAY FOR EVERYTHING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When President Lincoln issued a military order, it was usually expressive,
+      as the following shows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;War Department, Washington, July 22, &lsquo;62.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;First: Ordered that military commanders within the States of Virginia,
+      South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas
+      and Arkansas, in an orderly manner, seize and use any property, real or
+      personal, which may be necessary or convenient for their several commands,
+      for supplies, or for other military purposes; and that while property may
+      be all stored for proper military objects, none shall be destroyed in
+      wantonness or malice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Second: That military and naval commanders shall employ as laborers
+      within and from said States, so many persons of African descent as can be
+      advantageously used for military or naval purposes, giving them reasonable
+      wages for their labor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Third: That as to both property and persons of African descent, accounts
+      shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail to show quantities and
+      amounts, and from whom both property and such persons shall have come, as
+      a basis upon which compensation can be made in proper cases; and the
+      several departments of this Government shall attend to and perform their
+      appropriate parts towards the execution of these orders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By order of the President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0369" id="link2H_4_0369">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BASHFUL WITH LADIES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Judge David Davis, Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and United
+      States Senator from Illinois, was one of Lincoln&rsquo;s most intimate friends.
+      He told this story on &ldquo;Abe&rdquo;:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln was very bashful when in the presence of ladies. I remember once
+      we were invited to take tea at a friend&rsquo;s house, and while in the parlor I
+      was called to the front gate to see someone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When I returned, Lincoln, who had undertaken to entertain the ladies, was
+      twisting and squirming in his chair, and as bashful as a schoolboy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0370" id="link2H_4_0370">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SAW HUMOR IN EVERYTHING.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0297}.jpg" alt="{0297}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0297}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      There was much that was irritating and uncomfortable in the circuit-riding
+      of the Illinois court, but there was more which was amusing to a
+      temperament like Lincoln&rsquo;s. The freedom, the long days in the open air,
+      the unexpected if trivial adventures, the meeting with wayfarers and
+      settlers&mdash;all was an entertainment to him. He found humor and human
+      interest on the route where his companions saw nothing but commonplaces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He saw the ludicrous in an assemblage of fowls,&rdquo; says H. C. Whitney, one
+      of his fellow-itinerants, &ldquo;in a man spading his garden, in a clothes-line
+      full of clothes, in a group of boys, in a lot of pigs rooting at a mill
+      door, in a mother duck teaching her brood to swim&mdash;in everything and
+      anything.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0371" id="link2H_4_0371">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SPECIFIC FOR FOREIGN &ldquo;RASH.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was in the latter part of 1863 that Russia offered its friendship to
+      the United States, and sent a strong fleet of warships, together with
+      munitions of war, to this country to be used in any way the President
+      might see fit. Russia was not friendly to England and France, these
+      nations having defeated her in the Crimea a few years before. As Great
+      Britain and the Emperor of the French were continually bothering him,
+      President Lincoln used Russia&rsquo;s kindly feeling and action as a means of
+      keeping the other two powers named in a neutral state of mind. Underneath
+      the cartoon we here reproduce, which was labeled &ldquo;Drawing Things to a
+      Head,&rdquo; and appeared in the issue of &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly,&rdquo; of November 28,
+      1863, was this DR. LINCOLN (to smart boy of the shop): &ldquo;Mild applications
+      of Russian Salve for our friends over the way, and heavy doses&mdash;and
+      plenty of it for our Southern patient!!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary of State Seward was the &ldquo;smart boy&rdquo; of the shop, and &ldquo;our friend
+      over the way&rdquo; were England and France. The latter bothered President
+      Lincoln no more, but it is a fact that the Confederate privateer Alabama
+      was manned almost entirely by British seamen; also, that when the Alabama
+      was sunk by the Kearsarge, in the summer of 1864, the Confederate seamen
+      were picked up by an English vessel, taken to Southhampton, and set at
+      liberty!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0372" id="link2H_4_0372">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FAVORED THE OTHER SIDE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was candor itself when conducting his side of a case in court.
+      General Mason Brayman tells this story as an illustration:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well understood by the profession that lawyers do not read authors
+      favoring the opposite side. I once heard Mr. Lincoln, in the Supreme Court
+      of Illinois, reading from a reported case some strong points in favor of
+      his argument. Reading a little too far, and before becoming aware of it,
+      plunged into an authority against himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pausing a moment, he drew up his shoulders in a comical way, and half
+      laughing, went on, &lsquo;There, there, may it please the court, I reckon I&rsquo;ve
+      scratched up a snake. But, as I&rsquo;m in for it, I guess I&rsquo;ll read it
+      through.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, in his most ingenious and matchless manner, he went on with his
+      argument, and won his case, convincing the court that it was not much of a
+      snake after all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0373" id="link2H_4_0373">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AND THE &ldquo;SHOW&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was fond of going all by himself to any little show or concert. He
+      would often slip away from his fellow-lawyers and spend the entire evening
+      at a little magic lantern show intended for children.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A traveling concert company was always sure of drawing Lincoln. A Mrs.
+      Hillis, a member of the &ldquo;Newhall Family,&rdquo; and a good singer, was the only
+      woman who ever seemed to exhibit any liking for him&mdash;so Lincoln said.
+      He attended a negro-minstrel show in Chicago, once, where he heard Dixie
+      sung. It was entirely new, and pleased him greatly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0374" id="link2H_4_0374">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MIXING&rdquo; AND &ldquo;MINGLING.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      An Eastern newspaper writer told how Lincoln, after his first nomination,
+      received callers, the majority of them at his law office:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;While talking to two or three gentlemen and standing up, a very hard
+      looking customer rolled in and tumbled into the only vacant chair and the
+      one lately occupied by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s keen eye took in the
+      fact, but gave no evidence of the notice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Turning around at last he spoke to the odd specimen, holding out his hand
+      at such a distance that our friend had to vacate the chair if he accepted
+      the proffered shake. Mr. Lincoln quietly resumed his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was a small matter, yet one giving proof more positively than a larger
+      event of that peculiar way the man has of mingling with a mixed crowd.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0375" id="link2H_4_0375">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TOOK PART OF THE BLAME.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Among the lawyers who traveled the circuit with Lincoln was Usher F.
+      Linder, whose daughter, Rose Linder Wilkinson, has left many Lincoln
+      reminiscences.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One case in which Mr. Lincoln was interested concerned a member of my own
+      family,&rdquo; said Mrs. Wilkinson. &ldquo;My brother, Dan, in the heat of a quarrel,
+      shot a young man named Ben Boyle and was arrested. My father was seriously
+      ill with inflammatory rheumatism at the time, and could scarcely move hand
+      or foot. He certainly could not defend Dan. I was his secretary, and I
+      remember it was but a day or so after the shooting till letters of
+      sympathy began to pour in. In the first bundle which I picked up there was
+      a big letter, the handwriting on which I recognized as that of Mr.
+      Lincoln. The letter was very sympathetic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I know how you feel, Linder,&rsquo; it said. &lsquo;I can understand your anger as a
+      father, added to all the other sentiments. But may we not be in a measure
+      to blame? We have talked about the defense of criminals before our
+      children; about our success in defending them; have left the impression
+      that the greater the crime, the greater the triumph of securing an
+      acquittal. Dan knows your success as a criminal lawyer, and he depends on
+      you, little knowing that of all cases you would be of least value in
+      this.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He concluded by offering his services, an offer which touched my father
+      to tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln tried to have Dan released on bail, but Ben Boyle&rsquo;s family
+      and friends declared the wounded man would die, and feeling had grown so
+      bitter that the judge would not grant any bail. So the case was changed to
+      Marshall county, but as Ben finally recovered it was dismissed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0376" id="link2H_4_0376">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THOUGHT OF LEARNING A TRADE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln at one time thought seriously of learning the blacksmith&rsquo;s trade.
+      He was without means, and felt the immediate necessity of undertaking some
+      business that would give him bread. While entertaining this project an
+      event occurred which, in his undetermined state of mind, seemed to open a
+      way to success in another quarter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Reuben Radford, keeper of a small store in the village of New Salem, had
+      incurred the displeasure of the &ldquo;Clary Grove Boys,&rdquo; who exercised their
+      &ldquo;regulating&rdquo; prerogatives by irregularly breaking his windows. William G.
+      Greene, a friend of young Lincoln, riding by Radford&rsquo;s store soon
+      afterward, was hailed by him, and told that he intended to sell out. Mr.
+      Greene went into the store, and offered him at random $400 for his stock,
+      which offer was immediately accepted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln &ldquo;happened in&rdquo; the next day, and being familiar with the value of
+      the goods, Mr. Greene proposed to him to take an inventory of the stock,
+      to see what sort of a bargain he had made. This he did, and it was found
+      that the goods were worth $600.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln then made an offer of $125 for his bargain, with the proposition
+      that he and a man named Berry, as his partner, take over Greene&rsquo;s notes
+      given to Radford. Mr. Greene agreed to the arrangement, but Radford
+      declined it, except on condition that Greene would be their security.
+      Greene at last assented.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was not afraid of the &ldquo;Clary Grove Boys&rdquo;; on the contrary, they
+      had been his most ardent friends since the time he thrashed &ldquo;Jack&rdquo;
+       Armstrong, champion bully of &ldquo;The Grove&rdquo;&mdash;but their custom was not
+      heavy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The business soon became a wreck; Greene had to not only assist in closing
+      it up, but pay Radford&rsquo;s notes as well. Lincoln afterwards spoke of these
+      notes, which he finally made good to Greene, as &ldquo;the National Debt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0377" id="link2H_4_0377">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN DEFENDS FIFTEEN MRS. NATIONS.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9301}.jpg" alt="{9301}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9301}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln&rsquo;s sympathies were enlisted in any cause, he worked like a
+      giant to win. At one time (about 1855) he was in attendance upon court at
+      the little town of Clinton, Ill., and one of the cases on the docket was
+      where fifteen women from a neighboring village were defendants, they
+      having been indicted for trespass. Their offense, as duly set forth in the
+      indictment, was that of swooping down upon one Tanner, the keeper of a
+      saloon in the village, and knocking in the heads of his barrels. Lincoln
+      was not employed in the case, but sat watching the trial as it proceeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In defending the ladies, their attorney seemed to evince a little want of
+      tact, and this prompted one of the former to invite Mr. Lincoln to add a
+      few words to the jury, if he thought he could aid their cause. He was too
+      gallant to refuse, and their attorney having consented, he made use of the
+      following argument:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In this case I would change the order of indictment and have it read The
+      State vs. Mr. Whiskey, instead of The State vs. The Ladies; and touching
+      these there are three laws: the law of self-protection; the law of the
+      land, or statute law; and the moral law, or law of God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;First the law of self-protection is a law of necessity, as evinced by our
+      forefathers in casting the tea overboard and asserting their right to the
+      pursuit of life, liberty and happiness: In this case it is the only
+      defense the Ladies have, for Tanner neither feared God nor regarded man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Second, the law of the land, or statute law, and Tanner is recreant to
+      both.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Third, the moral law, or law of God, and this is probably a law for the
+      violation of which the jury can fix no punishment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln gave some of his own observations on the ruinous effects of
+      whiskey in society, and demanded its early suppression.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After he had concluded, the Court, without awaiting the return of the
+      jury, dismissed the ladies, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ladies, go home. I will require no bond of you, and if any fine is ever
+      wanted of you, we will let you know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0378" id="link2H_4_0378">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      AVOIDED EVEN APPEARANCE OF EVIL
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Frank W. Tracy, President of the First National Bank of Springfield, tells
+      a story illustrative of two traits in Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s character. Shortly
+      after the National banking law went into effect the First National of
+      Springield was chartered, and Mr. Tracy wrote to Mr. Lincoln, with whom he
+      was well acquainted in a business way, and tendered him an opportunity to
+      subscribe for some of the stock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In reply to the kindly offer Mr. Lincoln wrote, thanking Mr. Tracy, but at
+      the same time declining to subscribe. He said he recognized that stock in
+      a good National bank would be a good thing to hold, but he did not feel
+      that he ought, as President, profit from a law which had been passed under
+      his administration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He seemed to wish to avoid even the appearance of evil,&rdquo; said Mr. Tracy,
+      in telling of the incident. &ldquo;And so the act proved both his unvarying
+      probity and his unfailing policy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0379" id="link2H_4_0379">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WAR DIDN&rsquo;T ADMIT OF HOLIDAYS.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Lincoln wrote a letter on October 2d, 1862, in which he observed:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I sincerely wish war was a pleasanter and easier business than it is, but
+      it does not admit of holidays.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0380" id="link2H_4_0380">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;NEUTRALITY.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8303}.jpg" alt="{8303} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8303}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Old John Bull got himself into a precious fine scrape when he went so far
+      as to &ldquo;play double&rdquo; with the North, as well as the South, during the great
+      American Civil War. In its issue of November 14th, 1863, London &ldquo;Punch&rdquo;
+       printed a rather clever cartoon illustrating the predicament Bull had
+      created for himself. John is being lectured by Mrs. North and Mrs. South&mdash;both
+      good talkers and eminently able to hold their own in either social
+      conversation, parliamentary debate or political argument&mdash;but he
+      bears it with the best grace possible. This is the way the text underneath
+      the picture runs:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      MRS. NORTH. &ldquo;How about the Alabama, you wicked old man?&rdquo; MRS. SOUTH:
+      &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s my rams? Take back your precious consols&mdash;there!!&rdquo; &ldquo;Punch&rdquo;
+       had a good deal of fun with old John before it was through with him, but,
+      as the Confederate privateer Alabama was sent beneath the waves of the
+      ocean at Cherbourg by the Kearsarge, and Mrs. South had no need for any
+      more rams, John got out of the difficulty without personal injury. It was
+      a tight squeeze, though, for Mrs. North was in a fighting humor, and
+      prepared to scratch or pull hair. The fact that the privateer Alabama,
+      built at an English shipyard and manned almost entirely by English
+      sailors, had managed to do about $10,000,000 worth of damage to United
+      States commerce, was enough to make any one angry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0381" id="link2H_4_0381">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DAYS OF GLADNESS PAST.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      After the war was well on, a patriot woman of the West urged President
+      Lincoln to make hospitals at the North where the sick from the Army of the
+      Mississippi could revive in a more bracing air. Among other reasons, she
+      said, feelingly: &ldquo;If you grant my petition, you will be glad as long as
+      you live.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With a look of sadness impossible to describe, the President said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall never be glad any more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0382" id="link2H_4_0382">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WOULDN&rsquo;T TAKE THE MONEY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln always regarded himself as the friend and protector of unfortunate
+      clients, and such he would never press for pay for his services. A client
+      named Cogdal was unfortunate in business, and gave a note in settlement of
+      legal fees. Soon afterward he met with an accident by which he lost a
+      hand. Meeting Lincoln some time after on the steps of the State-House, the
+      kind lawyer asked him how he was getting along.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Badly enough,&rdquo; replied Cogdal; &ldquo;I am both broken up in business and
+      crippled.&rdquo; Then he added, &ldquo;I have been thinking about that note of yours.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, who had probably known all about Cogdal&rsquo;s troubles, and had
+      prepared himself for the meeting, took out his pocket-book, and saying,
+      with a laugh, &ldquo;Well, you needn&rsquo;t think any more about it,&rdquo; handed him the
+      note.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cogdal protesting, Lincoln said, &ldquo;Even if you had the money, I would not
+      take it,&rdquo; and hurried away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0383" id="link2H_4_0383">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GRANT HELD ON ALL THE TIME.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      (Dispatch to General Grant, August 17th, 1864.)
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your
+      hold where you are. Neither am I willing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold on with a bulldog grip.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0384" id="link2H_4_0384">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHEWED THE CUD IN SOLITUDE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As a student (if such a term could be applied to Lincoln), one who did not
+      know him might have called him indolent. He would pick up a book and run
+      rapidly over the pages, pausing here and there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the end of an hour&mdash;never more than two or three hours&mdash;he
+      would close the book, stretch himself out on the office lounge, and then,
+      with hands under his head and eyes shut, would digest the mental food he
+      had just taken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0385" id="link2H_4_0385">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; YANKEE INGENUITY.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0305}.jpg" alt="{0305}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0305}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      War Governor Richard Yates (he was elected Governor of Illinois in 1860,
+      when Lincoln was first elected President) told a good story at Springfield
+      (Ill.) about Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day the latter was in the Sangamon River with his trousers rolled up
+      five feet&mdash;more or less&mdash;trying to pilot a flatboat over a
+      mill-dam. The boat was so full of water that it was hard to manage.
+      Lincoln got the prow over, and then, instead of waiting to bail the water
+      out, bored a hole through the projecting part and let it run out,
+      affording a forcible illustration of the ready ingenuity of the future
+      President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0386" id="link2H_4_0386">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN PAID HOMAGE TO WASHINGTON.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The Martyr President thus spoke of Washington in the course of an address:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Washington is the mightiest name on earth&mdash;long since the mightiest
+      in the cause of civil liberty, still mightiest in moral reformation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On that name a eulogy is expected. It cannot be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington is alike
+      impossible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let none attempt it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In solemn awe pronounce the name, and, in its naked, deathless splendor,
+      leave it shining on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0387" id="link2H_4_0387">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STIRRED EVEN THE REPORTERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s influence upon his audiences was wonderful. He could sway people
+      at will, and nothing better illustrates his extraordinary power than he
+      manner in which he stirred up the newspaper reporters by his Bloomingon
+      speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago Tribune, told the story:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was my journalistic duty, though a delegate to the convention, to make
+      a &lsquo;longhand&rsquo; report of the speeches delivered for the Tribune. I did make
+      a few paragraphs of what Lincoln said in the first eight or ten minutes,
+      but I became so absorbed in his magnetic oratory that I forgot myself and
+      ceased to take notes, and joined with the convention in cheering and
+      stamping and clapping to the end of his speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I well remember that after Lincoln sat down and calm had succeeded the
+      tempest, I waked out of a sort of hypnotic trance, and then thought of my
+      report for the paper. There was nothing written but an abbreviated
+      introduction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was some sort of satisfaction to find that I had not been &lsquo;scooped,&rsquo;
+      as all the newspaper men present had been equally carried away by the
+      excitement caused by the wonderful oration and had made no report or
+      sketch of the speech.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0388" id="link2H_4_0388">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHEN &ldquo;ABE&rdquo; CAME IN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was fourteen years of age, John Hanks journeyed from Kentucky
+      to Indiana and lived with the Lincolns. He described &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; habits thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When Lincoln and I returned to the house from work, he would go to the
+      cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, take down a book, sit down on a
+      chair, cock his legs up as high as his head, and read.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He and I worked barefooted, grubbed it, plowed, mowed, cradled together;
+      plowed corn, gathered it, and shucked corn. &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; read constantly when he
+      had an opportunity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0389" id="link2H_4_0389">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ETERNAL FIDELITY TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the Harrison Presidential campaign of 1840, Lincoln said, in a
+      speech at Springfield, Illinois:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers; but
+      if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was last to desert, but
+      that I never deserted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed by the
+      evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava of political
+      corruption in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping with frightful
+      velocity over the whole length and breadth of the land, bidding fair to
+      leave unscathed no green spot or living thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it, I, too, may be;
+      bow to it I never will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us
+      from the support of a cause which we believe to be just. It shall never
+      deter me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimensions
+      not wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate
+      the cause of my country, deserted by all the world beside, and I standing
+      up boldly alone, and hurling defiance at her victorious oppressors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here, without contemplating consequences, before heaven, and in the face
+      of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of
+      the land of my life, my liberty, and my love; and who that thinks with me
+      will not fearlessly adopt the oath that I take?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let none falter who thinks he is right, and we may succeed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But if, after all, we shall fail, be it so; we have the proud consolation
+      of saying to our consciences, and to the departed shade of our country&rsquo;s
+      freedom, that the cause approved of our judgment, and, adorned of our
+      hearts in disaster, in chains, in death, we never faltered in defending.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0390" id="link2H_4_0390">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; &ldquo;DEFALCATIONS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln could not rest for as instant under the consciousness that, even
+      unwittingly, he had defrauded anybody. On one occasion, while clerking in
+      Offutt&rsquo;s store, at New Salem, he sold a woman a little bale of goods,
+      amounting, by the reckoning, to $2.20. He received the money, and the
+      woman went away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On adding the items of the bill again to make himself sure of correctness,
+      he found that he had taken six and a quarter cents too much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was night, and, closing and locking the store, he started out on foot,
+      a distance of two or three miles, for the house of his defrauded customer,
+      and, delivering to her the sum whose possession had so much troubled him,
+      went home satisfied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for the night, a
+      woman entered and asked for half a pound of tea. The tea was weighed out
+      and paid for, and the store was left for the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next morning Lincoln, when about to begin the duties of the day,
+      discovered a four-ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once that he had
+      made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a long walk before
+      breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the man&rsquo;s perfect
+      conscientiousness&mdash;his sensitive honesty&mdash;better, perhaps, than
+      they would if they were of greater moment.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0309}.jpg" alt="{0309}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0309}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0310}.jpg" alt="{0310}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0310}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0391" id="link2H_4_0391">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE WASN&rsquo;T GUILELESS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Leonard Swett, of Chicago, whose counsels were doubtless among the most
+      welcome to Lincoln, in summing up Lincoln&rsquo;s character, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From the commencement of his life to its close I have sometimes doubted
+      whether he ever asked anybody&rsquo;s advice about anything. He would listen to
+      everybody; he would hear everybody; but he rarely, if ever, asked for
+      opinions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As a politician and as President he arrived at all his conclusions from
+      his own reflections, and when his conclusions were once formed he never
+      doubted but what they were right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One great public mistake of his (Lincoln&rsquo;s) character, as generally
+      received and acquiesced in, is that he is considered by the people of this
+      country as a frank, guileless, and unsophisticated man. There never was a
+      greater mistake.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Beneath a smooth surface of candor and apparent declaration of all his
+      thoughts and feelings he exercised the most exalted tact and wisest
+      discrimination. He handled and moved men remotely as we do pieces upon a
+      chess-board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He retained through life all the friends he ever had, and he made the
+      wrath of his enemies to praise him. This was not by cunning or intrigue in
+      the low acceptation of the term, but by far-seeing reason and discernment.
+      He always told only enough of his plans and purposes to induce the belief
+      that he had communicated all; yet he reserved enough to have communicated
+      nothing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0392" id="link2H_4_0392">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SWEET, BUT MILD REVENGE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When the United States found that a war with Black Hawk could not be
+      dodged, Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, issued a call for volunteers, and
+      among the companies that immediately responded was one from Menard county,
+      Illinois. Many of these volunteers were from New Salem and Clary&rsquo;s Grove,
+      and Lincoln, being out of business, was the first to enlist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The company being full, the men held a meeting at Richland for the
+      election of officers. Lincoln had won many hearts, and they told him that
+      he must be their captain. It was an office to which he did not aspire, and
+      for which he felt he had no special fitness; but he finally consented to
+      be a candidate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was but one other candidate, a Mr. Kirkpatrick, who was one of the
+      most influential men of the region. Previously, Kirkpatrick had been an
+      employer of Lincoln, and was so overbearing in his treatment of the young
+      man that the latter left him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The simple mode of electing a captain adopted by the company was by
+      placing the candidates apart, and telling the men to go and stand with the
+      one they preferred. Lincoln and his competitor took their positions, and
+      then the word was given. At least three out of every four went to Lincoln
+      at once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When it was seen by those who had arranged themselves with the other
+      candidate that Lincoln was the choice of the majority of the company, they
+      left their places, one by one, and came over to the successful side, until
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s opponent in the friendly strife was left standing almost alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I felt badly to see him cut so,&rdquo; says a witness of the scene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here was an opportunity for revenge. The humble laborer was his employer&rsquo;s
+      captain, but the opportunity was never improved. Mr. Lincoln frequently
+      confessed that no subsequent success of his life had given him half the
+      satisfaction that this election did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0393" id="link2H_4_0393">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DIDN&rsquo;T TRUST THE COURT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In one of his many stories of Lincoln, his law partner, W. H. Herndon,
+      told this as illustrating Lincoln&rsquo;s shrewdness as a lawyer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was with Lincoln once and listened to an oral argument by him in which
+      he rehearsed an extended history of the law. It was a carefully prepared
+      and masterly discourse, but, as I thought, entirely useless. After he was
+      through and we were walking home, I asked him why he went so far back in
+      the history of the law. I presumed the court knew enough history.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;That&rsquo;s where you&rsquo;re mistaken,&rsquo; was his instant rejoinder. &lsquo;I dared not
+      just the case on the presumption that the court knows everything&mdash;in
+      fact I argued it on the presumption that the court didn&rsquo;t know anything,&rsquo;
+      a statement, which, when one reviews the decision of our appellate courts,
+      is not so extravagant as one would at first suppose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0394" id="link2H_4_0394">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HANDSOMEST MAN ON EARTH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One day Thaddeus Stevens called at the White House with an elderly woman,
+      whose son had been in the army, but for some offense had been
+      court-martialed and sentenced to death. There were some extenuating
+      circumstances, and after a full hearing the President turned to Stevens
+      and said: &ldquo;Mr. Stevens, do you think this is a case which will warrant my
+      interference?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With my knowledge of the facts and the parties,&rdquo; was the reply, &ldquo;I should
+      have no hesitation in granting a pardon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then,&rdquo; returned Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;I will pardon him,&rdquo; and proceeded forthwith
+      to execute the paper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, save by her
+      tears, and not a word was said between her and Stevens until they were
+      half way down the stairs on their passage out, when she suddenly broke
+      forth in an excited manner with the words:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I knew it was a copperhead lie!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you refer to, madam?&rdquo; asked Stevens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, they told me he was an ugly-looking man,&rdquo; she replied, with
+      vehemence. &ldquo;He is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0395" id="link2H_4_0395">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THAT COON CAME DOWN.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9313}.jpg" alt="{9313}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9313}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln&rsquo;s Last Warning&rdquo; was the title of a cartoon which appeared in
+      &ldquo;Harper&rsquo;s Weekly,&rdquo; on October 11, 1862. Under the picture was the text:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now if you don&rsquo;t come down I&rsquo;ll cut the tree from under you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This illustration was peculiarly apt, as, on the 1st of January, 1863,
+      President Lincoln issued his great Emancipation Proclamation, declaring
+      all slaves in the United States forever free. &ldquo;Old Abe&rdquo; was a handy man
+      with the axe, he having split many thousands of rails with its keen edge.
+      As the &ldquo;Slavery Coon&rdquo; wouldn&rsquo;t heed the warning, Lincoln did cut the tree
+      from under him, and so he came down to the ground with a heavy thump.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This Act of Emancipation put an end to the notion of the Southern slave
+      holders that involuntary servitude was one of the &ldquo;sacred institutions&rdquo; on
+      the Continent of North America. It also demonstrated that Lincoln was
+      thoroughly in earnest when he declared that he would not only save the
+      Union, but that he meant what he said in the speech wherein he asserted,
+      &ldquo;This Nation cannot exist half slave and half free.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0396" id="link2H_4_0396">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WROTE &ldquo;PIECES&rdquo; WHEN VERY YOUNG.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At fifteen years of age &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; wrote &ldquo;pieces,&rdquo; or compositions, and even
+      some doggerel rhyme, which he recited, to the great amusement of his
+      playmates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of his first compositions was against cruelty to animals. He was very
+      much annoyed and pained at the conduct of the boys, who were in the habit
+      of catching terrapins and putting coals of fire on their backs, which
+      thoroughly disgusted Abraham.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He would chide us,&rdquo; said &ldquo;Nat&rdquo; Grigsby, &ldquo;tell us it was wrong, and would
+      write against it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When eighteen years old, &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; wrote a &ldquo;piece&rdquo; on &ldquo;National Politics,&rdquo; and
+      it so pleased a lawyer friend, named Pritchard, that the latter had it
+      printed in an obscure paper, thereby adding much to the author&rsquo;s pride.
+      &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; did not conceal his satisfaction. In this &ldquo;piece&rdquo; he wrote, among
+      other things:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The American government is the best form of government for an intelligent
+      people. It ought to be kept sound, and preserved forever, that general
+      education should be fostered and carried all over the country; that the
+      Constitution should be saved, the Union perpetuated and the laws revered,
+      respected and enforced.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0397" id="link2H_4_0397">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;TRY TO STEER HER THROUGH.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      John A. Logan and a friend of Illinois called upon Lincoln at Willard&rsquo;s
+      Hotel, Washington, February 23d, the morning of his arrival, and urged a
+      vigorous, firm policy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Patiently listening, Lincoln replied seriously but cheerfully:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As the country has placed me at the helm of the ship, I&rsquo;ll try to steer
+      her through.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0398" id="link2H_4_0398">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GRAND, GLOOMY AND PECULIAR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was a marked and peculiar young man. People talked about him. His
+      studious habits, his greed for information, his thorough mastery of the
+      difficulties of every new position in which he was placed, his
+      intelligence on all matters of public concern, his unwearying good-nature,
+      his skill in telling a story, his great athletic power, his quaint, odd
+      ways, his uncouth appearance&mdash;all tended to bring him in sharp
+      contrast with the dull mediocrity by which he was surrounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Denton Offutt, his old employer, said, after having had a conversation
+      with Lincoln, that the young man &ldquo;had talent enough in him to make a
+      President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0399" id="link2H_4_0399">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ON THE WAY TO GETTYSBURG.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9315}.jpg" alt="{9315}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9315}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln was on his way to the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, an old
+      gentleman told him that his only son fell on Little Round Top at
+      Gettysburg, and he was going to look at the spot. Mr. Lincoln replied:
+      &ldquo;You have been called on to make a terrible sacrifice for the Union, and a
+      visit to that spot, I fear, will open your wounds afresh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, oh, my dear sir, if we had reached the end of such sacrifices, and
+      had nothing left for us to do but to place garlands on the graves of those
+      who have already fallen, we could give thanks even amidst our tears; but
+      when I think of the sacrifices of life yet to be offered, and the hearts
+      and homes yet to be made desolate before this dreadful war is over, my
+      heart is like lead within me, and I feel at times like hiding in deep
+      darkness.&rdquo; At one of the stopping places of the train, a very beautiful
+      child, having a bunch of rosebuds in her hand, was lifted up to an open
+      window of the President&rsquo;s car. &ldquo;Floweth for the President.&rdquo; The President
+      stepped to the window, took the rosebuds, bent down and kissed the child,
+      saying, &ldquo;You are a sweet little rosebud yourself. I hope your life will
+      open into perpetual beauty and goodness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0400" id="link2H_4_0400">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STOOD UP THE LONGEST.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      There was a rough gallantry among the young people; and Lincoln&rsquo;s old
+      comrades and friends in Indiana have left many tales of how he &ldquo;went to
+      see the girls,&rdquo; of how he brought in the biggest back-log and made the
+      brightest fire; of how the young people, sitting around it, watching the
+      way the sparks flew, told their fortunes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He helped pare apples, shell corn and crack nuts. He took the girls to
+      meeting and to spelling school, though he was not often allowed to take
+      part in the spelling-match, for the one who &ldquo;chose first&rdquo; always chose
+      &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; Lincoln, and that was equivalent to winning, as the others knew that
+      &ldquo;he would stand up the longest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0401" id="link2H_4_0401">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A MORTIFYING EXPERIENCE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A lady reader or elocutionist came to Springfield in 1857. A large crowd
+      greeted her. Among other things she recited &ldquo;Nothing to Wear,&rdquo; a piece in
+      which is described the perplexities that beset &ldquo;Miss Flora McFlimsy&rdquo; in
+      her efforts to appear fashionable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the midst of one stanza in which no effort is made to say anything
+      particularly amusing, and during the reading of which the audience
+      manifested the most respectful silence and attention, some one in the rear
+      seats burst out with a loud, coarse laugh, a sudden and explosive guffaw.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It startled the speaker and audience, and kindled a storm of unsuppressed
+      laughter and applause. Everybody looked back to ascertain the cause of the
+      demonstration, and were greatly surprised to find that it was Mr. Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He blushed and squirmed with the awkward diffidence of a schoolboy. What
+      caused him to laugh, no one was able to explain. He was doubtless wrapped
+      up in a brown study, and recalling some amusing episode, indulged in
+      laughter without realizing his surroundings. The experience mortified him
+      greatly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0402" id="link2H_4_0402">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO HALFWAY BUSINESS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Soon after Mr. Lincoln began to practice law at Springfield, he was
+      engaged in a criminal case in which it was thought there was little chance
+      of success. Throwing all his powers into it, he came off victorious, and
+      promptly received for his services five hundred dollars. A legal friend,
+      calling upon him the next morning, found him sitting before a table, upon
+      which his money was spread out, counting it over and over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look here, Judge,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;See what a heap of money I&rsquo;ve got from this
+      case. Did you ever see anything like it? Why, I never had so much money in
+      my life before, put it all together.&rdquo; Then, crossing his arms upon the
+      table, his manner sobering down, he added: &ldquo;I have got just five hundred
+      dollars; if it were only seven hundred and fifty, I would go directly and
+      purchase a quarter section of land, and settle it upon my old
+      step-mother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed, he would loan
+      him the amount, taking his note, to which Mr. Lincoln instantly acceded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend then said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln, I would do just what you have indicated. Your step-mother is
+      getting old, and will not probably live many years. I would settle the
+      property upon her for her use during her lifetime, to revert to you upon
+      her death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall do no such thing. It is a poor return at best for all the good
+      woman&rsquo;s devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not going to be any
+      halfway business about it.&rdquo; And so saying, he gathered up his money and
+      proceeded forthwith to carry his long-cherished purpose into execution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0403" id="link2H_4_0403">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DISCOURAGED LITIGATION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln believed in preventing unnecessary litigation, and carried out
+      this in his practice. &ldquo;Who was your guardian?&rdquo; he asked a young man who
+      came to him to complain that a part of the property left him had been
+      withheld. &ldquo;Enoch Kingsbury,&rdquo; replied the young man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know Mr. Kingsbury,&rdquo; said Lincoln, &ldquo;and he is not the man to have
+      cheated you out of a cent, and I can&rsquo;t take the case, and advise you to
+      drop the subject.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And it was dropped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0404" id="link2H_4_0404">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOING HOME TO GET READY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Edwin M. Stanton was one of the attorneys in the great &ldquo;reaper patent&rdquo;
+       case heard in Cincinnati in 1855, Lincoln also having been retained. The
+      latter was rather anxious to deliver the argument on the general
+      propositions of law applicable to the case, but it being decided to have
+      Mr. Stanton do this, the Westerner made no complaint.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Speaking of Stanton&rsquo;s argument and the view Lincoln took of it, Ralph
+      Emerson, a young lawyer who was present at the trial, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The final summing up on our side was by Mr. Stanton, and though he took
+      but about three hours in its delivery, he had devoted as many, if not
+      more, weeks to its preparation. It was very able, and Mr. Lincoln was
+      throughout the whole of it a rapt listener. Mr. Stanton closed his speech
+      in a flight of impassioned eloquence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then the court adjourned for the day, and Mr. Lincoln invited me to take
+      a long walk with him. For block after block he walked rapidly forward, not
+      saying a word, evidently deeply dejected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At last he turned suddenly to me, exclaiming, &lsquo;Emerson, I am going home.&rsquo;
+      A pause. &lsquo;I am going home to study law.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Why,&rsquo; I exclaimed, &lsquo;Mr. Lincoln, you stand at the head of the bar in
+      Illinois now! What are you talking about?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Ah, yes,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;I do occupy a good position there, and I think that
+      I can get along with the way things are done there now. But these
+      college-trained men, who have devoted their whole lives to study, are
+      coming West, don&rsquo;t you see? And they study their cases as we never do.
+      They have got as far as Cincinnati now. They will soon be in Illinois.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Another long pause; then stopping and turning toward me, his countenance
+      suddenly assuming that look of strong determination which those who knew
+      him best sometimes saw upon his face, he exclaimed, &lsquo;I am going home to
+      study law! I am as good as any, of them, and when they get out to
+      Illinois, I will be ready for them.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0405" id="link2H_4_0405">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;THE &lsquo;RAIL-SPUTTER&rsquo; REPAIRING THE UNION.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0319}.jpg" alt="{0319}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0319}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      The cartoon given here in facsimile was one of the posters which decorated
+      the picturesque Presidential campaign of 1864, and assisted in making the
+      period previous to the vote-casting a lively and memorable one. This
+      poster was a lithograph, and, as the title, &ldquo;The Rail-Splitter at Work
+      Repairing the Union,&rdquo; would indicate, the President is using the
+      Vice-Presidential candidate on the Republican National ticket (Andrew
+      Johnson) as an aid in the work. Johnson was, in early life, a tailor, and
+      he is pictured as busily engaged in sewing up the rents made in the map of
+      the Union by the secessionists.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Both men are thoroughly in earnest, and, as history relates, the torn
+      places in the Union map were stitched together so nicely that no one could
+      have told, by mere observation, that a tear had ever been made. Andrew
+      Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln upon the assassination of the latter, was a
+      remarkable man. Born in North Carolina, he removed to Tennessee when
+      young, was Congressman, Governor, and United States Senator, being made
+      military Governor of his State in 1862. A strong, stanch Union man, he was
+      nominated for the Vice-Presidency on the Lincoln ticket to conciliate the
+      War Democrats. After serving out his term as President, he was again
+      elected United States Senator from Tennessee, but died shortly after
+      taking his seat. But he was just the sort of a man to assist &ldquo;Uncle Abe&rdquo;
+       in sewing up the torn places in the Union map, and as military Governor of
+      Tennessee was a powerful factor in winning friends in the South to the
+      Union cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0406" id="link2H_4_0406">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Several of us lawyers,&rdquo; remarked one of his colleagues, &ldquo;in the eastern
+      end of the circuit, annoyed Lincoln once while he was holding court for
+      Davis by attempting to defend against a note to which there were many
+      makers. We had no legal, but a good moral defense, but what we wanted most
+      of all was to stave it off till the next term of court by one expedient or
+      another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We bothered &lsquo;the court&rsquo; about it till late on Saturday, the day of
+      adjournment. He adjourned for supper with nothing left but this case to
+      dispose of. After supper he heard our twaddle for nearly an hour, and then
+      made this odd entry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;L. D. Chaddon vs. J. D. Beasley et al. April Term, 1856. Champaign
+      county Court. Plea in abatement by B. Z. Green, a defendant not served,
+      filed Saturday at 11 o&rsquo;clock a. m., April 24, 1856, stricken from the
+      files by order of court. Demurrer to declaration, if there ever was one,
+      overruled. Defendants who are served now, at 8 o&rsquo;clock p. m., of the last
+      day of the term, ask to plead to the merits, which is denied by the court
+      on the ground that the offer comes too late, and therefore, as by nil
+      dicet, judgment is rendered for Pl&rsquo;ff. Clerk assess damages. A. Lincoln,
+      Judge pro tem.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The lawyer who reads this singular entry will appreciate its oddity if no
+      one else does. After making it, one of the lawyers, on recovering from his
+      astonishment, ventured to enquire: &lsquo;Well, Lincoln, how can we get this
+      case up again?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln eyed him quizzically for a moment, and then answered, &lsquo;You have
+      all been so mighty smart about this case, you can find out how to take it
+      up again yourselves.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0407" id="link2H_4_0407">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ROUGH ON THE NEGRO.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9321}.jpg" alt="{9321}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9321}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln, one day, was talking with the Rev. Dr. Sunderland about the
+      Emancipation Proclamation and the future of the negro. Suddenly a ripple
+      of amusement broke the solemn tone of his voice. &ldquo;As for the negroes,
+      Doctor, and what is going to become of them: I told Ben Wade the other
+      day, that it made me think of a story I read in one of my first books,
+      &lsquo;Aesop&rsquo;s Fables.&rsquo; It was an old edition, and had curious rough wood cuts,
+      one of which showed three white men scrubbing a negro in a potash kettle
+      filled with cold water. The text explained that the men thought that by
+      scrubbing the negro they might make him white. Just about the time they
+      thought they were succeeding, he took cold and died. Now, I am afraid that
+      by the time we get through this War the negro will catch cold and die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0408" id="link2H_4_0408">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHALLENGED ALL COMERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Personal encounters were of frequent occurrence in Gentryville in early
+      days, and the prestige of having thrashed an opponent gave the victor
+      marked social distinction. Green B. Taylor, with whom &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; worked the
+      greater part of one winter on a farm, furnished an account of the noted
+      fight between John Johnston, &ldquo;Abe&rsquo;s&rdquo; stepbrother, and William Grigsby, in
+      which stirring drama &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; himself played an important role before the
+      curtain was rung down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Taylor&rsquo;s father was the second for Johnston, and William Whitten
+      officiated in a similar capacity for Grigsby. &ldquo;They had a terrible fight,&rdquo;
+       related Taylor, &ldquo;and it soon became apparent that Grigsby was too much for
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s man, Johnston. After they had fought a long time without
+      interference, it having been agreed not to break the ring, &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; burst
+      through, caught Grigsby, threw him off and some feet away. There Grigsby
+      stood, proud as Lucifer, and, swinging a bottle of liquor over his head,
+      swore he was &lsquo;the big buck of the lick.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;If any one doubts it,&rsquo; he shouted, &lsquo;he has only to come on and whet his
+      horns.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A general engagement followed this challenge, but at the end of
+      hostilities the field was cleared and the wounded retired amid the
+      exultant shouts of their victors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0409" id="link2H_4_0409">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;GOVERNMENT RESTS IN PUBLIC OPINION.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln delivered a speech at a Republican banquet at Chicago, December
+      10th, 1856, just after the Presidential campaign of that year, in which he
+      said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion
+      can change the government practically just so much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Public opinion, on any subject, always has a &lsquo;central idea,&rsquo; from which
+      all its minor thoughts radiate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That &lsquo;central idea&rsquo; in our political public opinion at the beginning was,
+      and until recently has continued to be, &lsquo;the equality of man.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And although it has always submitted patiently to whatever of inequality
+      there seemed to be as a matter of actual necessity, its constant working
+      has been a steady progress toward the practical equality of all men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let everyone who really believes, and is resolved, that free society is
+      not and shall not be a failure, and who can conscientiously declare that
+      in the past contest he has done only what he thought best&mdash;let every
+      such one have charity to believe that every other one can say as much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thus, let bygones be bygones; let party differences as nothing be, and
+      with steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugurate the good old
+      &lsquo;central ideas&rsquo; of the Republic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We can do it. The human heart is with us; God is with us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We shall never be able to declare that &lsquo;all States as States are equal,&rsquo;
+      nor yet that &lsquo;all citizens are equal,&rsquo; but to renew the broader, better
+      declaration, including both these and much more, that &lsquo;all men are created
+      equal.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0410" id="link2H_4_0410">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HURRY MIGHT MAKE TROUBLE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9323}.jpg" alt="{9323}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9323}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Up to the very last moment of the life of the Confederacy, the London
+      &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; had its fling at the United States. In a cartoon, printed February
+      18th, 1865, labeled &ldquo;The Threatening Notice,&rdquo; &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; intimates that Uncle
+      Sam is in somewhat of a hurry to serve notice on John Bull regarding the
+      contentions in connection with the northern border of the United States.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, however, as attorney for his revered Uncle, advises caution.
+      Accordingly, he tells his Uncle, according to the text under the picture:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      ATTORNEY LINCOLN: &ldquo;Now, Uncle Sam, you&rsquo;re in a darned hurry to serve this
+      here notice on John Bull. Now, it&rsquo;s my duty, as your attorney, to tell you
+      that you may drive him to go over to that cuss, Davis.&rdquo; (Uncle Sam
+      considers.) In this instance, President Lincoln is given credit for
+      judgment and common sense, his advice to his Uncle Sam to be prudent being
+      sound. There was trouble all along the Canadian border during the War,
+      while Canada was the refuge of Northern conspirators and Southern spies,
+      who, at times, crossed the line and inflicted great damage upon the States
+      bordering on it. The plot to seize the great lake cities&mdash;Chicago,
+      Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and others&mdash;was figured out in
+      Canada by the Southerners and Northern allies. President Lincoln, in his
+      message to Congress in December, 1864, said the United States had given
+      notice to England that, at the end of six months, this country would, if
+      necessary, increase its naval armament upon the lakes. What Great Britain
+      feared was the abrogation by the United States of all treaties regarding
+      Canada. By previous stipulation, the United States and England were each
+      to have but one war vessel on the Great Lakes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0411" id="link2H_4_0411">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SAW HIMSELF DEAD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      This story cannot be repeated in Lincoln&rsquo;s own language, although he told
+      it often enough to intimate friends; but, as it was never taken down by a
+      stenographer in the martyred President&rsquo;s exact words, the reader must
+      accept a simple narration of the strange occurrence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not long after the first nomination of Lincoln for the Presidency,
+      when he saw, or imagined he saw, the startling apparition. One day,
+      feeling weary, he threw himself upon a lounge in one of the rooms of his
+      house at Springfield to rest. Opposite the lounge upon which he was lying
+      was a large, long mirror, and he could easily see the reflection of his
+      form, full length.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly he saw, or imagined he saw, two Lincolns in the mirror, each
+      lying full length upon the lounge, but they differed strangely in
+      appearance. One was the natural Lincoln, full of life, vigor, energy and
+      strength; the other was a dead Lincoln, the face white as marble, the
+      limbs nerveless and lifeless, the body inert and still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was so impressed with this vision, which he considered merely an
+      optical illusion, that he arose, put on his hat, and went out for a walk.
+      Returning to the house, he determined to test the matter again&mdash;and
+      the result was the same as before. He distinctly saw the two Lincolns&mdash;one
+      living and the other dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He said nothing to his wife about this, she being, at that time, in a
+      nervous condition, and apprehensive that some accident would surely befall
+      her husband. She was particularly fearful that he might be the victim of
+      an assassin. Lincoln always made light of her fears, but yet he was never
+      easy in his mind afterwards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To more thoroughly test the so-called &ldquo;optical illusion,&rdquo; and prove,
+      beyond the shadow of a doubt, whether it was a mere fanciful creation of
+      the brain or a reflection upon the broad face of the mirror which might be
+      seen at any time, Lincoln made frequent experiments. Each and every time
+      the result was the same. He could not get away from the two Lincolns&mdash;one
+      living and the other dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln never saw this forbidding reflection while in the White House.
+      Time after time he placed a couch in front of a mirror at a distance from
+      the glass where he could view his entire length while lying down, but the
+      looking-glass in the Executive Mansion was faithful to its trust, and only
+      the living Lincoln was observable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The late Ward Lamon, once a law partner of Lincoln, and Marshal of the
+      District of Columbia during his first administration, tells, in his
+      &ldquo;Recollections of Abraham Lincoln,&rdquo; of the dreams the President had&mdash;all
+      foretelling death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lamon was Lincoln&rsquo;s most intimate friend, being, practically, his
+      bodyguard, and slept in the White House. In reference to Lincoln&rsquo;s &ldquo;death
+      dreams,&rdquo; he says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How, it may be asked, could he make life tolerable, burdened as he was
+      with that portentous horror, which, though visionary, and of trifling
+      import in our eyes, was by his interpretation a premonition of impending
+      doom? I answer in a word: His sense of duty to his country; his belief
+      that &lsquo;the inevitable&rsquo; is right; and his innate and irrepressible humor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the most startling incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln was a dream he
+      had only a few days before his assassination. To him it was a thing of
+      deadly import, and certainly no vision was ever fashioned more exactly
+      like a dread reality. Coupled with other dreams, with the mirror-scene and
+      with other incidents, there was something about it so amazingly real, so
+      true to the actual tragedy which occurred soon after, that more than
+      mortal strength and wisdom would have been required to let it pass without
+      a shudder or a pang.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After worrying over it for some days, Mr. Lincoln seemed no longer able
+      to keep the secret. I give it as nearly in his own words as I can, from
+      notes which I made immediately after its recital. There were only two or
+      three persons present.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President was in a melancholy, meditative mood, and had been silent
+      for some time. Mrs. Lincoln, who was present, rallied him on his solemn
+      visage and want of spirit. This seemed to arouse him, and, without seeming
+      to notice her sally, he said, in slow and measured tones:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;It seems strange how much there is in the Bible about dreams. There are,
+      I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament and four or five in
+      the New, in which dreams are mentioned; and there are many other passages
+      scattered throughout the book which refer to visions. In the old days, God
+      and His angels came to men in their sleep and made themselves known in
+      dreams.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Lincoln here remarked, &lsquo;Why, you look dreadfully solemn; do you
+      believe in dreams?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I can&rsquo;t say that I do,&rsquo; returned Mr. Lincoln; &lsquo;but I had one the other
+      night which has haunted me ever since. After it occurred the first time, I
+      opened the Bible, and, strange as it may appear, it was at the
+      twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which relates the wonderful dream Jacob
+      had. I turned to other passages, and seemed to encounter a dream or a
+      vision wherever I looked. I kept on turning the leaves of the old book,
+      and everywhere my eyes fell upon passages recording matters strangely in
+      keeping with my own thoughts&mdash;supernatural visitations, dreams,
+      visions, etc.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He now looked so serious and disturbed that Mrs. Lincoln exclaimed &lsquo;You
+      frighten me! What is the matter?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I am afraid,&rsquo; said Mr. Lincoln, observing the effect his words had upon
+      his wife, &lsquo;that I have done wrong to mention the subject at all; but
+      somehow the thing has got possession of me, and, like Banquo&rsquo;s ghost, it
+      will not down.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This only inflamed Mrs. Lincoln&rsquo;s curiosity the more, and while bravely
+      disclaiming any belief in dreams, she strongly urged him to tell the dream
+      which seemed to have such a hold upon him, being seconded in this by
+      another listener. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but at length commenced very
+      deliberately, his brow overcast with a shade of melancholy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;About ten days ago,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;I retired very late. I had been up
+      waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been
+      long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to
+      dream. There seemed to be a deathlike stillness about me. Then I heard
+      subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I thought I left my bed and wandered down-stairs. There the silence was
+      broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I
+      went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same
+      mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. It was light in all
+      the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people
+      who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and
+      alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so
+      shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered.
+      There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on
+      which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were
+      stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of
+      people, some gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered,
+      others weeping pitifully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;"Who is dead in the White House?&rdquo; I demanded of one of the soldiers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;"The President,&rdquo; was his answer; &ldquo;he was killed by an assassin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which awoke me from my
+      dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I
+      have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;That is horrid!&rsquo; said Mrs. Lincoln. &lsquo;I wish you had not told it. I am
+      glad I don&rsquo;t believe in dreams, or I should be in terror from this time
+      forth.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well,&rsquo; responded Mr. Lincoln, thoughtfully, &lsquo;it is only a dream, Mary.
+      Let us say no more about it, and try to forget it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This dream was so horrible, so real, and so in keeping with other dreams
+      and threatening presentiments of his, that Mr. Lincoln was profoundly
+      disturbed by it. During its recital he was grave, gloomy, and at times
+      visibly pale, but perfectly calm. He spoke slowly, with measured accents
+      and deep feeling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In conversations with me, he referred to it afterwards, closing one with
+      this quotation from &lsquo;Hamlet&rsquo;: &lsquo;To sleep; perchance to dream! ay, there&rsquo;s
+      the rub!&rsquo; with a strong accent upon the last three words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Once the President alluded to this terrible dream with some show of
+      playful humor. &lsquo;Hill,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;your apprehension of harm to me from some
+      hidden enemy is downright foolishness. For a long time you have been
+      trying to keep somebody-the Lord knows who&mdash;from killing me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Don&rsquo;t you see how it will turn out? In this dream it was not me, but
+      some other fellow, that was killed. It seems that this ghostly assassin
+      tried his hand on some one else. And this reminds me of an old farmer in
+      Illinois whose family were made sick by eating greens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Some poisonous herb had got into the mess, and members of the family
+      were in danger of dying. There was a half-witted boy in the family called
+      Jake; and always afterward when they had greens the old man would say,
+      &ldquo;Now, afore we risk these greens, let&rsquo;s try &lsquo;em on Jake. If he stands &lsquo;em
+      we&rsquo;re all right.&rdquo; Just so with me. As long as this imaginary assassin
+      continues to exercise himself on others, I can stand it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He then became serious and said: &lsquo;Well, let it go. I think the Lord in
+      His own good time and way will work this out all right. God knows what is
+      best.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These words he spoke with a sigh, and rather in a tone of soliloquy, as
+      if hardly noting my presence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln had another remarkable dream, which was repeated so
+      frequently during his occupancy of the White House that he came to regard
+      it is a welcome visitor. It was of a pleasing and promising character,
+      having nothing in it of the horrible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was always an omen of a Union victory, and came with unerring
+      certainty just before every military or naval engagement where our arms
+      were crowned with success. In this dream he saw a ship sailing away
+      rapidly, badly damaged, and our victorious vessels in close pursuit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He saw, also, the close of a battle on land, the enemy routed, and our
+      forces in possession of vantage ground of inestimable importance. Mr.
+      Lincoln stated it as a fact that he had this dream just before the battles
+      of Antietam, Gettysburg, and other signal engagements throughout the War.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The last time Mr. Lincoln had this dream was the night before his
+      assassination. On the morning of that lamentable day there was a Cabinet
+      meeting, at which General Grant was present. During an interval of general
+      discussion, the President asked General Grant if he had any news from
+      General Sherman, who was then confronting Johnston. The reply was in the
+      negative, but the general added that he was in hourly expectation of a
+      dispatch announcing Johnston&rsquo;s surrender.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln then, with great impressiveness, said, &lsquo;We shall hear very
+      soon, and the news will be important.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;General Grant asked him why he thought so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Because,&rsquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &lsquo;I had a dream last night; and ever since
+      this War began I have had the same dream just before every event of great
+      national importance. It portends some important event which will happen
+      very soon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On the night of the fateful 14th of April, 1865, Mrs. Lincoln&rsquo;s first
+      exclamation, after the President was shot, was, &lsquo;His dream was prophetic!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln was a believer in certain phases of the supernatural. Assured as
+      he undoubtedly was by omens which, to his mind, were conclusive, that he
+      would rise to greatness and power, he was as firmly convinced by the same
+      tokens that he would be suddenly cut off at the height of his career and
+      the fullness of his fame. He always believed that he would fall by the
+      hand of an assassin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln had this further idea: Dreams, being natural occurrences, in
+      the strictest sense, he held that their best interpreters are the common
+      people; and this accounts, in great measure, for the profound respect he
+      always had for the collective wisdom of plain people&mdash;&lsquo;the children
+      of Nature,&rsquo; he called them&mdash;touching matters belonging to the domain
+      of psychical mysteries. There was some basis of truth, he believed, for
+      whatever obtained general credence among these &lsquo;children of Nature.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Concerning presentiments and dreams, Mr. Lincoln had a philosophy of his
+      own, which, strange as it may appear, was in perfect harmony with his
+      character in all other respects. He was no dabbler in divination&mdash;astrology,
+      horoscopy, prophecy, ghostly lore, or witcheries of any sort.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0327}.jpg" alt="{0327}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0327}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0328}.jpg" alt="{0328}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0328}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0412" id="link2H_4_0412">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EVERY LITTLE HELPED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As the time drew near at which Mr. Lincoln said he would issue the
+      Emancipation Proclamation, some clergymen, who feared the President might
+      change his mind, called on him to urge him to keep his promise.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0331}.jpg" alt="{0331}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0331}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We were ushered into the Cabinet room,&rdquo; says Dr. Sunderland. &ldquo;It was very
+      dim, but one gas jet burning. As we entered, Mr. Lincoln was standing at
+      the farther end of the long table, which filled the center of the room. As
+      I stood by the door, I am so very short, that I was obliged to look up to
+      see the President. Mr. Robbins introduced me, and I began at once by
+      saying: &lsquo;I have come, Mr. President, to anticipate the new year with my
+      respects, and if I may, to say to you a word about the serious condition
+      of this country.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Go ahead, Doctor,&rsquo; replied the President; &lsquo;every little helps.&rsquo; But I
+      was too much in earnest to laugh at his sally at my smallness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0413" id="link2H_4_0413">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ABOUT TO LAY DOWN THE BURDEN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln (at times) said he felt sure his life would end with the
+      War. A correspondent of a Boston paper had an interview with him in July,
+      1864, and wrote regarding it:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President told me he was certain he should not outlast the rebellion.
+      As will be remembered, there was dissension then among the Republican
+      leaders. Many of his best friends had deserted him, and were talking of an
+      opposition convention to nominate another candidate, and universal gloom
+      was among the people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The North was tired of the War, and supposed an honorable peace
+      attainable. Mr. Lincoln knew it was not&mdash;that any peace at that time
+      would be only disunion. Speaking of it, he said: &lsquo;I have faith in the
+      people. They will not consent to disunion. The danger is, they are misled.
+      Let them know the truth, and the country is safe.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He looked haggard and careworn; and further on in the interview I
+      remarked on his appearance, &lsquo;You are wearing yourself out with work.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I can&rsquo;t work less,&rsquo; he answered; &lsquo;but it isn&rsquo;t that&mdash;work never
+      troubled me. Things look badly, and I can&rsquo;t avoid anxiety. Personally, I
+      care nothing about a re-election, but if our divisions defeat us, I fear
+      for the country.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When I suggested that right must eventually triumph, he replied, &lsquo;I grant
+      that, but I may never live to see it. I feel a presentiment that I shall
+      not outlast the rebellion. When it is over, my work will be done.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He never intimated, however, that he expected to be assassinated.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0414" id="link2H_4_0414">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN WOULD HAVE PREFERRED DEATH.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      Horace Greeley said, some time after the death of President Lincoln:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After the Civil War began, Lincoln&rsquo;s tenacity of purpose paralleled his
+      former immobility; I believe he would have been nearly the last, if not
+      the very last, man in America to recognize the Southern Confederacy had
+      its armies been triumphant. He would have preferred death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0415" id="link2H_4_0415">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;PUNCH&rdquo; AND HIS LITTLE PICTURE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8333}.jpg" alt="{8333} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8333}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      London &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; was not satisfied with anything President Lincoln did. On
+      December 3rd, 1864, after Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s re-election to the Presidency, a
+      cartoon appeared in one of the pages of that genial publication, the
+      reproduction being printed here, labeled &ldquo;The Federal Phoenix.&rdquo; It
+      attracted great attention at the time, and was particularly pleasing to
+      the enemies of the United States, as it showed Lincoln as the Phoenix
+      arising from the ashes of the Federal Constitution, the Public Credit, the
+      Freedom of the Press, State Rights and the Commerce of the North American
+      Republic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln&rsquo;s endorsement by the people of the United States meant
+      that the Confederacy was to be crushed, no matter what the cost; that the
+      Union of States was to be preserved, and that State Rights was a thing of
+      the past. &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; wished to create the impression that President Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      re-election was a personal victory; that he would set up a despotism, with
+      himself at its head, and trample upon the Constitution of the United
+      States and all the rights the citizens of the Republic ever possessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The result showed that &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; was suffering from an acute attack of
+      needless alarm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0416" id="link2H_4_0416">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FASCINATED By THE WONDERFUL
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was particularly fascinated by the wonderful happenings recorded
+      in history. He loved to read of those mighty events which had been
+      foretold, and often brooded upon these subjects. His early convictions
+      upon occult matters led him to read all books tending&rsquo; to strengthen these
+      convictions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following lines, in Byron&rsquo;s &ldquo;Dream,&rdquo; were frequently quoted by him:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Sleep hath its own world,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          A boundary between the things misnamed
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Death and existence: Sleep hath its own world
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And a wide realm of wild reality.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And dreams in their development have breath,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And tears and tortures, and the touch of joy;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          They take a weight from off our waking toils,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          They do divide our being.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      Those with whom he was associated in his early youth and young manhood,
+      and with whom he was always in cordial sympathy, were thorough believers
+      in presentiments and dreams; and so Lincoln drifted on through years of
+      toil and exceptional hardship&mdash;meditative, aspiring, certain of his
+      star, but appalled at times by its malignant aspect. Many times prior to
+      his first election to the Presidency he was both elated and alarmed by
+      what seemed to him a rent in the veil which hides from mortal view what
+      the future holds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He saw, or thought he saw, a vision of glory and of blood, himself the
+      central figure in a scene which his fancy transformed from giddy
+      enchantment to the most appalling tragedy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0417" id="link2H_4_0417">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;WHY DON&rsquo;T THEY COME!&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      The suspense of the days when the capital was isolated, the expected
+      troops not arriving, and an hourly attack feared, wore on Mr. Lincoln
+      greatly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I begin to believe,&rdquo; he said bitterly, one day, to some Massachusetts
+      soldiers, &ldquo;that there is no North. The Seventh Regiment is a myth. Rhode
+      Island is another. You are the only real thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And again, after pacing the floor of his deserted office for a half-hour,
+      he was heard to exclaim to himself, in an anguished tone: &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t they
+      come! Why don&rsquo;t they come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0418" id="link2H_4_0418">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GRANT&rsquo;S BRAND OF WHISKEY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was not a man of impulse, and did nothing upon the spur of the
+      moment; action with him was the result of deliberation and study. He took
+      nothing for granted; he judged men by their performances and not their
+      speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If a general lost battles, Lincoln lost confidence in him; if a commander
+      was successful, Lincoln put him where he would be of the most service to
+      the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Grant is a drunkard,&rdquo; asserted powerful and influential politicians to
+      the President at the White House time after time; &ldquo;he is not himself half
+      the time; he can&rsquo;t be relied upon, and it is a shame to have such a man in
+      command of an army.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So Grant gets drunk, does he?&rdquo; queried Lincoln, addressing himself to one
+      of the particularly active detractors of the soldier, who, at that period,
+      was inflicting heavy damage upon the Confederates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he does, and I can prove it,&rdquo; was the reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; returned Lincoln, with the faintest suspicion of a twinkle in his
+      eye, &ldquo;you needn&rsquo;t waste your time getting proof; you just find out, to
+      oblige me, what brand of whiskey Grant drinks, because I want to send a
+      barrel of it to each one of my generals.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That ended the crusade against Grant, so far as the question of drinking
+      was concerned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0419" id="link2H_4_0419">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS FINANCIAL STANDING.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A New York firm applied to Abraham Lincoln, some years before he became
+      President, for information as to the financial standing of one of his
+      neighbors. Mr. Lincoln replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am well acquainted with Mr.&mdash;&mdash; and know his circumstances.
+      First of all, he has a wife and baby; together they ought to be worth
+      $50,000 to any man. Secondly, he has an office in which there is a table
+      worth $1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1. Last of all, there is in one
+      corner a large rat hole, which will bear looking into. Respectfully, A.
+      Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0420" id="link2H_4_0420">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE DANDY AND THE BOYS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln appointed as consul to a South American country a young
+      man from Ohio who was a dandy. A wag met the new appointee on his way to
+      the White House to thank the President. He was dressed in the most
+      extravagant style. The wag horrified him by telling him that the country
+      to which he was assigned was noted chiefly for the bugs that abounded
+      there and made life unbearable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll bore a hole clean through you before a week has passed,&rdquo; was the
+      comforting assurance of the wag as they parted at the White House steps.
+      The new consul approached Lincoln with disappointment clearly written all
+      over his face. Instead of joyously thanking the President, he told him the
+      wag&rsquo;s story of the bugs. &ldquo;I am informed, Mr. President,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that
+      the place is full of vermin and that they could eat me up in a week&rsquo;s
+      time.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well, young man,&rdquo; replied Lincoln, &ldquo;if that&rsquo;s true, all I&rsquo;ve got
+      to say is that if such a thing happened they would leave a mighty good
+      suit of clothes behind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0421" id="link2H_4_0421">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;SOME UGLY OLD LAWYER.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      A. W. Swan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, told this story on Lincoln, being
+      an eyewitness of the scene:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One day President Lincoln was met in the park between the White House and
+      the War Department by an irate private soldier, who was swearing in a high
+      key, cursing the Government from the President down. Mr. Lincoln paused
+      and asked him what was the matter. &lsquo;Matter enough,&rsquo; was the reply. &lsquo;I want
+      my money. I have been discharged here, and can&rsquo;t get my pay.&rsquo; Mr. Lincoln
+      asked if he had his papers, saying that he used to practice law in a small
+      way, and possibly could help him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My friend and I stepped behind some convenient shrubbery where we could
+      watch the result. Mr. Lincoln took the papers from the hands of the
+      crippled soldier, and sat down with him at the foot of a convenient tree,
+      where he examined them carefully, and writing a line on the back, told the
+      soldier to take them to Mr. Potts, Chief Clerk of the War Department, who
+      would doubtless attend to the matter at once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped out and asked him if
+      he knew whom he had been talking with. &lsquo;Some ugly old fellow who pretends
+      to be a lawyer,&rsquo; was the reply. My companion asked to see the papers, and
+      on their being handed to him, pointed to the indorsement they had
+      received: This indorsement read:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Mr. Potts, attend to this man&rsquo;s case at once and see that he gets his
+      pay. A. L.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0422" id="link2H_4_0422">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOOD MEMORY OF NAMES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The following story illustrates the power of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s memory of names
+      and faces. When he was a comparatively young man, and a candidate for the
+      Illinois Legislature, he made a personal canvass of the district. While
+      &ldquo;swinging around the circle&rdquo; he stopped one day and took dinner with a
+      farmer in Sangamon county.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Years afterward, when Mr. Lincoln had become President, a soldier came to
+      call on him at the White House. At the first glance the Chief Executive
+      said: &ldquo;Yes, I remember; you used to live on the Danville road. I took
+      dinner with you when I was running for the Legislature. I recollect that
+      we stood talking out at the barnyard gate while I sharpened my jackknife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Y-a-a-s,&rdquo; drawled the soldier, &ldquo;you did. But say, wherever did you put
+      that whetstone? I looked for it a dozen times, but I never could find it
+      after the day you used it. We allowed as how mabby you took it &lsquo;long with
+      you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Lincoln, looking serious and pushing away a lot of documents of
+      state from the desk in front of him. &ldquo;No, I put it on top of that gatepost&mdash;that
+      high one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; exclaimed the visitor, &ldquo;mabby you did. Couldn&rsquo;t anybody else have
+      put it there, and none of us ever thought of looking there for it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The soldier was then on his way home, and when he got there the first
+      thing he did was to look for the whetstone. And sure enough, there it was,
+      just where Lincoln had laid it fifteen years before. The honest fellow
+      wrote a letter to the Chief Magistrate, telling him that the whetstone had
+      been found, and would never be lost again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0423" id="link2H_4_0423">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SETTLED OUT OF COURT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Abe Lincoln used to be drifting around the country, practicing law in
+      Fulton and Menard counties, Illinois, an old fellow met him going to
+      Lewiston, riding a horse which, while it was a serviceable enough animal,
+      was not of the kind to be truthfully called a fine saddler. It was a
+      weatherbeaten nag, patient and plodding, and it toiled along with Abe&mdash;and
+      Abe&rsquo;s books, tucked away in saddle-bags, lay heavy on the horse&rsquo;s flank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Uncle Tommy,&rdquo; said Abe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Abe,&rdquo; responded Uncle Tommy. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m powerful glad to see ye, Abe,
+      fer I&rsquo;m gwyne to have sumthin&rsquo; fer ye at Lewiston co&rsquo;t, I reckon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How&rsquo;s that, Uncle Tommy?&rdquo; said Abe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Jim Adams, his land runs &lsquo;long o&rsquo; mine, he&rsquo;s pesterin&rsquo; me a heap
+      an&rsquo; I got to get the law on Jim, I reckon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Tommy, you haven&rsquo;t had any fights with Jim, have you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a fair to middling neighbor, isn&rsquo;t he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only tollable, Abe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a neighbor of yours for a long time, hasn&rsquo;t he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nigh on to fifteen year.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Part of the time you get along all right, don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon we do, Abe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, now, Uncle Tommy, you see this horse of mine? He isn&rsquo;t as good a
+      horse as I could straddle, and I sometimes get out of patience with him,
+      but I know his faults. He does fairly well as horses go, and it might take
+      me a long time to get used to some other horse&rsquo;s faults. For all horses
+      have faults. You and Uncle Jimmy must put up with each other as I and my
+      horse do with one another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon, Abe,&rdquo; said Uncle Tommy, as he bit off about four ounces of
+      Missouri plug. &ldquo;I reckon you&rsquo;re about right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Abe Lincoln, with a smile on his gaunt face, rode on toward Lewiston.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0424" id="link2H_4_0424">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE FIVE POINTS SUNDAY SCHOOL.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9339}.jpg" alt="{9339}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9339}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      When Mr. Lincoln visited New York in 1860, he felt a great interest in
+      many of the institutions for reforming criminals and saving the young from
+      a life of crime. Among others, he visited, unattended, the Five Points
+      House of Industry, and the superintendent of the Sabbath school there gave
+      the following account of the event:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One Sunday morning I saw a tall, remarkable-looking man enter the room
+      and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed attention to our
+      exercises, and his countenance expressed such genuine interest that I
+      approached him and suggested that he might be willing to say something to
+      the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and coming
+      forward began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little
+      hearer and hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly
+      beautiful, and his tones musical with intense feeling. The little faces
+      would droop into sad conviction when he uttered sentences of warning, and
+      would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once
+      or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shout of,
+      &lsquo;Go on! Oh, do go on!&rsquo; would compel him to resume.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked
+      his powerful head and determined features, now touched into softness by
+      the impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn
+      something more about him, and while he was quietly leaving the room, I
+      begged to know his name. He courteously replied: &lsquo;It is Abraham Lincoln,
+      from Illinois.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0425" id="link2H_4_0425">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SENTINEL OBEYED ORDERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A slight variation of the traditional sentry story is related by C. C.
+      Buel. It was a cold, blusterous winter night. Says Mr. Buel:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln emerged from the front door, his lank figure bent over as he
+      drew tightly about his shoulders the shawl which he employed for such
+      protection; for he was on his way to the War Department, at the west
+      corner of the grounds, where in times of battle he was wont to get the
+      midnight dispatches from the field. As the blast struck him he thought of
+      the numbness of the pacing sentry, and, turning to him, said: &lsquo;Young man,
+      you&rsquo;ve got a cold job to-night; step inside, and stand guard there.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;My orders keep me out here,&rsquo; the soldier replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; said the President, in his argumentative tone; &lsquo;but your duty can
+      be performed just as well inside as out here, and you&rsquo;ll oblige me by
+      going in.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I have been stationed outside,&rsquo; the soldier answered, and resumed his
+      beat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Hold on there!&rsquo; said Mr. Lincoln, as he turned back again; &lsquo;it occurs to
+      me that I am Commander-in-Chief of the army, and I order you to go
+      inside.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0426" id="link2H_4_0426">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHY LINCOLN GROWED WHISKERS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Perhaps the majority of people in the United States don&rsquo;t know why Lincoln
+      &ldquo;growed&rdquo; whiskers after his first nomination for the Presidency. Before
+      that time his face was clean shaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the beautiful village of Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, there
+      lived, in 1860, little Grace Bedell. During the campaign of that year she
+      saw a portrait of Lincoln, for whom she felt the love and reverence that
+      was common in Republican families, and his smooth, homely face rather
+      disappointed her. She said to her mother: &ldquo;I think, mother, that Mr.
+      Lincoln would look better if he wore whiskers, and I mean to write and
+      tell him so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The mother gave her permission.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Grace&rsquo;s father was a Republican; her two brothers were Democrats. Grace
+      wrote at once to the &ldquo;Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Esq., Springfield, Illinois,&rdquo;
+       in which she told him how old she was, and where she lived; that she was a
+      Republican; that she thought he would make a good President, but would
+      look better if he would let his whiskers grow. If he would do so, she
+      would try to coax her brothers to vote for him. She thought the rail fence
+      around the picture of his cabin was very pretty. &ldquo;If you have not time to
+      answer my letter, will you allow your little girl to reply for you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln was much pleased with the letter, and decided to answer it, which
+      he did at once, as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Springfield, Illinois, October 19, 1860.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Grace Bedell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My Dear Little Miss: Your very agreeable letter of the fifteenth is
+      received. I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughter. I have
+      three sons; one seventeen, one nine and one seven years of age. They, with
+      their mother, constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers, having never
+      worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly
+      affectation if I should begin it now? Your very sincere well-wisher, A.
+      LINCOLN.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When on the journey to Washington to be inaugurated, Lincoln&rsquo;s train
+      stopped at Westfield. He recollected his little correspondent and spoke of
+      her to ex-Lieutenant Governor George W. Patterson, who called out and
+      asked if Grace Bedell was present.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a large surging mass of people gathered about the train, but
+      Grace was discovered at a distance; the crowd opened a pathway to the
+      coach, and she came, timidly but gladly, to the President-elect, who told
+      her that she might see that he had allowed his whiskers to grow at her
+      request. Then, reaching out his long arms, he drew her up to him and
+      kissed her. The act drew an enthusiastic demonstration of approval from
+      the multitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Grace married a Kansas banker, and became Grace Bedell Billings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0427" id="link2H_4_0427">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AS A DANCER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln made his first appearance in society when he was first sent to
+      Springfield, Ill., as a member of the State Legislature. It was not an
+      imposing figure which he cut in a ballroom, but still he was occasionally
+      to be found there. Miss Mary Todd, who afterward became his wife, was the
+      magnet which drew the tall, awkward young man from his den. One evening
+      Lincoln approached Miss Todd, and said, in his peculiar idiom:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Todd, I should like to dance with you the worst way.&rdquo; The young
+      woman accepted the inevitable, and hobbled around the room with him. When
+      she returned to her seat, one of her companions asked mischievously:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Mary, did he dance with you the worst way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;the very worst.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0428" id="link2H_4_0428">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SIMPLY PRACTICAL HUMANITY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      An instance of young Lincoln&rsquo;s practical humanity at an early period of
+      his life is recorded in this way:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening, while returning from a &ldquo;raising&rdquo; in his wide neighborhood,
+      with a number of companions, he discovered a stray horse, with saddle and
+      bridle upon him. The horse was recognized as belonging to a man who was
+      accustomed to get drunk, and it was suspected at once that he was not far
+      off. A short search only was necessary to confirm the belief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The poor drunkard was found in a perfectly helpless condition, upon the
+      chilly ground. Abraham&rsquo;s companions urged the cowardly policy of leaving
+      him to his fate, but young Lincoln would not hear to the proposition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At his request, the miserable sot was lifted on his shoulders, and he
+      actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sending word to his father that he should not be back that night, with the
+      reason for his absence, he attended and nursed the man until the morning,
+      and had the pleasure of believing that he had saved his life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0429" id="link2H_4_0429">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HAPPY FIGURES OF SPEECH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On one occasion, exasperated at the discrepancy between the aggregate of
+      troops forwarded to McClellan and the number that same general reported as
+      having received, Lincoln exclaimed: &ldquo;Sending men to that army is like
+      shoveling fleas across a barnyard&mdash;half of them never get there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To a politician who had criticised his course, he wrote: &ldquo;Would you have
+      me drop the War where it is, or would you prosecute it in future with
+      elder stalk squirts charged with rosewater?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When, on his first arrival in Washington as President, he found himself
+      besieged by office-seekers, while the War was breaking out, he said: &ldquo;I
+      feel like a man letting lodgings at one end of his house while the other
+      end is on fire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0430" id="link2H_4_0430">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A FEW &ldquo;RHYTHMIC SHOTS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln&rsquo;s time in
+      Washington, accompanied the President everywhere. He was a good singer,
+      and, when Lincoln was in one of his melancholy moods, would &ldquo;fire a few
+      rhythmic shots&rdquo; at the President to cheer the latter. Lincoln keenly
+      relished nonsense in the shape of witty or comic ditties. A parody of &ldquo;A
+      Life on the Ocean Wave&rdquo; was always pleasing to him:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Oh, a life on the ocean wave,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;And a home on the rolling deep!
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          With ratlins fried three times a day
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;And a leaky old berth for to sleep;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Where the gray-beard cockroach roams,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;On thoughts of kind intent,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And the raving bedbug comes
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;The road the cockroach went.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln could not control his laughter when he heard songs of this sort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was fond of negro melodies, too, and &ldquo;The Blue-Tailed Fly&rdquo; was a great
+      favorite with him. He often called for that buzzing ballad when he and
+      Lamon were alone, and he wanted to throw off the weight of public and
+      private cares. The ballad of &ldquo;The Blue-Tailed Fly&rdquo; contained two verses,
+      which ran:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;When I was young I used to wait
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          At massa&rsquo;s table, &lsquo;n&rsquo; hand de plate,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          An&rsquo; pass de bottle when he was dry,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          An&rsquo; brush away de blue-tailed fly.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Ol&rsquo; Massa&rsquo;s dead; oh, let him rest!
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Dey say all things am for de best;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          But I can&rsquo;t forget until I die
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Ol&rsquo; massa an&rsquo; de blue-tailed fly.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      While humorous songs delighted the President, he also loved to listen to
+      patriotic airs and ballads containing sentiment. He was fond of hearing
+      &ldquo;The Sword of Bunker Hill,&rdquo; &ldquo;Ben Bolt,&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Lament of the Irish
+      Emigrant.&rdquo; His preference of the verses in the latter was this:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;I&rsquo;m lonely now, Mary,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;For the poor make no new friends;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          But, oh, they love the better still
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;The few our Father sends!
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And you were all I had, Mary,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;My blessing and my pride;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          There&rsquo;s nothing left to care for now,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;Since my poor Mary died.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      Those who knew Lincoln were well aware he was incapable of so monstrous an
+      act as that of wantonly insulting the dead, as was charged in the infamous
+      libel which asserted that he listened to a comic song on the field of
+      Antietam, before the dead were buried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0431" id="link2H_4_0431">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      OLD MAN GLENN&rsquo;S RELIGION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln once remarked to a friend that his religion was like that of
+      an old man named Glenn, in Indiana, whom he heard speak at a church
+      meeting, and who said: &ldquo;When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel
+      bad; and that&rsquo;s my religion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Lincoln herself has said that Mr. Lincoln had no faith&mdash;no
+      faith, in the usual acceptance of those words. &ldquo;He never joined a church;
+      but still, as I believe, he was a religious man by nature. He first seemed
+      to think about the subject when our boy Willie died, and then more than
+      ever about the time he went to Gettysburg; but it was a kind of poetry in
+      his nature, and he never was a technical Christian.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0432" id="link2H_4_0432">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LAST ACTS OF MERCY.
+    </h2>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0345}.jpg" alt="{0345}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0345}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0346}.jpg" alt="{0346}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0346}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      During the afternoon preceding his assassination the President signed a
+      pardon for a soldier sentenced to be shot for desertion, remarking as he
+      did so, &ldquo;Well, I think the boy can do us more good above ground than under
+      ground.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He also approved an application for the discharge, on taking the oath of
+      allegiance, of a rebel prisoner, in whose petition he wrote, &ldquo;Let it be
+      done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This act of mercy was his last official order.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0433" id="link2H_4_0433">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      JUST LIKE SEWARD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The first corps of the army commanded by General Reynolds was once
+      reviewed by the President on a beautiful plain at the north of Potomac
+      Creek, about eight miles from Hooker&rsquo;s headquarters. The party rode
+      thither in an ambulance over a rough corduroy road, and as they passed
+      over some of the more difficult portions of the jolting way the ambulance
+      driver, who sat well in front, occasionally let fly a volley of suppressed
+      oaths at his wild team of six mules.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Finally, Mr. Lincoln, leaning forward, touched the man on the shoulder and
+      said,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me, my friend, are you an Episcopalian?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man, greatly startled, looked around and replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Mr. President; I am a Methodist.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Lincoln, &ldquo;I thought you must be an Episcopalian, because you
+      swear just like Governor Seward, who is a church warder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0434" id="link2H_4_0434">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A CHEERFUL PROSPECT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The first night after the departure of President-elect Lincoln from
+      Springfield, on his way to Washington, was spent in Indianapolis. Governor
+      Yates, O. H. Browning, Jesse K. Dubois, O. M. Hatch, Josiah Allen, of
+      Indiana, and others, after taking leave of Mr. Lincoln to return to their
+      respective homes, took Ward Lamon into a room, locked the door, and
+      proceeded in the most solemn and impressive manner to instruct him as to
+      his duties as the special guardian of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s person during the rest
+      of his journey to Washington. Lamon tells the story as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The lesson was concluded by Uncle Jesse, as Mr. Dubois was commonly,
+      called, who said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now, Lamon, we have regarded you as the Tom Hyer of Illinois, with
+      Morrissey attachment. We intrust the sacred life of Mr. Lincoln to your
+      keeping; and if you don&rsquo;t protect it, never return to Illinois, for we
+      will murder you on sight.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0435" id="link2H_4_0435">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THOUGHT GOD WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner was one of the few men to whom Mr.
+      Lincoln confided his intention to issue the Proclamation of Emancipation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln told his Illinois friend of the visit of a delegation to him
+      who claimed to have a message from God that the War would not be
+      successful without the freeing of the negroes, to whom Mr. Lincoln
+      replied: &ldquo;Is it not a little strange that He should tell this to you, who
+      have so little to do with it, and should not have told me, who has a great
+      deal to do with it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At the same time he informed Professor Turner he had his Proclamation in
+      his pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0436" id="link2H_4_0436">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AND A BIBLE HERO.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A writer who heard Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s famous speech delivered in New York after
+      his nomination for President has left this record of the event:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When Lincoln rose to speak, I was greatly disappointed. He was tall,
+      tall, oh, so tall, and so angular and awkward that I had for an instant a
+      feeling of pity for so ungainly a man. He began in a low tone of voice, as
+      if he were used to speaking out of doors and was afraid of speaking too
+      loud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He said &lsquo;Mr. Cheerman,&rsquo; instead of &lsquo;Mr. Chairman,&rsquo; and employed many
+      other words with an old-fashioned pronunciation. I said to myself, &lsquo;Old
+      fellow, you won&rsquo;t do; it is all very well for the Wild West, but this will
+      never go down in New York.&rsquo; But pretty soon he began to get into the
+      subject; he straightened up, made regular and graceful gestures; his face
+      lighted as with an inward fire; the whole man was transfigured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I forgot the clothing, his personal appearance, and his individual
+      peculiarities. Presently, forgetting myself, I was on my feet with the
+      rest, yelling like a wild Indian, cheering the wonderful man. In the close
+      parts of his argument you could hear the gentle sizzling of the gas
+      burners.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When he reached a climax the thunders of applause were terrific. It was a
+      great speech. When I came out of the hall my face was glowing with
+      excitement and my frame all a-quiver. A friend, with his eyes aglow, asked
+      me what I thought of &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; Lincoln, the rail-splitter. I said, &lsquo;He&rsquo;s the
+      greatest man since St. Paul.&rsquo; And I think so yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0437" id="link2H_4_0437">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOY WAS CARED FOR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln one day noticed a small, pale, delicate-looking boy,
+      about thirteen years old, among the number in the White House antechamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President saw him standing there, looking so feeble and faint, and
+      said: &ldquo;Come here, my boy, and tell me what you want.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The boy advanced, placed his hand on the arm of the President&rsquo;s chair,
+      and, with a bowed head and timid accents, said: &ldquo;Mr. President, I have
+      been a drummer boy in a regiment for two years, and my colonel got angry
+      with me and turned me off. I was taken sick and have been a long time in
+      the hospital.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President discovered that the boy had no home, no father&mdash;he had
+      died in the army&mdash;no mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no father, no mother, no brothers, no sisters, and,&rdquo; bursting into
+      tears, &ldquo;no friends&mdash;nobody cares for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s eyes filled with tears, and the boy&rsquo;s heart was soon made glad
+      by a request to certain officials &ldquo;to care for this poor boy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0438" id="link2H_4_0438">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE JURY ACQUITTED HIM
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the most noted murder cases in which Lincoln defended the accused
+      was tried in August, 1859. The victim, Crafton, was a student in his own
+      law office, the defendant, &ldquo;Peachy&rdquo; Harrison, was a grandson of Rev. Peter
+      Cartwright; both were connected with the best families in the county; they
+      were brothers-in-law, and had always been friends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Senator John M. Palmer and General John A. McClelland were on the side of
+      the prosecution. Among those who represented the defendant were Lincoln
+      and Senator Shelby M. Cullom. The two young men had engaged in a political
+      quarrel, and Crafton was stabbed to death by Harrison. The tragic pathos
+      of a case which involved the deepest affections of almost an entire
+      community reached its climax in the appearance in court of the venerable
+      Peter Cartwright. Lincoln had beaten him for Congress in 1846.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eccentric and aggressive as he was, he was honored far and wide; and when
+      he arose to take the witness stand, his white hair crowned with this cruel
+      sorrow, the most indifferent spectator felt that his examination would be
+      unbearable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It fell to Lincoln to question Cartwright. With the rarest gentleness he
+      began to put his questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How long have you known the prisoner?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cartwright&rsquo;s head dropped on his breast for a moment; then straightening
+      himself, he passed his hand across his eyes and answered in a deep,
+      quavering voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have known him since a babe, he laughed and cried on my knee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The examination ended by Lincoln drawing from the witness the story of how
+      Crafton had said to him, just before his death: &ldquo;I am dying; I will soon
+      part with all I love on earth, and I want you to say to my slayer that I
+      forgive him. I want to leave this earth with a forgiveness of all who have
+      in any way injured me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This examination made a profound impression on the jury. Lincoln closed
+      his argument by picturing the scene anew, appealing to the jury to
+      practice the same forgiving spirit that the murdered man had shown on his
+      death-bed. It was undoubtedly to his handling of the grandfather&rsquo;s
+      evidence that Harrison&rsquo;s acquittal was due.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0439" id="link2H_4_0439">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TOOK NOTHING BUT MONEY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the War Congress appropriated $10,000 to be expended by the
+      President in defending United States Marshals in cases of arrests and
+      seizures where the legality of their actions was tested in the courts.
+      Previously the Marshals sought the assistance of the Attorney-General in
+      defending them, but when they found that the President had a fund for that
+      purpose they sought to control the money.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In speaking of these Marshals one day, Mr. Lincoln said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are like a man in Illinois, whose cabin was burned down, and,
+      according to the kindly custom of early days in the West, his neighbors
+      all contributed something to start him again. In his case they had been so
+      liberal that he soon found himself better off than before the fire, and he
+      got proud. One day a neighbor brought him a bag of oats, but the fellow
+      refused it with scorn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;No,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not taking oats now. I take nothing but money.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0440" id="link2H_4_0440">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NAUGHTY BOY HAD TO TAKE HIS MEDICINE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9351}.jpg" alt="{9351}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9351}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      The resistance to the military draft of 1863 by the City of New York, the
+      result of which was the killing of several thousand persons, was
+      illustrated on August 29th, 1863, by &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated
+      Newspaper,&rdquo; over the title of &ldquo;The Naughty Boy, Gotham, Who Would Not Take
+      the Draft.&rdquo; Beneath was also the text:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      MAMMY LINCOLN: &ldquo;There now, you bad boy, acting that way, when your little
+      sister Penn (State of Pennsylvania) takes hers like a lady!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Horatio Seymour was then Governor of New York, and a prominent &ldquo;the War is
+      a failure&rdquo; advocate. He was in Albany, the State capital, when the riots
+      broke out in the City of New York, July 13th, and after the mob had burned
+      the Colored Orphan Asylum and killed several hundred negroes, came to the
+      city. He had only soft words for the rioters, promising them that the
+      draft should be suspended. Then the Government sent several regiments of
+      veterans, fresh from the field of Gettysburg, where they had assisted in
+      defeating Lee. These troops made short work of the brutal ruffians,
+      shooting down three thousand or so of them, and the rioting was subdued.
+      The &ldquo;Naughty Boy Gotham&rdquo; had to take his medicine, after all, but as the
+      spirit of opposition to the War was still rampant, the President issued a
+      proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus in all the States of the
+      Union where the Government had control. This had a quieting effect upon
+      those who were doing what they could in obstructing the Government.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0441" id="link2H_4_0441">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WOULD BLOW THEM TO H&mdash;-.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln had advised Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, commanding the
+      United States Army, of the threats of violence on inauguration day, 1861.
+      General Scott was sick in bed at Washington when Adjutant-General Thomas
+      Mather, of Illinois, called upon him in President-elect Lincoln&rsquo;s behalf,
+      and the veteran commander was much wrought up. Said he to General Mather:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Present my compliments to Mr. Lincoln when you return to Springfield, and
+      tell him I expect him to come on to Washington as soon as he is ready; say
+      to him that I will look after those Maryland and Virginia rangers myself.
+      I will plant cannon at both ends of Pennsylvania avenue, and if any of
+      them show their heads or raise a finger, I&rsquo;ll blow them to h&mdash;-.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0442" id="link2H_4_0442">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;YANKEE&rdquo; GOODNESS OF HEART.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One day, when the President was with the troops who were fighting at the
+      front, the wounded, both Union and Confederate, began to pour in.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As one stretcher was passing Lincoln, he heard the voice of a lad calling
+      to his mother in agonizing tones. His great heart filled. He forgot the
+      crisis of the hour. Stopping the carriers, he knelt, and bending over him,
+      asked: &ldquo;What can I do for you, my poor child?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, you will do nothing for me,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;You are a Yankee. I cannot
+      hope that my message to my mother will ever reach her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln, in tears, his voice full of tenderest love, convinced the boy of
+      his sincerity, and he gave his good-bye words without reserve.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President directed them copied, and ordered that they be sent that
+      night, with a flag of truce, into the enemy&rsquo;s lines.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0443" id="link2H_4_0443">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WALKED AS HE TALKED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Mr. Lincoln made his famous humorous speech in Congress ridiculing
+      General Cass, he began to speak from notes, but, as he warmed up, he left
+      his desk and his notes, to stride down the alley toward the Speaker&rsquo;s
+      chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Occasionally, as he would complete a sentence amid shouts of laughter, he
+      would return up the alley to his desk, consult his notes, take a sip of
+      water and start off again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln received many congratulations at the close, Democrats joining
+      the Whigs in their complimentary comments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One Democrat, however (who had been nicknamed &ldquo;Sausage&rdquo; Sawyer), didn&rsquo;t
+      enthuse at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sawyer,&rdquo; asked an Eastern Representative, &ldquo;how did you like the lanky
+      Illinoisan&rsquo;s speech? Very able, wasn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; replied Sawyer, &ldquo;the speech was pretty good, but I hope he won&rsquo;t
+      charge mileage on his travels while delivering it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0444" id="link2H_4_0444">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE SONG DID THE BUSINESS.
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      The Virginia (Ill.) Enquirer, of March 1, 1879, tells this story:
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;John McNamer was buried last Sunday, near Petersburg, Menard county. A
+      long while ago he was Assessor and Treasurer of the County for several
+      successive terms. Mr. McNamer was an early settler in that section, and,
+      before the town of Petersburg was laid out, in business in Old Salem, a
+      village that existed many years ago two miles south of the present site of
+      Petersburg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Abe&rsquo; Lincoln was then postmaster of the place and sold whisky to its
+      inhabitants. There are old-timers yet living in Menard who bought many a
+      jug of corn-juice from &lsquo;Old Abe&rsquo; when he lived at Salem. It was here that
+      Anne Rutledge dwelt, and in whose grave Lincoln wrote that his heart was
+      buried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As the story runs, the fair and gentle Anne was originally John McNamer&rsquo;s
+      sweetheart, but &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; took a &lsquo;shine&rsquo; to the young lady, and succeeded in
+      heading off McNamer and won her affections. But Anne Rutledge died, and
+      Lincoln went to Springfield, where he some time afterwards married.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is related that during the War a lady belonging to a prominent
+      Kentucky family visited Washington to beg for her son&rsquo;s pardon, who was
+      then in prison under sentence of death for belonging to a band of
+      guerrillas who had committed many murders and outrages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With the mother was her daughter, a beautiful young lady, who was an
+      accomplished musician. Mr. Lincoln received the visitors in his usual kind
+      manner, and the mother made known the object of her visit, accompanying
+      her plea with tears and sobs and all the customary romantic incidents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There were probably extenuating circumstances in favor of the young rebel
+      prisoner, and while the President seemed to be deeply pondering the young
+      lady moved to a piano near by and taking a seat commenced to sing &lsquo;Gentle
+      Annie,&rsquo; a very sweet and pathetic ballad which, before the War, was a
+      familiar song in almost every household in the Union, and is not yet
+      entirely forgotten, for that matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is to be presumed that the young lady sang the song with more
+      plaintiveness and effect than &lsquo;Old Abe&rsquo; had ever heard it in Springfield.
+      During its rendition, he arose from his seat, crossed the room to a window
+      in the westward, through which he gazed for several minutes with a &lsquo;sad,
+      far-away look,&rsquo; which has so often been noted as one of his peculiarities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His memory, no doubt, went back to the days of his humble life on the
+      Sangamon, and with visions of Old Salem and its rustic people, who once
+      gathered in his primitive store, came a picture of the &lsquo;Gentle Annie&rsquo; of
+      his youth, whose ashes had rested for many long years under the wild
+      flowers and brambles of the old rural burying-ground, but whose spirit
+      then, perhaps, guided him to the side of mercy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be that as it may, President Lincoln drew a large red silk handkerchief
+      from his coatpocket, with which he wiped his face vigorously. Then he
+      turned, advanced quickly to his desk, wrote a brief note, which he handed
+      to the lady, and informed her that it was the pardon she sought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The scene was no doubt touching in a great degree and proves that a nice
+      song, well sung, has often a powerful influence in recalling tender
+      recollections. It proves, also, that Abraham Lincoln was a man of fine
+      feelings, and that, if the occurrence was a put-up job on the lady&rsquo;s part,
+      it accomplished the purpose all the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0445" id="link2H_4_0445">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A &ldquo;FREE FOR ALL.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0355}.jpg" alt="{0355}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0355}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln made a political speech at Pappsville, Illinois, when a candidate
+      for the Legislature the first time. A free-for-all fight began soon after
+      the opening of the meeting, and Lincoln, noticing one of his friends about
+      to succumb to the energetic attack of an infuriated ruffian, edged his way
+      through the crowd, and, seizing the bully by the neck and the seat of his
+      trousers, threw him, by means of his strength and long arms, as one
+      witness stoutly insists, &ldquo;twelve feet away.&rdquo; Returning to the stand, and
+      throwing aside his hat, he inaugurated his campaign with the following
+      brief but pertinent declaration:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fellow-citizens, I presume you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham
+      Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate for
+      the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman&rsquo;s
+      dance. I am in favor of the national bank; I am in favor of the internal
+      improvement system and a high protective tariff. These are my sentiments;
+      if elected, I shall be thankful; if not, it will be all the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0446" id="link2H_4_0446">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THREE INFERNAL BORES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One day, when President Lincoln was alone and busily engaged on an
+      important subject, involving vexation and anxiety, he was disturbed by the
+      unwarranted intrusion of three men, who, without apology, proceeded to lay
+      their claim before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The spokesman of the three reminded the President that they were the
+      owners of some torpedo or other warlike invention which, if the government
+      would only adopt it, would soon crush the rebellion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said the spokesman, &ldquo;we have been here to see you time and again;
+      you have referred us to the Secretary of War, the Chief of Ordnance, and
+      the General of the Army, and they give us no satisfaction. We have been
+      kept here waiting, till money and patience are exhausted, and we now come
+      to demand of you a final reply to our application.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln listened to this insolent tirade, and at its close the old
+      twinkle came into his eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You three gentlemen remind me of a story I once heard,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;of a
+      poor little boy out West who had lost his mother. His father wanted to
+      give him a religious education, and so placed him in the family of a
+      clergyman, whom he directed to instruct the little fellow carefully in the
+      Scriptures. Every day the boy had to commit to memory and recite one
+      chapter of the Bible. Things proceeded smoothly until they reached that
+      chapter which details the story of the trial of Shadrach, Meshach and
+      Abednego in the fiery furnace. When asked to repeat these three names the
+      boy said he had forgotten them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His teacher told him that he must learn them, and gave him another day to
+      do so. The next day the boy again forgot them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now,&rsquo; said the teacher, &lsquo;you have again failed to remember those names
+      and you can go no farther until you have learned them. I will give you
+      another day on this lesson, and if you don&rsquo;t repeat the names I will
+      punish you.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A third time the boy came to recite, and got down to the stumbling block,
+      when the clergyman said: &lsquo;Now tell me the names of the men in the fiery
+      furnace.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Oh,&rsquo; said the boy, &lsquo;here come those three infernal bores! I wish the
+      devil had them!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Having received their &ldquo;final answer,&rdquo; the three patriots retired, and at
+      the Cabinet meeting which followed, the President, in high good humor,
+      related how he had dismissed his unwelcome visitors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0447" id="link2H_4_0447">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S MEN WERE &ldquo;HUSTLERS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the Chicago Convention of 1860 the fight for Seward was maintained with
+      desperate resolve until the final ballot was taken. Thurlow Weed was the
+      Seward leader, and he was simply incomparable as a master in handling a
+      convention. With him were Governor Morgan, Henry J. Raymond, of the New
+      York Times, with William M. Evarts as chairman of the New York delegation,
+      whose speech nominating Seward was the most impressive utterance of his
+      life. The Bates men (Bates was afterwards Lincoln&rsquo;s Attorney-General) were
+      led by Frank Blair, the only Republican Congressman from a slave State,
+      who was nothing if not heroic, aided by his brother Montgomery (afterwards
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s Postmaster General), who was a politician of uncommon cunning.
+      With them was Horace Greeley, who was chairman of the delegation from the
+      then almost inaccessible State of Oregon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Lincoln&rsquo;s friends, however, who were the &ldquo;hustlers&rdquo; of that battle.
+      They had men for sober counsel like David Davis; men of supreme sagacity
+      like Leonard Swett; men of tireless effort like Norman B. Judd; and they
+      had what was more important than all&mdash;a seething multitude wild with
+      enthusiasm for &ldquo;Old Abe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0448" id="link2H_4_0448">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A SLOW HORSE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On one occasion when Mr. Lincoln was going to attend a political
+      convention one of his rivals, a liveryman, provided him with a slow horse,
+      hoping that he would not reach his destination in time. Mr. Lincoln got
+      there, however, and when he returned with the horse he said: &ldquo;You keep
+      this horse for funerals, don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo; &ldquo;Oh, no,&rdquo; replied the liveryman.
+      &ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m glad of that, for if you did you&rsquo;d never get a corpse to the
+      grave in time for the resurrection.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0449" id="link2H_4_0449">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DODGING &ldquo;BROWSING PRESIDENTS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      General McClellan, after being put in command of the Army, resented any
+      &ldquo;interference&rdquo; by the President. Lincoln, in his anxiety to know the
+      details of the work in the army, went frequently to McClellan&rsquo;s
+      headquarters. That the President had a serious purpose in these visits
+      McClellan did not see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I enclose a card just received from &lsquo;A. Lincoln,&rsquo;&rdquo; he wrote to his wife
+      one day; &ldquo;it shows too much deference to be seen outside.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke of being &ldquo;interrupted&rdquo; by the
+      President and Secretary Seward, &ldquo;who had nothing in particular to say,&rdquo;
+       and again of concealing himself &ldquo;to dodge all enemies in shape of
+      &lsquo;browsing&rsquo; Presidents,&rdquo; etc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am becoming daily more disgusted with this Administration&mdash;perfectly
+      sick of it,&rdquo; he wrote early in October; and a few days later, &ldquo;I was
+      obliged to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at 8 P. M., and was bored and
+      annoyed. There are some of the greatest geese in the Cabinet I have ever
+      seen&mdash;enough to tax the patience of Job.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0450" id="link2H_4_0450">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A GREENBACK LEGEND.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At a Cabinet meeting once, the advisability of putting a legend on
+      greenbacks similar to the In God We Trust legend on the silver coins was
+      discussed, and the President was asked what his view was. He replied: &ldquo;If
+      you are going to put a legend on the greenback, I would suggest that of
+      Peter and Paul: &lsquo;Silver and gold we have not, but what we have we&rsquo;ll give
+      you.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0451" id="link2H_4_0451">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOD&rsquo;S BEST GIFT TO MAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s notable religious utterances was his reply to a
+      deputation of colored people at Baltimore who presented him a Bible. He
+      said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In regard to the great book, I have only to say it is the best gift which
+      God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is
+      communicated to us through this book. But for this book we could not know
+      right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained in it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0452" id="link2H_4_0452">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SCALPING IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9359}.jpg" alt="{9359}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9359}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln was President he told this story of the Black Hawk War:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The only time he ever saw blood in this campaign, was one morning when,
+      marching up a little valley that makes into the Rock River bottom, to
+      reinforce a squad of outposts that were thought to be in danger, they came
+      upon the tent occupied by the other party just at sunrise. The men had
+      neglected to place any guard at night, and had been slaughtered in their
+      sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As the reinforcing party came up the slope on which the camp had been
+      made, Lincoln saw them all lying with their heads towards the rising sun,
+      and the round red spot that marked where they had been scalped gleamed
+      more redly yet in the ruddy light of the sun. This scene years afterwards
+      he recalled with a shudder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0453" id="link2H_4_0453">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MATRIMONIAL ADVICE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      For a while during the Civil War, General Fremont was without a command.
+      One day in discussing Fremont&rsquo;s case with George W. Julian, President
+      Lincoln said he did not know where to place him, and that it reminds him
+      of the old man who advised his son to take a wife, to which the young man
+      responded: &ldquo;All right; whose wife shall I take?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0454" id="link2H_4_0454">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      OWED LOTS OF MONEY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On April 14, 1865, a few hours previous to his assassination, President
+      Lincoln sent a message by Congressman Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President
+      during General Grant&rsquo;s first term, to the miners in the Rocky Mountains
+      and the regions bounded by the Pacific ocean, in which he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now that the Rebellion is overthrown, and we know pretty nearly the
+      amount of our National debt, the more gold and silver we mine, we make the
+      payment of that debt so much easier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now I am going to encourage that in every possible way. We shall have
+      hundreds of thousands of disbanded soldiers, and many have feared that
+      their return home in such great numbers might paralyze industry by
+      furnishing, suddenly, a greater supply of labor than there will be demand
+      for. I am going to try to attract them to the hidden wealth of our
+      mountain ranges, where there is room enough for all. Immigration, which
+      even the War has not stopped, will land upon our shores hundreds of
+      thousands more per year from overcrowded Europe. I intend to point them to
+      the gold and silver that wait for them in the West.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell the miners for me that I shall promote their interests to the utmost
+      of my ability; because their prosperity as the prosperity of the nation;
+      and,&rdquo; said he, his eye kindling with enthusiasm, &ldquo;we shall prove, in a
+      very few years, that we are indeed the treasury of the world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0455" id="link2H_4_0455">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ON THE LORD&rsquo;S SIDE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln made a significant remark to a clergyman in the early
+      days of the War.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us have faith, Mr. President,&rdquo; said the minister, &ldquo;that the Lord is
+      on our side in this great struggle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln quietly answered: &ldquo;I am not at all concerned about that, for I
+      know that the Lord is always on the side of the right; but it is my
+      constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation may be on the Lord&rsquo;s
+      side.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0456" id="link2H_4_0456">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WANTED TO BE NEAR &ldquo;ABE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was Lincoln&rsquo;s custom to hold an informal reception once a week, each
+      caller taking his turn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon one of these eventful days an old friend from Illinois stood in line
+      for almost an hour. At last he was so near the President his voice could
+      reach him, and, calling out to his old associate, he startled every one by
+      exclaiming, &ldquo;Hallo, &lsquo;Abe&rsquo;; how are ye? I&rsquo;m in line and hev come for an
+      orfice, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln singled out the man with the stentorian voice, and recognizing a
+      particularly old friend, one whose wife had befriended him at a peculiarly
+      trying time, the President responded to his greeting in a cordial manner,
+      and told him &ldquo;to hang onto himself and not kick the traces. Keep in line
+      and you&rsquo;ll soon get here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They met and shook hands with the old fervor and renewed their friendship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The informal reception over, Lincoln sent for his old friend, and the
+      latter began to urge his claims.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After having given him some good advice, Lincoln kindly told him he was
+      incapable of holding any such position as he asked for. The disappointment
+      of the Illinois friend was plainly shown, and with a perceptible tremor in
+      his voice he said, &ldquo;Martha&rsquo;s dead, the gal is married, and I&rsquo;ve guv Jim
+      the forty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then looking at Lincoln he came a little nearer and almost whispered, &ldquo;I
+      knowed I wasn&rsquo;t eddicated enough to git the place, but I kinder want to
+      stay where I ken see &lsquo;Abe&rsquo; Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He was given employment in the White House grounds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards the President said, &ldquo;These brief interviews, stripped of even
+      the semblance of ceremony, give me a better insight into the real
+      character of the person and his true reason for seeking one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0457" id="link2H_4_0457">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOT HIS FOOT IN IT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      William H. Seward, idol of the Republicans of the East, six months after
+      Lincoln had made his &ldquo;Divided House&rdquo; speech, delivered an address at
+      Rochester, New York, containing this famous sentence:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and
+      it means that the United States must, and will, sooner or later, become
+      either entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free-labor nation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seward, who had simply followed in Lincoln&rsquo;s steps, was defeated for the
+      Presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention of 1860,
+      because he was &ldquo;too radical,&rdquo; and Lincoln, who was still &ldquo;radicaler,&rdquo; was
+      named.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0363}.jpg" alt="{0363}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0363}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0364}.jpg" alt="{0364}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0364}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0458" id="link2H_4_0458">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SAVED BY A LETTER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The chief interest of the Illinois campaign of 1843 lay in the race for
+      Congress in the Capital district, which was between Hardin&mdash;fiery,
+      eloquent, and impetuous Democrat&mdash;and Lincoln&mdash;plain, practical,
+      and ennobled Whig. The world knows the result. Lincoln was elected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is not so much his election as the manner in which he secured his
+      nomination with which we have to deal. Before that ever-memorable spring
+      Lincoln vacillated between the courts of Springfield, rated as a plain,
+      honest, logical Whig, with no ambition higher politically than to occupy
+      some good home office.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the fall of 1842 his name began to be mentioned in connection with
+      Congressional aspirations, which fact greatly annoyed the leaders of his
+      political party, who had already selected as the Whig candidate E. D.
+      Baker, afterward the gallant Colonel who fell so bravely and died such an
+      honorable death on the battlefield of Ball&rsquo;s Bluff.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Despite all efforts of his opponents within his party, the name of the
+      &ldquo;gaunt rail-splitter&rdquo; was hailed with acclaim by the masses, to whom he
+      had endeared himself by his witticisms, honest tongue, and quaint
+      philosophy when on the stump, or mingling with them in their homes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The convention, which met in early spring, in the city of Springfield, was
+      to be composed of the usual number of delegates. The contest for the
+      nomination was spirited and exciting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few weeks before the meeting of the convention the fact was found by the
+      leaders that the advantage lay with Lincoln, and that unless they pulled
+      some very fine wires nothing could save Baker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They attempted to play the game that has so often won, by &ldquo;convincing&rdquo;
+       delegates under instructions for Lincoln to violate them, and vote for
+      Baker. They had apparently succeeded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley.&rdquo; So it was in this
+      case. Two days before the convention Lincoln received an intimation of
+      this, and, late at night, wrote the following letter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The letter was addressed to Martin Morris, who resided at Petersburg, an
+      intimate friend of his, and by him circulated among those who were
+      instructed for him at the county convention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It had the desired effect. The convention met, the scheme of the
+      conspirators miscarried, Lincoln was nominated, made a vigorous canvass,
+      and was triumphantly elected, thus paving the way for his more extended
+      and brilliant conquests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This letter, Lincoln had often told his friends, gave him ultimately the
+      Chief Magistracy of the nation. He has also said, that, had he been beaten
+      before the convention, he would have been forever obscured. The following
+      is a verbatim copy of the epistle:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;April 14, 1843.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friend Morris: I have heard it intimated that Baker is trying to get you
+      or Miles, or both of you, to violate the instructions of the meeting that
+      appointed you, and to go for him. I have insisted, and still insist, that
+      this cannot be true.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure Baker would not do the like. As well might Hardin ask me to vote for
+      him in the convention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Again, it is said there will be an attempt to get instructions in your
+      county requiring you to go for Baker. This is all wrong. Upon the same
+      rule, why might I not fly from the decision against me at Sangamon and get
+      up instructions to their delegates to go for me. There are at least 1,200
+      Whigs in the county that took no part, and yet I would as soon stick my
+      head in the fire as attempt it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Besides, if any one should get the nomination by such extraordinary
+      means, all harmony in the district would inevitably be lost. Honest Whigs
+      (and very nearly all of them are honest) would not quietly abide such
+      enormities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I repeat, such an attempt on Baker&rsquo;s part cannot be true. Write me at
+      Springfield how the matter is. Don&rsquo;t show or speak of this letter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A. LINCOLN.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Morris did show the letter, and Mr. Lincoln always thanked his stars
+      that he did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0460" id="link2H_4_0460">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS FAVORITE POEM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s favorite poem was &ldquo;Oh! Why Should the Spirit of Mortal Be
+      Proud?&rdquo; written by William Knox, a Scotchman, although Mr. Lincoln never
+      knew the author&rsquo;s name. He once said to a friend:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This poem has been a great favorite with me for years. It was first shown
+      to me, when a young man, by a friend. I afterward saw it and cut it from a
+      newspaper and learned it by heart. I would give a great deal to know who
+      wrote it, but I have never been able to ascertain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?--
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Like a swift-fleeing meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Be scattered around, and together be laid;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;The infant a mother attended and loved;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The mother, that infant&rsquo;s affection who proved,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The husband, that mother and infant who blessed
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          --Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Shone beauty and pleasure--her triumphs are by;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;The hand of the king, that the sceptre hath borne,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The brow of the priest, that the mitre hath worn,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;The saint, who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;So the multitude goes--like the flower or the weed
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          That withers away to let others succeed;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          So the multitude comes--even those we behold,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          To repeat every tale that has often been told:
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;For we are the same our fathers have been;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          We see the same sights our fathers have seen;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          We drink the same stream, we view the same sun,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And run the same course our fathers have run.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          To the life we are clinging, they also would cling
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          --But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;They loved--but the story we cannot unfold;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          They scorned--but the heart of the haughty is cold;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          They grieved--but no wail from their slumber will come;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          They joyed--but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;They died--aye, they died--and we things that are now,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          That walk on the turf that lies o&rsquo;er their brow,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And make in their dwellings a transient abode,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Are mingled together in sunshine and rain;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis the wink of an eye,--&rsquo;tis the draught of a breath;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          --From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud:
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          --Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0461" id="link2H_4_0461">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FIVE-LEGGED CALF.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln had great doubt as to his right to emancipate the slaves
+      under the War power. In discussing the question, he used to like the case
+      to that of the boy who, when asked how many legs his calf would have if he
+      called its tail a leg, replied, &ldquo;five,&rdquo; to which the prompt response was
+      made that calling the tail a leg would not make it a leg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0462" id="link2H_4_0462">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A STAGE-COACH STORY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The following is told by Thomas H. Nelson, of Terre Haute, Indiana, who
+      was appointed minister to Chili by Lincoln:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Judge Abram Hammond, afterwards Governor of Indiana, and myself arranged
+      to go from Terre Haute to Indianapolis in a stage-coach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As we stepped in we discovered that the entire back seat was occupied by a
+      long, lank individual, whose head seemed to protrude from one end of the
+      coach and his feet from the other. He was the sole occupant, and was
+      sleeping soundly. Hammond slapped him familiarly on the shoulder, and
+      asked him if he had chartered the coach that day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly not,&rdquo; and he at once took the front seat, politely giving us
+      the place of honor and comfort. An odd-looking fellow he was, with a
+      twenty-five cent hat, without vest or cravat. Regarding him as a good
+      subject for merriment, we perpetrated several jokes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He took them all with utmost innocence and good nature, and joined in the
+      laugh, although at his own expense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After an astounding display of wordy pyrotechnics, the dazed and
+      bewildered stranger asked, &ldquo;What will be the upshot of this comet
+      business?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Late in the evening we reached Indianapolis, and hurried to Browning&rsquo;s
+      hotel, losing sight of the stranger altogether.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We retired to our room to brush our clothes. In a few minutes I descended
+      to the portico, and there descried our long, gloomy fellow traveler in the
+      center of an admiring group of lawyers, among whom were Judges McLean and
+      Huntington, Albert S. White, and Richard W. Thompson, who seemed to be
+      amused and interested in a story he was telling. I inquired of Browning,
+      the landlord, who he was. &ldquo;Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, a member of
+      Congress,&rdquo; was his response.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I was thunderstruck at the announcement. I hastened upstairs and told
+      Hammond the startling news, and together we emerged from the hotel by a
+      back door, and went down an alley to another house, thus avoiding further
+      contact with our distinguished fellow traveler.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Years afterward, when the President-elect was on his way to Washington, I
+      was in the same hotel looking over the distinguished party, when a long
+      arm reached to my shoulder, and a shrill voice exclaimed, &ldquo;Hello, Nelson!
+      do you think, after all, the whole world is going to follow the darned
+      thing off?&rdquo; The words were my own in answer to his question in the
+      stage-coach. The speaker was Abraham Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0463" id="link2H_4_0463">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE &ldquo;400&rdquo; GATHERED THERE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9369}.jpg" alt="{9369}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9369}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln had periods while &ldquo;clerking&rdquo; in the New Salem grocery store during
+      which there was nothing for him to do, and was therefore in circumstances
+      that made laziness almost inevitable. Had people come to him for goods,
+      they would have found him willing to sell them. He sold all that he could,
+      doubtless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The store soon became the social center of the village. If the people did
+      not care (or were unable) to buy goods, they liked to go where they could
+      talk with their neighbors and listen to stories. These Lincoln gave them
+      in abundance, and of a rare sort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was in these gatherings of the &ldquo;Four Hundred&rdquo; at the village store that
+      Lincoln got his training as a debater. Public questions were discussed
+      there daily and nightly, and Lincoln always took a prominent part in the
+      discussions. Many of the debaters came to consider &ldquo;Abe Linkin&rdquo; as about
+      the smartest man in the village.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0464" id="link2H_4_0464">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ONLY LEVEL-HEADED MEN WANTED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln wanted men of level heads for important commands. Not infrequently
+      he gave his generals advice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He appreciated Hooker&rsquo;s bravery, dash and activity, but was fearful of the
+      results of what he denominated &ldquo;swashing around.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was one of his telegrams to Hooker:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now, beware of rashness; beware of rashness, but, with energy and
+      sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0465" id="link2H_4_0465">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS FAITH IN THE MONITOR.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When the Confederate iron-clad Merrimac was sent against the Union vessels
+      in Hampton Roads President Lincoln expressed his belief in the Monitor to
+      Captain Fox, the adviser of Captain Ericsson, who constructed the Monitor.
+      &ldquo;We have three of the most effective vessels in Hampton Roads, and any
+      number of small craft that will hang on the stern of the Merrimac like
+      small dogs on the haunches of a bear. They may not be able to tear her
+      down, but they will interfere with the comfort of her voyage. Her trial
+      trip will not be a pleasure trip, I am certain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have had a big share of bad luck already, but I do not believe the
+      future has any such misfortunes in store for us as you anticipate.&rdquo; Said
+      Captain Fox: &ldquo;If the Merrimac does not sink our ships, who is to prevent
+      her from dropping her anchor in the Potomac, where that steamer lies,&rdquo;
+       pointing to a steamer at anchor below the long bridge, &ldquo;and throwing her
+      hundred-pound shells into this room, or battering down the walls of the
+      Capitol?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Almighty, Captain,&rdquo; answered the President, excitedly, but without
+      the least affectation. &ldquo;I expect set-backs, defeats; we have had them and
+      shall have them. They are common to all wars. But I have not the slightest
+      fear of any result which shall fatally impair our military and naval
+      strength, or give other powers any right to interfere in our quarrel. The
+      destruction of the Capitol would do both.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not fear it, for this is God&rsquo;s fight, and He will win it in His own
+      good time. He will take care that our enemies will not push us too far.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speaking of iron-clads,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;you do not seem to take the
+      little Monitor into account. I believe in the Monitor and her commander.
+      If Captain Worden does not give a good account of the Monitor and of
+      himself, I shall have made a mistake in following my judgment for the
+      first time since I have been here, Captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have not made a mistake in following my clear judgment of men since
+      this War began. I followed that judgment when I gave Worden the command of
+      the Monitor. I would make the appointment over again to-day. The Monitor
+      should be in Hampton Roads now. She left New York eight days ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After the captain had again presented what he considered the possibilities
+      of failure the President replied, &ldquo;No, no, Captain, I respect your
+      judgments as you have reason to know, but this time you are all wrong.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Monitor was one of my inspirations; I believed in her firmly when
+      that energetic contractor first showed me Ericsson&rsquo;s plans. Captain
+      Ericsson&rsquo;s plain but rather enthusiastic demonstration made my conversion
+      permanent. It was called a floating battery then; I called it a raft. I
+      caught some of the inventor&rsquo;s enthusiasm and it has been growing upon me.
+      I thought then, and I am confident now, it is just what we want. I am sure
+      that the Monitor is still afloat, and that she will yet give a good
+      account of herself. Sometimes I think she may be the veritable sling with
+      a stone that will yet smite the Merrimac Philistine in the forehead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon was the President&rsquo;s judgment verified, for the &ldquo;Fight of the Monitor
+      and Merrimac&rdquo; changed all the conditions of naval warfare.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the victory was gained, the presiding Captain Fox and others went on
+      board the Monitor, and Captain Worden was requested by the President to
+      narrate the history of the encounter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Worden did so in a modest manner, and apologized for not being
+      able better to provide for his guests. The President smilingly responded
+      &ldquo;Some charitable people say that old Bourbon is an indispensable element
+      in the fighting qualities of some of our generals in the field, but,
+      Captain, after the account that we have heard to-day, no one will say that
+      any Dutch courage is needed on board the Monitor.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It never has been, sir,&rdquo; modestly observed the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Fox then gave a description of what he saw of the engagement and
+      described it as indescribably grand. Then, turning to the President, he
+      continued, &ldquo;Now standing here on the deck of this battle-scarred vessel,
+      the first genuine iron-clad&mdash;the victor in the first fight of
+      iron-clads&mdash;let me make a confession, and perform an act of simple
+      justice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never fully believed in armored vessels until I saw this battle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know all the facts which united to give us the Monitor. I withhold no
+      credit from Captain Ericsson, her inventor, but I know that the country is
+      principally indebted for the construction of the vessel to President
+      Lincoln, and for the success of her trial to Captain Worden, her
+      commander.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0466" id="link2H_4_0466">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HER ONLY IMPERFECTION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At one time a certain Major Hill charged Lincoln with making defamatory
+      remarks regarding Mrs. Hill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hill was insulting in his language to Lincoln who never lost his temper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he saw his chance to edge a word in, Lincoln denied emphatically
+      using the language or anything like that attributed to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entertained, he insisted, a high regard for Mrs. Hill, and the only
+      thing he knew to her discredit was the fact that she was Major Hill&rsquo;s
+      wife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0467" id="link2H_4_0467">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE OLD LADY&rsquo;S PROPHECY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Among those who called to congratulate Mr. Lincoln upon his nomination for
+      President was an old lady, very plainly dressed. She knew Mr. Lincoln, but
+      Mr. Lincoln did not at first recognize her. Then she undertook to recall
+      to his memory certain incidents connected with his ride upon the circuit&mdash;especially
+      his dining at her house upon the road at different times. Then he
+      remembered her and her home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having fixed her own place in his recollection, she tried to recall to him
+      a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he once ate at her house.
+      He could not remember it&mdash;on the contrary, he only remembered that he
+      had always fared well at her house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;one day you came along after we had got through dinner,
+      and we had eaten up everything, and I could give you nothing but a bowl of
+      bread and milk, and you ate it; and when you got up you said it was good
+      enough for the President of the United States!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The good woman had come in from the country, making a journey of eight or
+      ten miles, to relate to Mr. Lincoln this incident, which, in her mind, had
+      doubtless taken the form of a prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed the honest
+      creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and dismissed her in
+      the most happy frame of mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0468" id="link2H_4_0468">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW THE TOWN OF LINCOLN, ILL., WAS NAMED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The story of naming the town of Lincoln, the county seat of Logan county,
+      Illinois, is thus given on good authority:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first railroad had been built through the county, and a station was
+      about to be located there. Lincoln, Virgil Hitchcock, Colonel R. B. Latham
+      and several others were sitting on a pile of ties and talking about moving
+      a county seat from Mount Pulaski. Mr. Lincoln rose and started to walk
+      away, when Colonel Latham said: &ldquo;Lincoln, if you will help us to get the
+      county seat here, we will call the place Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, Latham,&rdquo; he replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Colonel Latham then deeded him a lot on the west side of the courthouse,
+      and he owned it at the time he was elected President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0469" id="link2H_4_0469">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;OLD JEFF&rsquo;S&rdquo; BIG NIGHTMARE.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9373}.jpg" alt="{9373}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9373}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jeff&rdquo; Davis had a large and threatening nightmare in November, 1864, and
+      what he saw in his troubled dreams was the long and lanky figure of
+      Abraham Lincoln, who had just been endorsed by the people of the United
+      States for another term in the White House at Washington. The cartoon
+      reproduced here is from the issue of &ldquo;Frank Leslie&rsquo;s Illustrated
+      Newspaper&rdquo; of December 3rd, 1864, it being entitled &ldquo;Jeff Davis&rsquo; November
+      Nightmare.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Davis had been told that McClellan, &ldquo;the War is a failure&rdquo; candidate for
+      the Presidency, would have no difficulty whatever in defeating Lincoln;
+      that negotiations with the Confederate officials for the cessation of
+      hostilities would be entered into as soon as McClellan was seated in the
+      Chief Executive&rsquo;s chair; that the Confederacy would, in all probability,
+      be recognized as an independent government by the Washington
+      Administration; that the &ldquo;sacred institution&rdquo; of slavery would continue to
+      do business at the old stand; that the Confederacy would be one of the
+      great nations of the world, and have all the &ldquo;State Rights&rdquo; and other
+      things it wanted, with absolutely no interference whatever upon the part
+      of the North.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore, Lincoln&rsquo;s re-election was a rough, rude shock to Davis, who had
+      not prepared himself for such an event. Six months from the date of that
+      nightmare-dream he was a prisoner in the hands of the Union forces, and
+      the Confederacy was a thing of the past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0470" id="link2H_4_0470">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S LAST OFFICIAL ACT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Probably the last official act of President Lincoln&rsquo;s life was the signing
+      of the commission reappointing Alvin Saunders Governor of Nebraska.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I saw Mr. Lincoln regarding the matter,&rdquo; said Governor Saunders, &ldquo;and he
+      told me to go home; that he would attend to it all right. I left
+      Washington on the morning of the 14th, and while en route the news of the
+      assassination on the evening of the same day reached me. I immediately
+      wired back to find out what had become of my commission, and was told that
+      the room had not been opened. When it was opened, the document was found
+      lying on the desk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln signed it just before leaving for the theater that fatal
+      evening, and left it lying there, unfolded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A note was found below the document as follows: &lsquo;Rather a lengthy
+      commission, bestowing upon Mr. Alvin Saunders the official authority of
+      Governor of the Territory of Nebraska.&rsquo; Then came Lincoln&rsquo;s signature,
+      which, with one exception, that of a penciled message on the back of a
+      card sent up by a friend as Mr. Lincoln was dressing for the theater, was
+      the very last signature of the martyred President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linksleep" id="linksleep">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE LAD NEEDED THE SLEEP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A personal friend of President Lincoln is authority for this:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I called on him one day in the early part of the War. He had just written
+      a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced to be shot for sleeping at
+      his post. He remarked as he read it to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I could not think of going into eternity with the blood of the poor
+      young man on my skirts.&rsquo; Then he added:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;It is not to be wondered at that a boy, raised on a farm, probably in
+      the habit of going to bed at dark, should, when required to watch, fall
+      asleep; and I cannot consent to shoot him for such an act.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0471" id="link2H_4_0471">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MASSA LINKUM LIKE DE LORD!&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      By the Act of Emancipation President Lincoln built for himself forever the
+      first place in the affections of the African race in this country. The
+      love and reverence manifested for him by many of these people has, on some
+      occasions, almost reached adoration. One day Colonel McKaye, of New York,
+      who had been one of a committee to investigate the condition of the
+      freedmen, upon his return from Hilton Head and Beaufort called upon the
+      President, and in the course of the interview said that up to the time of
+      the arrival among them in the South of the Union forces they had no
+      knowledge of any other power. Their masters fled upon the approach of our
+      soldiers, and this gave the slaves the conception of a power greater than
+      their masters exercised. This power they called &ldquo;Massa Linkum.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Colonel McKaye said their place of worship was a large building they
+      called &ldquo;the praise house,&rdquo; and the leader of the &ldquo;meeting,&rdquo; a venerable
+      black man, was known as &ldquo;the praise man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On a certain day, when there was quite a large gathering of the people,
+      considerable confusion was created by different persons attempting to tell
+      who and what &ldquo;Massa Linkum&rdquo; was. In the midst of the excitement the
+      white-headed leader commanded silence. &ldquo;Brederen,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;you don&rsquo;t
+      know nosen&rsquo; what you&rsquo;se talkin&rsquo; &lsquo;bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa
+      Linkum, he ebery whar. He know ebery ting.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, solemnly looking up, he added: &ldquo;He walk de earf like de Lord!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0472" id="link2H_4_0472">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW LINCOLN TOOK THE NEWS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of Lincoln&rsquo;s most dearly loved friends, United States Senator Edward
+      D. Baker, of Oregon, Colonel of the Seventy-first Pennsylvania, a former
+      townsman of Mr. Lincoln, was killed at the battle of Ball&rsquo;s Bluff, in
+      October, 1861. The President went to General McClellan&rsquo;s headquarters to
+      hear the news, and a friend thus described the effect it had upon him:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We could hear the click of the telegraph in the adjoining room and low
+      conversation between the President and General McClellan, succeeded by
+      silence, excepting the click, click of the instrument, which went on with
+      its tale of disaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Five minutes passed, and then Mr. Lincoln, unattended, with bowed head
+      and tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, his face pale and wan, his
+      breast heaving with emotion, passed through the room. He almost fell as he
+      stepped into the street. We sprang involuntarily from our seats to render
+      assistance, but he did not fall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With both hands pressed upon his heart, he walked down the street, not
+      returning the salute of the sentinel pacing his beat before the door.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0473" id="link2H_4_0473">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PROFANITY AS A SAFETY-VALVE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln never indulged in profanity, but confessed that when Lee was
+      beaten at Malvern Hill, after seven days of fighting, and Richmond, but
+      twelve miles away, was at McClellan&rsquo;s mercy, he felt very much like
+      swearing when he learned that the Union general had retired to Harrison&rsquo;s
+      Landing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lee was so confident his opponent would not go to Richmond that he took
+      his army into Maryland&mdash;a move he would not have made had an
+      energetic fighting man been in McClellan&rsquo;s place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is true McClellan followed and defeated Lee in the bloodiest battle of
+      the War&mdash;Antietam&mdash;afterwards following him into Virginia; but
+      Lincoln could not bring himself to forgive the general&rsquo;s inaction before
+      Richmond.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0474" id="link2H_4_0474">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WHY WE WON AT GETTYSBURG.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln said to General Sickles, just after the victory of
+      Gettysburg: &ldquo;The fact is, General, in the stress and pinch of the campaign
+      there, I went to my room, and got down on my knees and prayed God Almighty
+      for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His country, and the
+      war was His war, but that we really couldn&rsquo;t stand another Fredericksburg
+      or Chancellorsville. And then and there I made a solemn vow with my Maker
+      that if He would stand by you boys at Gettysburg I would stand by Him. And
+      He did, and I will! And after this I felt that God Almighty had taken the
+      whole thing into His hands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0475" id="link2H_4_0475">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HAD TO WAIT FOR HIM.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9377}.jpg" alt="{9377}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9377}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln, having arranged to go to New York, was late for his
+      train, much to the disgust of those who were to accompany him, and all
+      were compelled to wait several hours until the next train steamed out of
+      the station. President Lincoln was much amused at the dissatisfaction
+      displayed, and then ventured the remark that the situation reminded him of
+      &ldquo;a little story.&rdquo; Said he:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Out in Illinois, a convict who had murdered his cellmate was sentenced to
+      be hanged. On the day set for the execution, crowds lined the roads
+      leading to the spot where the scaffold had been erected, and there was
+      much jostling and excitement. The condemned man took matters coolly, and
+      as one batch of perspiring, anxious men rushed past the cart in which he
+      was riding, he called out, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t be in a hurry, boys. You&rsquo;ve got plenty
+      of time. There won&rsquo;t be any fun until I get there.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the condition of things now,&rdquo; concluded the President; &ldquo;there
+      won&rsquo;t be any fun at New York until I get there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0476" id="link2H_4_0476">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PRESIDENT AND CABINET JOINED IN PRAYER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On the day the news of General Lee&rsquo;s surrender at Appomattox Court-House
+      was received, so an intimate friend of President Lincoln relates, the
+      Cabinet meeting was held an hour earlier than usual. Neither the President
+      nor any member of the Cabinet was able, for a time, to give utterance to
+      his feelings. At the suggestion of Mr. Lincoln all dropped on their knees,
+      and offered, in silence and in tears, their humble and heartfelt
+      acknowledgments to the Almighty for the triumph He had granted to the
+      National cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0477" id="link2H_4_0477">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BELIEVED HE WAS A CHRISTIAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln was much impressed with the devotion and earnestness of
+      purpose manifested by a certain lady of the &ldquo;Christian Commission&rdquo; during
+      the War, and on one occasion, after she had discharged the object of her
+      visit, said to her:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Madam, I have formed a high opinion of your Christian character, and now,
+      as we are alone, I have a mind to ask you to give me in brief your idea of
+      what constitutes a true religious experience.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady replied at some length, stating that, in her judgment, it
+      consisted of a conviction of one&rsquo;s own sinfulness and weakness, and a
+      personal need of the Saviour for strength and support; that views of mere
+      doctrine might and would differ, but when one was really brought to feel
+      his need of divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for
+      strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evidence of his having been
+      born again. This was the substance of her reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When she had, concluded Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a few moments.
+      He at length said, very earnestly: &ldquo;If what you have told me is really a
+      correct view of this great subject I think I can say with sincerity that I
+      hope I am a Christian. I had lived,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;until my boy Willie
+      died without fully realizing these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It
+      showed me my weakness as I had never felt it before, and if I can take
+      what you have stated as a test I think I can safely say that I know
+      something of that change of which you speak; and I will further add that
+      it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable opportunity, to make
+      a public religious profession.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0478" id="link2H_4_0478">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WITH THE HELP OF GOD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln once remarked to Mr. Noah Brooks, one of his most intimate
+      personal friends: &ldquo;I should be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this
+      footstool if I for one day thought that I could discharge the duties which
+      have come upon me, since I came to this place, without the aid and
+      enlightenment of One who is stronger and wiser than all others.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He said on another occasion: &ldquo;I am very sure that if I do not go away from
+      here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, from having learned here
+      what a very poor sort of a man I am.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0479" id="link2H_4_0479">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TURNED TEARS TO SMILES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One night Schuyler Colfax left all other business to go to the White House
+      to ask the President to respite the son of a constituent, who was
+      sentenced to be shot, at Davenport, for desertion. Mr. Lincoln heard the
+      story with his usual patience, though he was wearied out with incessant
+      calls, and anxious for rest, and then replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline and subordination
+      in the army by my pardons and respites, but it makes me rested, after a
+      hard day&rsquo;s work, if I can find some good excuse for saving a man&rsquo;s life,
+      and I go to bed happy as I think how joyous the signing of my name will
+      make him and his family and his friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And with a happy smile beaming over that care-furrowed face, he signed
+      that name that saved that life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0480" id="link2H_4_0480">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S LAST WRITTEN WORDS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As the President and Mrs. Lincoln were leaving the White House, a few
+      minutes before eight o&rsquo;clock, on the evening of April 14th, 1865, Lincoln
+      wrote this note:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come to see me at 9 o&rsquo;clock a. m.,
+      to-morrow, April 15th, 1865.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0481" id="link2H_4_0481">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WOMEN PLEAD FOR PARDONS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One day during the War an attractively and handsomely dressed woman called
+      on President Lincoln to procure the release from prison of a relation in
+      whom she professed the deepest interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was a good talker, and her winning ways seemed to make a deep
+      impression on the President. After listening to her story, he wrote a few
+      words on a card: &ldquo;This woman, dear Stanton, is a little smarter than she
+      looks to be,&rdquo; enclosed it in an envelope and directed her to take it to
+      the Secretary of War.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the same day another woman called, more humble in appearance, more
+      plainly clad. It was the old story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Father and son both in the army, the former in prison. Could not the
+      latter be discharged from the army and sent home to help his mother?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few strokes of the pen, a gentle nod of the head, and the little woman,
+      her eyes filling with tears and expressing a grateful acknowledgment her
+      tongue, could not utter, passed out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A lady so thankful for the release of her husband was in the act of
+      kneeling in thankfulness. &ldquo;Get up,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t kneel to me, but thank
+      God and go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      An old lady for the same reason came forward with tears in her eyes to
+      express her gratitude. &ldquo;Good-bye, Mr. Lincoln,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;I shall
+      probably never see you again till we meet in heaven.&rdquo; She had the
+      President&rsquo;s hand in hers, and he was deeply moved. He instantly took her
+      right hand in both of his, and, following her to the door, said, &ldquo;I am
+      afraid with all my troubles I shall never get to the resting-place you
+      speak of; but if I do, I am sure I shall find you. That you wish me to get
+      there is, I believe, the best wish you could make for me. Good-bye.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the President remarked to a friend, &ldquo;It is more than many can often
+      say, that in doing right one has made two people happy in one day. Speed,
+      die when I may, I want it said of me by those who know me best, that I
+      have always plucked a thistle and planted a flower when I thought a flower
+      would grow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0381}.jpg" alt="{0381}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0381}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0382}.jpg" alt="{0382}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0382}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0482" id="link2H_4_0482">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN WISHED TO SEE RICHMOND.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President remarked to Admiral David D. Porter, while on board the
+      flagship Malvern, on the James River, in front of Richmond, the day the
+      city surrendered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thank God that I have lived to see this!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid dream for four years,
+      and now the nightmare is gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish to see Richmond.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0483" id="link2H_4_0483">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SPOKEN LIKE A CHRISTIAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Frederick Douglass told, in these words, of his first interview with
+      President Lincoln:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I approached him with trepidation as to how this great man might receive
+      me; but one word and look from him banished all my fears and set me
+      perfectly at ease. I have often said since that meeting that it was much
+      easier to see and converse with a great man than it was with a small man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On that occasion he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Douglass, you need not tell me who you are. Mr. Seward has told me all
+      about you.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I then saw that there was no reason to tell him my personal story,
+      however interesting it might be to myself or others, so I told him at once
+      the object of my visit. It was to get some expression from him upon three
+      points:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;1. Equal pay to colored soldiers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;2. Their promotion when they had earned it on the battle-field.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;3. Should they be taken prisoners and enslaved or hanged, as Jefferson
+      Davis had threatened, an equal number of Confederate prisoners should be
+      executed within our lines.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A declaration to that effect I thought would prevent the execution of the
+      rebel threat. To all but the last, President Lincoln assented. He argued,
+      however, that neither equal pay nor promotion could be granted at once. He
+      said that in view of existing prejudices it was a great step forward to
+      employ colored troops at all; that it was necessary to avoid everything
+      that would offend this prejudice and increase opposition to the measure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He detailed the steps by which white soldiers were reconciled to the
+      employment of colored troops; how these were first employed as laborers;
+      how it was thought they should not be armed or uniformed like white
+      soldiers; how they should only be made to wear a peculiar uniform; how
+      they should be employed to hold forts and arsenals in sickly locations,
+      and not enter the field like other soldiers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With all these restrictions and limitations he easily made me see that
+      much would be gained when the colored man loomed before the country as a
+      full-fledged United States soldier to fight, flourish or fall in defense
+      of the united republic. The great soul of Lincoln halted only when he came
+      to the point of retaliation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The thought of hanging men in cold blood, even though the rebels should
+      murder a few of the colored prisoners, was a horror from which he shrank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, Douglass! I cannot do that. If I could get hold of the actual
+      murderers of colored prisoners I would retaliate; but to hang those who
+      have no hand in such murders, I cannot.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The contemplation of such an act brought to his countenance such an
+      expression of sadness and pity that it made it hard for me to press my
+      point, though I told him it would tend to save rather than destroy life.
+      He, however, insisted that this work of blood, once begun, would be hard
+      to stop&mdash;that such violence would beget violence. He argued more like
+      a disciple of Christ than a commander-in-chief of the army and navy of a
+      warlike nation already involved in a terrible war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How sad and strange the fate of this great and good man, the saviour of
+      his country, the embodiment of human charity, whose heart, though strong,
+      was as tender as a heart of childhood; who always tempered justice with
+      mercy; who sought to supplant the sword with counsel of reason, to
+      suppress passion by kindness and moderation; who had a sigh for every
+      human grief and a tear for every human woe, should at last perish by the
+      hand of a desperate assassin, against whom no thought of malice had ever
+      entered his heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0484" id="link2H_4_0484">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;LINCOLN GOES IN WHEN THE QUAKERS ARE OUT&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the campaign songs of 1860 which will never be forgotten was
+      Whittier&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Quakers Are Out:&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Give the flags to the winds!
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;Set the hills all aflame!
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Make way for the man with
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;The Patriarch&rsquo;s name!
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Away with misgivings&mdash;away
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;With all doubt,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          For Lincoln goes in when the
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;Quakers are out!&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      Speaking of this song (with which he was greatly pleased) one day at the
+      White House, the President said: &ldquo;It reminds me of a little story I heard
+      years ago out in Illinois. A political campaign was on, and the atmosphere
+      was kept at a high temperature. Several fights had already occurred, many
+      men having been seriously hurt, and the prospects were that the result
+      would be close. One of the candidates was a professional politician with a
+      huge wart on his nose, this disfigurement having earned for him the
+      nickname of &lsquo;Warty.&rsquo; His opponent was a young lawyer who wore &lsquo;biled&rsquo;
+      shirts, &lsquo;was shaved by a barber, and had his clothes made to fit him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, &lsquo;Warty&rsquo; was of Quaker stock, and around election time made a great
+      parade of the fact. When there were no campaigns in progress he was
+      anything but Quakerish in his language or actions. The young lawyer didn&rsquo;t
+      know what the inside of a meeting house looked like.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, the night before election-day the two candidates came together at a
+      joint debate, both being on the speakers&rsquo; platform. The young lawyer had
+      to speak after &lsquo;Warty,&rsquo; and his reputation suffered at the hands of the
+      Quaker, who told the many Friends present what a wicked fellow the young
+      man was&mdash;never went to church, swore, drank, smoked and gambled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;After &lsquo;Warty&rsquo; had finished the other arose and faced the audience. &lsquo;I&rsquo;m
+      not a good man,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;and what my opponent has said about me is true
+      enough, but I&rsquo;m always the same. I don&rsquo;t profess religion when I run for
+      office, and then turn around and associate with bad people when the
+      campaign&rsquo;s over. I&rsquo;m no hypocrite. I don&rsquo;t sing many psalms. Neither does
+      my opponent; and, talking about singing, I&rsquo;d just like to hear my friend
+      who is running against me sing the song&mdash;for the benefit of this
+      audience&mdash;I heard him sing the night after he was nominated. I yield
+      the floor to him:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course &lsquo;Warty&rsquo; refused, his Quaker supporters grew suspicious, and
+      when they turned out at the polls the following day they voted for the
+      wicked young lawyer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So, it&rsquo;s true that when &lsquo;the Quakers are out&rsquo; the man they support is apt
+      to go in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0485" id="link2H_4_0485">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HAD CONFIDENCE IN HIM&mdash;&ldquo;BUT&mdash;.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;General Blank asks for more men,&rdquo; said Secretary of War Stanton to the
+      President one day, showing the latter a telegram from the commander named
+      appealing for re-enforcements.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess he&rsquo;s killed off enough men, hasn&rsquo;t he?&rdquo; queried the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mean Confederates&mdash;our own men. What&rsquo;s the use in sending
+      volunteers down to him if they&rsquo;re only used to fill graves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His dispatch seems to imply that, in his opinion, you have not the
+      confidence in him he thinks he deserves,&rdquo; the War Secretary went on to
+      say, as he looked over the telegram again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; was the President&rsquo;s reply, &ldquo;he needn&rsquo;t lose any of his sleep on that
+      account. Just telegraph him to that effect; also, that I don&rsquo;t propose to
+      send him any more men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0486" id="link2H_4_0486">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW HOMINY WAS ORIGINATED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      During the progress of a Cabinet meeting the subject of food for the men
+      in the Army happened to come up. From that the conversation changed to the
+      study of the Latin language.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I studied Latin once,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, in a casual way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Were you interested in it?&rdquo; asked Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, yes. I saw some very curious things,&rdquo; was the President&rsquo;s
+      rejoinder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; asked Secretary Seward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there&rsquo;s the word hominy, for instance. We have just ordered a lot
+      of that stuff for the troops. I see how the word originated. I notice it
+      came from the Latin word homo&mdash;a man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When we decline homo, it is:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Homo&mdash;a man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Hominis&mdash;of man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Homini&mdash;for man.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So you see, hominy, being &lsquo;for man,&rsquo; comes from the Latin. I guess those
+      soldiers who don&rsquo;t know Latin will get along with it all right&mdash;though
+      I won&rsquo;t rest real easy until I hear from the Commissary Department on it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0487" id="link2H_4_0487">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS IDEA&rsquo;S OLD, AFTER ALL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One day, while listening to one of the wise men who had called at the
+      White House to unload a large cargo of advice, the President interjected a
+      remark to the effect that he had a great reverence for learning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is not,&rdquo; President Lincoln explained, &ldquo;because I am not an educated
+      man. I feel the need of reading. It is a loss to a man not to have grown
+      up among books.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Men of force,&rdquo; the visitor answered, &ldquo;can get on pretty well without
+      books. They do their own thinking instead of adopting what other men
+      think.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;but books serve to show a man that those
+      original thoughts of his aren&rsquo;t very new, after all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a point the caller was not willing to debate, and so he cut his
+      call short.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0488" id="link2H_4_0488">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN&rsquo;S FIRST SPEECH.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figright" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{8387}.jpg" alt="{8387} " width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{8387}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln made his first speech when he was a mere boy, going barefoot, his
+      trousers held up by one suspender, and his shock of hair sticking through
+      a hole in the crown of his cheap straw hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe,&rdquo; in company with Dennis Hanks, attended a political meeting, which
+      was addressed by a typical stump speaker&mdash;one of those loud-voiced
+      fellows who shouted at the top of his voice and waved his arms wildly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the conclusion of the speech, which did not meet the views either of
+      &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; or Dennis, the latter declared that &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; could make a better speech
+      than that. Whereupon he got a dry-goods box and called on &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; to reply
+      to the campaign orator.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln threw his old straw hat on the ground, and, mounting the dry-goods
+      box, delivered a speech which held the attention of the crowd and won him
+      considerable applause. Even the campaign orator admitted that it was a
+      fine speech and answered every point in his own &ldquo;oration.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Dennis Hanks, who thought &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was about the greatest man that ever
+      lived, was delighted, and he often told how young &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; got the better of
+      the trained campaign speaker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0489" id="link2H_4_0489">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;ABE WANTED NO SNEAKIN&rsquo; &lsquo;ROUND.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was in 1830, when &ldquo;Abe&rdquo; was just twenty-one years of age, that the
+      Lincoln family moved from Gentryville, Indiana, to near Decatur, Illinois,
+      their household goods being packed in a wagon drawn by four oxen driven by
+      &ldquo;Abe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The winter previous the latter had &ldquo;worked&rdquo; in a country store in
+      Gentryville and before undertaking the journey he invested all the money
+      he had&mdash;some thirty dollars&mdash;in notions, such as needles, pins,
+      thread, buttons and other domestic necessities. These he sold to families
+      along the route and made a profit of about one hundred per cent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This mercantile adventure of his youth &ldquo;reminded&rdquo; the President of a very
+      clever story while the members of the Cabinet were one day solemnly
+      debating a rather serious international problem. The President was in the
+      minority, as was frequently the case, and he was &ldquo;in a hole,&rdquo; as he
+      afterwards expressed it. He didn&rsquo;t want to argue the points raised,
+      preferring to settle the matter in a hurry, and an apt story was his only
+      salvation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly the President&rsquo;s fact brightened. &ldquo;Gentlemen,&rdquo; said he, addressing
+      those seated at the Cabinet table, &ldquo;the situation just now reminds me of a
+      fix I got into some thirty years or so ago when I was peddling &lsquo;notions&rsquo;
+      on the way from Indiana to Illinois. I didn&rsquo;t have a large stock, but I
+      charged large prices, and I made money. Perhaps you don&rsquo;t see what I am
+      driving at?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary of State Seward was wearing a most gloomy expression of
+      countenance; Secretary of War Stanton was savage and inclined to be
+      morose; Secretary of the Treasury Chase was indifferent and cynical, while
+      the others of the Presidential advisers resigned themselves to the hearing
+      of the inevitable &ldquo;story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t propose to argue this matter,&rdquo; the President went on to say,
+      &ldquo;because arguments have no effect upon men whose opinions are fixed and
+      whose minds are made up. But this little story of mine will make some
+      things which now are in the dark show up more clearly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was another pause, and the Cabinet officers, maintaining their
+      previous silence, began wondering if the President himself really knew
+      what he was &ldquo;driving at.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just before we left Indiana and crossed into Illinois,&rdquo; continued Mr.
+      Lincoln solemnly, speaking in a grave tone of voice, &ldquo;we came across a
+      small farmhouse full of nothing but children. These ranged in years from
+      seventeen years to seventeen months, and all were in tears. The mother of
+      the family was red-headed and red-faced, and the whip she held in her
+      right hand led to the inference that she had been chastising her brood.
+      The father of the family, a meek-looking, mild-mannered, tow-headed chap,
+      was standing in the front door-way, awaiting&mdash;to all appearances&mdash;his
+      turn to feel the thong.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought there wasn&rsquo;t much use in asking the head of that house if she
+      wanted any &lsquo;notions.&rsquo; She was too busy. It was evident an insurrection had
+      been in progress, but it was pretty well quelled when I got there. The
+      mother had about suppressed it with an iron hand, but she was not running
+      any risks. She kept a keen and wary eye upon all the children, not
+      forgetting an occasional glance at the &lsquo;old man&rsquo; in the doorway.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She saw me as I came up, and from her look I thought she was of the
+      opinion that I intended to interfere. Advancing to the doorway, and
+      roughly pushing her husband aside, she demanded my business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Nothing, madame,&rsquo; I answered as gently as possible; &lsquo;I merely dropped in
+      as I came along to see how things were going.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, you needn&rsquo;t wait,&rsquo; was the reply in an irritated way; &lsquo;there&rsquo;s
+      trouble here, an&rsquo; lots of it, too, but I kin manage my own affairs without
+      the help of outsiders. This is jest a family row, but I&rsquo;ll teach these
+      brats their places ef I hev to lick the hide off ev&rsquo;ry one of them. I
+      don&rsquo;t do much talkin&rsquo;, but I run this house, an&rsquo; I don&rsquo;t want no one
+      sneakin&rsquo; round tryin&rsquo; to find out how I do it, either.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the case here with us,&rdquo; the President said in conclusion. &ldquo;We must
+      let the other nations know that we propose to settle our family row in our
+      own way, and &lsquo;teach these brats their places&rsquo; (the seceding States) if we
+      have to &lsquo;lick the hide off&rsquo; of each and every one of them. And, like the
+      old woman, we don&rsquo;t want any &lsquo;sneakin&rsquo; &lsquo;round&rsquo; by other countries who
+      would like to find out how we are to do it, either.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Seward, you write some diplomatic notes to that effect.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And the Cabinet session closed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0490" id="link2H_4_0490">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DIDN&rsquo;T EVEN NEED STILTS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As the President considered it his duty to keep in touch with all the
+      improvements in the armament of the vessels belonging to the United States
+      Navy, he was necessarily interested in the various types of these floating
+      fortresses. Not only was it required of the Navy Department to furnish
+      seagoing warships, deep-draught vessels for the great rivers and the
+      lakes, but this Department also found use for little gunboats which could
+      creep along in the shallowest of water and attack the Confederates in
+      by-places and swamps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The consequence of the interest taken by Mr. Lincoln in the Navy was that
+      he was besieged, day and night, by steamboat contractors, each one eager
+      to sell his product to the Washington Government. All sorts of experiments
+      were tried, some being dire failures, while others were more than fairly
+      successful. More than once had these tiny war vessels proved themselves of
+      great service, and the United States Government had a large number of them
+      built.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was one particular contractor who bothered the President more than
+      all the others put together. He was constantly impressing upon Mr. Lincoln
+      the great superiority of his boats, because they would run in such shallow
+      water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes,&rdquo; replied the President, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve no doubt they&rsquo;ll run anywhere
+      where the ground is a little moist!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0491" id="link2H_4_0491">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS PLACE?&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; remarked the President one day while reading, over some
+      of the appealing telegrams sent to the War Department by General
+      McClellan, &ldquo;that McClellan has been wandering around and has sort of got
+      lost. He&rsquo;s been hollering for help ever since he went South&mdash;wants
+      somebody to come to his deliverance and get him out of the place he&rsquo;s got
+      into.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He reminds me of the story of a man out in Illinois who, in company with
+      a number of friends, visited the State penitentiary. They wandered all
+      through the institution and saw everything, but just about the time to
+      depart this particular man became separated from his friends and couldn&rsquo;t
+      find his way out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He roamed up and down one corridor after another, becoming more desperate
+      all the time, when, at last, he came across a convict who was looking out
+      from between the bars of his cell-door. Here was salvation at last.
+      Hurrying up to the prisoner he hastily asked,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Say! How do you get out of this place?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0492" id="link2H_4_0492">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;TAD&rdquo; INTRODUCES &ldquo;OUR FRIENDS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9391}.jpg" alt="{9391}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9391}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln often avoided interviews with delegations representing
+      various States, especially when he knew the objects of their errands, and
+      was aware he could not grant their requests. This was the case with
+      several commissioners from Kentucky, who were put off from day to day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were about to give up in despair, and were leaving the White House
+      lobby, their speech being interspersed with vehement and uncomplimentary
+      terms concerning &ldquo;Old Abe,&rdquo; when &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; happened along. He caught at these
+      words, and asked one of them if they wanted to see &ldquo;Old Abe,&rdquo; laughing at
+      the same time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he replied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait a minute,&rdquo; said &ldquo;Tad,&rdquo; and rushed into his father&rsquo;s office. Said he,
+      &ldquo;Papa, may I introduce some friends to you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His father, always indulgent and ready to make him happy, kindly said,
+      &ldquo;Yes, my son, I will see your friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; went to the Kentuckians again, and asked a very dignified looking
+      gentleman of the party his name. He was told his name. He then said,
+      &ldquo;Come, gentlemen,&rdquo; and they followed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leading them up to the President, &ldquo;Tad,&rdquo; with much dignity, said, &ldquo;Papa,
+      let me introduce to you Judge &mdash;&mdash;, of Kentucky;&rdquo; and quickly
+      added, &ldquo;Now Judge, you introduce the other gentlemen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The introductions were gone through with, and they turned out to be the
+      gentlemen Mr. Lincoln had been avoiding for a week. Mr. Lincoln reached
+      for the boy, took him in his lap, kissed him, and told him it was all
+      right, and that he had introduced his friend like a little gentleman as he
+      was. Tad was eleven years old at this time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President was pleased with Tad&rsquo;s diplomacy, and often laughed at the
+      incident as he told others of it. One day while caressing the boy, he
+      asked him why he called those gentlemen &ldquo;his friends.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Tad,
+      &ldquo;I had seen them so often, and they looked so good and sorry, and said
+      they were from Kentucky, that I thought they must be our friends.&rdquo; &ldquo;That
+      is right, my son,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln; &ldquo;I would have the whole human race
+      your friends and mine, if it were possible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0493" id="link2H_4_0493">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MIXED UP WORSE THAN BEFORE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President told a story which most beautifully illustrated the muddled
+      situation of affairs at the time McClellan&rsquo;s fate was hanging in the
+      balance. McClellan&rsquo;s work was not satisfactory, but the President
+      hesitated to remove him; the general was so slow that the Confederates
+      marched all around him; and, to add to the dilemma, the President could
+      not find a suitable man to take McClellan&rsquo;s place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter was a political, as well as a military, factor; his friends
+      threatened that, if he was removed, many war Democrats would cast their
+      influence with the South, etc. It was, altogether, a sad mix-up, and the
+      President, for a time, was at his wits&rsquo; end. He was assailed on all sides
+      with advice, but none of it was worth acting upon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This situation reminds me,&rdquo; said the President at a Cabinet meeting one
+      day not long before the appointment of General Halleck as McClellan&rsquo;s
+      successor in command of the Union forces, &ldquo;of a Union man in Kentucky
+      whose two sons enlisted in the Federal Army. His wife was of Confederate
+      sympathies. His nearest neighbor was a Confederate in feeling, and his two
+      sons were fighting under Lee. This neighbor&rsquo;s wife was a Union woman and
+      it nearly broke her heart to know that her sons were arrayed against the
+      Union.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Finally, the two men, after each had talked the matter over with his
+      wife, agreed to obtain divorces; this they, did, and the Union man and
+      Union woman were wedded, as were the Confederate man and the Confederate
+      woman&mdash;the men swapped wives, in short. But this didn&rsquo;t seem to help
+      matters any, for the sons of the Union woman were still fighting for the
+      South, and the sons of the Confederate woman continued in the Federal
+      Army; the Union husband couldn&rsquo;t get along with his Union wife, and the
+      Confederate husband and his Confederate wife couldn&rsquo;t agree upon anything,
+      being forever fussing and quarreling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same thing with the Army. It doesn&rsquo;t seem worth while to secure
+      divorces and then marry the Army and McClellan to others, for they won&rsquo;t
+      get along any better than they do now, and there&rsquo;ll only be a new set of
+      heartaches started. I think we&rsquo;d better wait; perhaps a real fighting
+      general will come along some of these days, and then we&rsquo;ll all be happy.
+      If you go to mixing in a mix-up, you only make the muddle worse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0494" id="link2H_4_0494">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;LONG ABE&rsquo;S&rdquo; FEET &ldquo;PROTRUDED OVER.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      George M. Pullman, the great sleeping-car builder, once told a joke in
+      which Lincoln was the prominent figure. In fact, there wouldn&rsquo;t have been
+      any joke had it not been for &ldquo;Long Abe.&rdquo; At the time of the occurrence,
+      which was the foundation for the joke&mdash;and Pullman admitted that the
+      latter was on him&mdash;Pullman was the conductor of his only
+      sleeping-car. The latter was an experiment, and Pullman was doing
+      everything possible to get the railroads to take hold of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One night,&rdquo; said Pullman in telling the story, &ldquo;as we were about going
+      out of Chicago&mdash;this was long before Lincoln was what you might call
+      a renowned man&mdash;a long, lean, ugly man, with a wart on his cheek,
+      came into the depot. He paid me fifty cents, and half a berth was assigned
+      him. Then he took off his coat and vest and hung them up, and they fitted
+      the peg about as well as they fitted him. Then he kicked off his boots,
+      which were of surprising length, turned into the berth, and, undoubtedly
+      having an easy conscience, was sleeping like a healthy baby before the car
+      left the depot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pretty soon along came another passenger and paid his fifty cents. In two
+      minutes he was back at me, angry as a wet hen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There&rsquo;s a man in that berth of mine,&rsquo; said he, hotly, &lsquo;and he&rsquo;s about
+      ten feet high. How am I going to sleep there, I&rsquo;d like to know? Go and
+      look at him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In I went&mdash;mad, too. The tall, lank man&rsquo;s knees were under his chin,
+      his arms were stretched across the bed and his feet were stored
+      comfortably&mdash;for him. I shook him until he awoke, and then told him
+      if he wanted the whole berth he would have to pay $1.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;My dear sir,&rsquo; said the tall man, &lsquo;a contract is a contract. I have paid
+      you fifty cents for half this berth, and, as you see, I&rsquo;m occupying it.
+      There&rsquo;s the other half,&rsquo; pointing to a strip about six inches wide. &lsquo;Sell
+      that and don&rsquo;t disturb me again.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And so saying, the man with a wart on his face went to sleep again. He
+      was Abraham Lincoln, and he never grew any shorter afterward. We became
+      great friends, and often laughed over the incident.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0495" id="link2H_4_0495">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      COULD LICK ANY MAN IN THE CROWD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When the enemies of General Grant were bothering the President with
+      emphatic and repeated demands that the &ldquo;Silent Man&rdquo; be removed from
+      command, Mr. Lincoln remained firm. He would not consent to lose the
+      services of so valuable a soldier. &ldquo;Grant fights,&rdquo; said he in response to
+      the charges made that Grant was a butcher, a drunkard, an incompetent and
+      a general who did not know his business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That reminds me of a story,&rdquo; President Lincoln said one day to a
+      delegation of the &ldquo;Grant-is-no-good&rdquo; style.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Out in my State of Illinois there was a man nominated for sheriff of the
+      county. He was a good man for the office, brave, determined and honest,
+      but not much of an orator. In fact, he couldn&rsquo;t talk at all; he couldn&rsquo;t
+      make a speech to save his life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His friends knew he was a man who would preserve the peace of the county
+      and perform the duties devolving upon him all right, but the people of the
+      county didn&rsquo;t know it. They wanted him to come out boldly on the platform
+      at political meetings and state his convictions and principles; they had
+      been used to speeches from candidates, and were somewhat suspicious of a
+      man who was afraid to open his mouth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At last the candidate consented to make a speech, and his friends were
+      delighted. The candidate was on hand, and, when he was called upon,
+      advanced to the front and faced the crowd. There was a glitter in his eye
+      that wasn&rsquo;t pleasing, and the way he walked out to the front of the stand
+      showed that he knew just what he wanted to say.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Feller Citizens,&rsquo; was his beginning, the words spoken quietly, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not
+      a speakin&rsquo; man; I ain&rsquo;t no orator, an&rsquo; I never stood up before a lot of
+      people in my life before; I&rsquo;m not goin&rsquo; to make no speech, &lsquo;xcept to say
+      that I can lick any man in the crowd!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0496" id="link2H_4_0496">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS WAY TO A CHILD&rsquo;S HEART.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0395}.jpg" alt="{0395}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0395}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Charles E. Anthony&rsquo;s one meeting with Mr. Lincoln presents an interesting
+      contrast to those of the men who shared the emancipator&rsquo;s interest in
+      public affairs. It was in the latter part of the winter of 1861, a short
+      time before Mr. Lincoln left for his inauguration at Washington. Judge
+      Anthony went to the Sherman House, where the President-elect was stopping,
+      and took with him his son, Charles, then but a little boy. Charles played
+      about the room as a child will, looking at whatever interested him for the
+      time, and when the interview with his father was over he was ready to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Lincoln, ever interested in little children, called the lad to him
+      and took him upon his great knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My impression of him all the time I had been playing about the room,&rdquo;
+       said Mr. Anthony, &ldquo;was that he was a terribly homely man. I was rather
+      repelled. But no sooner did he speak to me than the expression of his face
+      changed completely, or, rather, my view of it changed. It at once became
+      kindly and attractive. He asked me some questions, seeming instantly to
+      find in the turmoil of all the great questions that must have been heavy
+      upon him, the very ones that would go to the thought of a child. I
+      answered him without hesitation, and after a moment he patted my shoulder
+      and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, you&rsquo;ll be a man before your mother yet,&rsquo; and put me down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had never before heard the homely old expression, and it puzzled me for
+      a time. After a moment I understood it, but he looked at me while I was
+      puzzling over it, and seemed to be amused, as no doubt he was.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The incident simply illustrates the ease and readiness with which Lincoln
+      could turn from the mighty questions before the nation, give a moment&rsquo;s
+      interested attention to a child, and return at once to matters of state.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0497" id="link2H_4_0497">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;LEFT IT THE WOMEN TO HOWL ABOUT ME.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Donn Piatt, one of the brightest newspaper writers in the country, told a
+      good story on the President in regard to the refusal of the latter to
+      sanction the death penalty in cases of desertion from the Union Army.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was far more policy in this course,&rdquo; said Piatt, &ldquo;than kind
+      feeling. To assert the contrary is to detract from Lincoln&rsquo;s force of
+      character, as well as intellect. Our War President was not lost in his
+      high admiration of brigadiers and major-generals, and had a positive
+      dislike for their methods and the despotism upon which an army is based.
+      He knew that he was dependent upon volunteers for soldiers, and to force
+      upon such men as those the stern discipline of the Regular Army was to
+      render the service unpopular. And it pleased him to be the source of
+      mercy, as well as the fountain of honor, in this direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was sitting with General Dan Tyler, of Connecticut, in the antechamber
+      of the War Department, shortly after the adjournment of the Buell Court of
+      Inquiry, of which we had been members, when President Lincoln came in from
+      the room of Secretary Stanton. Seeing us, he said: &lsquo;Well, gentlemen, have
+      you any matter worth reporting?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I think so, Mr. President,&rsquo; replied General Tyler. &lsquo;We had it proven
+      that Bragg, with less than ten thousand men, drove your eighty-three
+      thousand men under Buell back from before Chattanooga, down to the Ohio at
+      Louisville, marched around us twice, then doubled us up at Perryville, and
+      finally got out of the State of Kentucky with all his plunder.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now, Tyler,&rsquo; returned the President, &lsquo;what is the meaning of all this;
+      what is the lesson? Don&rsquo;t our men march as well, and fight as well, as
+      these rebels? If not, there is a fault somewhere. We are all of the same
+      family&mdash;same sort.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, there is a lesson,&rsquo; replied General Tyler; &lsquo;we are of the same
+      sort, but subject to different handling. Bragg&rsquo;s little force was superior
+      to our larger number because he had it under control. If a man left his
+      ranks, he was punished; if he deserted, he was shot. We had nothing of
+      that sort. If we attempt to shoot a deserter you pardon him, and our army
+      is without discipline.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President looked perplexed. &lsquo;Why do you interfere?&rsquo; continued General
+      Tyler. &lsquo;Congress has taken from you all responsibility.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; answered the President impatiently, &lsquo;Congress has taken the
+      responsibility and left the women to howl all about me,&rsquo; and so he strode
+      away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0498" id="link2H_4_0498">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE&rsquo;D RUIN ALL THE OTHER CONVICTS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      One of the droll stories brought into play by the President as an ally in
+      support of his contention, proved most effective. Politics was rife among
+      the generals of the Union Army, and there was more &ldquo;wire-pulling&rdquo; to
+      prevent the advancement of fellow commanders than the laying of plans to
+      defeat the Confederates in battle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, when it so happened that the name of a particularly unpopular
+      general was sent to the Senate for confirmation, the protest against his
+      promotion was almost unanimous. The nomination didn&rsquo;t seem to please
+      anyone. Generals who were enemies before conferred together for the
+      purpose of bringing every possible influence to bear upon the Senate and
+      securing the rejection of the hated leader&rsquo;s name. The President was
+      surprised. He had never known such unanimity before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remind me,&rdquo; said the President to a delegation of officers which
+      called upon him one day to present a fresh protest to him regarding the
+      nomination, &ldquo;of a visit a certain Governor paid to the Penitentiary of his
+      State. It had been announced that the Governor would hear the story of
+      every inmate of the institution, and was prepared to rectify, either by
+      commutation or pardon, any wrongs that had been done to any prisoner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One by one the convicts appeared before His Excellency, and each one
+      maintained that he was an innocent man, who had been sent to prison
+      because the police didn&rsquo;t like him, or his friends and relatives wanted
+      his property, or he was too popular, etc., etc. The last prisoner to
+      appear was an individual who was not all prepossessing. His face was
+      against him; his eyes were shifty; he didn&rsquo;t have the appearance of an
+      honest man, and he didn&rsquo;t act like one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well,&rsquo; asked the Governor, impatiently, &lsquo;I suppose you&rsquo;re innocent like
+      the rest of these fellows?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;No, Governor,&rsquo; was the unexpected answer; &lsquo;I was guilty of the crime
+      they charged against me, and I got just what I deserved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When he had recovered from his astonishment, the Governor, looking the
+      fellow squarely in the face, remarked with emphasis: &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll have to pardon
+      you, because I don&rsquo;t want to leave so bad a man as you are in the company
+      of such innocent sufferers as I have discovered your fellow-convicts to
+      be. You might corrupt them and teach them wicked tricks. As soon as I get
+      back to the capital, I&rsquo;ll have the papers made out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You gentlemen,&rdquo; continued the President, &ldquo;ought to be glad that so bad a
+      man, as you represent this officer to be, is to get his promotion, for
+      then you won&rsquo;t be forced to associate with him and suffer the
+      contamination of his presence and influence. I will do all I can to have
+      the Senate confirm him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he was confirmed.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0399}.jpg" alt="{0399}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0399}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0400}.jpg" alt="{0400}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0400}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0499" id="link2H_4_0499">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IN A HOPELESS MINORITY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President was often in opposition to the general public sentiment of
+      the North upon certain questions of policy, but he bided his time, and
+      things usually came out as he wanted them. It was Lincoln&rsquo;s opinion, from
+      the first, that apology and reparation to England must be made by the
+      United States because of the arrest, upon the high seas, of the
+      Confederate Commissioners, Mason and Slidell. The country, however (the
+      Northern States), was wild for a conflict with England.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One war at a time,&rdquo; quietly remarked the President at a Cabinet meeting,
+      where he found the majority of his advisers unfavorably disposed to
+      &ldquo;backing down.&rdquo; But one member of the Cabinet was a really strong
+      supporter of the President in his attitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am reminded,&rdquo; the President said after the various arguments had been
+      put forward by the members of the Cabinet, &ldquo;of a fellow out in my State of
+      Illinois who happened to stray into a church while a revival meeting was
+      in progress. To be truthful, this individual was not entirely sober, and
+      with that instinct which seems to impel all men in his condition to assume
+      a prominent part in proceedings, he walked up the aisle to the very front
+      pew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All noticed him, but he did not care; for awhile he joined audibly in the
+      singing, said &lsquo;Amen&rsquo; at the close of the prayers, but, drowsiness
+      overcoming him, he went to sleep. Before the meeting closed, the pastor
+      asked the usual question&mdash;&lsquo;Who are on the Lord&rsquo;s side?&rsquo;&mdash;and the
+      congregation arose en masse. When he asked, &lsquo;Who are on the side of the
+      Devil?&rsquo; the sleeper was about waking up. He heard a portion of the
+      interrogatory, and, seeing the minister on his feet, arose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I don&rsquo;t exactly understand the question,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;but I&rsquo;ll stand by
+      you, parson, to the last. But it seems to me,&rsquo; he added, &lsquo;that we&rsquo;re in a
+      hopeless minority.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in a hopeless minority now,&rdquo; said the President, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll have to
+      admit it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0500" id="link2H_4_0500">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;DID YE ASK MORRISSEY YET?&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      John Morrissey, the noted prize fighter, was the &ldquo;Boss&rdquo; of Tammany Hall
+      during the Civil War period. It pleased his fancy to go to Congress, and
+      his obedient constituents sent him there. Morrissey was such an absolute
+      despot that the New York City democracy could not make a move without his
+      consent, and many of the Tammanyites were so afraid of him that they would
+      not even enter into business ventures without consulting the autocrat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln had been seriously annoyed by some of his generals, who
+      were afraid to make the slightest move before asking advice from
+      Washington. One commander, in particular, was so cautious that he
+      telegraphed the War Department upon the slightest pretext, the result
+      being that his troops were lying in camp doing nothing, when they should
+      have been in the field.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This general reminds me,&rdquo; the President said one day while talking to
+      Secretary Stanton, at the War Department, &ldquo;of a story I once heard about a
+      Tammany man. He happened to meet a friend, also a member of Tammany, on
+      the street, and in the course of the talk the friend, who was beaming with
+      smiles and good nature, told the other Tammanyite that he was going to be
+      married.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This first Tammany man looked more serious than men usually do upon
+      hearing of the impending happiness of a friend. In fact, his face seemed
+      to take on a look of anxiety and worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Ain&rsquo;t you glad to know that I&rsquo;m to get married?&rsquo; demanded the second
+      Tammanyite, somewhat in a huff.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Of course I am,&rsquo; was the reply; &lsquo;but,&rsquo; putting his mouth close to the
+      ear of the other, &lsquo;have ye asked Morrissey yet?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, this general of whom we are speaking, wouldn&rsquo;t dare order out the
+      guard without asking Morrissey,&rdquo; concluded the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0501" id="link2H_4_0501">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOT THE LAUGH ON DOUGLAS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At one time, when Lincoln and Douglas were &ldquo;stumping&rdquo; Illinois, they met
+      at a certain town, and it was agreed that they would have a joint debate.
+      Douglas was the first speaker, and in the course of his talk remarked that
+      in early life, his father, who, he said, was an excellent cooper by trade,
+      apprenticed him out to learn the cabinet business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was too good for Lincoln to let pass, so when his turn came to reply,
+      he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had understood before that Mr. Douglas had been bound out to learn the
+      cabinet-making business, which is all well enough, but I was not aware
+      until now that his father was a cooper. I have no doubt, however, that he
+      was one, and I am certain, also, that he was a very good one, for (here
+      Lincoln gently bowed toward Douglas) he has made one of the best whiskey
+      casks I have ever seen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As Douglas was a short heavy-set man, and occasionally imbibed, the pith
+      of the joke was at once apparent, and most heartily enjoyed by all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On another occasion, Douglas made a point against Lincoln by telling the
+      crowd that when he first knew Lincoln he was a &ldquo;grocery-keeper,&rdquo; and sold
+      whiskey, cigars, etc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. L.,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;was a very good bar-tender!&rdquo; This brought the laugh on
+      Lincoln, whose reply, however, soon came, and then the laugh was on the
+      other side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What Mr. Douglas has said, gentlemen,&rdquo; replied Lincoln, &ldquo;is true enough;
+      I did keep a grocery and I did sell cotton, candles and cigars, and
+      sometimes whiskey; but I remember in those days that Mr. Douglas was one
+      of my best customers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can also say this; that I have since left my side of the counter, while
+      Mr. Douglas still sticks to his!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This brought such a storm of cheers and laughter that Douglas was unable
+      to reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0503" id="link2H_4_0503">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;FIXED UP&rdquo; A BIT FOR THE &ldquo;CITY FOLKS.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Lincoln knew her husband was not &ldquo;pretty,&rdquo; but she liked to have him
+      presentable when he appeared before the public. Stephen Fiske, in &ldquo;When
+      Lincoln Was First Inaugurated,&rdquo; tells of Mrs. Lincoln&rsquo;s anxiety to have
+      the President-elect &ldquo;smoothed down&rdquo; a little when receiving a delegation
+      that was to greet them upon reaching New York City.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The train stopped,&rdquo; writes Mr. Fiske, &ldquo;and through the windows immense
+      crowds could be seen; the cheering drowning the blowing off of steam of
+      the locomotive. Then Mrs. Lincoln opened her handbag and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Abraham, I must fix you up a bit for these city folks.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln gently lifted her upon the seat before him; she parted,
+      combed and brushed his hair and arranged his black necktie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Do I look nice now, mother?&rsquo; he affectionately asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, you&rsquo;ll do, Abraham,&rsquo; replied Mrs. Lincoln critically. So he kissed
+      her and lifted her down from the seat, and turned to meet Mayor Wood,
+      courtly and suave, and to have his hand shaken by the other New York
+      officials.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0504" id="link2H_4_0504">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      EVEN REBELS OUGHT TO BE SAVED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The Rev. Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, a Universalist, had been nominated
+      for hospital chaplain, and a protesting delegation went to Washington to
+      see President Lincoln on the subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you in regard to the
+      appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, as hospital chaplain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President responded: &ldquo;Oh, yes, gentlemen. I have sent his name to the
+      Senate, and he will no doubt be confirmed at an early date.&rdquo; One of the
+      young men replied: &ldquo;We have not come to ask for the appointment, but to
+      solicit you to withdraw the nomination.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said Lincoln, &ldquo;that alters the case; but on what grounds do you wish
+      the nomination withdrawn?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The answer was: &ldquo;Mr. Shrigley is not sound in his theological opinions.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President inquired: &ldquo;On what question is the gentleman unsound?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Response: &ldquo;He does not believe in endless punishment; not only so, sir,
+      but he believes that even the rebels themselves will be finally saved.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that so?&rdquo; inquired the President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The members of the committee responded, &ldquo;Yes, yes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way under Heaven whereby
+      the rebels can be saved, then, for God&rsquo;s sake and their sakes, let the man
+      be appointed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Rev. Mr. Shrigley was appointed, and served until the close of the
+      war.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0505" id="link2H_4_0505">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TRIED TO DO WHAT SEEMED BEST.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      John M. Palmer, Major-General in the Volunteer Army, Governor of the State
+      of Illinois, and United States Senator from the Sucker State, became
+      acquainted with Lincoln in 1839, and the last time he saw the President
+      was at the White House in February, 1865. Senator Palmer told the story of
+      his interview as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had come to Washington at the request of the Governor, to complain that
+      Illinois had been credited with 18,000 too few troops. I saw Mr. Lincoln
+      one afternoon, and he asked me to come again in the morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Next morning I sat in the ante-room while several officers were relieved.
+      At length I was told to enter the President&rsquo;s room. Mr. Lincoln was in the
+      hands of the barber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Come in, Palmer,&rsquo; he called out, &lsquo;come in. You&rsquo;re home folks. I can
+      shave before you. I couldn&rsquo;t before those others, and I have to do it some
+      time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We chatted about various matters, and at length I said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, Mr. Lincoln, if anybody had told me that in a great crisis like
+      this the people were going out to a little one-horse town and pick out a
+      one-horse lawyer for President I wouldn&rsquo;t have believed it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his chair, his face white with lather, a
+      towel under his chin. At first I thought he was angry. Sweeping the barber
+      away he leaned forward, and, placing one hand on my knee, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Neither would I. But it was time when a man with a policy would have
+      been fatal to the country. I have never had a policy. I have simply tried
+      to do what seemed best each day, as each day came.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0506" id="link2H_4_0506">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;HOLDING A CANDLE TO THE CZAR.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9405}.jpg" alt="{9405}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9405}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      England was anything but pleased when the Czar Alexander, of Russia,
+      showed his friendship for the United States by sending a strong fleet to
+      this country with the accompanying suggestion that Uncle Sam, through his
+      representative, President Lincoln, could do whatever he saw fit with the
+      ironclads and the munitions of war they had stowed away in their holds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      London &ldquo;Punch,&rdquo; on November 7th, 1863, printed the cartoon shown on this
+      page, the text under the picture reading in this way: &ldquo;Holding a candle to
+      the * * * * *.&rdquo; (Much the same thing.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of course, this was a covert sneer, intended to convey the impression that
+      President Lincoln, in order to secure the support and friendship of the
+      Emperor of Russia as long as the War of the Rebellion lasted, was willing
+      to do all sorts of menial offices, even to the extent of holding the
+      candle and lighting His Most Gracious Majesty, the White Czar, to his
+      imperial bed-chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the Emperor Alexander, who tendered
+      inestimable aid to the President of the United States, was the Lincoln of
+      Russia, having given freedom to millions of serfs in his empire; and,
+      further than that, he was, like Lincoln, the victim of assassination. He
+      was literally blown to pieces by a bomb thrown under his carriage while
+      riding through the streets near the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0507" id="link2H_4_0507">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NASHVILLE WAS NOT SURRENDERED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was told a mighty good story,&rdquo; said the President one day at a Cabinet
+      meeting, &ldquo;by Colonel Granville Moody, &lsquo;the fighting Methodist parson,&rsquo; as
+      they used to call him in Tennessee. I happened to meet Moody in
+      Philadelphia, where he was attending a conference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The story was about &lsquo;Andy&rsquo; Johnson and General Buell. Colonel Moody
+      happened to be in Nashville the day it was reported that Buell had decided
+      to evacuate the city. The rebels, strongly re-inforced, were said to be
+      within two days&rsquo; march of the capital. Of course, the city was greatly
+      excited. Moody said he went in search of Johnson at the edge of the
+      evening and found him at his office closeted with two gentlemen, who were
+      walking the floor with him, one on each side. As he entered they retired,
+      leaving him alone with Johnson, who came up to him, manifesting intense
+      feeling, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Moody, we are sold out. Buell is a traitor. He is going to evacuate the
+      city, and in forty-eight hours we will all be in the hands of the rebels!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then he commenced pacing the floor again, twisting his hands and chafing
+      like a caged tiger, utterly insensible to his friend&rsquo;s entreaties to
+      become calm. Suddenly he turned and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Moody, can you pray?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;That is my business, sir, as a minister of the gospel,&rsquo; returned the
+      colonel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, Moody, I wish you would pray,&rsquo; said Johnson, and instantly both
+      went down upon their knees at opposite sides of the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As the prayer waxed fervent, Johnson began to respond in true Methodist
+      style. Presently he crawled over on his hands and knees to Moody&rsquo;s side
+      and put his arms over him, manifesting the deepest emotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Closing the prayer with a hearty &lsquo;amen&rsquo; from each, they arose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Johnson took a long breath, and said, with emphasis:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Moody, I feel better.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shortly afterward he asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Will you stand by me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly I will,&rsquo; was the answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, Moody, I can depend upon you; you are one in a hundred thousand.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He then commenced pacing the floor again. Suddenly he wheeled, the
+      current of his thought having changed, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, Moody, I don&rsquo;t want you to think I have become a religious man
+      because I asked you to pray. I am sorry to say it, I am not, and never
+      pretended to be religious. No one knows this better than you, but, Moody,
+      there is one thing about it, I do believe in Almighty God, and I believe
+      also in the Bible, and I say, d&mdash;n me if Nashville shall be
+      surrendered!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And Nashville was not surrendered!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0508" id="link2H_4_0508">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HE COULDN&rsquo;T WAIT FOR THE COLONEL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      General Fisk, attending a reception at the White House, saw waiting in the
+      ante-room a poor old man from Tennessee, and learned that he had been
+      waiting three or four days to get an audience, on which probably depended
+      the life of his son, under sentence of death for some military offense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card and sent it in, with a
+      special request that the President would see the man. In a moment the
+      order came; and past impatient senators, governors and generals, the old
+      man went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He showed his papers to Mr. Lincoln, who said he would look into the case
+      and give him the result next day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The old man, in an agony of apprehension, looked up into the President&rsquo;s
+      sympathetic face and actually cried out:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-morrow may be too late! My son is under sentence of death! It ought to
+      be decided now!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His streaming tears told how much he was moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;wait a bit and I&rsquo;ll tell you a story;&rdquo; and then
+      he told the old man General Fisk&rsquo;s story about the swearing driver, as
+      follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The general had begun his military life as a colonel, and when he raised
+      his regiment in Missouri he proposed to his men that he should do all the
+      swearing of the regiment. They assented; and for months no instance was
+      known of the violation of the promise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were not always
+      the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper and his tongue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;John happened to be driving a mule team through a series of mudholes a
+      little worse than usual, when, unable to restrain himself any longer, he
+      burst forth into a volley of energetic oaths.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The colonel took notice of the offense and brought John to account.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;John,&rsquo; said he, &lsquo;didn&rsquo;t you promise to let me do all the swearing of the
+      regiment?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, I did, colonel,&rsquo; he replied, &lsquo;but the fact was, the swearing had to
+      be done then or not at all, and you weren&rsquo;t there to do it.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As he told the story the old man forgot his boy, and both the President
+      and his listener had a hearty laugh together at its conclusion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he wrote a few words which the old man read, and in which he found
+      new occasion for tears; but the tears were tears of joy, for the words
+      saved the life of his son.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0509" id="link2H_4_0509">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN PRONOUNCED THIS STORY FUNNY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President was heard to declare one day that the story given below was
+      one of the funniest he ever heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of General Fremont&rsquo;s batteries of eight Parrott guns, supported by a
+      squadron of horse commanded by Major Richards, was in sharp conflict with
+      a battery of the enemy near at hand. Shells and shot were flying thick and
+      fast, when the commander of the battery, a German, one of Fremont&rsquo;s staff,
+      rode suddenly up to the cavalry, exclaiming, in loud and excited terms,
+      &ldquo;Pring up de shackasses! Pring up de shackasses! For Cot&rsquo;s sake, hurry up
+      de shackasses, im-me-di-ate-ly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The necessity of this order, though not quite apparent, will be more
+      obvious when it is remembered that &ldquo;shackasses&rdquo; are mules, carry mountain
+      howitzers, which are fired from the backs of that much-abused but valuable
+      animal; and the immediate occasion for the &ldquo;shackasses&rdquo; was that two
+      regiments of rebel infantry were at that moment discovered ascending a
+      hill immediately behind our batteries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;shackasses,&rdquo; with the howitzers loaded with grape and canister, were
+      soon on the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The mules squared themselves, as they well knew how, for the shock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A terrific volley was poured into the advancing column, which immediately
+      broke and retreated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two hundred and seventy-eight dead bodies were found in the ravine next
+      day, piled closely together as they fell, the effects of that volley from
+      the backs of the &ldquo;shackasses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0510" id="link2H_4_0510">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      JOKE WAS ON LINCOLN.
+    </h2>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0409}.jpg" alt="{0409}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0409}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln enjoyed a joke at his own expense. Said he: &ldquo;In the days when
+      I used to be in the circuit, I was accosted in the cars by a stranger, who
+      said, &lsquo;Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession which
+      belongs to you.&rsquo; &lsquo;How is that?&rsquo; I asked, considerably astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The stranger took a jackknife from his pocket. &lsquo;This knife,&rsquo; said he,
+      &lsquo;was placed in my hands some years ago, with the injunction that I was to
+      keep it until I had found a man uglier than myself. I have carried it from
+      that time to this. Allow me to say, sir, that I think you are fairly
+      entitled to the property.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0511" id="link2H_4_0511">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE OTHER ONE WAS WORSE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It so happened that an official of the War Department had escaped serious
+      punishment for a rather flagrant offense, by showing where grosser
+      irregularities existed in the management of a certain bureau of the
+      Department. So valuable was the information furnished that the culprit who
+      &ldquo;gave the snap away&rdquo; was not even discharged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That reminds me,&rdquo; the President said, when the case was laid before him,
+      &ldquo;of a story about Daniel Webster, when the latter was a boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty of a gross
+      violation of the rules. He was detected in the act, and called up by the
+      teacher for punishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This was to be the old-fashioned &lsquo;feruling&rsquo; of the hand. His hands
+      happened to be very dirty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Knowing this, on the way to the teacher&rsquo;s desk, he spit upon the palm of
+      his right hand, wiping it off upon the side of his pantaloons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Give me your hand, sir,&rsquo; said the teacher, very sternly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Out went the right hand, partly cleansed. The teacher looked at it a
+      moment, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Daniel, if you will find another hand in this school-room as filthy as
+      that, I will let you off this time!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Instantly from behind the back came the left hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Here it is, sir,&rsquo; was the ready reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;That will do,&rsquo; said the teacher, &lsquo;for this time; you can take your seat,
+      sir.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0512" id="link2H_4_0512">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;I&rsquo;D A BEEN MISSED BY MYSE&rsquo;F.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      The President did not consider that every soldier who ran away in battle,
+      or did not stand firmly to receive a bayonet charge, was a coward. He was
+      of opinion that self-preservation was the first law of Nature, but he
+      didn&rsquo;t want this statute construed too liberally by the troops.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the same time he took occasion to illustrate a point he wished to make
+      by a story in connection with a darky who was a member of the Ninth
+      Illinois Infantry Regiment. This regiment was one of those engaged at the
+      capture of Fort Donelson. It behaved gallantly, and lost as heavily as
+      any.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Upon the hurricane-deck of one of our gunboats,&rdquo; said the President in
+      telling the story, &ldquo;I saw an elderly darky, with a very philosophical and
+      retrospective cast of countenance, squatted upon his bundle, toasting his
+      shins against the chimney, and apparently plunged into a state of profound
+      meditation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As the negro rather interested me, I made some inquiries, and found that
+      he had really been with the Ninth Illinois Infantry at Donelson. and began
+      to ask him some questions about the capture of the place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Were you in the fight?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Had a little taste of it, sa.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Stood your ground, did you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;No, sa, I runs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Run at the first fire, did you?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, sa, and would hab run soona, had I knowd it war comin&rsquo;.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Why, that wasn&rsquo;t very creditable to your courage.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Dat isn&rsquo;t my line, sa&mdash;cookin&rsquo;s my profeshun.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Well, but have you no regard for your reputation?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Reputation&rsquo;s nuffin to me by de side ob life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Do you consider your life worth more than other people&rsquo;s?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;It&rsquo;s worth more to me, sa.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Then you must value it very highly?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, sa, I does, more dan all dis wuld, more dan a million ob dollars,
+      sa, for what would dat be wuth to a man wid de bref out ob him?
+      Self-preserbation am de fust law wid me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But why should you act upon a different rule from other men?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Different men set different values on their lives; mine is not in de
+      market.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;But if you lost it you would have the satisfaction of knowing that you
+      died for your country.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Dat no satisfaction when feelin&rsquo;s gone.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Then patriotism and honor are nothing to you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Nufin whatever, sat&mdash;I regard them as among the vanities.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;If our soldiers were like you, traitors might have broken up the
+      government without resistance.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, sa, dar would hab been no help for it. I wouldn&rsquo;t put my life in de
+      scale &lsquo;g&rsquo;inst any gobernment dat eber existed, for no gobernment could
+      replace de loss to me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Do you think any of your company would have missed you if you had been
+      killed?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Maybe not, sa&mdash;a dead white man ain&rsquo;t much to dese sogers, let
+      alone a dead nigga&mdash;but I&rsquo;d a missed myse&rsquo;f, and dat was de p&rsquo;int wid
+      me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I only tell this story,&rdquo; concluded the President, &ldquo;in order to illustrate
+      the result of the tactics of some of the Union generals who would be sadly
+      &lsquo;missed&rsquo; by themselves, if no one else, if they ever got out of the Army.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0513" id="link2H_4_0513">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IT ALL &ldquo;DEPENDED&rdquo; UPON THE EFFECT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln and some members of his Cabinet were with a part of the
+      Army some distance south of the National Capital at one time, when
+      Secretary of War Stanton remarked that just before he left Washington he
+      had received a telegram from General Mitchell, in Alabama. General
+      Mitchell asked instructions in regard to a certain emergency that had
+      arisen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Secretary said he did not precisely understand the emergency as
+      explained by General Mitchell, but had answered back, &ldquo;All right; go
+      ahead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; he said, as he turned to Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;Mr. President, if I have
+      made an error in not understanding him correctly, I will have to get you
+      to countermand the order.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; exclaimed President Lincoln, &ldquo;that is very much like the happening
+      on the occasion of a certain horse sale I remember that took place at the
+      cross-roads down in Kentucky, when I was a boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A particularly fine horse was to be sold, and the people in large numbers
+      had gathered together. They had a small boy to ride the horse up and down
+      while the spectators examined the horse&rsquo;s points.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At last one man whispered to the boy as he went by: &lsquo;Look here, boy,
+      hain&rsquo;t that horse got the splints?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The boy replied: &lsquo;Mister, I don&rsquo;t know what the splints is, but if it&rsquo;s
+      good for him, he has got it; if it ain&rsquo;t good for him, he ain&rsquo;t got it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said President Lincoln, &ldquo;if this was good for Mitchell, it was all
+      right; but if it was not, I have got to countermand it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0514" id="link2H_4_0514">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TOO SWIFT TO STAY IN THE ARMY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      There were strange, queer, odd things and happenings in the Army at times,
+      but, as a rule, the President did not allow them to worry him. He had
+      enough to bother about.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A quartermaster having neglected to present his accounts in proper shape,
+      and the matter being deemed of sufficient importance to bring it to the
+      attention of the President, the latter remarked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now this instance reminds me of a little story I heard only a short time
+      ago. A certain general&rsquo;s purse was getting low, and he said it was
+      probable he might be obliged to draw on his banker for some money.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;How much do you want, father?&rsquo; asked his son, who had been with him a
+      few days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I think I shall send for a couple of hundred,&rsquo; replied the general.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, father,&rsquo; said his son, very quietly, &lsquo;I can let you have it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;You can let me have it! Where did you get so much money?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I won it playing draw-poker with your staff, sir!&rsquo; replied the youth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The earliest morning train bore the young man toward his home, and I&rsquo;ve
+      been wondering if that boy and that quartermaster had happened to meet at
+      the same table.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0515" id="link2H_4_0515">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ADMIRED THE STRONG MAN.
+    </h2>
+<div class="figleft" style="width:20%;"> <img src="images/{9413}.jpg" alt="{9413}" width="100%" /> <br /> <a href="images/{9413}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </div>
+    <p>
+      Governor Hoyt of Wisconsin tells a story of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s great admiration
+      for physical strength. Mr. Lincoln, in 1859, made a speech at the
+      Wisconsin State Agricultural Fair. After the speech, in company with the
+      Governor, he strolled about the grounds, looking at the exhibits. They
+      came to a place where a professional &ldquo;strong man&rdquo; was tossing cannon balls
+      in the air and catching them on his arms and juggling with them as though
+      they were light as baseballs. Mr. Lincoln had never before seen such an
+      exhibition, and he was greatly surprised and interested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the performance was over, Governor Hoyt, seeing Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      interest, asked him to go up and be introduced to the athlete. He did so,
+      and, as he stood looking down musingly on the man, who was very short, and
+      evidently wondering that one so much smaller than he could be so much
+      stronger, he suddenly broke out with one of his quaint speeches. &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; he
+      said, &ldquo;why, I could lick salt off the top of your hat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0516" id="link2H_4_0516">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WISHED THE ARMY CHARGED LIKE THAT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A prominent volunteer officer who, early in the War, was on duty in
+      Washington and often carried reports to Secretary Stanton at the War
+      Department, told a characteristic story on President Lincoln. Said he:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was with several other young officers, also carrying reports to the War
+      Department, and one morning we were late. In this instance we were in a
+      desperate hurry to deliver the papers, in order to be able to catch the
+      train returning to camp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On the winding, dark staircase of the old War Department, which many will
+      remember, it was our misfortune, while taking about three stairs at a
+      time, to run a certain head like a catapult into the body of the
+      President, striking him in the region of the right lower vest pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The usual surprised and relaxed grunt of a man thus assailed came
+      promptly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We quickly sent an apology in the direction of the dimly seen form,
+      feeling that the ungracious shock was expensive, even to the humblest
+      clerk in the department.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A second glance revealed to us the President as the victim of the
+      collision. Then followed a special tender of &lsquo;ten thousand pardons,&rsquo; and
+      the President&rsquo;s reply:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;One&rsquo;s enough; I wish the whole army would charge like that.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0517" id="link2H_4_0517">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;UNCLE ABRAHAM&rdquo; HAD EVERYTHING READY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t do anything with them Southern fellows,&rdquo; the old man at the
+      table was saying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If they get whipped, they&rsquo;ll retreat to them Southern swamps and bayous
+      along with the fishes and crocodiles. You haven&rsquo;t got the fish-nets made
+      that&rsquo;ll catch &lsquo;em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look here, old gentleman,&rdquo; remarked President Lincoln, who was sitting
+      alongside, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ve got just the nets for traitors, in the bayous or
+      anywhere.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? What nets?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bayou-nets!&rdquo; and &ldquo;Uncle Abraham&rdquo; pointed his joke with his fork, spearing
+      a fishball savagely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0518" id="link2H_4_0518">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOT AS SMOOTH AS HE LOOKED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s skill in parrying troublesome questions was wonderful. Once
+      he received a call from Congressman John Ganson, of Buffalo, one of the
+      ablest lawyers in New York, who, although a Democrat, supported all of Mr.
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s war measures. Mr. Ganson wanted explanations. Mr. Ganson was
+      very bald with a perfectly smooth face. He had a most direct and
+      aggressive way of stating his views or of demanding what he thought he was
+      entitled to. He said: &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln, I have supported all of your measures
+      and think I am entitled to your confidence. We are voting and acting in
+      the dark in Congress, and I demand to know&mdash;think I have the right to
+      ask and to know&mdash;what is the present situation, and what are the
+      prospects and conditions of the several campaigns and armies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln looked at him critically for a moment and then said: &ldquo;Ganson,
+      how clean you shave!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Most men would have been offended, but Ganson was too broad and
+      intelligent a man not to see the point and retire at once, satisfied, from
+      the field.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0519" id="link2H_4_0519">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A SMALL CROP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Chauncey M. Depew says that Mr. Lincoln told him the following story,
+      which he claimed was one of the best two things he ever originated: He was
+      trying a case in Illinois where he appeared for a prisoner charged with
+      aggravated assault and battery. The complainant had told a horrible story
+      of the attack, which his appearance fully justified, when the District
+      Attorney handed the witness over to Mr. Lincoln, for cross-examination.
+      Mr. Lincoln said he had no testimony, and unless he could break down the
+      complainant&rsquo;s story he saw no way out. He had come to the conclusion that
+      the witness was a bumptious man, who rather prided himself upon his
+      smartness in repartee and, so, after looking at him for some minutes, he
+      said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, my friend, how much ground did you and my client here fight over?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The fellow answered: &ldquo;About six acres.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t you think that this is an almighty small
+      crop of fight to gather from such a big piece of ground?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The jury laughed. The Court and District-Attorney and complainant all
+      joined in, and the case was laughed out of court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0520" id="link2H_4_0520">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;NEVER REGRET WHAT YOU DON&rsquo;T WRITE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      A simple remark one of the party might make would remind Mr. Lincoln of an
+      apropos story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary of the Treasury Chase happened to remark, &ldquo;Oh, I am so sorry
+      that I did not write a letter to Mr. So-and-so before I left home!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln promptly responded:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Chase, never regret what you don&rsquo;t write; it is what you do write that
+      you are often called upon to feel sorry for.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0521" id="link2H_4_0521">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A VAIN GENERAL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In an interview between President Lincoln and Petroleum V. Nasby, the name
+      came up of a recently deceased politician of Illinois whose merit was
+      blemished by great vanity. His funeral was very largely attended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If General &mdash;&mdash; had known how big a funeral he would have had,&rdquo;
+       said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;he would have died years ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0522" id="link2H_4_0522">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DEATH BED REPENTANCE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A Senator, who was calling upon Mr. Lincoln, mentioned the name of a most
+      virulent and dishonest official; one, who, though very brilliant, was very
+      bad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good thing for B&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;that there is
+      such a thing as a deathbed repentance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0417}.jpg" alt="{0417}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0417}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0418}.jpg" alt="{0418}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0418}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0523" id="link2H_4_0523">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NO CAUSE FOR PRIDE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      A member of Congress from Ohio came into Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s presence in a state
+      of unutterable intoxication, and sinking into a chair, exclaimed in tones
+      that welled up fuzzy through the gallon or more of whiskey that he
+      contained, &ldquo;Oh, &lsquo;why should (hic) the spirit of mortal be proud?&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My dear sir,&rdquo; said the President, regarding him closely, &ldquo;I see no reason
+      whatever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0524" id="link2H_4_0524">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE STORY OF LINCOLN&rsquo;S LIFE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Abraham Lincoln once was asked to tell the story of his life, he
+      replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is contained in one line of Gray&rsquo;s &lsquo;Elegy in a Country Churchyard&rsquo;:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;The short and simple annals of the poor.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That was true at the time he said it, as everything else he said was
+      Truth, but he was then only at the beginning of a career that was to
+      glorify him as one of the heroes of the world, and place his name forever
+      beside the immortal name of the mighty Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many great men, particularly those of America, began life in humbleness
+      and poverty, but none ever came from such depths or rose to such a height
+      as Abraham Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His birthplace, in Hardin county, Kentucky, was but a wilderness, and
+      Spencer county, Indiana, to which the Lincoln family removed when Abraham
+      was in his eighth year, was a wilder and still more uncivilized region.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The little red schoolhouse which now so thickly adorns the country
+      hillside had not yet been built. There were scattered log schoolhouses,
+      but they were few and far between. In several of these Mr. Lincoln got the
+      rudiments of an education&mdash;an education that was never finished, for
+      to the day of his death he was a student and a seeker after knowledge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some records of his schoolboy days are still left us. One is a book made
+      and bound by Lincoln himself, in which he had written the table of weights
+      and measures, and the sums to be worked out therefrom. This was his
+      arithmetic, for he was too poor to own a printed copy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0525" id="link2H_4_0525">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A YOUTHFUL POET.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      On one of the pages of this quaint book he had written these four lines of
+      schoolboy doggerel:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Abraham Lincoln,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;His Hand and Pen,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          He Will be Good,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;But God knows when.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      The poetic spirit was strong in the young scholar just then for on another
+      page of the same book he had written these two verses, which are supposed
+      to have been original with him:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Time, what an empty vapor &lsquo;tis,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;And days, how swift they are;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          Swift as an Indian arrow
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;Fly on like a shooting star.
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          The present moment just is here,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;Then slides away in haste,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          That we can never say they&rsquo;re ours,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp; &nbsp;But only say they&rsquo;re past.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      Another specimen of the poetical, or rhyming ability, is found in the
+      following couplet, written by him for his friend, Joseph C. Richardson:
+    </p>
+    <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem">
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &ldquo;Good boys who to their books apply,
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td align="left">
+          &nbsp;Will all be great men by and by.&rdquo;
+         </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      In all, Lincoln&rsquo;s &ldquo;schooling&rdquo; did not amount to a year&rsquo;s time, but he was
+      a constant student outside of the schoolhouse. He read all the books he
+      could borrow, and it was his chief delight during the day to lie under the
+      shade of some tree, or at night in front of an open fireplace, reading and
+      studying. His favorite books were the Bible and Aesop&rsquo;s fables, which he
+      kept always within reach and read time and again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first law book he ever read was &ldquo;The Statutes of Indiana,&rdquo; and it was
+      from this work that he derived his ambition to be a lawyer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0526" id="link2H_4_0526">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MADE SPEECHES WHEN A BOY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When he was but a barefoot boy he would often make political speeches to
+      the boys in the neighborhood, and when he had reached young manhood and
+      was engaged in the labor of chopping wood or splitting rails he continued
+      this practice of speech-making with only the stumps and surrounding trees
+      for hearers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the age of seventeen he had attained his full height of six feet four
+      inches and it was at this time he engaged as a ferry boatman on the Ohio
+      river, at thirty-seven cents a day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That he was seriously beginning to think of public affairs even at this
+      early age is shown by the fact that about this time he wrote a composition
+      on the American Government, urging the necessity for preserving the
+      Constitution and perpetuating the Union. A Rockport lawyer, by the name of
+      Pickert, who read this composition, declared that &ldquo;the world couldn&rsquo;t beat
+      it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When the dreaded disease, known as the &ldquo;milk-sick&rdquo; created such havoc in
+      Indiana in 1829, the father of Abraham Lincoln, who was of a roving
+      disposition, sought and found a new home in Illinois, locating near the
+      town of Decatur, in Macon county, on a bluff overlooking the Sangamon
+      river. A short time thereafter Abraham Lincoln came of age, and having
+      done his duty to his father, began life on his own account.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His first employer was a man named Denton Offut, who engaged Lincoln,
+      together with his step-brother and John Hanks, to take a boat-load of
+      stock and provisions to New Orleans. Offut was so well pleased with the
+      energy and skill that Lincoln displayed on this trip that he engaged him
+      as clerk in a store which Offut opened a few months later at New Salem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was while clerking for Offut that Lincoln performed many of those
+      marvelous feats of strength for which he was noted in his youth, and
+      displayed his wonderful skill as a wrestler. In addition to being six feet
+      four inches high he now weighed two hundred and fourteen pounds. And his
+      strength and skill were so great combined that he could out-wrestle and
+      out-lift any man in that section of the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During his clerkship in Offut&rsquo;s store Lincoln continued to read and study
+      and made considerable progress in grammar and mathematics. Offut failed in
+      business and disappeared from the village. In the language of Lincoln he
+      &ldquo;petered out,&rdquo; and his tall, muscular clerk had to seek other employment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0527" id="link2H_4_0527">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ASSISTANT PILOT ON A STEAMBOAT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In his first public speech, which had already been delivered, Lincoln had
+      contended that the Sangamon river was navigable, and it now fell to his
+      lot to assist in giving practical proof of his argument. A steamboat had
+      arrived at New Salem from Cincinnati, and Lincoln was hired as an
+      assistant in piloting the vessel through the uncertain channel of the
+      Sangamon river to the Illinois river. The way was obstructed by a milldam.
+      Lincoln insisted to the owners of the dam that under the Federal
+      Constitution and laws no one had a right to dam up or obstruct a navigable
+      stream and as he had already proved that the Sangamon was navigable a
+      portion of the dam was torn away and the boat passed safely through.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0528" id="link2H_4_0528">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;CAPTAIN LINCOLN&rdquo; PLEASED HIM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At this period in his career the Blackhawk War broke out, and Lincoln was
+      one of the first to respond to Governor Reynold&rsquo;s call for a thousand
+      mounted volunteers to assist the United States troops in driving Blackhawk
+      back across the Mississippi. Lincoln enlisted in the company from Sangamon
+      county and was elected captain. He often remarked that this gave him
+      greater pleasure than anything that had happened in his life up to this
+      time. He had, however, no opportunities in this war to perform any
+      distinguished service.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon his return from the Blackhawk War, in which, as he said afterward, in
+      a humorous speech, when in Congress, that he &ldquo;fought, bled and came away,&rdquo;
+       he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Legislature. This was the only
+      time in his life, as he himself has said, that he was ever beaten by the
+      people. Although defeated, in his own town of New Salem he received all of
+      the two hundred and eight votes cast except three.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0529" id="link2H_4_0529">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FAILURE AS A BUSINESS MAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s next business venture was with William Berry in a general store,
+      under the firm name of Lincoln &amp; Berry, but did not take long to show
+      that he was not adapted for a business career. The firm failed, Berry died
+      and the debts of the firm fell entirely upon Lincoln. Many of these debts
+      he might have escaped legally, but he assumed them all and it was not
+      until fifteen years later that the last indebtedness of Lincoln &amp;
+      Berry was discharged. During his membership in this firm he had applied
+      himself to the study of law, beginning at the beginning, that is with
+      Blackstone. Now that he had nothing to do he spent much of his time lying
+      under the shade of a tree poring over law books, borrowed from a comrade
+      in the Blackhawk War, who was then a practicing lawyer at Springfield.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0423}.jpg" alt="{0423}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0423}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0530" id="link2H_4_0530">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GAINS FAME AS A STORY TELLER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was about this time, too, that Lincoln&rsquo;s fame as a story-teller began
+      to spread far and wide. His sayings and his jokes were repeated throughout
+      that section of the country, and he was famous as a story-teller before
+      anyone ever heard of him as a lawyer or a politician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It required no little moral courage to resist the temptation that beset an
+      idle young man on every hand at that time, for drinking and carousing were
+      of daily and nightly occurrence. Lincoln never drank intoxicating liquors,
+      nor did he at that time use tobacco, but in any sports that called for
+      skill or muscle he took a lively interest, even in horse races and cock
+      fights.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0531" id="link2H_4_0531">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SURVEYOR WITH NO STRINGS ON HIM.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      John Calhoun was at that time surveyor of Sangamon county. He had been a
+      lawyer and had noticed the studious Lincoln. Needing an assistant he
+      offered the place to Lincoln. The average young man without any regular
+      employment and hard-pressed for means to pay his board as Lincoln was,
+      would have jumped at the opportunity, but a question of principle was
+      involved which had to be settled before Lincoln would accept. Calhoun was
+      a Democrat and Lincoln was a Whig, therefore Lincoln said, &ldquo;I will take
+      the office if I can be perfectly free in my political actions, but if my
+      sentiments or even expression of them are to be abridged in any way, I
+      would not have it or any other office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With this understanding he accepted the office and began to study books on
+      surveying, furnished him by his employer. He was not a natural
+      mathematician, and in working out his most difficult problems he sought
+      the assistance of Mentor Graham, a famous schoolmaster in those days, who
+      had previously assisted Lincoln in his studies. He soon became a competent
+      surveyor, however, and was noted for the accurate way in which he ran his
+      lines and located his corners.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Surveying was not as profitable then as it has since become, and the young
+      surveyor often had to take his pay in some article other than money. One
+      old settler relates that for a survey made for him by Lincoln he paid two
+      buckskins, which Hannah Armstrong &ldquo;foxed&rdquo; on his pants so that the briars
+      would not wear them out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      About this time, 1833, he was made postmaster at New Salem, the first
+      Federal office he ever held. Although the postoffice was located in a
+      store, Lincoln usually carried the mail around in his hat and distributed
+      it to people when he met them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0532" id="link2H_4_0532">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The following year Lincoln again ran for the Legislature, this time as an
+      avowed Whig. Of the four successful candidates, Lincoln received the
+      second highest number of votes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln went to take his seat in the Legislature at Vandalia he was
+      so poor that he was obliged to borrow $200 to buy suitable clothes and
+      uphold the dignity of his new position. He took little part in the
+      proceedings, keeping in the background, but forming many lasting
+      acquaintances and friendships.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two years later, when he was again a candidate for the same office, there
+      were more political issues to be met, and Lincoln met them with
+      characteristic honesty and boldness. During the campaign he issued the
+      following letter:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;New Salem, June 13, 1836.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To the Editor of The Journal:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In your paper of last Saturday I see a communication over the signature
+      of &lsquo;Many Voters&rsquo; in which the candidates who are announced in the journal
+      are called upon to &lsquo;show their hands.&rsquo; Agreed. Here&rsquo;s mine:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in
+      bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all whites to the
+      right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding
+      females).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my
+      constituents, as well those that oppose as those that support me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;While acting as their Representative, I shall be governed by their will
+      on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will is;
+      and upon all others I shall do what my own judgment teaches me will best
+      advance their interests. Whether elected or not, I go for distributing the
+      proceeds of the sales of public lands to the several States to enable our
+      State, in common with others, to dig canals and construct railroads
+      without borrowing money and paying the interest on it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for Hugh L. White,
+      for President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very respectfully,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A. LINCOLN.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was just the sort of letter to win the support of the plain-spoken
+      voters of Sangamon county. Lincoln not only received more votes than any
+      other candidate on the Legislative ticket, but the county which had always
+      been Democratic was turned Whig.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0533" id="link2H_4_0533">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE FAMOUS &ldquo;LONG NINE.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      The other candidates elected with Lincoln were Ninian W. Edwards, John
+      Dawson, Andrew McCormick, &ldquo;Dan&rdquo; Stone, William F. Elkin, Robert L. Wilson,
+      &ldquo;Joe&rdquo; Fletcher, and Archer G. Herndon. These were known as the &ldquo;Long
+      Nine.&rdquo; Their average height was six feet, and average weight two hundred
+      pounds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This Legislature was one of the most famous that ever convened in
+      Illinois. Bonds to the amount of $12,000,000 were voted to assist in
+      building thirteen hundred miles of railroad, to widen and deepen all the
+      streams in the State and to dig a canal from the Illinois river to Lake
+      Michigan. Lincoln favored all these plans, but in justice to him it must
+      be said that the people he represented were also in favor of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was at this session that the State capital was changed from Vandalia to
+      Springfield. Lincoln, as the leader of the &ldquo;Long Nine,&rdquo; had charge of the
+      bill and after a long and bitter struggle succeeded in passing it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0534" id="link2H_4_0534">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BEGINS TO OPPOSE SLAVERY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At this early stage in his career Abraham Lincoln began his opposition to
+      slavery which eventually resulted in his giving liberty to four million
+      human beings. This Legislature passed the following resolutions on
+      slavery:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Resolved by the General Assembly, of the State of Illinois: That we
+      highly disapprove of the formation of Abolition societies and of the
+      doctrines promulgated by them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That the right of property in slaves is sacred to the slave-holding
+      States by the Federal Constitution, and that they cannot be deprived of
+      that right without their consent,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the District of
+      Columbia against the consent of the citizens of said district without a
+      manifest breach of good faith.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Against this resolution Lincoln entered a protest, but only succeeded in
+      getting one man in the Legislature to sign the protest with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The protest was as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both
+      branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned
+      hereby protest against the passage of the same.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice
+      and bad policy, but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends
+      rather to increase than abate its evils.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power under
+      the Constitution to interfere with the institution of slavery in the
+      different States.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They believe that the Congress of the United States has the power under
+      the Constitution to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but that
+      the power ought not to be exercised unless at the request of the people of
+      the District.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The difference between these opinions and those contained in the above
+      resolutions is their reason for entering this protest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;DAN STONE, &ldquo;A. LINCOLN,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Representatives from the county of Sangamon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0535" id="link2H_4_0535">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BEGINS TO PRACTICE LAW.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      At the end of this session of the Legislature, Mr. Lincoln decided to
+      remove to Springfield and practice law. He entered the office of John T.
+      Stuart, a former comrade in the Blackhawk War, and in March, 1837, was
+      licensed to practice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Stephen T. Logan was judge of the Circuit Court, and Stephen A. Douglas,
+      who was destined to become Lincoln&rsquo;s greatest political opponent, was
+      prosecuting attorney. When Lincoln was not in his law office his
+      headquarters were in the store of his friend Joshua F. Speed, in which
+      gathered all the youthful orators and statesmen of that day, and where
+      many exciting arguments and discussions were held. Lincoln and Douglas
+      both took part in the discussion held in Speed&rsquo;s store. Douglas was the
+      acknowledged leader of the Democratic side and Lincoln was rapidly coming
+      to the front as a leader among the Whig debaters. One evening in the midst
+      of a heated argument Douglas, or &ldquo;the Little Giant,&rdquo; as he was called,
+      exclaimed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This store is no place to talk politics.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0536" id="link2H_4_0536">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS FIRST JOINT DEBATE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Arrangements were at once made for a joint debate between the leading
+      Democrats and Whigs to take place in a local church. The Democrats were
+      represented by Douglas, Calhoun, Lamborn and Thomas. The Whig speakers
+      were Judge Logan, Colonel E. D. Baker, Mr. Browning and Lincoln. This
+      discussion was the forerunner of the famous joint-debate between Lincoln
+      and Douglas, which took place some years later and attracted the attention
+      of the people throughout the United States. Although Mr. Lincoln was the
+      last speaker in the first discussion held, his speech attracted more
+      attention than any of the others and added much to his reputation as a
+      public debater.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s last campaign for the Legislature was in 1840. In the same
+      year he was made an elector on the Harrison presidential ticket, and in
+      his canvass of the State frequently met the Democratic champion, Douglas,
+      in debate. After 1840 Mr. Lincoln declined re-election to the Legislature,
+      but he was a presidential elector on the Whig tickets of 1844 and 1852,
+      and on the Republican ticket for the State at large in 1856.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0537" id="link2H_4_0537">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MARRIES A SPRINGFIELD BELLE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Among the social belles of Springfield was Mary Todd, a handsome and
+      cultivated girl of the illustrious descent which could be traced back to
+      the sixth century, to whom Mr. Lincoln was married in 1842. Stephen A.
+      Douglas was his competitor in love as well as in politics. He courted Mary
+      Todd until it became evident that she preferred Mr. Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Previous to his marriage Mr. Lincoln had two love affairs, one of them so
+      serious that it left an impression upon his whole future life. One of the
+      objects of his affection was Miss Mary Owen, of Green county, Kentucky,
+      who decided that Mr. Lincoln &ldquo;was deficient in those little links which
+      make up the chain of woman&rsquo;s happiness.&rdquo; The affair ended without any
+      damage to Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s heart or the heart of the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0538" id="link2H_4_0538">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      STORY OF ANNE RUTLEDGE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s first love, however, had a sad termination. The object of his
+      affections at that time was Anne Rutledge, whose father was one of the
+      founders of New Salem. Like Miss Owen, Miss Rutledge was also born in
+      Kentucky, and was gifted with the beauty and graces that distinguish many
+      Southern women. At the time that Mr. Lincoln and Anne Rutledge were
+      engaged to be married, he thought himself too poor to properly support a
+      wife, and they decided to wait until such time as he could better his
+      financial condition. A short time thereafter Miss Rutledge was attacked
+      with a fatal illness, and her death was such a blow to her intended
+      husband that for a long time his friends feared that he would lose his
+      mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0539" id="link2H_4_0539">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS DUEL WITH SHIELDS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Just previous to his marriage with Mary Todd, Mr. Lincoln was challenged
+      to fight a duel by James Shields, then Auditor of State. The challenge
+      grew out of some humorous letters concerning Shields, published in a local
+      paper. The first of these letters was written by Mr. Lincoln. The others
+      by Mary Todd and her sister. Mr. Lincoln acknowledged the authorship of
+      the letters without naming the ladies, and agreed to meet Shields on the
+      field of honor. As he had the choice of weapons he named broadswords, and
+      actually went to the place selected for the duel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The duel was never fought. Mutual friends got together and patched up an
+      understanding between Mr. Lincoln and the hot-headed Irishman.
+    </p>
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0429}.jpg" alt="{0429}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0429}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0540" id="link2H_4_0540">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FORMS NEW PARTNERSHIP.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Before this time Mr. Lincoln had dissolved partnership with Stuart and
+      entered into a law partnership with Judge Logan. In 1843 both Lincoln and
+      Logan were candidates for nomination for Congress and the personal
+      ill-will caused by their rivalry resulted in the dissolution of the firm
+      and the formation of a new law firm of Lincoln &amp; Herndon, which
+      continued, nominally at least, until Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressional nomination, however, went to Edward D. Baker, who was
+      elected. Two years later the principal candidates for the Whig nomination
+      for Congress were Mr. Lincoln and his former law partner, Judge Logan.
+      Party sentiment was so strongly in favor of Lincoln that Judge Logan
+      withdrew and Lincoln was nominated unanimously. The campaign that followed
+      was one of the most memorable and interesting ever held in Illinois.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0541" id="link2H_4_0541">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DEFEATS PETER CARTWRIGHT FOR CONGRESS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s opponent on the Democratic ticket was no less a person than
+      old Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist preacher and circuit rider.
+      Cartwright had preached to almost every congregation in the district and
+      had a strong following in all the churches. Mr. Lincoln did not
+      underestimate the strength of his great rival. He abandoned his law
+      business entirely and gave his whole attention to the canvass. This time
+      Mr. Lincoln was victorious and was elected by a large majority.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Lincoln took his seat in Congress, in 1847, he was the only Whig
+      member from Illinois. His great political rival, Douglas, was in the
+      Senate. The Mexican War had already broken out, which, in common with his
+      party, he had opposed. Later in life he was charged with having opposed
+      the voting of supplies to the American troops in Mexico, but this was a
+      falsehood which he easily disproved. He was strongly opposed to the War,
+      but after it was once begun he urged its vigorous prosecution and voted
+      with the Democrats on all measures concerning the care and pay of the
+      soldiers. His opposition to the War, however, cost him a re-election; it
+      cost his party the congressional district, which was carried by the
+      Democrats in 1848. Lincoln&rsquo;s former law partner, Judge Logan, secured the
+      Whig nomination that year and was defeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0542" id="link2H_4_0542">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      MAKES SPEECHES FOR &ldquo;OLD ZACH.&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the national convention at Philadelphia, in 1848, Mr. Lincoln was a
+      delegate and advocated the nomination of General Taylor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the nomination of General Taylor, or &ldquo;Old Zach,&rdquo; or &ldquo;rough and
+      Ready,&rdquo; as he was called, Mr. Lincoln made a tour of New York and several
+      New England States, making speeches for his candidate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln went to New England in this campaign on account of the great
+      defection in the Whig party. General Taylor&rsquo;s nomination was
+      unsatisfactory to the free-soil element, and such leaders as Henry Wilson,
+      Charles Francis Adams, Charles Allen, Charles Sumner, Stephen C. Phillips,
+      Richard H. Dana, Jr., and Anson Burlingame, were in open revolt. Mr.
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s speeches were confined largely to a defense of General Taylor,
+      but at the same time he denounced the free-soilers for helping to elect
+      Cass. Among other things he said that the free-soilers had but one
+      principle and that they reminded him of the Yankee peddler going to sell a
+      pair of pantaloons and describing them as &ldquo;large enough for any man, and
+      small enough for any boy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It is an odd fact in history that the prominent Whigs of Massachusetts at
+      that time became the opponents of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s election to the presidency
+      and the policy of his administration, while the free-soilers, whom he
+      denounced, were among his strongest supporters, advisers and followers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the second session of Congress Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s one act of consequence was
+      the introduction of a bill providing for the gradual emancipation of the
+      slaves in the District of Columbia. Joshua R. Giddings, the great
+      antislavery agitator, and one or two lesser lights supported it, but the
+      bill was laid on the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After General Taylor&rsquo;s election Mr. Lincoln had the distribution of
+      Federal patronage in his own Congressional district, and this added much
+      to his political importance, although it was a ceaseless source of worry
+      to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0543" id="link2H_4_0543">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DECLINES A HIGH OFFICE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Just before the close of his term in Congress Mr. Lincoln was an applicant
+      for the office of Commissioner of the General Land Office, but was
+      unsuccessful. He had been such a factor in General Taylor&rsquo;s election that
+      the administration thought something was due him, and after his return to
+      Illinois he was called to Washington and offered the Governorship of the
+      Territory of Oregon. It is likely he would have accepted this had not Mrs.
+      Lincoln put her foot down with an emphatic no.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He declined a partnership with a well-known Chicago lawyer and returning
+      to his Springfield home resumed the practice of law.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From this time until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which opened
+      the way for the admission of slavery into the territories, Mr. Lincoln
+      devoted himself more industriously than ever to the practice of law, and
+      during those five years he was probably a greater student than he had ever
+      been before. His partner, W. H. Herndon, has told of the changes that took
+      place in the courts and in the methods of practice while Mr. Lincoln was
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0544" id="link2H_4_0544">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AS A LAWYER.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When he returned to active practice he saw at once that the courts had
+      grown more learned and dignified and that the bar relied more upon method
+      and system and a knowledge of the statute law than upon the stump speech
+      method of early days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Herndon tells us that Lincoln would lie in bed and read by candle
+      light, sometimes until two o&rsquo;clock in the morning, while his famous
+      colleagues, Davis, Logan, Swett, Edwards and Herndon, were soundly and
+      sometimes loudly sleeping. He read and reread the statutes and books of
+      practice, devoured Shakespeare, who was always a favorite of his, and
+      studied Euclid so diligently that he could easily demonstrate all the
+      propositions contained in the six books.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln detested office work. He left all that to his partner. He
+      disliked to draw up legal papers or to write letters. The firm of which he
+      was a member kept no books. When either Lincoln or Herndon received a fee
+      they divided the money then and there. If his partner were not in the
+      office at the time Mr. Lincoln would wrap up half of the fee in a sheet of
+      paper, on which he would write, &ldquo;Herndon&rsquo;s half,&rdquo; giving the name of the
+      case, and place it in his partner&rsquo;s desk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But in court, arguing a case, pleading to the jury and laying down the
+      law, Lincoln was in his element. Even when he had a weak case he was a
+      strong antagonist, and when he had right and justice on his side, as he
+      nearly always had, no one could beat him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He liked an outdoor life, hence he was fond of riding the circuit. He
+      enjoyed the company of other men, liked discussion and argument, loved to
+      tell stories and to hear them, laughing as heartily at his own stories as
+      he did at those that were told to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0545" id="link2H_4_0545">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      TELLING STORIES ON THE CIRCUIT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The court circuit in those days was the scene of many a story-telling
+      joust, in which Lincoln was always the chief. Frequently he would sit up
+      until after midnight reeling off story after story, each one followed by
+      roars of laughter that could be heard all over the country tavern, in
+      which the story-telling group was gathered. Every type of character would
+      be represented in these groups, from the learned judge on the bench down
+      to the village loafer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s favorite attitude was to sit with his long legs propped up on
+      the rail of the stove, or with his feet against the wall, and thus he
+      would sit for hours entertaining a crowd, or being entertained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One circuit judge was so fond of Lincoln&rsquo;s stories that he often would sit
+      up until midnight listening to them, and then declare that he had laughed
+      so much he believed his ribs were shaken loose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The great success of Abraham Lincoln as a trial lawyer was due to a number
+      of facts. He would not take a case if he believed that the law and justice
+      were on the other side. When he addressed a jury he made them feel that he
+      only wanted fair play and justice. He did not talk over their heads, but
+      got right down to a friendly tone such as we use in ordinary conversation,
+      and talked at them, appealing to their honesty and common sense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And making his argument plain by telling a story or two that brought the
+      matter clearly within their understanding.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he did not know the law in a particular case he never pretended to
+      know it. If there were no precedents to cover a case he would state his
+      side plainly and fairly; he would tell the jury what he believed was right
+      for them to do, and then conclude with his favorite expression, &ldquo;it seems
+      to me that this ought to be the law.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Some time before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise a lawyer friend
+      said to him: &ldquo;Lincoln, the time is near at hand when we shall have to be
+      all Abolitionists or all Democrats.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When that time comes my mind is made up,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;for I believe the
+      slavery question never can be compromised.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0546" id="link2H_4_0546">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE LION IS AROUSED TO ACTION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      While Lincoln took a mild interest in politics, he was not a candidate for
+      office, except as a presidential elector, from the time of leaving
+      Congress until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. This repeal
+      Legislation was the work of Lincoln&rsquo;s political antagonist, Stephen A.
+      Douglas, and aroused Mr. Lincoln to action as the lion is roused by some
+      foe worthy of his great strength and courage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Douglas argued that the true intent and meaning of the act was not to
+      legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor to exclude it
+      therefrom, but to leave the people perfectly free to form and regulate
+      their domestic institutions in their own way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Douglas&rsquo; argument amounts to this,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;that if any one
+      man chooses to enslave another no third man shall be allowed to object.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After the adjournment of Congress Mr. Douglas returned to Illinois and
+      began to defend his action in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. His
+      most important speech was made at Springfield, and Mr. Lincoln was
+      selected to answer it. That speech alone was sufficient to make Mr.
+      Lincoln the leader of anti-Slavery sentiment in the West, and some of the
+      men who heard it declared that it was the greatest speech he ever made.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With the repeal of the Missouri Compromise the Whig party began to break
+      up, the majority of its members who were pronounced Abolitionists began to
+      form the nucleus of the Republican party. Before this party was formed,
+      however, Mr. Lincoln was induced to follow Douglas around the State and
+      reply to him, but after one meeting at Peoria, where they both spoke, they
+      entered into an agreement to return to their homes and make no more
+      speeches during the campaign.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0435}.jpg" alt="{0435}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0435}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0436}.jpg" alt="{0436}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0436}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0547" id="link2H_4_0547">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      SEEKS A SEAT IN THE SENATE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln made no secret at this time of his ambition to represent
+      Illinois in the United States Senate. Against his protest he was nominated
+      and elected to the Legislature, but resigned his seat. His old rival,
+      James Shields, with whom he was once near to a duel, was then senator, and
+      his term was to expire the following year.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A letter, written by Mr. Lincoln to a friend in Paris, Illinois, at this
+      time is interesting and significant. He wrote:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have a suspicion that a Whig has been elected to the Legislature from
+      Eagar. If this is not so, why, then, &lsquo;nix cum arous;&rsquo; but if it is so,
+      then could you not make a mark with him for me for United States senator?
+      I really have some chance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Another candidate besides Mr. Lincoln was seeking the seat in the United
+      States Senate, soon to be vacated by Mr. Shields. This was Lyman Trumbull,
+      an anti-slavery Democrat. When the Legislature met it was found that Mr.
+      Lincoln lacked five votes of an election, while Mr. Trumbull had but five
+      supporters. After several ballots Mr. Lincoln feared that Trumbull&rsquo;s votes
+      would be given to a Democratic candidate and he determined to sacrifice
+      himself for the principle at stake. Accordingly he instructed his friends
+      in the Legislature to vote for Judge Trumbull, which they did, resulting
+      in Trumbull&rsquo;s election.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Abolitionists in the West had become very radical in their views, and
+      did not hesitate to talk of opposing the extension of slavery by the use
+      of force if necessary. Mr. Lincoln, on the other hand, was conservative
+      and counseled moderation. In the meantime many outrages, growing out of
+      the extension of slavery, were being perpetrated on the borders of Kansas
+      and Missouri, and they no doubt influenced Mr. Lincoln to take a more
+      radical stand against the slavery question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An incident occurred at this time which had great effect in this
+      direction. The negro son of a colored woman in Springfield had gone South
+      to work. He was born free, but did not have his free papers with him. He
+      was arrested and would have been sold into slavery to pay his prison
+      expenses, had not Mr. Lincoln and some friends purchased his liberty.
+      Previous to this Mr. Lincoln had tried to secure the boy&rsquo;s release through
+      the Governor of Illinois, but the Governor informed him that nothing could
+      be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then it was that Mr. Lincoln rose to his full height and exclaimed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Governor, I&rsquo;ll make the ground in this country too hot for the foot of a
+      slave, whether you have the legal power to secure the release of this boy
+      or not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0548" id="link2H_4_0548">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HELPS TO ORGANIZE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The year after Mr. Trumbull&rsquo;s election to the Senate the Republican party
+      was formally organized. A state convention of that party was called to
+      meet at Bloomington May 29, 1856. The call for this convention was signed
+      by many Springfield Whigs, and among the names was that of Abraham
+      Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s name had been signed to the call by his law
+      partner, but when he was informed of this action he endorsed it fully.
+      Among the famous men who took part in this convention were Abraham
+      Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, David Davis, Leonard Swett, Richard Yates,
+      Norman, B. Judd and Owen Lovejoy, the Alton editor, whose life, like
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s, finally paid the penalty for his Abolition views. The party
+      nominated for Governor, Wm. H. Bissell, a veteran of the Mexican War, and
+      adopted a platform ringing with anti-slavery sentiment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln was the greatest power in the campaign that followed. He was
+      one of the Fremont Presidential electors, and he went to work with all his
+      might to spread the new party gospel and make votes for the old
+      &ldquo;Path-Finder of the Rocky Mountains.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      An amusing incident followed close after the Bloomington convention. A
+      meeting was called at Springfield to ratify the action at Bloomington.
+      Only three persons attended&mdash;Mr. Lincoln, his law partner and a man
+      named John Paine. Mr. Lincoln made a speech to his colleagues, in which,
+      among other things, he said: &ldquo;While all seems dead, the age itself is not.
+      It liveth as sure as our Maker liveth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In this campaign Mr. Lincoln was in general demand not only in his own
+      state, but in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin as well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The result of that Presidential campaign was the election of Buchanan as
+      President, Bissell as Governor, leaving Mr. Lincoln the undisputed leader
+      of the new party. Hence it was that two years later he was the inevitable
+      man to oppose Judge Douglas in the campaign for United States Senator.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0549" id="link2H_4_0549">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE RAIL-SPLITTER vs. THE LITTLE GIANT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      No record of Abraham Lincoln&rsquo;s career would be complete without the story
+      of the memorable joint debates between the &ldquo;Rail-Splitter of the Sangamon
+      Valley&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Little Giant.&rdquo; The opening lines in Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s speech
+      to the Republican Convention were not only prophetic of the coming
+      rebellion, but they clearly made the issue between the Republican and
+      Democratic parties for two Presidential campaigns to follow. The memorable
+      sentences were as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government
+      cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the
+      Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect
+      it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing or the
+      other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of
+      it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is
+      in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it
+      forward till it becomes alike lawful in all the states, old as well as
+      new, North as well as South.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It is universally conceded that this speech contained the most important
+      utterances of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Previous to its delivery, the Democratic convention had endorsed Mr.
+      Douglas for re-election to the Senate, and the Republican convention had
+      resolved that &ldquo;Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for United
+      States Senator, to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration
+      of Mr. Douglas&rsquo; term of office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Before Judge Douglas had made many speeches in this Senatorial campaign,
+      Mr. Lincoln challenged him to a joint debate, which was accepted, and
+      seven memorable meetings between these two great leaders followed. The
+      places and dates were: Ottawa, August 21st; Freeport, August 27th;
+      Jonesboro, September 15th; Charleston, September 18th; Galesburg, October
+      7th; Quincy, October 13th; and Alton, October 15th.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The debates not only attracted the attention of the people in the state of
+      Illinois, but aroused an interest throughout the whole country equal to
+      that of a Presidential election.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0550" id="link2H_4_0550">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WERE LIKE CROWDS AT A CIRCUS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      All the meetings of the joint debate were attended by immense crowds of
+      people. They came in all sorts of vehicles, on horseback, and many walked
+      weary miles on foot to hear these two great leaders discuss the issues of
+      the campaign. There had never been political meetings held under such
+      unusual conditions as these, and there probably never will be again. At
+      every place the speakers were met by great crowds of their friends and
+      escorted to the platforms in the open air where the debates were held. The
+      processions that escorted the speakers were most unique. They carried
+      flags and banners and were preceded by bands of music. The people
+      discharged cannons when they had them, and, when they did not,
+      blacksmiths&rsquo; anvils were made to take their places.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oftentimes a part of the escort would be mounted, and in most of the
+      processions were chariots containing young ladies representing the
+      different states of the Union designated by banners they carried. Besides
+      the bands, there was usually vocal music. Patriotic songs were the order
+      of the day, the &ldquo;Star-Spangled Banner&rdquo; and &ldquo;Hail Columbia&rdquo; being great
+      favorites.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So far as the crowds were concerned, these joint debates took on the
+      appearance of a circus day, and this comparison was strengthened by the
+      sale of lemonade, fruit, melons and confectionery on the outskirts of the
+      gatherings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At Ottawa, after his speech, Mr. Lincoln was carried around on the
+      shoulders of his enthusiastic supporters, who did not put him down until
+      they reached the place where he was to spend the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the joint debates, each of the candidates asked the other a series of
+      questions. Judge Douglas&rsquo; replies to Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s shrewd questions helped
+      Douglas to win the Senatorial election, but they lost him the support of
+      the South in the campaign for President two years thereafter. Mr. Lincoln
+      was told when he framed his questions that if Douglas answered them in the
+      way it was believed he would that the answers would make him Senator.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That may be,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln, &ldquo;but if he takes that shoot he never can
+      be President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The prophecy was correct. Mr. Douglas was elected Senator, but two years
+      later only carried one state&mdash;Missouri&mdash;for President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0551" id="link2H_4_0551">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS BUCKEYE CAMPAIGN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      After the close of this canvass, Mr. Lincoln again devoted himself to the
+      practice of his profession, but he was destined to remain but a short time
+      in retirement. In the fall of 1859 Mr. Douglas went to Ohio to stump the
+      state for his friend, Mr. Pugh, the Democratic candidate for Governor. The
+      Ohio Republicans at once asked Mr. Lincoln to come to the state and reply
+      to the &ldquo;Little Giant.&rdquo; He accepted the invitation and made two masterly
+      speeches in the campaign. In one of them, delivered at Cincinnati, he
+      prophesied the outcome of the rebellion if the Southern people attempted
+      to divide the Union by force.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Addressing himself particularly to the Kentuckians in the audience, he
+      said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know, now, when that thing
+      takes place, what do you mean to do? I often hear it intimated that you
+      mean to divide the Union whenever a Republican, or anything like it, is
+      elected President of the United States. [A Voice&mdash;&ldquo;That is so.&rdquo;]
+      &lsquo;That is so,&rsquo; one of them says; I wonder if he is a Kentuckian? [A Voice&mdash;&ldquo;He
+      is a Douglas man.&rdquo;] Well, then, I want to know what you are going to do
+      with your half of it?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you going to split the Ohio down through, and push your half off a
+      piece? Or are you going to keep it right alongside of us outrageous
+      fellows? Or are you going to build up a wall some way between your
+      country, and ours, by which that movable property of yours can&rsquo;t come over
+      here any more, to the danger of your losing it? Do you think you can
+      better yourselves on that subject by leaving us here under no obligation
+      whatever to return those specimens of your movable property that come
+      hither?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have divided the Union because we would not do right with you, as you
+      think, upon that subject; when we cease to be under obligations to do
+      anything for you, how much better off do you think you will be? Will you
+      make war upon us and kill us all? Why, gentlemen, I think you are as
+      gallant and as brave men as live; that you can fight as bravely in a good
+      cause, man for man, as any other people living; that you have shown
+      yourselves capable of this upon various occasions; but, man for man, you
+      are not better than we are, and there are not so many of you as there are
+      of us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will never make much of a hand at whipping us. If we were fewer in
+      numbers than you, I think that you could whip us; if we were equal, it
+      would likely be a drawn battle; but, being inferior in numbers, you will
+      make nothing by attempting to master us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But perhaps I have addressed myself as long, or longer, to the
+      Kentuckians than I ought to have done, inasmuch as I have said that,
+      whatever course you take, we intend in the end to beat you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0441}.jpg" alt="{0441}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0441}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0552" id="link2H_4_0552">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Later in the year Mr. Lincoln also spoke in Kansas, where he was received
+      with great enthusiasm, and in February of the following year he made his
+      great speech in Cooper Union, New York, to an immense gathering, presided
+      over by William Cullen Bryant, the poet, who was then editor of the New
+      York Evening Post. There was great curiosity to see the Western
+      rail-splitter who had so lately met the famous &ldquo;Little Giant&rdquo; of the West
+      in debate, and Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s speech was listened to by many of the ablest
+      men in the East.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This speech won for him many supporters in the Presidential campaign that
+      followed, for his hearers at once recognized his wonderful ability to deal
+      with the questions then uppermost in the public mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0553" id="link2H_4_0553">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FIRST NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The Republican National Convention of 1860 met in Chicago, May 16, in an
+      immense building called the &ldquo;Wigwam.&rdquo; The leading candidates for President
+      were William H. Seward of New York and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. Among
+      others spoken of were Salmon P. Chase of Ohio and Simon Cameron of
+      Pennsylvania.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the first ballot for President, Mr. Seward received one hundred and
+      seventy-three and one-half votes; Mr. Lincoln, one hundred and two votes,
+      the others scattering. On the first ballot, Vermont had divided her vote,
+      but on the second the chairman of the Vermont delegation announced:
+      &ldquo;Vermont casts her ten votes for the young giant of the West&mdash;Abraham
+      Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was the turning point in the convention toward Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      nomination. The second ballot resulted: Seward, one hundred and
+      eighty-four and one-half; Lincoln, one hundred and eighty-one. On the
+      third ballot, Mr. Lincoln received two hundred and thirty votes. One and
+      one-half votes more would nominate him. Before the ballot was announced,
+      Ohio made a change of four votes in favor of Mr. Lincoln, making him the
+      nominee for President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Other states tried to follow Ohio&rsquo;s example, but it was a long time before
+      any of the delegates could make themselves heard. Cannons planted on top
+      of the wigwam were roaring and booming; the large crowd in the wigwam and
+      the immense throng outside were cheering at the top of their lungs, while
+      bands were playing victorious airs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When order had been restored, it was announced that on the third ballot
+      Abraham Lincoln of Illinois had received three hundred and fifty-four
+      votes and was nominated by the Republican party to the office of President
+      of the United States.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln heard the news of his nomination while sitting in a newspaper
+      office in Springfield, and hurried home to tell his wife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As Mr. Lincoln had predicted, Judge Douglas&rsquo; position on slavery in the
+      territories lost him the support of the South, and when the Democratic
+      convention met at Charleston, the slave-holding states forced the
+      nomination of John C. Breckinridge. A considerable number of people who
+      did not agree with either party nominated John Bell of Tennessee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the election which followed, Mr. Lincoln carried all of the free
+      states, except New Jersey, which was divided between himself and Douglas;
+      Breckinridge carried all the slave states, except Kentucky, Tennessee and
+      Virginia, which went for Bell, and Missouri gave its vote to Douglas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0554" id="link2H_4_0554">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The election was scarcely over before it was evident that the Southern
+      States did not intend to abide by the result, and that a conspiracy was on
+      foot to divide the Union. Before the Presidential election even, the
+      Secretary of War in President Buchanan&rsquo;s Cabinet had removed one hundred
+      and fifty thousand muskets from Government armories in the North and sent
+      them to Government armories in the South.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before Mr. Lincoln had prepared his inaugural address, South Carolina,
+      which took the lead in the secession movement, had declared through her
+      Legislature her separation from the Union. Before Mr. Lincoln took his
+      seat, other Southern States had followed the example of South Carolina,
+      and a convention had been held at Montgomery, Alabama, which had elected
+      Jefferson Davis President of the new Confederacy, and Alexander H.
+      Stevens, of Georgia, Vice-President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Southern men in the Cabinet, Senate and House had resigned their seats and
+      gone home, and Southern States were demanding that Southern forts and
+      Government property in their section should be turned over to them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Between his election and inauguration, Mr. Lincoln remained silent,
+      reserving his opinions and a declaration of his policy for his inaugural
+      address.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s departure from Springfield for Washington, threats
+      had been freely made that he would never reach the capital alive, and, in
+      fact, a conspiracy was then on foot to take his life in the city of
+      Baltimore.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln left Springfield on February 11th, in company with his wife
+      and three sons, his brother-in-law, Dr. W. S. Wallace; David Davis, Norman
+      B. Judd, Elmer E. Elsworth, Ward H. Lamon, Colonel E. V. Sunder of the
+      United States Army, and the President&rsquo;s two secretaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0555" id="link2H_4_0555">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GOOD-BYE TO THE OLD FOLK.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Early in February, before leaving for Washington, Mr. Lincoln slipped away
+      from Springfield and paid a visit to his aged step-mother in Coles county.
+      He also paid a visit to the unmarked grave of his father and ordered a
+      suitable stone to mark the spot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before leaving Springfield, he made an address to his fellow-townsmen, in
+      which he displayed sincere sorrow at parting from them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friends,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;no one who has never been placed in a like position
+      can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel
+      at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have lived among
+      you, and during all that time I have received nothing but kindness at your
+      hands. Here I have lived from my youth until now I am an old man. Here the
+      most sacred ties of earth were assumed. Here all my children were born,
+      and here one of them lies buried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All the
+      strange, checkered past seems to crowd now upon my mind. To-day I leave
+      you. I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon
+      Washington. Unless the great God who assisted him shall be with and aid
+      me, I must fail; but if the same omniscient mind and almighty arm that
+      directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall not fail&mdash;I
+      shall succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake
+      us now.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Him I commend you all. Permit me to ask that with equal sincerity and
+      faith you will invoke His wisdom and guidance for me. With these words I
+      must leave you, for how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I must now
+      bid you an affectionate farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The journey from Springfield to Philadelphia was a continuous ovation for
+      Mr. Lincoln. Crowds assembled to meet him at the various places along the
+      way, and he made them short speeches, full of humor and good feeling. At
+      Harrisburg, Pa., the party was met by Allan Pinkerton, who knew of the
+      plot in Baltimore to take the life of Mr. Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0556" id="link2H_4_0556">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE &ldquo;SECRET PASSAGE&rdquo; TO WASHINGTON.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Throughout his entire life, Abraham Lincoln&rsquo;s physical courage was as
+      great and superb as his moral courage. When Mr. Pinkerton and Mr. Judd
+      urged the President-elect to leave for Washington that night, he
+      positively refused to do it. He said he had made an engagement to assist
+      at a flag raising in the forenoon of the next day and to show himself to
+      the people of Harrisburg in the afternoon, and that he intended to keep
+      both engagements.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At Philadelphia the Presidential party was met by Mr. Seward&rsquo;s son,
+      Frederick, who had been sent to warn Mr. Lincoln of the plot against his
+      life. Mr. Judd, Mr. Pinkerton and Mr. Lamon figured out a plan to take Mr.
+      Lincoln through Baltimore between midnight and daybreak, when the would-be
+      assassins would not be expecting him, and this plan was carried out so
+      thoroughly that even the conductor on the train did not know the
+      President-elect was on board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln was put into his berth and the curtains drawn. He was supposed
+      to be a sick man. When the conductor came around, Mr. Pinkerton handed him
+      the &ldquo;sick man&rsquo;s&rdquo; ticket and he passed on without question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the train reached Baltimore, at half-past three o&rsquo;clock in the
+      morning, it was met by one of Mr. Pinkerton&rsquo;s detectives, who reported
+      that everything was &ldquo;all right,&rdquo; and in a short time the party was
+      speeding on to the national capital, where rooms had been engaged for Mr.
+      Lincoln and his guard at Willard&rsquo;s Hotel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln always regretted this &ldquo;secret passage&rdquo; to Washington, for it
+      was repugnant to a man of his high courage. He had agreed to the plan
+      simply because all of his friends urged it as the best thing to do.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now that all the facts are known, it is assured that his friends were
+      right, and that there never was a moment from the day he crossed the
+      Maryland line until his assassination that his life was not in danger, and
+      was only saved as long as it was by the constant vigilance of those who
+      were guarding him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0557" id="link2H_4_0557">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HIS ELOQUENT INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The wonderful eloquence of Abraham Lincoln&mdash;clear, sincere, natural&mdash;found
+      grand expression in his first inaugural address, in which he not only
+      outlined his policy toward the States in rebellion, but made that
+      beautiful and eloquent plea for conciliation. The closing sentences of Mr.
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s first inaugural address deservedly take rank with his Gettysburg
+      speech:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and not in
+      mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail
+      you.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You
+      have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall
+      have the most solemn one to &lsquo;preserve, protect and defend&rsquo; it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be
+      enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of
+      affection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot
+      grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will
+      yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will
+      be, by the better angels of our nature.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0558" id="link2H_4_0558">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FOLLOWS PRECEDENT OF WASHINGTON.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In selecting his Cabinet, Mr. Lincoln, consciously or unconsciously,
+      followed a precedent established by Washington, of selecting men of almost
+      opposite opinions. His Cabinet was composed of William H. Seward of New
+      York, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Secretary of the
+      Treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon E.
+      Welles of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith of Indiana,
+      Secretary of the Interior; Montgomery Blair of Maryland,
+      Postmaster-General; Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney-General.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Chase, although an anti-slavery leader, was a States-Rights Federal
+      Republican, while Mr. Seward was a Whig, without having connected himself
+      with the anti-slavery movement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Chase and Mr. Seward, the leading men of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s Cabinet, were
+      as widely apart and antagonistic in their views as were Jefferson, the
+      Democrat, and Hamilton, the Federalist, the two leaders in Washington&rsquo;s
+      Cabinet. But in bringing together these two strong men as his chief
+      advisers, both of whom had been rival candidates for the Presidency, Mr.
+      Lincoln gave another example of his own greatness and self-reliance, and
+      put them both in a position to render greater service to the Government
+      than they could have done, probably, as President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln had been in office little more than five weeks when the War of
+      the Rebellion began by the firing on Fort Sumter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0559" id="link2H_4_0559">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      GREATER DIPLOMAT THAN SEWARD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The War of the Rebellion revealed to the people&mdash;in fact, to the
+      whole world&mdash;the many sides of Abraham Lincoln&rsquo;s character. It showed
+      him as a real ruler of men&mdash;not a ruler by the mere power of might,
+      but by the power of a great brain. In his Cabinet were the ablest men in
+      the country, yet they all knew that Lincoln was abler than any of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, was a man famed in statesmanship and
+      diplomacy. During the early stages of the Civil War, when France and
+      England were seeking an excuse to interfere and help the Southern
+      Confederacy, Mr. Seward wrote a letter to our minister in London, Charles
+      Francis Adams, instructing him concerning the attitude of the Federal
+      government on the question of interference, which would undoubtedly have
+      brought about a war with England if Abraham Lincoln had not corrected and
+      amended the letter. He did this, too, without yielding a point or
+      sacrificing in any way his own dignity or that of the country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0560" id="link2H_4_0560">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN A GREAT GENERAL.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Throughout the four years of war, Mr. Lincoln spent a great deal of time
+      in the War Department, receiving news from the front and conferring with
+      Secretary of War Stanton concerning military affairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s War Secretary, Edwin M. Stanton, who had succeeded Simon
+      Cameron, was a man of wonderful personality and iron will. It is generally
+      conceded that no other man could have managed the great War Secretary so
+      well as Lincoln. Stanton had his way in most matters, but when there was
+      an important difference of opinion he always found Lincoln was the master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s communications to the generals in the field were
+      oftener in the nature of suggestions than positive orders, every military
+      leader recognized Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s ability in military operations. In the
+      early stages of the war, Mr. Lincoln followed closely every plan and
+      movement of McClellan, and the correspondence between them proves Mr.
+      Lincoln to have been far the abler general of the two. He kept close watch
+      of Burnside, too, and when he gave the command of the Army of the Potomac
+      to &ldquo;Fighting Joe&rdquo; Hooker he also gave that general some fatherly counsel
+      and advice which was of great benefit to him as a commander.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0561" id="link2H_4_0561">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN GRANT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was not until General Grant had been made Commander-in-Chief that
+      President Lincoln felt he had at last found a general who did not need
+      much advice. He was the first to recognize that Grant was a great military
+      leader, and when he once felt sure of this fact nothing could shake his
+      confidence in that general. Delegation after delegation called at the
+      White House and asked for Grant&rsquo;s removal from the head of the army. They
+      accused him of being a butcher, a drunkard, a man without sense or
+      feeling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln listened to all of these attacks, but he always had an
+      apt answer to silence Grant&rsquo;s enemies. Grant was doing what Lincoln wanted
+      done from the first&mdash;he was fighting and winning victories, and
+      victories are the only things that count in war.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0449}.jpg" alt="{0449}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0449}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0562" id="link2H_4_0562">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      REASONS FOR FREEING THE SLAVES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The crowning act of Lincoln&rsquo;s career as President was the emancipation of
+      the slaves. All of his life he had believed in gradual emancipation, but
+      all of his plans contemplated payment to the slaveholders. While he had
+      always been opposed to slavery, he did not take any steps to use it as a
+      war measure until about the middle of 1862. His chief object was to
+      preserve the Union.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wrote to Horace Greeley that if he could save the Union without freeing
+      any of the slaves he would do it; that if he could save it by freeing some
+      and leaving the others in slavery he would do that; that if it became
+      necessary to free all the slaves in order to save the Union he would take
+      that course.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The anti-slavery men were continually urging Mr. Lincoln to set the slaves
+      free, but he paid no attention to their petitions and demands until he
+      felt that emancipation would help him to preserve the Union of the States.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The outlook for the Union cause grew darker and darker in 1862, and Mr.
+      Lincoln began to think, as he expressed it, that he must &ldquo;change his
+      tactics or lose the game.&rdquo; Accordingly he decided to issue the
+      Emancipation Proclamation as soon as the Union army won a substantial
+      victory. The battle of Antietam, on September 17, gave him the opportunity
+      he sought. He told Secretary Chase that he had made a solemn vow before
+      God that if General Lee should be driven back from Pennsylvania he would
+      crown the result by a declaration of freedom to the slaves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the twenty-second of that month he issued a proclamation stating that
+      at the end of one hundred days he would issue another proclamation
+      declaring all slaves within any State or Territory to be forever free,
+      which was done in the form of the famous Emancipation Proclamation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0563" id="link2H_4_0563">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HARD TO REFUSE PARDONS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the conduct of the war and in his purpose to maintain the Union,
+      Abraham Lincoln exhibited a will of iron and determination that could not
+      be shaken, but in his daily contact with the mothers, wives and daughters
+      begging for the life of some soldier who had been condemned to death for
+      desertion or sleeping on duty he was as gentle and weak as a woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a difficult matter for him to refuse a pardon if the slightest
+      excuse could be found for granting it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary Stanton and the commanding generals were loud in declaring that
+      Mr. Lincoln would destroy the discipline of the army by his wholesale
+      pardoning of condemned soldiers, but when we come to examine the
+      individual cases we find that Lincoln was nearly always right, and when he
+      erred it was always on the side of humanity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the four years of the long struggle for the preservation of the
+      Union, Mr. Lincoln kept &ldquo;open shop,&rdquo; as he expressed it, where the general
+      public could always see him and make known their wants and complaints.
+      Even the private soldier was not denied admittance to the President&rsquo;s
+      private office, and no request or complaint was too small or trivial to
+      enlist his sympathy and interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0564" id="link2H_4_0564">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      A FUN-LOVING AND HUMOR-LOVING MAN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was once said of Shakespeare that the great mind that conceived the
+      tragedies of &ldquo;Hamlet,&rdquo; &ldquo;Macbeth,&rdquo; etc., would have lost its reason if it
+      had not found vent in the sparkling humor of such comedies as &ldquo;The Merry
+      Wives of Windsor&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Comedy of Errors.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The great strain on the mind of Abraham Lincoln produced by four years of
+      civil war might likewise have overcome his reason had it not found vent in
+      the yarns and stories he constantly told. No more fun-loving or
+      humor-loving man than Abraham Lincoln ever lived. He enjoyed a joke even
+      when it was on himself, and probably, while he got his greatest enjoyment
+      from telling stories, he had a keen appreciation of the humor in those
+      that were told him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His favorite humorous writer was David R. Locke, better known as
+      &ldquo;Petroleum V. Nasby,&rdquo; whose political satires were quite famous in their
+      day. Nearly every prominent man who has written his recollections of
+      Lincoln has told how the President, in the middle of a conversation on
+      some serious subject, would suddenly stop and ask his hearer if he ever
+      read the Nasby letters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he would take from his desk a pamphlet containing the letters and
+      proceed to read them, laughing heartily at all the good points they
+      contained. There is probably no better evidence of Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s love of
+      humor and appreciation of it than his letter to Nasby, in which he said:
+      &ldquo;For the ability to write these things I would gladly trade places with
+      you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864. His opponent on the
+      Democratic ticket was General George B. McClellan, whose command of the
+      Army of the Potomac had been so unsatisfactory at the beginning of the
+      war. Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s election was almost unanimous, as McClellan carried but
+      three States&mdash;Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Grant, in a telegram of congratulation, said that it was &ldquo;a
+      victory worth more to the country than a battle won.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The war was fast drawing to a close. The black war clouds were breaking
+      and rolling away. Sherman had made his famous march to the sea. Through
+      swamp and ravine, Grant was rapidly tightening the lines around Richmond.
+      Thomas had won his title of the &ldquo;Rock of Chickamauga.&rdquo; Sheridan had won
+      his spurs as the great modern cavalry commander, and had cleaned out the
+      Shenandoah Valley. Sherman was coming back from his famous march to join
+      Grant at Richmond.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Confederacy was without a navy. The Kearsarge had sunk the Alabama,
+      and Farragut had fought and won the famous victory in Mobile Bay. It was
+      certain that Lee would soon have to evacuate Richmond only to fall into
+      the hands of Grant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lincoln saw the dawn of peace. When he came to deliver his second
+      inaugural address, it contained no note of victory, no exultation over a
+      fallen foe. On the contrary, it breathed the spirit of brotherly love and
+      of prayer for an early peace: &ldquo;With malice toward none, with charity for
+      all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us
+      finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation&rsquo;s wounds, to care for him
+      who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphans, to do
+      all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves
+      and with all nations.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Not long thereafter, General Lee evacuated Richmond with about half of his
+      original army, closely pursued by Grant. The boys in blue overtook their
+      brothers in gray at Appomattox Court House, and there, beneath the warm
+      rays of an April sun, the great Confederate general made his final
+      surrender. The war was over, the American flag was floated over all the
+      territory of the United States, and peace was now a reality. Mr. Lincoln
+      visited Richmond and the final scenes of the war and then returned to
+      Washington to carry out his announced plan of &ldquo;binding up the nation&rsquo;s
+      wounds.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had now reached the climax of his career and touched the highest point
+      of his greatness. His great task was over, and the heavy burden that had
+      so long worn upon his heart was lifted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While the whole nation was rejoicing over the return of peace, the Saviour
+      of the Union was stricken down by the hand of an assassin.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0453}.jpg" alt="{0453}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0453}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0454}.jpg" alt="{0454}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0454}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0565" id="link2H_4_0565">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WARNINGS OF HIS TRAGIC DEATH.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      From early youth, Mr. Lincoln had presentiments that he would die a
+      violent death, or, rather, that his final days would be marked by some
+      great tragic event. From the time of his first election to the Presidency,
+      his closest friends had tried to make him understand that he was in
+      constant danger of assassination, but, notwithstanding his presentiments,
+      he had such splendid courage that he only laughed at their fears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the summer months he lived at the Soldiers&rsquo; Home, some miles from
+      Washington, and frequently made the trip between the White House and the
+      Home without a guard or escort. Secretary of War Stanton and Ward Lamon,
+      Marshal of the District, were almost constantly alarmed over Mr. Lincoln&rsquo;s
+      carelessness in exposing himself to the danger of assassination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They warned him time and again, and provided suitable body-guards to
+      attend him. But Mr. Lincoln would often give the guards the slip, and,
+      mounting his favorite riding horse, &ldquo;Old Abe,&rdquo; would set out alone after
+      dark from the White House for the Soldiers&rsquo; Home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While riding to the Home one night, he was fired upon by some one in
+      ambush, the bullet passing through his high hat. Mr. Lincoln would not
+      admit that the man who fired the shot had tried to kill him. He always
+      attributed it to an accident, and begged his friends to say nothing about
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now that all the circumstances of the assassination are known, it is plain
+      that there was a deep-laid and well-conceived plot to kill Mr. Lincoln
+      long before the crime was actually committed. When Mr. Lincoln was
+      delivering his second inaugural address on the steps of the Capitol, an
+      excited individual tried to force his way through the guards in the
+      building to get on the platform with Mr. Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was afterward learned that this man was John Wilkes Booth, who
+      afterwards assassinated Mr. Lincoln in Ford&rsquo;s Theatre, on the night of the
+      14th of April.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0566" id="link2H_4_0566">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN AT THE THEATRE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The manager of the theatre had invited the President to witness a
+      performance of a new play known as &ldquo;Our American Cousin,&rdquo; in which the
+      famous actress, Laura Keane, was playing. Mr. Lincoln was particularly
+      fond of the theatre. He loved Shakespeare&rsquo;s plays above all others and
+      never missed a chance to see the leading Shakespearean actors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As &ldquo;Our American Cousin&rdquo; was a new play, the President did not care
+      particularly to see it, but as Mrs. Lincoln was anxious to go, he
+      consented and accepted the invitation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Grant was in Washington at the time, and as he was extremely
+      anxious about the personal safety of the President, he reported every day
+      regularly at the White House. Mr. Lincoln invited General Grant and his
+      wife to accompany him and Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre on the night of the
+      assassination, and the general accepted, but while they were talking he
+      received a note from Mrs. Grant saying that she wished to leave Washington
+      that evening to visit her daughter in Burlington. General Grant made his
+      excuses to the President and left to accompany Mrs. Grant to the railway
+      station. It afterwards became known that it was also a part of the plot to
+      assassinate General Grant, and only Mrs. Grant&rsquo;s departure from Washington
+      that evening prevented the attempt from being made.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Grant afterwards said that as he and Mrs. Grant were riding along
+      Pennsylvania avenue to the railway station a horseman rode rapidly by at a
+      gallop, and, wheeling his horse, rode back, peering into their carriage as
+      he passed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Grant remarked to the general: &ldquo;That is the very man who sat near us
+      at luncheon to-day and tried to overhear our conversation. He was so rude,
+      you remember, as to cause us to leave the dining-room. Here he is again,
+      riding after us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      General Grant attributed the action of the man to idle curiosity, but
+      learned afterward that the horseman was John Wilkes Booth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0567" id="link2H_4_0567">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LAMON&rsquo;S REMARKABLE REQUEST.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Probably one reason why Mr. Lincoln did not particularly care to go to the
+      theatre that night was a sort of half promise he had made to his friend
+      and bodyguard, Marshal Lamon. Two days previous he had sent Lamon to
+      Richmond on business connected with a call of a convention for
+      reconstruction. Before leaving, Mr. Lamon saw Mr. Usher, the Secretary of
+      the Interior, and asked him to persuade Mr. Lincoln to use more caution
+      about his personal safety, and to go out as little as possible while Lamon
+      was absent. Together they went to see Mr. Lincoln, and Lamon asked the
+      President if he would make him a promise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think I can venture to say I will,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln. &ldquo;What is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Promise me that you will not go out after night while I am gone,&rdquo; said
+      Mr. Lamon, &ldquo;particularly to the theatre.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln turned to Mr. Usher and said: &ldquo;Usher, this boy is a monomaniac
+      on the subject of my safety. I can hear him or hear of his being around at
+      all times in the night, to prevent somebody from murdering me. He thinks I
+      shall be killed, and we think he is going crazy. What does any one want to
+      assassinate me for? If any one wants to do so, he can do it any day or
+      night if he is ready to give his life for mine. It is nonsense.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Usher said to Mr. Lincoln that it was well to heed Lamon&rsquo;s warning, as
+      he was thrown among people from whom he had better opportunities to know
+      about such matters than almost any one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Mr. Lincoln to Lamon, &ldquo;I promise to do the best I can toward
+      it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0568" id="link2H_4_0568">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HOW LINCOLN WAS MURDERED.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The assassination of President Lincoln was most carefully planned, even to
+      the smallest detail. The box set apart for the President&rsquo;s party was a
+      double one in the second tier at the left of the stage. The box had two
+      doors with spring locks, but Booth had loosened the screws with which they
+      were fastened so that it was impossible to secure them from the inside. In
+      one door he had bored a hole with a gimlet, so that he could see what was
+      going on inside the box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An employee of the theatre by the name of Spangler, who was an accomplice
+      of the assassin, had even arranged the seats in the box to suit the
+      purposes of Booth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the fateful night the theatre was packed. The Presidential party
+      arrived a few minutes after nine o&rsquo;clock, and consisted of the President
+      and Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Harris and Major Rathbone, daughter and stepson of
+      Senator Harris of New York. The immense audience rose to its feet and
+      cheered the President as he passed to his box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Booth came into the theatre about ten o&rsquo;clock. He had not only, planned to
+      kill the President, but he had also planned to escape into Maryland, and a
+      swift horse, saddled and ready for the journey, was tied in the rear of
+      the theatre. For a few minutes he pretended to be interested in the
+      performance, and then gradually made his way back to the door of the
+      President&rsquo;s box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before reaching there, however, he was confronted by one of the
+      President&rsquo;s messengers, who had been stationed at the end of the passage
+      leading to the boxes to prevent any one from intruding. To this man Booth
+      handed a card saying that the President had sent for him, and was
+      permitted to enter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once inside the hallway leading to the boxes, he closed the hall door and
+      fastened it by a bar prepared for the occasion, so that it was impossible
+      to open it from without. Then he quickly entered the box through the
+      right-hand door. The President was sitting in an easy armchair in the
+      left-hand corner of the box nearest the audience. He was leaning on one
+      hand and with the other had hold of a portion of the drapery. There was a
+      smile on his face. The other members of the party were intently watching
+      the performance on the stage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The assassin carried in his right hand a small silver-mounted derringer
+      pistol and in his left a long double-edged dagger. He placed the pistol
+      just behind the President&rsquo;s left ear and fired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lincoln bent slightly forward and his eyes closed, but in every other
+      respect his attitude remained unchanged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The report of the pistol startled Major Rathbone, who sprang to his feet.
+      The murderer was then about six feet from the President, and Rathbone
+      grappled with him, but was shaken off. Dropping his pistol, Booth struck
+      at Rathbone with the dagger and inflicted a severe wound. The assassin
+      then placed his left hand lightly on the railing of the box and jumped to
+      the stage, eight or nine feet below.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0569" id="link2H_4_0569">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOTH BRANDISHES HIS DAGGER AND ESCAPES.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The box was draped with the American flag, and, in jumping, Booth&rsquo;s spurs
+      caught in the folds, tearing down the flag, the assassin falling heavily
+      to the stage and spraining his ankle. He arose, however, and walked
+      theatrically across the stage, brandished his knife and shouted, &ldquo;Sic
+      semper tyrannis!&rdquo; and then added, &ldquo;The South is avenged.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For the moment the audience was horrified and incapable of action. One man
+      only, a lawyer named Stuart, had sufficient presence of mind to leap upon
+      the stage and attempt to capture the assassin. Booth went to the rear door
+      of the stage, where his horse was held in readiness for him, and, leaping
+      into the saddle, dashed through the streets toward Virginia. Miss Keane
+      rushed to the President&rsquo;s box with water and stimulants, and medical aid
+      was summoned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By this time the audience realized the tragedy that had been enacted, and
+      then followed a scene such as has never been witnessed in any public
+      gathering in this country. Women wept, shrieked and fainted; men raved and
+      swore, and horror was depicted on every face. Before the audience could be
+      gotten out of the theatre, horsemen were dashing through the streets and
+      the telegraph was carrying the terrible details of the tragedy throughout
+      the nation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0570" id="link2H_4_0570">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      WALT WHITMAN&rsquo;S DESCRIPTION.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Walt Whitman, the poet, has sketched in graphic language the scenes of
+      that most eventful fourteenth of April. His account of the assassination
+      has become historic, and is herewith given:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The day (April 14, 1865) seems to have been a pleasant one throughout the
+      whole land&mdash;the moral atmosphere pleasant, too&mdash;the long storm,
+      so dark, so fratricidal, full of blood and doubt and gloom, over and ended
+      at last by the sunrise of such an absolute national victory, and utter
+      breaking down of secessionism&mdash;we almost doubted our senses! Lee had
+      capitulated, beneath the apple tree at Appomattox. The other armies, the
+      flanges of the revolt, swiftly followed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And could it really be, then? Out of all the affairs of this world of woe
+      and passion, of failure and disorder and dismay, was there really come the
+      confirmed, unerring sign of peace, like a shaft of pure light&mdash;of
+      rightful rule&mdash;of God?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I must not dwell on accessories. The deed hastens. The popular
+      afternoon paper, the little Evening Star, had scattered all over its third
+      page, divided among the advertisements in a sensational manner in a
+      hundred different places:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;The President and his lady will be at the theatre this evening.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lincoln was fond of the theatre. I have myself seen him there several
+      times. I remember thinking how funny it was that he, the leading actor in
+      the greatest and stormiest drama known to real history&rsquo;s stage, through
+      centuries, should sit there and be so completely interested in those human
+      jackstraws, moving about with their silly little gestures, foreign spirit,
+      and flatulent text.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So the day, as I say, was propitious. Early herbage, early flowers, were
+      out. I remember where I was stopping at the time, the season being
+      advanced, there were many lilacs in full bloom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By one of those caprices that enter and give tinge to events without
+      being a part of them, I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy
+      of this day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never fails.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On this occasion the theatre was crowded, many ladies in rich and gay
+      costumes, officers in their uniforms, many well-known citizens, young
+      folks, the usual cluster of gas lights, the usual magnetism of so many
+      people, cheerful with perfumes, music of violins and flutes&mdash;and over
+      all, that saturating, that vast, vague wonder, Victory, the nation&rsquo;s
+      victory, the triumph of the Union, filling the air, the thought, the
+      sense, with exhilaration more than all the perfumes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The President came betimes, and, with his wife, witnessed the play from
+      the large stage boxes of the second tier, two thrown into one, and
+      profusely draped with the national flag. The acts and scenes of the piece&mdash;one
+      of those singularly witless compositions which have at the least the merit
+      of giving entire relief to an audience engaged in mental action or
+      business excitements and cares during the day, as it makes not the
+      slightest call on either the moral, emotional, esthetic or spiritual
+      nature&mdash;a piece in which among other characters, so called, a Yankee&mdash;certainly
+      such a one as was never seen, or at least like it ever seen in North
+      America, is introduced in England, with a varied fol-de-rol of talk, plot,
+      scenery, and such phantasmagoria as goes to make up a modern popular drama&mdash;had
+      progressed perhaps through a couple of its acts, when, in the midst of
+      this comedy, or tragedy, or non-such, or whatever it is to be called, and
+      to offset it, or finish it out, as if in Nature&rsquo;s and the Great Muse&rsquo;s
+      mockery of these poor mimics, comes interpolated that scene, not really or
+      exactly to be described at all (for on the many hundreds who were there it
+      seems to this hour to have left little but a passing blur, a dream, a
+      blotch)&mdash;and yet partially described as I now proceed to give it:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is a scene in the play, representing the modern parlor, in which
+      two unprecedented ladies are informed by the unprecedented and impossible
+      Yankee that he is not a man of fortune, and therefore undesirable for
+      marriage-catching purposes; after which, the comments being finished, the
+      dramatic trio make exit, leaving the stage clear for a moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There was a pause, a hush, as it were. At this period came the death of
+      Abraham Lincoln.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Great as that was, with all its manifold train circling around it, and
+      stretching into the future for many a century, in the politics, history,
+      art, etc., of the New World, in point of fact, the main thing, the actual
+      murder, transpired with the quiet and simplicity of any commonest
+      occurrence&mdash;the bursting of a bud or pod in the growth of vegetation,
+      for instance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Through the general hum following the stage pause, with the change of
+      positions, etc., came the muffled sound of a pistol shot, which not
+      one-hundredth part of the audience heard at the time&mdash;and yet a
+      moment&rsquo;s hush&mdash;somehow, surely a vague, startled thrill&mdash;and
+      then, through the ornamented, draperied, starred and striped space-way of
+      the President&rsquo;s box, a sudden figure, a man, raises himself with hands and
+      feet, stands a moment on the railing, leaps below to the stage, falls out
+      of position, catching his boot heel in the copious drapery (the American
+      flag), falls on one knee, quickly recovers himself, rises as if nothing
+      had happened (he really sprains his ankle, unfelt then)&mdash;and the
+      figure, Booth, the murderer, dressed in plain black broadcloth,
+      bareheaded, with a full head of glossy, raven hair, and his eyes, like
+      some mad animal&rsquo;s, flashing with light and resolution, yet with a certain
+      strange calmness holds aloft in one hand a large knife&mdash;walks along
+      not much back of the footlights&mdash;turns fully towards the audience,
+      his face of statuesque beauty, lit by those basilisk eyes, flashing with
+      desperation, perhaps insanity&mdash;launches out in a firm and steady
+      voice the words, &lsquo;Sic semper tyrannis&rsquo;&mdash;and then walks with neither
+      slow nor very rapid pace diagonally across to the back of the stage, and
+      disappears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;(Had not all this terrible scene&mdash;making the mimic ones preposterous&mdash;had
+      it not all been rehearsed, in blank, by Booth, beforehand?)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A moment&rsquo;s hush, incredulous&mdash;a scream&mdash;a cry of murder&mdash;Mrs.
+      Lincoln leaning out of the box, with ashy cheeks and lips, with
+      involuntary cry, pointing to the retreating figure, &lsquo;He has killed the
+      President!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And still a moment&rsquo;s strange, incredulous suspense&mdash;and then the
+      deluge!&mdash;then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty&mdash;the
+      sound, somewhere back, of a horse&rsquo;s hoofs clattering with speed&mdash;the
+      people burst through chairs and railings, and break them up&mdash;that
+      noise adds to the queerness of the scene&mdash;there is inextricable
+      confusion and terror&mdash;women faint&mdash;quite feeble persons fall,
+      and are trampled on&mdash;many cries of agony are heard&mdash;the broad
+      stage suddenly fills to suffocation with a dense and motley crowd, like
+      some horrible carnival&mdash;the audience rush generally upon it&mdash;at
+      least the strong men do&mdash;the actors and actresses are there in their
+      play costumes and painted faces, with mortal fright showing through the
+      rouge&mdash;some trembling, some in tears&mdash;the screams and calls,
+      confused talk&mdash;redoubled, trebled&mdash;two or three manage to pass
+      up water from the stage to the President&rsquo;s box, others try to clamber up,
+      etc., etc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the midst of all this the soldiers of the President&rsquo;s Guard, with
+      others, suddenly drawn to the scene, burst in&mdash;some two hundred
+      altogether&mdash;they storm the house, through all the tiers, especially
+      the upper ones&mdash;inflamed with fury, literally charging the audience
+      with fixed bayonets, muskets and pistols, shouting, &lsquo;Clear out! clear
+      out!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such a wild scene, or a suggestion of it, rather, inside the playhouse
+      that night!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Outside, too, in the atmosphere of shock and craze, crowds of people
+      filled with frenzy, ready to seize any outlet for it, came near committing
+      murder several times on innocent individuals.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One such case was particularly exciting. The infuriated crowd, through
+      some chance, got started against one man, either for words he uttered, or
+      perhaps without any cause at all, and were proceeding to hang him at once
+      to a neighboring lamp-post, when he was rescued by a few heroic policemen,
+      who placed him in their midst and fought their way slowly and amid great
+      peril toward the station-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was a fitting episode of the whole affair. The crowd rushing and
+      eddying to and fro, the night, the yells, the pale faces, many frightened
+      people trying in vain to extricate themselves, the attacked man, not yet
+      freed from the jaws of death, looking like a corpse; the silent, resolute
+      half-dozen policemen, with no weapons but their little clubs, yet stern
+      and steady through all those eddying swarms, made, indeed, a fitting side
+      scene to the grand tragedy of the murder. They gained the station-house
+      with the protected man, whom they placed in security for the night, and
+      discharged in the morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in the midst of that night pandemonium of senseless hate, infuriated
+      soldiers, the audience and the crowd&mdash;the stage, and all its actors
+      and actresses, its paint pots, spangles, gas-light&mdash;the life-blood
+      from those veins, the best and sweetest of the land, drips slowly down,
+      and death&rsquo;s ooze already begins its little bubbles on the lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such, hurriedly sketched, were the accompaniments of the death of
+      President Lincoln. So suddenly, and in murder and horror unsurpassed, he
+      was taken from us. But his death was painless.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The assassin&rsquo;s bullet did not produce instant death, but the President
+      never again became conscious. He was carried to a house opposite the
+      theatre, where he died the next morning. In the meantime the authorities
+      had become aware of the wide-reaching conspiracy, and the capital was in a
+      state of terror.
+    </p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0463}.jpg" alt="{0463}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0463}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5>
+
+    <p>
+      On the night of the President&rsquo;s assassination, Mr. Seward, Secretary of
+      State, was attacked while in bed with a broken arm, by Booth&rsquo;s
+      fellow-conspirators, and badly wounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conspirators had also planned to take the lives of Vice-President
+      Johnson and Secretary Stanton. Booth had called on Vice-President Johnson
+      the day before, and, not finding him in, left a card.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Secretary Stanton acted with his usual promptness and courage. During the
+      period of excitement he acted as President, and directed the plans for the
+      capture of Booth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among other things, he issued the following reward:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      REWARD OFFERED BY SECRETARY STANTON. War Department, Washington, April 20,
+      1865. Major-General John A. Dix, New York:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The murderer of our late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is still at
+      large. Fifty thousand dollars reward will be paid by this Department for
+      his apprehension, in addition to any reward offered by municipal
+      authorities or State Executives.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the apprehension of
+      G. W. Atzerodt, sometimes called &ldquo;Port Tobacco,&rdquo; one of Booth&rsquo;s
+      accomplices. Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the
+      apprehension of David C. Herold, another of Booth&rsquo;s accomplices.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A liberal reward will be paid for any information that shall conduce to
+      the arrest of either the above-named criminals or their accomplices.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All persons harboring or secreting the said persons, or either of them, or
+      aiding or assisting their concealment or escape, will be treated as
+      accomplices in the murder of the President and the attempted assassination
+      of the Secretary of State, and shall be subject to trial before a military
+      commission, and the punishment of death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Let the stain of innocent blood be removed from the land by the arrest and
+      punishment of the murderers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All good citizens are exhorted to aid public justice on this occasion.
+      Every man should consider his own conscience charged with this solemn
+      duty, and rest neither night nor day until it be accomplished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0571" id="link2H_4_0571">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOTH FOUND IN A BARN.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Booth, accompanied by David C. Herold, a fellow-conspirator, finally made
+      his way into Maryland, where eleven days after the assassination the two
+      were discovered in a barn on Garrett&rsquo;s farm near Port Royal on the
+      Rappahannock. The barn was surrounded by a squad of cavalrymen, who called
+      upon the assassins to surrender. Herold gave himself up and was roundly
+      cursed and abused by Booth, who declared that he would never be taken
+      alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cavalrymen then set fire to the barn and as the flames leaped up the
+      figure of the assassin could be plainly seen, although the wall of fire
+      prevented him from seeing the soldiers. Colonel Conger saw him standing
+      upright upon a crutch with a carbine in his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the fire first blazed up Booth crept on his hands and knees to the
+      spot, evidently for the purpose of shooting the man who had applied the
+      torch, but the blaze prevented him from seeing anyone. Then it seemed as
+      if he were preparing to extinguish the flames, but seeing the
+      impossibility of this he started toward the door with his carbine held
+      ready for action.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His eyes shone with the light of fever, but he was pale as death and his
+      general appearance was haggard and unkempt. He had shaved off his mustache
+      and his hair was closely cropped. Both he and Herold wore the uniforms of
+      Confederate soldiers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0572" id="link2H_4_0572">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOTH SHOT BY &ldquo;BOSTON&rdquo; CORBETT.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The last orders given to the squad pursuing Booth were: &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t shoot
+      Booth, but take him alive.&rdquo; Just as Booth started to the door of the barn
+      this order was disobeyed by a sergeant named Boston Corbett, who fired
+      through a crevice and shot Booth in the neck. The wounded man was carried
+      out of the barn and died four hours afterward on the grass where they had
+      laid him. Before he died he whispered to Lieutenant Baker, &ldquo;Tell mother I
+      died for my country; I thought I did for the best.&rdquo; What became of Booth&rsquo;s
+      body has always been and probably always will be a mystery. Many different
+      stories have been told concerning his final resting place, but all that is
+      known positively is that the body was first taken to Washington and a
+      post-mortem examination of it held on the Monitor Montauk. On the night of
+      April 27th it was turned over to two men who took it in a rowboat and
+      disposed of it secretly. How they disposed of it none but themselves know
+      and they have never told.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0573" id="link2H_4_0573">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The conspiracy to assassinate the President involved altogether
+      twenty-five people. Among the number captured and tried were David C.
+      Herold, G. W. Atzerodt, Louis Payne, Edward Spangler, Michael O&rsquo;Loughlin,
+      Samuel Arnold, Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd, a physician, who set
+      Booth&rsquo;s leg, which was sprained by his fall from the stage box. Of these
+      Herold, Atzerodt, Payne and Mrs. Surratt were hanged. Dr. Mudd was
+      deported to the Dry Tortugas. While there an epidemic of yellow fever
+      broke out and he rendered such good service that he was granted a pardon
+      and died a number of years ago in Maryland.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      John Surratt, the son of the woman who was hanged, made his escape to
+      Italy, where he became one of the Papal guards in the Vatican at Rome. His
+      presence there was discovered by Archbishop Hughes, and, although there
+      were no extradition laws to cover his case, the Italian Government gave
+      him up to the United States authorities.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had two trials. At the first the jury disagreed; the long delay before
+      his second trial allowed him to escape by pleading the statute of
+      limitation. Spangler and O&rsquo;Loughlin were sent to the Dry Tortugas and
+      served their time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ford, the owner of the theatre in which the President was assassinated,
+      was a Southern sympathizer, and when he attempted to re-open his theatre
+      after the great national tragedy, Secretary Stanton refused to allow it.
+      The Government afterward bought the theatre and turned it into a National
+      museum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      President Lincoln was buried at Springfield, and on the day of his funeral
+      there was universal grief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0574" id="link2H_4_0574">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      HENRY WARD BEECHER&rsquo;S EULOGY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      No final words of that great life can be more fitly spoken than the eulogy
+      pronounced by Henry Ward Beecher:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now the martyr is moving in triumphal march, mightier than when
+      alive. The nation rises up at every stage of his coming. Cities and States
+      are his pall-bearers, and the cannon speaks the hours with solemn
+      progression. Dead, dead, dead, he yet speaketh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is Washington dead? Is Hampden dead? Is any man that was ever fit to live
+      dead? Disenthralled of flesh, risen to the unobstructed sphere where
+      passion never comes, he begins his illimitable work. His life is now
+      grafted upon the infinite, and will be fruitful as no earthly life can be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pass on, thou that hast overcome. Ye people, behold the martyr whose
+      blood, as so many articulate words, pleads for fidelity, for law, for
+      liberty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0575" id="link2H_4_0575">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      ABRAHAM LINCOLN&rsquo;S FAMILY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Abraham Lincoln was married on November 4, 1842, to Miss Mary Todd, four
+      sons being the issue of the union.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Robert Todd, born August 1, 1843, removed to Chicago after his father&rsquo;s
+      death, practiced law, and became wealthy; in 1881 he was appointed
+      Secretary of War by President Garfield, and served through President
+      Arthur&rsquo;s term; was made Minister to England in 1889, and served four
+      years; became counsel for the Pullman Palace Car Company, and succeeded to
+      the presidency of that corporation upon the death of George M. Pullman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Edward Baker, born March 10, 1846, died in infancy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      William Wallace, born December 21, 1850, died in the White House in
+      February, 1862.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thomas (known as &ldquo;Tad&rdquo;), born April 4, 1853, died in 1871.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Lincoln died in her sixty-fourth year at the home of her sister, Mrs.
+      Ninian W. Edwards, at Springfield, Illinois, in 1882. She was the daughter
+      of Robert S. Todd, of Kentucky. Her great-uncle, John Todd, and her
+      grandfather, Levi Todd, accompanied General George Rogers Clark to
+      Illinois, and were present at the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes. In
+      December, 1778, John Todd was appointed by Patrick Henry, Governor of
+      Virginia, to be lieutenant of the County of Illinois, then a part of
+      Virginia. Colonel John Todd was one of the original proprietors of the
+      town of Lexington, Kentucky. While encamped on the site of the present
+      city, he heard of the opening battle of the Revolution, and named his
+      infant settlement in its honor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Lincoln was a proud, ambitious woman, well-educated, speaking French
+      fluently, and familiar with the ways of the best society in Lexington,
+      Kentucky, where she was born December 13, 1818. She was a pupil of Madame
+      Mantelli, whose celebrated seminary in Lexington was directly opposite the
+      residence of Henry Clay. The conversation at the seminary was carried on
+      entirely in French.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She visited Springfield, Illinois, in 1837, remained three months and then
+      returned to her native State. In 1839 she made Springfield her permanent
+      home. She lived with her eldest sister, Elizabeth, wife of Ninian W.
+      Edwards, Lincoln&rsquo;s colleague in the Legislature, and it was not strange
+      she and Lincoln should meet. Stephen A. Douglas was also a friend of the
+      Edwards family, and a suitor for her hand, but she rejected him to accept
+      the future President. She was one of the belles of the town.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She is thus described at the time she made her home in Springfield&mdash;1839:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was of the average height, weighing about a hundred and thirty
+      pounds. She was rather compactly built, had a well rounded face, rich
+      dark-brown hair, and bluish-gray eyes. In her bearing she was proud, but
+      handsome and vivacious; she was a good conversationalist, using with equal
+      fluency the French and English languages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When she used a pen, its point was sure to be sharp, and she wrote with
+      wit and ability. She not only had a quick intellect but an intuitive
+      judgment of men and their motives. Ordinarily she was affable and even
+      charming in her manners; but when offended or antagonized she could be
+      very bitter and sarcastic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In her figure and physical proportions, in education, bearing,
+      temperament, history&mdash;in everything she was the exact reverse of
+      Lincoln.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That Mrs. Lincoln was very proud of her husband there is no doubt; and it
+      is probable that she married him largely from motives of ambition. She
+      knew Lincoln better than he knew himself; she instinctively felt that he
+      would occupy a proud position some day, and it is a matter of record that
+      she told Ward Lamon, her husband&rsquo;s law partner, that &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln will yet
+      be President of the United States.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Lincoln was decidedly pro-slavery in her views, but this never
+      disturbed Lincoln. In various ways they were unlike. Her fearless, witty,
+      and austere nature had nothing in common with the calm, imperturbable, and
+      simple ways of her thoughtful and absent-minded husband. She was bright
+      and sparkling in conversation, and fit to grace any drawing-room. She well
+      knew that to marry Lincoln meant not a life of luxury and ease, for
+      Lincoln was not a man to accumulate wealth; but in him she saw position in
+      society, prominence in the world, and the grandest social distinction. By
+      that means her ambition was certainly satisfied, for nineteen years after
+      her marriage she was &ldquo;the first lady of the land,&rdquo; and the mistress of the
+      White House.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After his marriage, by dint of untiring efforts and the recognition of
+      influential friends, the couple managed through rare frugality to move
+      along.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In Lincoln&rsquo;s struggles, both in the law and for political advancement, his
+      wife shared his sacrifices. She was a plucky little woman, and in fact
+      endowed with a more restless ambition than he. She was gifted with a rare
+      insight into the motives that actuate mankind, and there is no doubt that
+      much of Lincoln&rsquo;s success was in a measure attributable to her acuteness
+      and the stimulus of her influence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His election to Congress within four years after their marriage afforded
+      her extreme gratification. She loved power and prominence, and was
+      inordinately proud of her tall and ungainly husband. She saw in him bright
+      prospects ahead, and his every move was watched by her with the closest
+      interest. If to other persons he seemed homely, to her he was the
+      embodiment of noble manhood, and each succeeding day impressed upon her
+      the wisdom of her choice of Lincoln over Douglas&mdash;if in reality she
+      ever seriously accepted the latter&rsquo;s attentions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Lincoln may not be as handsome a figure,&rdquo; she said one day in
+      Lincoln&rsquo;s law office during her husband&rsquo;s absence, when the conversation
+      turned on Douglas, &ldquo;but the people are perhaps not aware that his heart is
+      as large as his arms are long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0576" id="link2H_4_0576">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The remains of Abraham Lincoln rest beneath a magnificent monument in Oak
+      Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Ill. Before they were deposited in their
+      final resting place they were moved many times.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On May 4, 1865, all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln was deposited in
+      the receiving vault at the cemetery, until a tomb could be built. In 1876
+      thieves made an unsuccessful attempt to steal the remains. From the tomb
+      the body of the martyred President was removed later to the monument.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A flight of iron steps, commencing about fifty yards east of the vault,
+      ascends in a curved line to the monument, an elevation of more than fifty
+      feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Excavation for this monument commenced September 9, 1869. It is built of
+      granite, from quarries at Biddeford, Maine. The rough ashlers were shipped
+      to Quincy, Massachusetts, where they were dressed and numbered, thence
+      shipped to Springfield. It is 721 feet from east to west, 119 1/2 feet
+      from north to south, and 100 feet high. The total cost is about $230,000
+      to May 1, 1885. All the statuary is orange-colored bronze. The whole
+      monument was designed by Larkin G. Mead; the statuary was modeled in
+      plaster by him in Florence, Italy, and cast by the Ames Manufacturing
+      Company, of Chicopee, Massachusetts. A statue of Lincoln and Coat of Arms
+      were first placed on the monument; the statue was unveiled and the
+      monument dedicated October 15, 1874. Infantry and Naval Groups were put on
+      in September, 1877, an Artillery Group, April 13, 1882, and a Cavalry
+      Group, March 13, 1883.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The principal front of the monument is on the south side, the statue of
+      Lincoln being on that side of the obelisk, over Memorial Hall. On the east
+      side are three tablets, upon which are the letters U. S. A. To the right
+      of that, and beginning with Virginia, we find the abbreviations of the
+      original thirteen States. Next comes Vermont, the first state admitted
+      after the Union was perfected, the States following in the order they were
+      admitted, ending with Nebraska on the east, thus forming the cordon of
+      thirty-seven States composing the United States of America when the
+      monument was erected. The new States admitted since the monument was built
+      have been added.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The statue of Lincoln is just above the Coat of Arms of the United States.
+      The grand climax is indicated by President Lincoln, with his left hand
+      holding out as a golden scepter the emancipation Proclamation, while in
+      his right he holds the pen with which he has just written it. The right
+      hand is resting on another badge of authority, the American flag, thrown
+      over the fasces. At the foot of the fasces lies a wreath of laurel, with
+      which to crown the President as the victor over slavery and rebellion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On March 10, 1900, President Lincoln&rsquo;s body was removed to a temporary
+      vault to permit of alterations to the monument. The shaft was made twenty
+      feet higher, and other changes were made costing $100,000.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      April 24, 1901. the body was again transferred to the monument without
+      public ceremony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg's Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, by Alexander K. McClure
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Lincoln's Yarns and Stories
+
+Author: Alexander K. McClure
+
+Release Date: February, 2001
+Posting Date: December 23, 2008 [EBook #2517]
+[This file last updated on July 21, 2010]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LINCOLN'S YARNS AND STORIES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Dianne Bean
+
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S YARNS AND STORIES
+
+A Complete Collection of the Funny and Witty Anecdotes that made Abraham
+Lincoln Famous as America's Greatest Story Teller
+
+With Introduction and Anecdotes
+
+By Alexander K. McClure
+
+Profusely Illustrated
+
+THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY
+
+CHICAGO & PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the Great Story Telling President, whose Emancipation
+Proclamation freed more than four million slaves, was a keen politician,
+profound statesman, shrewd diplomatist, a thorough judge of men and
+possessed of an intuitive knowledge of affairs. He was the first Chief
+Executive to die at the hands of an assassin. Without school education
+he rose to power by sheer merit and will-power. Born in a Kentucky
+log cabin in 1809, his surroundings being squalid, his chances for
+advancement were apparently hopeless. President Lincoln died April 15th,
+1865, having been shot by J. Wilkes Booth the night before.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+Dean Swift said that the man who makes two blades of grass grow where
+one grew before serves well of his kind. Considering how much grass
+there is in the world and comparatively how little fun, we think that a
+still more deserving person is the man who makes many laughs grow where
+none grew before.
+
+Sometimes it happens that the biggest crop of laugh is produced by a man
+who ranks among the greatest and wisest. Such a man was Abraham Lincoln
+whose wholesome fun mixed with true philosophy made thousands laugh and
+think at the same time. He was a firm believer in the saying, "Laugh and
+the world laughs with you."
+
+Whenever Abraham Lincoln wanted to make a strong point he usually began
+by saying, "Now, that reminds me of a story." And when he had told a
+story every one saw the point and was put into a good humor.
+
+The ancients had Aesop and his fables. The moderns had Abraham Lincoln
+and his stories.
+
+Aesop's Fables have been printed in book form in almost every language
+and millions have read them with pleasure and profit. Lincoln's stories
+were scattered in the recollections of thousands of people in various
+parts of the country. The historians who wrote histories of Lincoln's
+life remembered only a few of them, but the most of Lincoln's stories
+and the best of them remained unwritten. More than five years ago the
+author of this book conceived the idea of collecting all the yarns and
+stories, the droll sayings, and witty and humorous anecdotes of Abraham
+Lincoln into one large book, and this volume is the result of that idea.
+
+Before Lincoln was ever heard of as a lawyer or politician, he was
+famous as a story teller. As a politician, he always had a story to fit
+the other side; as a lawyer, he won many cases by telling the jury a
+story which showed them the justice of his side better than any argument
+could have done.
+
+While nearly all of Lincoln's stories have a humorous side, they also
+contain a moral, which every good story should have.
+
+They contain lessons that could be taught so well in no other way. Every
+one of them is a sermon. Lincoln, like the Man of Galilee, spoke to the
+people in parables.
+
+Nothing that can be written about Lincoln can show his character in such
+a true light as the yarns and stories he was so fond of telling, and at
+which he would laugh as heartily as anyone.
+
+For a man whose life was so full of great responsibilities, Lincoln had
+many hours of laughter when the humorous, fun-loving side of his great
+nature asserted itself.
+
+Every person to keep healthy ought to have one good hearty laugh every
+day. Lincoln did, and the author hopes that the stories at which he
+laughed will continue to furnish laughter to all who appreciate good
+humor, with a moral point and spiced with that true philosophy bred in
+those who live close to nature and to the people around them.
+
+In producing this new Lincoln book, the publishers have followed an
+entirely new and novel method of illustrating it. The old shop-worn
+pictures that are to be seen in every "History of Lincoln," and in
+every other book written about him, such as "A Flatboat on the Sangamon
+River," "State Capitol at Springfield," "Old Log Cabin," etc., have all
+been left out and in place of them the best special artists that could
+be employed have supplied original drawings illustrating the "point" of
+Lincoln's stories.
+
+These illustrations are not copies of other pictures, but are original
+drawings made from the author's original text expressly for this book.
+
+In these high-class outline pictures the artists have caught the true
+spirit of Lincoln's humor, and while showing the laughable side of
+many incidents in his career, they are true to life in the scenes and
+characters they portray.
+
+In addition to these new and original pictures, the book contains many
+rare and valuable photograph portraits, together with biographies, of
+the famous men of Lincoln's day, whose lives formed a part of his own
+life history.
+
+No Lincoln book heretofore published has ever been so profusely, so
+artistically and expensively illustrated.
+
+The parables, yarns, stories, anecdotes and sayings of the "Immortal
+Abe" deserve a place beside Aesop's Fables, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
+and all other books that have added to the happiness and wisdom of
+mankind.
+
+Lincoln's stories are like Lincoln himself. The more we know of them the
+better we like them.
+
+BY COLONEL ALEXANDER K. McCLURE.
+
+
+
+While Lincoln would have been great among the greatest of the land as a
+statesman and politician if like Washington, Jefferson and Jackson,
+he had never told a humorous story, his sense of humor was the most
+fascinating feature of his personal qualities.
+
+He was the most exquisite humorist I have ever known in my life. His
+humor was always spontaneous, and that gave it a zest and elegance that
+the professional humorist never attains.
+
+As a rule, the men who have become conspicuous in the country as
+humorists have excelled in nothing else. S. S. Cox, Proctor Knott, John
+P. Hale and others were humorists in Congress. When they arose to speak
+if they failed to be humorous they utterly failed, and they rarely
+strove to be anything but humorous. Such men often fail, for the
+professional humorist, however gifted, cannot always be at his best, and
+when not at his best he is grievously disappointing.
+
+I remember Corwin, of Ohio, who was a great statesman as well as a great
+humorist, but whose humor predominated in his public speeches in Senate
+and House, warning a number of the younger Senators and Representatives
+on a social occasion when he had returned to Congress in his old age,
+against seeking to acquire the reputation of humorists. He said it
+was the mistake of his life. He loved it as did his hearers, but the
+temptation to be humorous was always uppermost, and while his speech on
+the Mexican War was the greatest ever delivered in the Senate, excepting
+Webster's reply to Hayne, he regretted that he was more known as a
+humorist than as a statesman.
+
+His first great achievement in the House was delivered in 1840 in reply
+to General Crary, of Michigan, who had attacked General Harrison's
+military career. Corwin's reply in defense of Harrison is universally
+accepted as the most brilliant combination of humor and invective ever
+delivered in that body. The venerable John Quincy Adams a day or two
+after Corwin's speech, referred to Crary as "the late General Crary,"
+and the justice of the remark from the "Old Man Eloquent" was accepted
+by all. Mr. Lincoln differed from the celebrated humorists of the
+country in the important fact that his humor was unstudied. He was
+not in any sense a professional humorist, but I have never in all
+my intercourse with public men, known one who was so apt in humorous
+illustration us Mr. Lincoln, and I have known him many times to silence
+controversy by a humorous story with pointed application to the issue.
+
+His face was the saddest in repose that I have ever seen among
+accomplished and intellectual men, and his sympathies for the people,
+for the untold thousands who were suffering bereavement from the war,
+often made him speak with his heart upon his sleeve, about the sorrows
+which shadowed the homes of the land and for which his heart was freely
+bleeding.
+
+I have many times seen him discussing in the most serious and heartfelt
+manner the sorrows and bereavements of the country, and when it would
+seem as though the tension was so strained that the brittle cord of life
+must break, his face would suddenly brighten like the sun escaping from
+behind the cloud to throw its effulgence upon the earth, and he would
+tell an appropriate story, and much as his stories were enjoyed by his
+hearers none enjoyed them more than Mr. Lincoln himself.
+
+I have often known him within the space of a few minutes to be
+transformed from the saddest face I have ever looked upon to one of the
+brightest and most mirthful. It was well known that he had his great
+fountain of humor as a safety valve; as an escape and entire relief from
+the fearful exactions his endless duties put upon him. In the gravest
+consultations of the cabinet where he was usually a listener rather
+than a speaker, he would often end dispute by telling a story and none
+misunderstood it; and often when he was pressed to give expression on
+particular subjects, and his always abundant caution was baffled, he
+many times ended the interview by a story that needed no elaboration.
+
+I recall an interview with Mr. Lincoln at the White House in the
+spring of 1865, just before Lee retreated from Petersburg. It was well
+understood that the military power of the Confederacy was broken, and
+that the question of reconstruction would soon be upon us.
+
+Colonel Forney and I had called upon the President simply to pay our
+respects, and while pleasantly chatting with him General Benjamin F.
+Butler entered. Forney was a great enthusiast, and had intense hatred of
+the Southern leaders who had hindered his advancement when Buchanan
+was elected President, and he was bubbling over with resentment against
+them. He introduced the subject to the President of the treatment to
+be awarded to the leaders of the rebellion when its powers should be
+confessedly broken, and he was earnest in demanding that Davis and other
+conspicuous leaders of the Confederacy should be tried, condemned and
+executed as traitors.
+
+General Butler joined Colonel Forney in demanding that treason must
+be made odious by the execution of those who had wantonly plunged the
+country into civil war. Lincoln heard them patiently, as he usually
+heard all, and none could tell, however carefully they scanned his
+countenance what impression the appeal made upon him.
+
+I said to General Butler that, as a lawyer pre-eminent in his
+profession, he must know that the leaders of a government that had
+beleaguered our capital for four years, and was openly recognized as
+a belligerent power not only by our government but by all the leading
+governments of the world, could not be held to answer to the law for the
+crime of treason.
+
+Butler was vehement in declaring that the rebellious leaders must be
+tried and executed. Lincoln listened to the discussion for half an hour
+or more and finally ended it by telling the story of a common drunkard
+out in Illinois who had been induced by his friends time and again to
+join the temperance society, but had always broken away. He was finally
+gathered up again and given notice that if he violated his pledge once
+more they would abandon him as an utterly hopeless vagrant. He made
+an earnest struggle to maintain his promise, and finally he called for
+lemonade and said to the man who was preparing it: "Couldn't you put
+just a drop of the cratur in unbeknownst to me?"
+
+After telling the story Lincoln simply added: "If these men could
+get away from the country unbeknownst to us, it might save a world of
+trouble." All understood precisely what Lincoln meant, although he
+had given expression in the most cautious manner possible and the
+controversy was ended.
+
+Lincoln differed from professional humorists in the fact that he
+never knew when he was going to be humorous. It bubbled up on the most
+unexpected occasions, and often unsettled the most carefully studied
+arguments. I have many times been with him when he gave no sign of
+humor, and those who saw him under such conditions would naturally
+suppose that he was incapable of a humorous expression. At other times
+he would effervesce with humor and always of the most exquisite and
+impressive nature. His humor was never strained; his stories never
+stale, and even if old, the application he made of them gave them the
+freshness of originality.
+
+I recall sitting beside him in the White House one day when a message
+was brought to him telling of the capture of several brigadier-generals
+and a number of horses somewhere out in Virginia. He read the dispatch
+and then in an apparently soliloquizing mood, said: "Sorry for the
+horses; I can make brigadier-generals."
+
+There are many who believe that Mr. Lincoln loved to tell obscene or
+profane stories, but they do great injustice to one of the purest and
+best men I have ever known. His humor must be judged by the environment
+that aided in its creation.
+
+As a prominent lawyer who traveled the circuit in Illinois, he was much
+in the company of his fellow lawyers, who spent their evenings in the
+rude taverns of what was then almost frontier life. The Western people
+thus thrown together with but limited sources of culture and enjoyment,
+logically cultivated the story teller, and Lincoln proved to be the most
+accomplished in that line of all the members of the Illinois bar. They
+had no private rooms for study, and the evenings were always spent in
+the common barroom of the tavern, where Western wit, often vulgar or
+profane, was freely indulged in, and the best of them at times told
+stories which were somewhat "broad;" but even while thus indulging
+in humor that would grate harshly upon severely refined hearers, they
+despised the vulgarian; none despised vulgarity more than Lincoln.
+
+I have heard him tell at one time or another almost or quite all of the
+stories he told during his Presidential term, and there were very few of
+them which might not have been repeated in a parlor and none descended
+to obscene, vulgar or profane expressions. I have never known a man of
+purer instincts than Abraham Lincoln, and his appreciation of all that
+was beautiful and good was of the highest order.
+
+It was fortunate for Mr. Lincoln that he frequently sought relief from
+the fearfully oppressive duties which bore so heavily upon him. He had
+immediately about him a circle of men with whom he could be "at home" in
+the White House any evening as he was with his old time friends on the
+Illinois circuit.
+
+David Davis was one upon whom he most relied as an adviser, and Leonard
+Swett was probably one of his closest friends, while Ward Lamon, whom
+he made Marshal of the District of Columbia to have him by his side,
+was one with whom he felt entirely "at home." Davis was of a more
+sober order but loved Lincoln's humor, although utterly incapable of a
+humorous expression himself. Swett was ready with Lincoln to give and
+take in storyland, as was Lamon, and either of them, and sometimes all
+of them, often dropped in upon Lincoln and gave him an hour's diversion
+from his exacting cares. They knew that he needed it and they sought him
+for the purpose of diverting him from what they feared was an excessive
+strain.
+
+His devotion to Lamon was beautiful. I well remember at Harrisburg
+on the night of February 22, 1861, when at a dinner given by Governor
+Curtin to Mr. Lincoln, then on his way to Washington, we decided,
+against the protest of Lincoln, that he must change his route to
+Washington and make the memorable midnight journey to the capital. It
+was thought to be best that but one man should accompany him, and he
+was asked to choose. There were present of his suite Colonel Sumner,
+afterwards one of the heroic generals of the war, Norman B. Judd, who
+was chairman of the Republican State Committee of Illinois, Colonel
+Lamon and others, and he promptly chose Colonel Lamon, who alone
+accompanied him on his journey from Harrisburg to Philadelphia and
+thence to Washington.
+
+Before leaving the room Governor Curtin asked Colonel Lamon whether he
+was armed, and he answered by exhibiting a brace of fine pistols, a
+huge bowie knife, a black jack, and a pair of brass knuckles. Curtin
+answered: "You'll do," and they were started on their journey after all
+the telegraph wires had been cut. We awaited through what seemed almost
+an endless night, until the east was purpled with the coming of another
+day, when Colonel Scott, who had managed the whole scheme, reunited
+the wires and soon received from Colonel Lamon this dispatch: "Plums
+delivered nuts safely," which gave us the intensely gratifying
+information that Lincoln had arrived in Washington.
+
+Of all the Presidents of the United States, and indeed of all the great
+statesmen who have made their indelible impress upon the policy of the
+Republic, Abraham Lincoln stands out single and alone in his individual
+qualities. He had little experience in statesmanship when he was called
+to the Presidency. He had only a few years of service in the State
+Legislature of Illinois, and a single term in Congress ending twelve
+years before he became President, but he had to grapple with the gravest
+problems ever presented to the statesmanship of the nation for solution,
+and he met each and all of them in turn with the most consistent
+mastery, and settled them so successfully that all have stood
+unquestioned until the present time, and are certain to endure while the
+Republic lives.
+
+In this he surprised not only his own cabinet and the leaders of his
+party who had little confidence in him when he first became President,
+but equally surprised the country and the world.
+
+He was patient, tireless and usually silent when great conflicts raged
+about him to solve the appalling problems which were presented at
+various stages of the war for determination, and when he reached his
+conclusion he was inexorable. The wrangles of faction and the jostling
+of ambition were compelled to bow when Lincoln had determined upon his
+line of duty.
+
+He was much more than a statesman; he was one of the most sagacious
+politicians I have ever known, although he was entirely unschooled in
+the machinery by which political results are achieved. His judgment of
+men was next to unerring, and when results were to be attained he
+knew the men who should be assigned to the task, and he rarely made a
+mistake.
+
+I remember one occasion when he summoned Colonel Forney and myself to
+confer on some political problem, he opened the conversation by saying:
+"You know that I never was much of a conniver; I don't know the methods
+of political management, and I can only trust to the wisdom of leaders
+to accomplish what is needed."
+
+Lincoln's public acts are familiar to every schoolboy of the nation, but
+his personal attributes, which are so strangely distinguished from the
+attributes of other great men, are now the most interesting study
+of young and old throughout our land, and I can conceive of no more
+acceptable presentation to the public than a compilation of anecdotes
+and incidents pertaining to the life of the greatest of all our
+Presidents.
+
+A.K. McClure
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S NAME AROUSES AN AUDIENCE, BY DR. NEWMAN HALL, of London.
+
+When I have had to address a fagged and listless audience, I have found
+that nothing was so certain to arouse them as to introduce the name of
+Abraham Lincoln.
+
+REVERE WASHINGTON AND LOVE LINCOLN, REV. DR. THEODORE L. CUYLER.
+
+No other name has such electric power on every true heart, from Maine
+to Mexico, as the name of Lincoln. If Washington is the most revered,
+Lincoln is the best loved man that ever trod this continent.
+
+
+GREATEST CHARACTER SINCE CHRIST BY JOHN HAY, Former Private Secretary to
+President Lincoln, and Later Secretary of State in President McKinley's
+Cabinet.
+
+As, in spite of some rudeness, republicanism is the sole hope of a sick
+world, so Lincoln, with all his foibles, is the greatest character since
+Christ.
+
+
+STORIES INFORM THE COMMON PEOPLE, BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, United States
+Senator from New York.
+
+Mr. Lincoln said to me once: "They say I tell a great many stories; I
+reckon I do, but I have found in the course of a long experience that
+common people, take them as they run, are more easily informed through
+the medium of a broad illustration than in any other way, and as to what
+the hypercritical few may think, I don't care."
+
+HUMOR A PASSPORT TO THE HEART BY GEO. S. BOUTWELL, Former Secretary of
+the United States Treasury.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's wit and mirth will give him a passport to the thoughts and
+hearts of millions who would take no interest in the sterner and more
+practical parts of his character.
+
+
+DROLL, ORIGINAL AND APPROPRIATE. BY ELIHU B. WASHBURNE, Former United
+States Minister to France.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's anecdotes were all so droll, so original, so appropriate
+and so illustrative of passing incidents, that one never wearied.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S HUMOR A SPARKLING SPRING, BY DAVID R. LOCKE (PETROLEUM V.
+NASBY), Lincoln's Favorite Humorist.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's flow of humor was a sparkling spring, gushing out of a
+rock--the flashing water had a somber background which made it all the
+brighter.
+
+
+LIKE AESOP'S FABLES, BY HUGH McCULLOCH, Former Secretary of the United
+States Treasury.
+
+Many of Mr. Lincoln's stories were as apt and instructive as the best of
+Aesop's Fables.
+
+
+FULL OF FUN, BY GENERAL JAMES B. FRY, Former Adjutant-General United
+States Army.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was a humorist so full of fun that he could not keep it all
+in.
+
+
+INEXHAUSTIBLE FUND OF STORIES, BY LAWRENCE WELDON, Judge United States
+Court of Claims.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's resources as a story-teller were inexhaustible, and
+no condition could arise in a case beyond his capacity to furnish an
+illustration with an appropriate anecdote.
+
+
+CHAMPION STORY-TELLER, BY BEN. PERLEY POORE, Former Editor of The
+Congressional Record.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was recognized as the champion story-teller of the Capitol.
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CHRONOLOGY.
+
+     1806--Marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, June 12th,
+     Washington County, Kentucky.
+     1809--Born February 12th, Hardin (now La Rue County), Kentucky.
+     1816--Family Removed to Perry County, Indiana.
+     1818--Death of Abraham's Mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln.
+     1819--Second Marriage Thomas Lincoln; Married Sally Bush
+     Johnston, December 2nd, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
+     1830--Lincoln Family Removed to Illinois, Locating in Macon
+     County.
+     1831--Abraham Located at New Salem.
+     1832--Abraham a Captain in the Black Hawk War.
+     1833--Appointed Postmaster at New Salem.
+     1834--Abraham as a Surveyor. First Election to the Legislature.
+     1835--Love Romance with Anne Rutledge.
+     1836--Second Election to the Legislature.
+     1837--Licensed to Practice Law.
+     1838--Third Election to the Legislature.
+     1840--Presidential Elector on Harrison Ticket.
+     Fourth Election to the Legislature.
+     1842--Married November 4th, to Mary Todd. "Duel" with General
+     Shields.
+     1843--Birth of Robert Todd Lincoln, August 1st.
+     1846--Elected to Congress. Birth of Edward Baker Lincoln, March 10th.
+     1848--Delegate to the Philadelphia National Convention.
+     1850--Birth of William Wallace Lincoln, December 2nd.
+     1853--Birth of Thomas Lincoln, April 4th.
+     1856--Assists in Formation Republican Party.
+     1858--Joint Debater with Stephen A. Douglas. Defeated for the
+     United States Senate.
+     1860--Nominated and Elected to the Presidency.
+     1861--Inaugurated as President, March 4th. 1863-Issued
+     Emancipation Proclamation. 1864-Re-elected to the Presidency.
+     1865--Assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth, April 14th. Died April
+     15th. Remains Interred at Springfield, Illinois, May 4th.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND McCLURE.
+
+(From Harper's Weekly, April 13, 1901.)
+
+Colonel Alexander K. McClure, the editorial director of the Philadelphia
+Times, which he founded in 1875, began his forceful career as a tanner's
+apprentice in the mountains of Pennsylvania threescore years ago. He
+tanned hides all day, and read exchanges nights in the neighboring
+weekly newspaper office. The learned tanner's boy also became the aptest
+Inner in the county, and the editor testified his admiration for young
+McClure's attainments by sending him to edit a new weekly paper which
+the exigencies of politics called into being in an adjoining county.
+
+The lad was over six feet high, had the thews of Ajax and the voice of
+Boanerges, and knew enough about shoe-leather not to be afraid of any
+man that stood in it. He made his paper a success, went into politics,
+and made that a success, studied law with William McLellan, and made
+that a success, and actually went into the army--and made that a
+success, by an interesting accident which brought him into close
+personal relations with Abraham Lincoln, whom he had helped to nominate,
+serving as chairman of the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania
+through the campaign.
+
+In 1862 the government needed troops badly, and in each Pennsylvania
+county Republicans and Democrats were appointed to assist in the
+enrollment, under the State laws. McClure, working day and night at
+Harrisburg, saw conscripts coming in at the rate of a thousand a day,
+only to fret in idleness against the army red-tape which held them there
+instead of sending a regiment a day to the front, as McClure demanded
+should be done. The military officer continued to dispatch two companies
+a day--leaving the mass of the conscripts to be fed by the contractors.
+
+McClure went to Washington and said to the President, "You must send a
+mustering officer to Harrisburg who will do as I say; I can't stay there
+any longer under existing conditions."
+
+Lincoln sent into another room for Adjutant-General Thomas. "General,"
+said he, "what is the highest rank of military officer at Harrisburg?"
+"Captain, sir," said Thomas. "Bring me a commission for an Assistant
+Adjutant-General of the United States Army," said Lincoln.
+
+So Adjutant-General McClure was mustered in, and after that a regiment
+a day of boys in blue left Harrisburg for the front. Colonel McClure is
+one of the group of great Celt-American editors, which included Medill,
+McCullagh and McLean.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" LINCOLN'S YARNS AND STORIES.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN ASKED TO BE SHOT.
+
+Lincoln was, naturally enough, much surprised one day, when a man of
+rather forbidding countenance drew a revolver and thrust the weapon
+almost into his face. In such circumstances "Abe" at once concluded that
+any attempt at debate or argument was a waste of time and words.
+
+"What seems to be the matter?" inquired Lincoln with all the calmness
+and self-possession he could muster.
+
+"Well," replied the stranger, who did not appear at all excited, "some
+years ago I swore an oath that if I ever came across an uglier man than
+myself I'd shoot him on the spot."
+
+A feeling of relief evidently took possession of Lincoln at this
+rejoinder, as the expression upon his countenance lost all suggestion of
+anxiety.
+
+"Shoot me," he said to the stranger; "for if I am an uglier man than you
+I don't want to live."
+
+
+
+
+TIME LOST DIDN'T COUNT.
+
+Thurlow Weed, the veteran journalist and politician, once related how,
+when he was opposing the claims of Montgomery Blair, who aspired to a
+Cabinet appointment, that Mr. Lincoln inquired of Mr. Weed whom he would
+recommend, "Henry Winter Davis," was the response.
+
+"David Davis, I see, has been posting you up on this question," retorted
+Lincoln. "He has Davis on the brain. I think Maryland must be a good
+State to move from."
+
+The President then told a story of a witness in court in a neighboring
+county, who, on being asked his age, replied, "Sixty." Being satisfied
+he was much older the question was repeated, and on receiving the same
+answer the court admonished the witness, saying, "The court knows you to
+be much older than sixty."
+
+"Oh, I understand now," was the rejoinder, "you're thinking of those ten
+years I spent on the eastern share of Maryland; that was so much time
+lost, and didn't count."
+
+Blair was made Postmaster-General.
+
+
+
+
+NO VICES, NO VIRTUES.
+
+Lincoln always took great pleasure in relating this yarn:
+
+Riding at one time in a stage with an old Kentuckian who was returning
+from Missouri, Lincoln excited the old gentleman's surprise by refusing
+to accept either of tobacco or French brandy.
+
+When they separated that afternoon--the Kentuckian to take another stage
+bound for Louisville--he shook hands warmly with Lincoln, and said,
+good-humoredly:
+
+"See here, stranger, you're a clever but strange companion. I may never
+see you again, and I don't want to offend you, but I want to say this:
+My experience has taught me that a man who has no vices has d----d few
+virtues. Good-day."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S DUES.
+
+Miss Todd (afterwards Mrs. Lincoln) had a keen sense of the ridiculous,
+and wrote several articles in the Springfield (Ill.) "Journal"
+reflecting severely upon General James Shields (who won fame in the
+Mexican and Civil Wars, and was United States Senator from three
+states), then Auditor of State.
+
+Lincoln assumed the authorship, and was challenged by Shields to meet
+him on the "field of honor." Meanwhile Miss Todd increased Shields' ire
+by writing another letter to the paper, in which she said: "I hear the
+way of these fire-eaters is to give the challenged party the choice of
+weapons, which being the case, I'll tell you in confidence that I never
+fight with anything but broom-sticks, or hot water, or a shovelful of
+coals, the former of which, being somewhat like a shillalah, may not be
+objectionable to him."
+
+Lincoln accepted the challenge, and selected broadswords as the weapons.
+Judge Herndon (Lincoln's law partner) gives the closing of this affair
+as follows:
+
+"The laws of Illinois prohibited dueling, and Lincoln demanded that
+the meeting should be outside the state. Shields undoubtedly knew that
+Lincoln was opposed to fighting a duel--that his moral sense would
+revolt at the thought, and that he would not be likely to break the
+law by fighting in the state. Possibly he thought Lincoln would make a
+humble apology. Shields was brave, but foolish, and would not listen to
+overtures for explanation. It was arranged that the meeting should be
+in Missouri, opposite Alton. They proceeded to the place selected, but
+friends interfered, and there was no duel. There is little doubt that
+the man who had swung a beetle and driven iron wedges into gnarled
+hickory logs could have cleft the skull of his antagonist, but he had
+no such intention. He repeatedly said to the friends of Shields that in
+writing the first article he had no thought of anything personal. The
+Auditor's vanity had been sorely wounded by the second letter, in regard
+to which Lincoln could not make any explanation except that he had had
+no hand in writing it. The affair set all Springfield to laughing at
+Shields."
+
+
+
+
+"DONE WITH THE BIBLE."
+
+Lincoln never told a better story than this:
+
+A country meeting-house, that was used once a month, was quite a
+distance from any other house.
+
+The preacher, an old-line Baptist, was dressed in coarse linen
+pantaloons, and shirt of the same material. The pants, manufactured
+after the old fashion, with baggy legs, and a flap in the front, were
+made to attach to his frame without the aid of suspenders.
+
+A single button held his shirt in position, and that was at the collar.
+He rose up in the pulpit, and with a loud voice announced his text thus:
+"I am the Christ whom I shall represent to-day."
+
+About this time a little blue lizard ran up his roomy pantaloons. The
+old preacher, not wishing to interrupt the steady flow of his sermon,
+slapped away on his leg, expecting to arrest the intruder, but his
+efforts were unavailing, and the little fellow kept on ascending higher
+and higher.
+
+Continuing the sermon, the preacher loosened the central button which
+graced the waistband of his pantaloons, and with a kick off came that
+easy-fitting garment.
+
+But, meanwhile, Mr. Lizard had passed the equatorial line of the
+waistband, and was calmly exploring that part of the preacher's anatomy
+which lay underneath the back of his shirt.
+
+Things were now growing interesting, but the sermon was still grinding
+on. The next movement on the preacher's part was for the collar button,
+and with one sweep of his arm off came the tow linen shirt.
+
+The congregation sat for an instant as if dazed; at length one old
+lady in the rear part of the room rose up, and, glancing at the excited
+object in the pulpit, shouted at the top of her voice: "If you represent
+Christ, then I'm done with the Bible."
+
+
+
+
+HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE.
+
+Once, when Lincoln was pleading a case, the opposing lawyer had all the
+advantage of the law; the weather was warm, and his opponent, as was
+admissible in frontier courts, pulled off his coat and vest as he grew
+warm in the argument.
+
+At that time, shirts with buttons behind were unusual. Lincoln took in
+the situation at once. Knowing the prejudices of the primitive people
+against pretension of all sorts, or any affectation of superior social
+rank, arising, he said: "Gentlemen of the jury, having justice on my
+side, I don't think you will be at all influenced by the gentleman's
+pretended knowledge of the law, when you see he does not even know which
+side of his shirt should be in front." There was a general laugh, and
+Lincoln's case was won.
+
+
+
+
+A MISCHIEVOUS OX.
+
+President Lincoln once told the following story of Colonel W., who had
+been elected to the Legislature, and had also been judge of the County
+Court. His elevation, however, had made him somewhat pompous, and he
+became very fond of using big words. On his farm he had a very large and
+mischievous ox, called "Big Brindle," which very frequently broke down
+his neighbors' fences, and committed other depredations, much to the
+Colonel's annoyance.
+
+One morning after breakfast, in the presence of Lincoln, who had stayed
+with him over night, and who was on his way to town, he called his
+overseer and said to him:
+
+"Mr. Allen, I desire you to impound 'Big Brindle,' in order that I may
+hear no animadversions on his eternal depredations."
+
+Allen bowed and walked off, sorely puzzled to know what the Colonel
+wanted him to do. After Colonel W. left for town, he went to his wife
+and asked her what the Colonel meant by telling him to impound the ox.
+
+"Why, he meant to tell you to put him in a pen," said she.
+
+Allen left to perform the feat, for it was no inconsiderable one, as
+the animal was wild and vicious, but, after a great deal of trouble and
+vexation, succeeded.
+
+"Well," said he, wiping the perspiration from his brow and
+soliloquizing, "this is impounding, is it? Now, I am dead sure that the
+Colonel will ask me if I impounded 'Big Brindle,' and I'll bet I puzzle
+him as he did me."
+
+The next day the Colonel gave a dinner party, and as he was not
+aristocratic, Allen, the overseer, sat down with the company. After the
+second or third glass was discussed, the Colonel turned to the overseer
+and said:
+
+"Eh, Mr. Allen, did you impound 'Big Brindle,' sir?"
+
+Allen straightened himself, and looking around at the company, replied:
+
+"Yes, I did, sir; but 'Old Brindle' transcended the impanel of the
+impound, and scatterlophisticated all over the equanimity of the
+forest."
+
+The company burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, while the
+Colonel's face reddened with discomfiture.
+
+"What do you mean by that, sir?" demanded the Colonel.
+
+"Why, I mean, Colonel," replied Allen, "that 'Old Brindle,' being
+prognosticated with an idea of the cholera, ripped and teared, snorted
+and pawed dirt, jumped the fence, tuck to the woods, and would not be
+impounded nohow."
+
+This was too much; the company roared again, the Colonel being forced
+to join in the laughter, and in the midst of the jollity Allen left the
+table, saying to himself as he went, "I reckon the Colonel won't ask me
+to impound any more oxen."
+
+
+
+
+THE PRESIDENTIAL "CHIN-FLY."
+
+Some of Mr. Lincoln's intimate friends once called his attention to
+a certain member of his Cabinet who was quietly working to secure a
+nomination for the Presidency, although knowing that Mr. Lincoln was to
+be a candidate for re-election. His friends insisted that the Cabinet
+officer ought to be made to give up his Presidential aspirations or be
+removed from office. The situation reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story:
+
+"My brother and I," he said, "were once plowing corn, I driving the
+horse and he holding the plow. The horse was lazy, but on one occasion
+he rushed across the field so that I, with my long legs, could scarcely
+keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the furrow, I found an
+enormous chin-fly fastened upon him, and knocked him off. My brother
+asked me what I did that for. I told him I didn't want the old horse
+bitten in that way. 'Why,' said my brother, 'that's all that made him
+go.' Now," said Mr. Lincoln, "if Mr.---- has a Presidential chin-fly
+biting him, I'm not going to knock him off, if it will only make his
+department go."
+
+
+
+
+'SQUIRE BAGLY'S PRECEDENT.
+
+Mr. T. W. S. Kidd, of Springfield, says that he once heard a lawyer
+opposed to Lincoln trying to convince a jury that precedent was superior
+to law, and that custom made things legal in all cases. When Lincoln
+arose to answer him he told the jury he would argue his case in the same
+way.
+
+"Old 'Squire Bagly, from Menard, came into my office and said, 'Lincoln,
+I want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what's been elected justice of
+the peace a right to issue a marriage license?' I told him he had not;
+when the old 'squire threw himself back in his chair very indignantly,
+and said, 'Lincoln, I thought you was a lawyer. Now Bob Thomas and me
+had a bet on this thing, and we agreed to let you decide; but if this is
+your opinion I don't want it, for I know a thunderin' sight better, for
+I have been 'squire now for eight years and have done it all the time.'"
+
+
+
+
+HE'D NEED HIS GUN.
+
+When the President, early in the War, was anxious about the defenses
+of Washington, he told a story illustrating his feelings in the case.
+General Scott, then Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, had
+but 1,500 men, two guns and an old sloop of war, the latter anchored
+in the Potomac, with which to protect the National Capital, and the
+President was uneasy.
+
+To one of his queries as to the safety of Washington, General Scott had
+replied, "It has been ordained, Mr. President, that the city shall not
+be captured by the Confederates."
+
+"But we ought to have more men and guns here," was the Chief Executive's
+answer. "The Confederates are not such fools as to let a good chance to
+capture Washington go by, and even if it has been ordained that the city
+is safe, I'd feel easier if it were better protected. All this reminds
+me of the old trapper out in the West who had been assured by some 'city
+folks' who had hired him as a guide that all matters regarding life and
+death were prearranged.
+
+"'It is ordained,' said one of the party to the old trapper, 'that you
+are to die at a certain time, and no one can kill you before that time.
+If you met a thousand Indians, and your death had not been ordained for
+that day, you would certainly escape.'
+
+"'I don't exactly understand this "ordained" business,' was the
+trapper's reply. 'I don't care to run no risks. I always have my gun
+with me, so that if I come across some reds I can feel sure that I won't
+cross the Jordan 'thout taking some of 'em with me. Now, for instance,
+if I met an Indian in the woods; he drew a bead on me--sayin', too, that
+he wasn't more'n ten feet away--an' I didn't have nothing to protect
+myself; say it was as bad as that, the redskin bein' dead ready to kill
+me; now, even if it had been ordained that the Indian (sayin' he was a
+good shot), was to die that very minute, an' I wasn't, what would I do
+'thout my gun?'
+
+"There you are," the President remarked; "even if it has been ordained
+that the city of Washington will never be taken by the Southerners, what
+would we do in case they made an attack upon the place, without men and
+heavy guns?"
+
+
+
+
+KEPT UP THE ARGUMENT.
+
+Judge T. Lyle Dickey of Illinois related that when the excitement
+over the Kansas Nebraska bill first broke out, he was with Lincoln and
+several friends attending court. One evening several persons, including
+himself and Lincoln, were discussing the slavery question. Judge
+Dickey contended that slavery was an institution which the Constitution
+recognized, and which could not be disturbed. Lincoln argued that
+ultimately slavery must become extinct. "After awhile," said Judge
+Dickey, "we went upstairs to bed. There were two beds in our room, and
+I remember that Lincoln sat up in his night shirt on the edge of the
+bed arguing the point with me. At last we went to sleep. Early in
+the morning I woke up and there was Lincoln half sitting up in bed.
+'Dickey,' said he, 'I tell you this nation cannot exist half slave and
+half free.' 'Oh, Lincoln,' said I, 'go to sleep."'
+
+
+
+
+EQUINE INGRATITUDE.
+
+President Lincoln, while eager that the United States troops should
+be supplied with the most modern and serviceable weapons, often took
+occasion to put his foot down upon the mania for experimenting with
+which some of his generals were afflicted. While engaged in these
+experiments much valuable time was wasted, the enemy was left to do as
+he thought best, no battles were fought, and opportunities for winning
+victories allowed to pass.
+
+The President was an exceedingly practical man, and when an invention,
+idea or discovery was submitted to him, his first step was to ascertain
+how any or all of them could be applied in a way to be of benefit to the
+army. As to experimenting with "contrivances" which, to his mind, could
+never be put to practical use, he had little patience.
+
+"Some of these generals," said he, "experiment so long and so much with
+newfangled, fancy notions that when they are finally brought to a
+head they are useless. Either the time to use them has gone by, or the
+machine, when put in operation, kills more than it cures.
+
+"One of these generals, who has a scheme for 'condensing' rations,
+is willing to swear his life away that his idea, when carried to
+perfection, will reduce the cost of feeding the Union troops to almost
+nothing, while the soldiers themselves will get so fat that they'll
+'bust out' of their uniforms. Of course, uniforms cost nothing, and real
+fat men are more active and vigorous than lean, skinny ones, but that is
+getting away from my story.
+
+"There was once an Irishman--a cabman--who had a notion that he could
+induce his horse to live entirely on shavings. The latter he could get
+for nothing, while corn and oats were pretty high-priced. So he daily
+lessened the amount of food to the horse, substituting shavings for the
+corn and oats abstracted, so that the horse wouldn't know his rations
+were being cut down.
+
+"However, just as he had achieved success in his experiment, and the
+horse had been taught to live without other food than shavings, the
+ungrateful animal 'up and died,' and he had to buy another.
+
+"So far as this general referred to is concerned, I'm afraid
+the soldiers will all be dead at the time when his experiment is
+demonstrated as thoroughly successful."
+
+
+
+
+'TWAS "MOVING DAY."
+
+Speed, who was a prosperous young merchant of Springfield, reports
+that Lincoln's personal effects consisted of a pair of saddle-bags,
+containing two or three lawbooks, and a few pieces of clothing. Riding
+on a borrowed horse, he thus made his appearance in Springfield. When he
+discovered that a single bedstead would cost seventeen dollars he said,
+"It is probably cheap enough, but I have not enough money to pay for
+it." When Speed offered to trust him, he said: "If I fail here as a
+lawyer, I will probably never pay you at all." Then Speed offered to
+share large double bed with him.
+
+"Where is your room?" Lincoln asked.
+
+"Upstairs," said Speed, pointing from the store leading to his room.
+
+Without saying a word, he took his saddle-bags on his arm, went
+upstairs, set them down on the floor, came down again, and with a face
+beaming with pleasure and smiles, exclaimed: "Well, Speed, I'm moved."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE'S" HAIR NEEDED COMBING.
+
+"By the way," remarked President Lincoln one day to Colonel Cannon, a
+close personal friend, "I can tell you a good story about my hair. When
+I was nominated at Chicago, an enterprising fellow thought that a great
+many people would like to see how 'Abe' Lincoln looked, and, as I had
+not long before sat for a photograph, the fellow, having seen it, rushed
+over and bought the negative.
+
+"He at once got no end of wood-cuts, and so active was their circulation
+they were soon selling in all parts of the country.
+
+"Soon after they reached Springfield, I heard a boy crying them for sale
+on the streets. 'Here's your likeness of "Abe" Lincoln!' he shouted.
+'Buy one; price only two shillings! Will look a great deal better when
+he gets his hair combed!"'
+
+
+
+
+WOULD "TAKE TO THE WOODS."
+
+Secretary of State Seward was bothered considerably regarding the
+complication into which Spain had involved the United States government
+in connection with San Domingo, and related his troubles to the
+President. Negotiations were not proceeding satisfactorily, and things
+were mixed generally. We wished to conciliate Spain, while the negroes
+had appealed against Spanish oppression.
+
+The President did not, to all appearances, look at the matter seriously,
+but, instead of treating the situation as a grave one, remarked that
+Seward's dilemma reminded him of an interview between two negroes in
+Tennessee.
+
+One was a preacher, who, with the crude and strange notions of his
+ignorant race, was endeavoring to admonish and enlighten his brother
+African of the importance of religion and the danger of the future.
+
+"Dar are," said Josh, the preacher, "two roads befo' you, Joe; be
+ca'ful which ob dese you take. Narrow am de way dat leads straight to
+destruction; but broad am de way dat leads right to damnation."
+
+Joe opened his eyes with affright, and under the spell of the awful
+danger before him, exclaimed, "Josh, take which road you please; I shall
+go troo de woods."
+
+"I am not willing," concluded the President, "to assume any new troubles
+or responsibilities at this time, and shall therefore avoid going to the
+one place with Spain, or with the negro to the other, but shall 'take to
+the woods.' We will maintain an honest and strict neutrality."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CARRIED HER TRUNK.
+
+"My first strong impression of Mr. Lincoln," says a lady of Springfield,
+"was made by one of his kind deeds. I was going with a little friend for
+my first trip alone on the railroad cars. It was an epoch of my life.
+I had planned for it and dreamed of it for weeks. The day I was to go
+came, but as the hour of the train approached, the hackman, through
+some neglect, failed to call for my trunk. As the minutes went on,
+I realized, in a panic of grief, that I should miss the train. I was
+standing by the gate, my hat and gloves on, sobbing as if my heart would
+break, when Mr. Lincoln came by.
+
+"'Why, what's the matter?' he asked, and I poured out all my story.
+
+"'How big's the trunk? There's still time, if it isn't too big.' And he
+pushed through the gate and up to the door. My mother and I took him up
+to my room, where my little old-fashioned trunk stood, locked and tied.
+'Oh, ho,' he cried, 'wipe your eyes and come on quick.' And before I
+knew what he was going to do, he had shouldered the trunk, was down
+stairs, and striding out of the yard. Down the street he went fast as
+his long legs could carry him, I trotting behind, drying my tears as I
+went. We reached the station in time. Mr. Lincoln put me on the train,
+kissed me good-bye, and told me to have a good time. It was just like
+him."
+
+
+
+
+BOAT HAD TO STOP.
+
+Lincoln never failed to take part in all political campaigns in
+Illinois, as his reputation as a speaker caused his services to be in
+great demand. As was natural, he was often the target at which many of
+the "Smart Alecks" of that period shot their feeble bolts, but Lincoln
+was so ready with his answers that few of them cared to engage him a
+second time.
+
+In one campaign Lincoln was frequently annoyed by a young man who
+entertained the idea that he was a born orator. He had a loud voice, was
+full of language, and so conceited that he could not understand why the
+people did not recognize and appreciate his abilities.
+
+This callow politician delighted in interrupting public speakers, and
+at last Lincoln determined to squelch him. One night while addressing a
+large meeting at Springfield, the fellow became so offensive that
+"Abe" dropped the threads of his speech and turned his attention to the
+tormentor.
+
+"I don't object," said Lincoln, "to being interrupted with sensible
+questions, but I must say that my boisterous friend does not always make
+inquiries which properly come under that head. He says he is afflicted
+with headaches, at which I don't wonder, as it is a well-known fact that
+nature abhors a vacuum, and takes her own way of demonstrating it.
+
+"This noisy friend reminds me of a certain steamboat that used to run on
+the Illinois river. It was an energetic boat, was always busy. When they
+built it, however, they made one serious mistake, this error being in
+the relative sizes of the boiler and the whistle. The latter was usually
+busy, too, and people were aware that it was in existence.
+
+"This particular boiler to which I have reference was a six-foot one,
+and did all that was required of it in the way of pushing the boat
+along; but as the builders of the vessel had made the whistle a six-foot
+one, the consequence was that every time the whistle blew the boat had
+to stop."
+
+
+
+
+MCCLELLAN'S "SPECIAL TALENT."
+
+President Lincoln one day remarked to a number of personal friends who
+had called upon him at the White House:
+
+"General McClellan's tardiness and unwillingness to fight the enemy or
+follow up advantages gained, reminds me of a man back in Illinois who
+knew a few law phrases but whose lawyer lacked aggressiveness. The man
+finally lost all patience and springing to his feet vociferated, 'Why
+don't you go at him with a fi. fa., a demurrer, a capias, a surrebutter,
+or a ne exeat, or something; or a nundam pactum or a non est?'
+
+"I wish McClellan would go at the enemy with something--I don't care
+what. General McClellan is a pleasant and scholarly gentleman. He is
+an admirable engineer, but he seems to have a special talent for a
+stationary engine."
+
+
+
+
+HOW "JAKE" GOT AWAY.
+
+One of the last, if not the very last story told by President Lincoln,
+was to one of his Cabinet who came to see him, to ask if it would be
+proper to permit "Jake" Thompson to slip through Maine in disguise and
+embark for Portland.
+
+The President, as usual, was disposed to be merciful, and to permit
+the arch-rebel to pass unmolested, but Secretary Stanton urged that he
+should be arrested as a traitor.
+
+"By permitting him to escape the penalties of treason," persisted the
+War Secretary, "you sanction it."
+
+"Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, "let me tell you a story. There was an
+Irish soldier here last summer, who wanted something to drink stronger
+than water, and stopped at a drug-shop, where he espied a soda-fountain.
+'Mr. Doctor,' said he, 'give me, plase, a glass of soda-wather, an'
+if yez can put in a few drops of whiskey unbeknown to any one, I'll be
+obleeged.' Now," continued Mr. Lincoln, "if 'Jake' Thompson is permitted
+to go through Maine unbeknown to any one, what's the harm? So don't have
+him arrested."
+
+MORE LIGHT AND LESS NOISE.
+
+The President was bothered to death by those persons who boisterously
+demanded that the War be pushed vigorously; also, those who shouted
+their advice and opinions into his weary ears, but who never suggested
+anything practical. These fellows were not in the army, nor did they
+ever take any interest, in a personal way, in military matters, except
+when engaged in dodging drafts.
+
+"That reminds me," remarked Mr. Lincoln one day, "of a farmer who lost
+his way on the Western frontier. Night came on, and the embarrassments
+of his position were increased by a furious tempest which suddenly burst
+upon him. To add to his discomfort, his horse had given out, leaving him
+exposed to all the dangers of the pitiless storm.
+
+"The peals of thunder were terrific, the frequent flashes of lightning
+affording the only guide on the road as he resolutely trudged onward,
+leading his jaded steed. The earth seemed fairly to tremble beneath him
+in the war of elements. One bolt threw him suddenly upon his knees.
+
+"Our traveler was not a prayerful man, but finding himself involuntarily
+brought to an attitude of devotion, he addressed himself to the Throne
+of Grace in the following prayer for his deliverance:
+
+"'O God! hear my prayer this time, for Thou knowest it is not often that
+I call upon Thee. And, O Lord! if it is all the same to Thee, give us a
+little more light and a little less noise.'
+
+"I wish," the President said, sadly, "there was a stronger disposition
+manifested on the part of our civilian warriors to unite in suppressing
+the rebellion, and a little less noise as to how and by whom the chief
+executive office shall be administered."
+
+
+
+
+ONE BULLET AND A HATFUL.
+
+Lincoln made the best of everything, and if he couldn't get what he
+wanted he took what he could get. In matters of policy, while President
+he acted according to this rule. He would take perilous chances, even
+when the result was, to the minds of his friends, not worth the risk he
+had run.
+
+One day at a meeting of the Cabinet, it being at the time when it seemed
+as though war with England and France could not be avoided, Secretary
+of State Seward and Secretary of War Stanton warmly advocated that the
+United States maintain an attitude, the result of which would have been
+a declaration of hostilities by the European Powers mentioned.
+
+"Why take any more chances than are absolutely necessary?" asked the
+President.
+
+"We must maintain our honor at any cost," insisted Secretary Seward.
+
+"We would be branded as cowards before the entire world," Secretary
+Stanton said.
+
+"But why run the greater risk when we can take a smaller one?" queried
+the President calmly. "The less risk we run the better for us. That
+reminds me of a story I heard a day or two ago, the hero of which was
+on the firing line during a recent battle, where the bullets were flying
+thick.
+
+"Finally his courage gave way entirely, and throwing down his gun, he
+ran for dear life.
+
+"As he was flying along at top speed he came across an officer who drew
+his revolver and shouted, 'Go back to your regiment at once or I will
+shoot you!'
+
+"'Shoot and be hanged,' the racer exclaimed. 'What's one bullet to a
+whole hatful?'"
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S STORY TO PEACE COMMISSIONERS.
+
+Among the reminiscences of Lincoln left by Editor Henry J. Raymond, is
+the following:
+
+Among the stories told by Lincoln, which is freshest in my mind, one
+which he related to me shortly after its occurrence, belongs to the
+history of the famous interview on board the River Queen, at Hampton
+Roads, between himself and Secretary Seward and the rebel Peace
+Commissioners. It was reported at the time that the President told a
+"little story" on that occasion, and the inquiry went around among the
+newspapers, "What was it?"
+
+The New York Herald published what purported to be a version of it, but
+the "point" was entirely lost, and it attracted no attention. Being in
+Washington a few days subsequent to the interview with the Commissioners
+(my previous sojourn there having terminated about the first of last
+August), I asked Mr. Lincoln one day if it was true that he told
+Stephens, Hunter and Campbell a story.
+
+"Why, yes," he replied, manifesting some surprise, "but has it
+leaked out? I was in hopes nothing would be said about it, lest some
+over-sensitive people should imagine there was a degree of levity in
+the intercourse between us." He then went on to relate the circumstances
+which called it out.
+
+"You see," said he, "we had reached and were discussing the slavery
+question. Mr. Hunter said, substantially, that the slaves, always
+accustomed to an overseer, and to work upon compulsion, suddenly freed,
+as they would be if the South should consent to peace on the basis of
+the 'Emancipation Proclamation,' would precipitate not only themselves,
+but the entire Southern society, into irremediable ruin. No work would
+be done, nothing would be cultivated, and both blacks and whites would
+starve!"
+
+Said the President: "I waited for Seward to answer that argument, but as
+he was silent, I at length said: 'Mr. Hunter, you ought to know a great
+deal better about this argument than I, for you have always lived under
+the slave system. I can only say, in reply to your statement of the
+case, that it reminds me of a man out in Illinois, by the name of Case,
+who undertook, a few years ago, to raise a very large herd of hogs.
+It was a great trouble to feed them, and how to get around this was a
+puzzle to him. At length he hit on the plan of planting an immense field
+of potatoes, and, when they were sufficiently grown, he turned the whole
+herd into the field, and let them have full swing, thus saving not only
+the labor of feeding the hogs, but also that of digging the potatoes.
+Charmed with his sagacity, he stood one day leaning against the fence,
+counting his hogs, when a neighbor came along.
+
+"'Well, well,' said he, 'Mr. Case, this is all very fine. Your hogs are
+doing very well just now, but you know out here in Illinois the frost
+comes early, and the ground freezes for a foot deep. Then what you going
+to do?'
+
+"This was a view of the matter which Mr. Case had not taken into
+account. Butchering time for hogs was 'way on in December or January! He
+scratched his head, and at length stammered: 'Well, it may come pretty
+hard on their snouts, but I don't see but that it will be "root, hog, or
+die."'"
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" GOT THE WORST OF IT.
+
+When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Illinois, he and a certain Judge once
+got to bantering one another about trading horses; and it was agreed
+that the next morning at nine o'clock they should make a trade, the
+horses to be unseen up to that hour, and no backing out, under a
+forfeiture of $25. At the hour appointed, the Judge came up, leading the
+sorriest-looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a few
+minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching with a wooden saw-horse upon
+his shoulders.
+
+Great were the shouts and laughter of the crowd, and both were greatly
+increased when Lincoln, on surveying the Judge's animal, set down his
+saw-horse, and exclaimed:
+
+"Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a
+horse trade."
+
+
+
+
+IT DEPENDED UPON HIS CONDITION.
+
+The President had made arrangements to visit New York, and was told that
+President Garrett, of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, would be glad to
+furnish a special train.
+
+"I don't doubt it a bit," remarked the President, "for I know Mr.
+Garrett, and like him very well, and if I believed--which I don't, by
+any means--all the things some people say about his 'secesh' principles,
+he might say to you as was said by the Superintendent of a certain
+railroad to a son of one my predecessors in office. Some two years after
+the death of President Harrison, the son of his successor in this office
+wanted to take his father on an excursion somewhere or other, and went
+to the Superintendent's office to order a special train.
+
+"This Superintendent was a Whig of the most uncompromising sort, who
+hated a Democrat more than all other things on the earth, and promptly
+refused the young man's request, his language being to the effect
+that this particular railroad was not running special trains for the
+accommodation of Presidents of the United States just at that season.
+
+"The son of the President was much surprised and exceedingly annoyed.
+'Why,' he said, 'you have run special Presidential trains, and I know
+it. Didn't you furnish a special train for the funeral of President
+Harrison?'
+
+"'Certainly we did,' calmly replied the Superintendent, with no
+relaxation of his features, 'and if you will only bring your father here
+in the same shape as General Harrison was, you shall have the best train
+on the road."'
+
+When the laughter had subsided, the President said: "I shall take
+pleasure in accepting Mr. Garrett's offer, as I have no doubts whatever
+as to his loyalty to the United States government or his respect for the
+occupant of the Presidential office."
+
+
+
+
+"GOT DOWN TO THE RAISINS."
+
+A. B. Chandler, chief of the telegraph office at the War Department,
+occupied three rooms, one of which was called "the President's room,"
+so much of his time did Mr. Lincoln spend there. Here he would read
+over the telegrams received for the several heads of departments. Three
+copies of all messages received were made--one for the President, one
+for the War Department records and one for Secretary Stanton.
+
+Mr. Chandler told a story as to the manner in which the President read
+the despatches:
+
+"President Lincoln's copies were kept in what we called the 'President's
+drawer' of the 'cipher desk.' He would come in at any time of the night
+or day, and go at once to this drawer, and take out a file of telegrams,
+and begin at the top to read them. His position in running over these
+telegrams was sometimes very curious.
+
+"He had a habit of sitting frequently on the edge of his chair, with his
+right knee dragged down to the floor. I remember a curious expression
+of his when he got to the bottom of the new telegrams and began on those
+that he had read before. It was, 'Well, I guess I have got down to the
+raisins.'
+
+"The first two or three times he said this he made no explanation, and I
+did not ask one. But one day, after he had made the remark, he looked up
+under his eyebrows at me with a funny twinkle in his eyes, and said: 'I
+used to know a little girl out West who sometimes was inclined to eat
+too much. One day she ate a good many more raisins than she ought to,
+and followed them up with a quantity of other goodies. They made her
+very sick. After a time the raisins began to come.
+
+"She gasped and looked at her mother and said: 'Well, I will be better
+now I guess, for I have got down to the raisins.'"
+
+
+
+
+"HONEST ABE" SWALLOWS HIS ENEMIES.
+
+"'Honest Abe' Taking Them on the Half-Shell" was one of the cartoons
+published in 1860 by one of the illustrated periodicals. As may be
+seen, it represents Lincoln in a "Political Oyster House," preparing to
+swallow two of his Democratic opponents for the Presidency--Douglas
+and Breckinridge. He performed the feat at the November election.
+The Democratic party was hopelessly split in 1860 The Northern wing
+nominated Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, as their candidate,
+the Southern wing naming John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky; the
+Constitutional Unionists (the old American of Know-Nothing party) placed
+John Bell, of Tennessee, in the field, and against these was put Abraham
+Lincoln, who received the support of the Abolitionists.
+
+Lincoln made short work of his antagonists when the election came
+around. He received a large majority in the Electoral College, while
+nearly every Northern State voted majorities for him at the polls.
+Douglas had but twelve votes in the Electoral College, while Bell had
+thirty-nine. The votes of the Southern States, then preparing to secede,
+were, for the most part, thrown for Breckinridge. The popular vote was:
+Lincoln, 1,857,610; Douglas, 1,365,976; Breckinridge, 847,953; Bell,
+590,631; total vote, 4,662,170. In the Electoral College Lincoln
+received 180; Douglas, 12; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Lincoln's
+majority over all, 57.
+
+
+
+
+SAVING HIS WIND.
+
+Judge H. W. Beckwith of Danville, Ill., said that soon after the Ottawa
+debate between Lincoln and Douglas he passed the Chenery House, then
+the principal hotel in Springfield. The lobby was crowded with partisan
+leaders from various sections of the state, and Mr. Lincoln, from his
+greater height, was seen above the surging mass that clung about him
+like a swarm of bees to their ruler. The day was warm, and at the first
+chance he broke away and came out for a little fresh air, wiping the
+sweat from his face.
+
+"As he passed the door he saw me," said Judge Beckwith, "and, taking
+my hand, inquired for the health and views of his 'friends over in
+Vermillion county.' He was assured they were wide awake, and further
+told that they looked forward to the debate between him and Senator
+Douglas with deep concern. From the shadow that went quickly over his
+face, the pained look that came to give way quickly to a blaze of eyes
+and quiver of lips, I felt that Mr. Lincoln had gone beneath my mere
+words and caught my inner and current fears as to the result. And then,
+in a forgiving, jocular way peculiar to him, he said: 'Sit down; I have
+a moment to spare, and will tell you a story.' Having been on his feet
+for some time, he sat on the end of the stone step leading into the
+hotel door, while I stood closely fronting him.
+
+"'You have,' he continued, 'seen two men about to fight?'
+
+"'Yes, many times.'
+
+"'Well, one of them brags about what he means to do. He jumps high in
+the air, cracking his heels together, smites his fists, and wastes his
+wreath trying to scare somebody. You see the other fellow, he says not
+a word,'--here Mr. Lincoln's voice and manner changed to great
+earnestness, and repeating--'you see the other man says not a word. His
+arms are at his sides, his fists are closely doubled up, his head is
+drawn to the shoulder, and his teeth are set firm together. He is saving
+his wind for the fight, and as sure as it comes off he will win it, or
+die a-trying.'"
+
+
+
+
+RIGHT FOR, ONCE, ANYHOW.
+
+Where men bred in courts, accustomed to the world, or versed in
+diplomacy, would use some subterfuge, or would make a polite speech,
+or give a shrug of the shoulders, as the means of getting out of an
+embarrassing position, Lincoln raised a laugh by some bold west-country
+anecdote, and moved off in the cloud of merriment produced by the joke.
+When Attorney-General Bates was remonstrating apparently against
+the appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial
+importance, the President interposed with: "Come now, Bates, he's not
+half as bad as you think. Besides that, I must tell you, he did me a
+good turn long ago. When I took to the law, I was going to court one
+morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before me, and I had
+no horse.
+
+"The judge overtook me in his carriage.
+
+"'Hallo, Lincoln! are you not going to the court-house? Come in and I
+will give you a seat!'
+
+"Well, I got in, and the Judge went on reading his papers. Presently the
+carriage struck a stump on one side of the road, then it hopped off to
+the other. I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerking from side to
+side in his seat, so I says:
+
+"'Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a little too much this
+morning.'
+
+"'Well, I declare, Lincoln,' said he, 'I should not much wonder if
+you were right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since
+starting.'
+
+"So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted, 'Why, you infernal
+scoundrel, you are drunk!'
+
+"Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great
+gravity, the coachman said:
+
+"'Begorra! that's the first rightful decision that you have given for
+the last twelvemonth.'"
+
+While the company were laughing, the President beat a quiet retreat from
+the neighborhood.
+
+
+
+
+"PITY THE POOR ORPHAN."
+
+After the War was well on, and several battles had been fought, a lady
+from Alexandria asked the President for an order to release a certain
+church which had been taken for a Federal hospital. The President said
+he could do nothing, as the post surgeon at Alexandria was immovable,
+and then asked the lady why she did not donate money to build a
+hospital.
+
+"We have been very much embarrassed by the war," she replied, "and our
+estates are much hampered."
+
+"You are not ruined?" asked the President.
+
+"No, sir, but we do not feel that we should give up anything we have
+left."
+
+The President, after some reflection, then said: "There are more battles
+yet to be fought, and I think God would prefer that your church be
+devoted to the care and alleviation of the sufferings of our poor
+fellows. So, madam, you will excuse me. I can do nothing for you."
+
+Afterward, in speaking of this incident, President Lincoln said that the
+lady, as a representative of her class in Alexandria, reminded him of
+the story of the young man who had an aged father and mother owning
+considerable property. The young man being an only son, and believing
+that the old people had outlived their usefulness, assassinated them
+both. He was accused, tried and convicted of the murder. When the judge
+came to pass sentence upon him, and called upon him to give any reason
+he might have why the sentence of death should not be passed upon
+him, he with great promptness replied that he hoped the court would be
+lenient upon him because he was a poor orphan!
+
+"BAP." McNABB'S BOOSTER.
+
+It is true that Lincoln did not drink, never swore, was a stranger to
+smoking and lived a moral life generally, but he did like horse-racing
+and chicken fighting. New Salem, Illinois, where Lincoln was "clerking,"
+was known the neighborhood around as a "fast" town, and the average
+young man made no very desperate resistance when tempted to join in the
+drinking and gambling bouts.
+
+"Bap." McNabb was famous for his ability in both the raising and the
+purchase of roosters of prime fighting quality, and when his birds
+fought the attendance was large. It was because of the "flunking" of
+one of "Bap.'s" roosters that Lincoln was enabled to make a point when
+criticising McClellan's unreadiness and lack of energy.
+
+One night there was a fight on the schedule, one of "Bap." McNabb's
+birds being a contestant. "Bap." brought a little red rooster, whose
+fighting qualities had been well advertised for days in advance, and
+much interest was manifested in the outcome. As the result of these
+contests was generally a quarrel, in which each man, charging foul play,
+seized his victim, they chose Lincoln umpire, relying not only on his
+fairness but his ability to enforce his decisions. Judge Herndon, in his
+"Abraham Lincoln," says of this notable event:
+
+"I cannot improve on the description furnished me in February, 1865, by
+one who was present.
+
+"They formed a ring, and the time having arrived, Lincoln, with one hand
+on each hip and in a squatting position, cried, 'Ready.' Into the ring
+they toss their fowls, 'Bap.'s' red rooster along with the rest. But
+no sooner had the little beauty discovered what was to be done than he
+dropped his tail and ran.
+
+"The crowd cheered, while 'Bap.,' in disappointment, picked him up and
+started away, losing his quarter (entrance fee) and carrying home his
+dishonored fowl. Once arrived at the latter place he threw his pet down
+with a feeling of indignation and chagrin.
+
+"The little fellow, out of sight of all rivals, mounted a woodpile and
+proudly flirting out his feathers, crowed with all his might. 'Bap.'
+looked on in disgust.
+
+"'Yes, you little cuss,' he exclaimed, irreverently, 'you're great on
+dress parade, but not worth a darn in a fight."'
+
+It is said, according to Judge Herndon, that Lincoln considered
+McClellan as "great on dress parade," but not so much in a fight.
+
+
+
+
+A LOW-DOWN TRICK.
+
+When Lincoln was a candidate of the Know Nothings for the State
+Legislature, the party was over-confident, and the Democrats pursued a
+still-hunt. Lincoln was defeated. He compared the situation to one of
+the camp-followers of General Taylor's army, who had secured a barrel of
+cider, erected a tent, and commenced selling it to the thirsty soldiers
+at twenty-five cents a drink, but he had sold but little before another
+sharp one set up a tent at his back, and tapped the barrel so as to
+flow on his side, and peddled out No. 1 cider at five cents a drink, of
+course, getting the latter's entire trade on the borrowed capital.
+
+"The Democrats," said Mr. Lincoln, "had played Knownothing on a cheaper
+scale than had the real devotees of Sam, and had raked down his pile
+with his own cider!"
+
+
+
+
+END FOR END.
+
+Judge H. W. Beckwith, of Danville, Ill., in his "Personal Recollections
+of Lincoln," tells a story which is a good example of Lincoln's way of
+condensing the law and the facts of an issue in a story: "A man, by vile
+words, first provoked and then made a bodily attack upon another. The
+latter, in defending himself, gave the other much the worst of the
+encounter. The aggressor, to get even, had the one who thrashed him
+tried in our Circuit Court on a charge of an assault and battery. Mr.
+Lincoln defended, and told the jury that his client was in the fix of
+a man who, in going along the highway with a pitchfork on his shoulder,
+was attacked by a fierce dog that ran out at him from a farmer's
+dooryard. In parrying off the brute with the fork, its prongs stuck into
+the brute and killed him.
+
+"'What made you kill my dog?' said the farmer.
+
+"'What made him try to bite me?'
+
+"'But why did you not go at him with the other end of the pitchfork?'
+
+"'Why did he not come after me with his other end?'
+
+"At this Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his long arms an imaginary dog,
+and pushed its tail end toward the jury. This was the defensive plea of
+'son assault demesne'--loosely, that 'the other fellow brought on the
+fight,'--quickly told, and in a way the dullest mind would grasp and
+retain."
+
+
+
+
+LET SIX SKUNKS GO.
+
+The President had decided to select a new War Minister, and the Leading
+Republican Senators thought the occasion was opportune to change the
+whole seven Cabinet ministers. They, therefore, earnestly advised him to
+make a clean sweep, and select seven new men, and so restore the waning
+confidence of the country.
+
+The President listened with patient courtesy, and when the Senators had
+concluded, he said, with a characteristic gleam of humor in his eye:
+
+"Gentlemen, your request for a change of the whole Cabinet because I
+have made one change reminds me of a story I once heard in Illinois,
+of a farmer who was much troubled by skunks. His wife insisted on his
+trying to get rid of them.
+
+"He loaded his shotgun one moonlight night and awaited developments.
+After some time the wife heard the shotgun go off, and in a few minutes
+the farmer entered the house.
+
+"'What luck have you?' asked she.
+
+"'I hid myself behind the wood-pile,' said the old man, 'with the
+shotgun pointed towards the hen roost, and before long there appeared
+not one skunk, but seven. I took aim, blazed away, killed one, and he
+raised such a fearful smell that I concluded it was best to let the
+other six go."'
+
+The Senators laughed and retired.
+
+
+
+
+HOW HE GOT BLACKSTONE.
+
+The following story was told by Mr. Lincoln to Mr. A. J. Conant, the
+artist, who painted his portrait in Springfield in 1860:
+
+"One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of my
+store with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. He
+asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in his
+wagon, and which he said contained nothing of special value. I did not
+want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, half a
+dollar for it. Without further examination, I put it away in the store
+and forgot all about it. Some time after, in overhauling things, I
+came upon the barrel, and, emptying it upon the floor to see what it
+contained, I found at the bottom of the rubbish a complete edition of
+Blackstone's Commentaries. I began to read those famous works, and I had
+plenty of time; for during the long summer days, when the farmers were
+busy with their crops, my customers were few and far between. The more
+I read"--this he said with unusual emphasis--"the more intensely
+interested I became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly
+absorbed. I read until I devoured them."
+
+
+
+
+A JOB FOR THE NEW CABINETMAKER.
+
+This cartoon, labeled "A Job for the New Cabinetmaker," was printed in
+"Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" on February 2d, 1861, a month and
+two days before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United
+States. The Southern states had seceded from the Union, the Confederacy
+was established, with Jefferson Davis as its President, the Union had
+been split in two, and the task Lincoln had before him was to glue the
+two parts of the Republic together. In his famous speech, delivered a
+short time before his nomination for the Presidency by the Republican
+National Convention at Chicago, in 1860, Lincoln had said: "A house
+divided against itself cannot stand; this nation cannot exist half slave
+and half free." After his inauguration as President, Mr. Lincoln went
+to work to glue the two pieces together, and after four years of bloody
+war, and at immense cost, the job was finished; the house of the Great
+American Republic was no longer divided; the severed sections--the North
+and the South--were cemented tightly; the slaves were freed, peace was
+firmly established, and the Union of states was glued together so well
+that the nation is stronger now than ever before. Lincoln was just the
+man for that job, and the work he did will last for all time. "The New
+Cabinetmaker" knew his business thoroughly, and finished his task of
+glueing in a workmanlike manner. At the very moment of its completion,
+five days after the surrender of Lee to Grant at Appomattox, the Martyr
+President fell at the hands of the assassin, J. Wilkes Booth.
+
+
+
+
+"I CAN STAND IT IF THEY CAN."
+
+United States Senator Benjamin Wade, of Ohio, Henry Winter Davis,
+of Maryland, and Wendell Phillips were strongly opposed to President
+Lincoln's re-election, and Wade and Davis issued a manifesto. Phillips
+made several warm speeches against Lincoln and his policy.
+
+When asked if he had read the manifesto or any of Phillips' speeches,
+the President replied:
+
+"I have not seen them, nor do I care to see them. I have seen enough to
+satisfy me that I am a failure, not only in the opinion of the people
+in rebellion, but of many distinguished politicians of my own party. But
+time will show whether I am right or they are right, and I am content to
+abide its decision.
+
+"I have enough to look after without giving much of my time to the
+consideration of the subject of who shall be my successor in office. The
+position is not an easy one; and the occupant, whoever he may be, for
+the next four years, will have little leisure to pluck a thorn or plant
+a rose in his own pathway."
+
+It was urged that this opposition must be embarrassing to his
+Administration, as well as damaging to the party. He replied: "Yes, that
+is true; but our friends, Wade, Davis, Phillips, and others are hard
+to please. I am not capable of doing so. I cannot please them without
+wantonly violating not only my oath, but the most vital principles upon
+which our government was founded.
+
+"As to those who, like Wade and the rest, see fit to depreciate my
+policy and cavil at my official acts, I shall not complain of them. I
+accord them the utmost freedom of speech and liberty of the press, but
+shall not change the policy I have adopted in the full belief that I am
+right.
+
+"I feel on this subject as an old Illinois farmer once expressed himself
+while eating cheese. He was interrupted in the midst of his repast by
+the entrance of his son, who exclaimed, 'Hold on, dad! there's skippers
+in that cheese you're eating!'
+
+"'Never mind, Tom,' said he, as he kept on munching his cheese, 'if they
+can stand it I can.'"
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MISTAKEN FOR ONCE.
+
+President Lincoln was compelled to acknowledge that he made at least one
+mistake in "sizing up" men. One day a very dignified man called at the
+White House, and Lincoln's heart fell when his visitor approached. The
+latter was portly, his face was full of apparent anxiety, and Lincoln
+was willing to wager a year's salary that he represented some Society
+for the Easy and Speedy Repression of Rebellions.
+
+The caller talked fluently, but at no time did he give advice or suggest
+a way to put down the Confederacy. He was full of humor, told a clever
+story or two, and was entirely self-possessed.
+
+At length the President inquired, "You are a clergyman, are you not,
+sir?"
+
+"Not by a jug full," returned the stranger heartily.
+
+Grasping him by the hand Lincoln shook it until the visitor squirmed.
+"You must lunch with us. I am glad to see you. I was afraid you were a
+preacher."
+
+"I went to the Chicago Convention," the caller said, "as a friend of Mr.
+Seward. I have watched you narrowly ever since your inauguration, and
+I called merely to pay my respects. What I want to say is this: I think
+you are doing everything for the good of the country that is in
+the power of man to do. You are on the right track. As one of your
+constituents I now say to you, do in future as you d---- please, and I
+will support you!"
+
+This was spoken with tremendous effect.
+
+"Why," said Mr. Lincoln in great astonishment, "I took you to be a
+preacher. I thought you had come here to tell me how to take Richmond,"
+and he again grasped the hand of his strange visitor.
+
+Accurate and penetrating as Mr. Lincoln's judgment was concerning men,
+for once he had been wholly mistaken. The scene was comical in the
+extreme. The two men stood gazing at each other. A smile broke from the
+lips of the solemn wag and rippled over the wide expanse of his homely
+face like sunlight overspreading a continent, and Mr. Lincoln was
+convulsed with laughter.
+
+He stayed to lunch.
+
+
+
+
+FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW.
+
+President Lincoln, while entertaining a few friends, is said to have
+related the following anecdote of a man who knew too much:
+
+During the administration of President Jackson there was a singular
+young gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in Washington.
+
+His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a neighbor
+of the President, on which account the old hero had a kind feeling for
+him, and always got him out of difficulties with some of the higher
+officials, to whom his singular interference was distasteful.
+
+Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the General
+Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to Major H., a
+high official, in answer to an application made by an old gentleman in
+Virginia or Pennsylvania, for the establishment of a new postoffice.
+
+The writer of the letter said the application could not be granted, in
+consequence of the applicant's "proximity" to another office.
+
+When the letter came into G.'s hand to copy, being a great stickler for
+plainness, he altered "proximity" to "nearness to."
+
+Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+
+"Why," replied G., "because I don't think the man would understand what
+you mean by proximity."
+
+"Well," said Major H., "try him; put in the 'proximity' again."
+
+In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which he very
+indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty in the second
+war for independence, and he should like to have the name of the
+scoundrel who brought the charge of proximity or anything else wrong
+against him.
+
+"There," said G., "did I not say so?"
+
+G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the
+Postmaster-General, said to him: "I don't want you any longer; you know
+too much."
+
+Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+
+This time G.'s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very busy
+writing, when a stranger called in and asked him where the Patent Office
+was.
+
+"I don't know," said G.
+
+"Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?" said the stranger.
+
+"No," said G.
+
+"Nor the President's house?"
+
+"No."
+
+The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+
+"No," replied G.
+
+"Do you live in Washington, sir."
+
+"Yes, sir," said G.
+
+"Good Lord! and don't you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+President's House and Capitol are?"
+
+"Stranger," said G., "I was turned out of the postoffice for knowing too
+much. I don't mean to offend in that way again.
+
+"I am paid for keeping this book.
+
+"I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything more
+you may take my head."
+
+"Good morning," said the stranger.
+
+
+
+
+HE LOVED A GOOD STORY.
+
+Judge Breese, of the Supreme bench, one of the most distinguished of
+American jurists, and a man of great personal dignity, was about to open
+court at Springfield, when Lincoln called out in his hearty way: "Hold
+on, Breese! Don't open court yet! Here's Bob Blackwell just going to
+tell a story!" The judge passed on without replying, evidently regarding
+it as beneath the dignity of the Supreme Court to delay proceedings for
+the sake of a story.
+
+
+
+
+HEELS RAN AWAY WITH THEM.
+
+In an argument against the opposite political party at one time during a
+campaign, Lincoln said: "My opponent uses a figurative expression to
+the effect that 'the Democrats are vulnerable in the heel, but they are
+sound in the heart and head.' The first branch of the figure--that
+is the Democrats are vulnerable in the heel--I admit is not merely
+figuratively but literally true. Who that looks but for a moment at
+their hundreds of officials scampering away with the public money to
+Texas, to Europe, and to every spot of the earth where a villain may
+hope to find refuge from justice, can at all doubt that they are most
+distressingly affected in their heels with a species of running itch?
+
+"It seems that this malady of their heels operates on the sound-headed
+and honest-hearted creatures very much as the cork leg in the comic song
+did on its owner, which, when he once got started on it, the more he
+tried to stop it, the more it would run away.
+
+"At the hazard of wearing this point threadbare, I will relate
+an anecdote the situation calls to my mind, which seems to be too
+strikingly in point to be omitted. A witty Irish soldier, who was always
+boasting of his bravery when no danger was near, but who invariably
+retreated without orders at the first charge of the engagement, being
+asked by his captain why he did so, replied, 'Captain, I have as brave
+a heart as Julius Caesar ever had, but somehow or other, whenever danger
+approaches, my cowardly legs will run away with it.'
+
+"So with the opposite party--they take the public money into their hands
+for the most laudable purpose that wise heads and honest hearts can
+dictate; but before they can possibly get it out again, their rascally,
+vulnerable heels will run away with them."
+
+
+
+
+WANTED TO BURN HIM DOWN TO THE STUMP.
+
+Preston King once introduced A. J. Bleeker to the President, and the
+latter, being an applicant for office, was about to hand Mr. Lincoln his
+vouchers, when he was asked to read them. Bleeker had not read very far
+when the President disconcerted him by the exclamation, "Stop a minute!
+You remind me exactly of the man who killed the dog; in fact, you are
+just like him."
+
+"In what respect?" asked Bleeker, not feeling he had received a
+compliment.
+
+"Well," replied the President, "this man had made up his mind to kill
+his dog, an ugly brute, and proceeded to knock out his brains with a
+club. He continued striking the dog after the latter was dead until a
+friend protested, exclaiming, 'You needn't strike him any more; the dog
+is dead; you killed him at the first blow.'
+
+"'Oh, yes,' said he, 'I know that; but I believe in punishment after
+death.' So, I see, you do."
+
+Bleeker acknowledged it was possible to overdo a good thing, and
+then came back at the President with an anecdote of a good priest who
+converted an Indian from heathenism to Christianity; the only difficulty
+he had with him was to get him to pray for his enemies. "This Indian
+had been taught to overcome and destroy all his friends he didn't like,"
+said Bleeker, "but the priest told him that while that might be the
+Indian method, it was not the doctrine of Christianity or the Bible.
+'Saint Paul distinctly says,' the priest told him, 'If thine enemy
+hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.'
+
+"The Indian shook his head at this, but when the priest added, 'For
+in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head,' Poor Lo was
+overcome with emotion, fell on his knees, and with outstretched hands
+and uplifted eyes invoked all sorts of blessings on the heads of all his
+enemies, supplicating for pleasant hunting-grounds, a large supply of
+squaws, lots of papooses, and all other Indian comforts.
+
+"Finally the good priest interrupted him (as you did me, Mr. President),
+exclaiming, 'Stop, my son! You have discharged your Christian duty, and
+have done more than enough.'
+
+"'Oh, no, father,' replied the Indian; 'let me pray! I want to burn him
+down to the stump!"
+
+
+
+
+HAD A "KICK" COMING.
+
+During the war, one of the Northern Governors, who was able, earnest
+and untiring in aiding the administration, but always complaining,
+sent dispatch after dispatch to the War Office, protesting against
+the methods used in raising troops. After reading all his papers,
+the President said, in a cheerful and reassuring tone to the
+Adjutant-General:
+
+"Never mind, never mind; those dispatches don't mean anything. Just go
+right ahead. The Governor is like a boy I once saw at a launching. When
+everything was ready, they picked out a boy and sent him under the ship
+to knock away the trigger and let her go.
+
+"At the critical moment everything depended on the boy. He had to do the
+job well by a direct, vigorous blow, and then lie flat and keep still
+while the boat slid over him.
+
+"The boy did everything right, but he yelled as if he were being
+murdered from the time he got under the keel until he got out. I thought
+the hide was all scraped off his back, but he wasn't hurt at all.
+
+"The master of the yard told me that this boy was always chosen for that
+job; that he did his work well; that he never had been hurt, but that he
+always squealed in that way.
+
+"That's just the way with Governor--. Make up your mind that he is not
+hurt, and that he is doing the work right, and pay no attention to his
+squealing. He only wants to make you understand how hard his task is,
+and that he is on hand performing it."
+
+
+
+
+THE CASE OF BETSY ANN DOUGHERTY.
+
+Many requests and petitions made to Mr. Lincoln when he was President
+were ludicrous and trifling, but he always entered into them with that
+humor-loving spirit that was such a relief from the grave duties of his
+great office.
+
+Once a party of Southerners called on him in behalf of one Betsy Ann
+Dougherty. The spokesman, who was an ex-Governor, said:
+
+"Mr. President, Betsy Ann Dougherty is a good woman. She lived in my
+county and did my washing for a long time. Her husband went off and
+joined the rebel army, and I wish you would give her a protection
+paper." The solemnity of this appeal struck Mr. Lincoln as uncommonly
+ridiculous.
+
+The two men looked at each other--the Governor desperately earnest, and
+the President masking his humor behind the gravest exterior. At last
+Mr. Lincoln asked, with inimitable gravity, "Was Betsy Ann a good
+washerwoman?" "Oh, yes, sir, she was, indeed."
+
+"Was your Betsy Ann an obliging woman?" "Yes, she was certainly very
+kind," responded the Governor, soberly. "Could she do other things than
+wash?" continued Mr. Lincoln with the same portentous gravity.
+
+"Oh, yes; she was very kind--very."
+
+"Where is Betsy Ann?"
+
+"She is now in New York, and wants to come back to Missouri, but she is
+afraid of banishment."
+
+"Is anybody meddling with her?"
+
+"No; but she is afraid to come back unless you will give her a
+protection paper."
+
+Thereupon Mr. Lincoln wrote on a visiting card the following:
+
+"Let Betsy Ann Dougherty alone as long as she behaves herself.
+
+"A. LINCOLN."
+
+He handed this card to her advocate, saying, "Give this to Betsy Ann."
+
+"But, Mr. President, couldn't you write a few words to the officers that
+would insure her protection?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Lincoln, "officers have no time now to read letters. Tell
+Betsy Ann to put a string in this card and hang it around her neck. When
+the officers see this, they will keep their hands off your Betsy Ann."
+
+
+
+
+HAD TO WEAR A WOODEN SWORD.
+
+Captain "Abe" Lincoln and his company (in the Black Hawk War) were
+without any sort of military knowledge, and both were forced to acquire
+such knowledge by attempts at drilling. Which was the more awkward, the
+"squad" or the commander, it would have been difficult to decide.
+
+In one of Lincoln's earliest military problems was involved the process
+of getting his company "endwise" through a gate. Finally he shouted,
+"This company is dismissed for two minutes, when it will fall in again
+on the other side of the gate!"
+
+Lincoln was one of the first of his company to be arraigned for
+unmilitary conduct. Contrary to the rules he fired a gun "within the
+limits," and had his sword taken from him. The next infringement of
+rules was by some of the men, who stole a quantity of liquor, drank it,
+and became unfit for duty, straggling out of the ranks the next day, and
+not getting together again until late at night.
+
+For allowing this lawlessness the captain was condemned to wear a wooden
+sword for two days. These were merely interesting but trivial incidents
+of the campaign. Lincoln was from the very first popular with his men,
+although one of them told him to "go to the devil."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" STIRRING THE "BLACK" COALS.
+
+Under the caption, "The American Difficulty," "Punch" printed on May
+11th, 1861, the cartoon reproduced here. The following text was placed
+beneath the illustration: PRESIDENT ABE: "What a nice White House this
+would be, if it were not for the blacks!" It was the idea in England,
+and, in fact, in all the countries on the European continent, that
+the War of the Rebellion was fought to secure the freedom of the negro
+slaves. Such was not the case. The freedom of the slaves was one of
+the necessary consequences of the Civil War, but not the cause of that
+bloody four years' conflict. The War was the result of the secession of
+the states of the South from the Union, and President "Abe's" main aim
+was to compel the seceding states to resume their places in the Federal
+Union of states.
+
+The blacks did not bother President "Abe" in the least as he knew he
+would be enabled to give them their freedom when the proper time came.
+He had the project of freeing them in his mind long before he issued his
+Emancipation Proclamation, the delay in promulgating that document
+being due to the fact that he did not wish to estrange the hundreds of
+thousands of patriots of the border states who were fighting for the
+preservation of the Union, and not for the freedom of the negro slaves.
+President "Abe" had patience, and everything came out all right in the
+end.
+
+
+
+
+GETTING RID OF AN ELEPHANT.
+
+Charles A. Dana, who was Assistant Secretary of War under Mr. Stanton,
+relates the following: A certain Thompson had been giving the government
+considerable trouble. Dana received information that Thompson was about
+to escape to Liverpool.
+
+Calling upon Stanton, Dana was referred to Mr. Lincoln.
+
+"The President was at the White House, business hours were over, Lincoln
+was washing his hands. 'Hallo, Dana,' said he, as I opened the door,
+'what is it now?' 'Well, sir,' I said, 'here is the Provost Marshal of
+Portland, who reports that Jacob Thompson is to be in town to-night,
+and inquires what orders we have to give.' 'What does Stanton say?'
+he asked. 'Arrest him,' I replied. 'Well,' he continued, drawling his
+words, 'I rather guess not. When you have an elephant on your hands, and
+he wants to run away, better let him run.'"
+
+
+
+
+GROTESQUE, YET FRIGHTFUL.
+
+The nearest Lincoln ever came to a fight was when he was in the vicinity
+of the skirmish at Kellogg's Grove, in the Black Hawk War. The rangers
+arrived at the spot after the engagement and helped bury the five men
+who were killed.
+
+Lincoln told Noah Brooks, one of his biographers, that he "remembered
+just how those men looked as we rode up the little hill where their camp
+was. The red light of the morning sun was streaming upon them as they
+lay, heads toward us, on the ground. And every man had a round, red spot
+on the top of his head about as big as a dollar, where the redskins had
+taken his scalp. It was frightful, but it was grotesque; and the red
+sunlight seemed to paint everything all over."
+
+Lincoln paused, as if recalling the vivid picture, and added, somewhat
+irrelevantly, "I remember that one man had on buckskin breeches."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" WAS NO DUDE.
+
+Always indifferent in matters of dress, Lincoln cut but small figure in
+social circles, even in the earliest days of Illinois. His trousers were
+too short, his hat too small, and, as a rule, the buttons on the back of
+his coat were nearer his shoulder blades than his waist.
+
+No man was richer than his fellows, and there was no aristocracy;
+the women wore linsey-woolsey of home manufacture, and dyed them in
+accordance with the tastes of the wearers; calico was rarely seen, and a
+woman wearing a dress of that material was the envy of her sisters.
+
+There being no shoemakers the women wore moccasins, and the men made
+their own boots. A hunting shirt, leggins made of skins, buckskin
+breeches, dyed green, constituted an apparel no maiden could withstand.
+
+
+
+
+CHARACTERISTIC OF LINCOLN.
+
+One man who knew Lincoln at New Salem, says the first time he saw him he
+was lying on a trundle-bed covered with books and papers and rocking a
+cradle with his foot.
+
+The whole scene was entirely characteristic--Lincoln reading and
+studying, and at the same time helping his landlady by quieting her
+child.
+
+A gentleman who knew Mr. Lincoln well in early manhood says: "Lincoln at
+this period had nothing but plenty of friends."
+
+After the customary hand-shaking on one occasion in the White House at
+Washington several gentlemen came forward and asked the President for
+his autograph. One of them gave his name as "Cruikshank." "That reminds
+me," said Mr. Lincoln, "of what I used to be called when a young
+man--'Long-shanks!'"
+
+
+
+
+"PLOUGH ALL 'ROUND HIM."
+
+Governor Blank went to the War Department one day in a towering rage:
+
+"I suppose you found it necessary to make large concessions to him, as
+he returned from you perfectly satisfied," suggested a friend.
+
+"Oh, no," the President replied, "I did not concede anything. You have
+heard how that Illinois farmer got rid of a big log that was too big to
+haul out, too knotty to split, and too wet and soggy to burn.
+
+"'Well, now,' said he, in response to the inquiries of his neighbors
+one Sunday, as to how he got rid of it, 'well, now, boys, if you won't
+divulge the secret, I'll tell you how I got rid of it--I ploughed around
+it.'
+
+"Now," remarked Lincoln, in conclusion, "don't tell anybody, but that's
+the way I got rid of Governor Blank. I ploughed all round him, but it
+took me three mortal hours to do it, and I was afraid every minute he'd
+see what I was at."
+
+
+
+
+"I'VE LOST MY APPLE."
+
+During a public "reception," a farmer from one of the border counties
+of Virginia told the President that the Union soldiers, in passing his
+farm, had helped themselves not only to hay, but his horse, and he
+hoped the President would urge the proper officer to consider his claim
+immediately.
+
+Mr. Lincoln said that this reminded him of an old acquaintance of his,
+"Jack" Chase, a lumberman on the Illinois, a steady, sober man, and the
+best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick to take the logs over
+the rapids; but he was skilful with a raft, and always kept her straight
+in the channel. Finally a steamer was put on, and "Jack" was made
+captain of her. He always used to take the wheel, going through the
+rapids. One day when the boat was plunging and wallowing along the
+boiling current, and "Jack's" utmost vigilance was being exercised to
+keep her in the narrow channel, a boy pulled his coat-tail and hailed
+him with:
+
+"Say, Mister Captain! I wish you would just stop your boat a
+minute--I've lost my apple overboard!"
+
+
+
+
+LOST HIS CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER.
+
+Mr. Lincoln prepared his first inaugural address in a room over a
+store in Springfield. His only reference works were Henry Clay's
+great compromise speech of 1850, Andrew Jackson's Proclamation against
+Nullification, Webster's great reply to Hayne, and a copy of the
+Constitution.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, to be inaugurated, the inaugural
+address was placed in a special satchel and guarded with special care.
+At Harrisburg the satchel was given in charge of Robert T. Lincoln, who
+accompanied his father. Before the train started from Harrisburg the
+precious satchel was missing. Robert thought he had given it to a waiter
+at the hotel, but a long search failed to reveal the missing satchel
+with its precious document. Lincoln was annoyed, angry, and finally in
+despair. He felt certain that the address was lost beyond recovery, and,
+as it only lacked ten days until the inauguration, he had no time to
+prepare another. He had not even preserved the notes from which the
+original copy had been written.
+
+Mr. Lincoln went to Ward Lamon, his former law partner, then one of his
+bodyguards, and informed him of the loss in the following words:
+
+"Lamon, I guess I have lost my certificate of moral character, written
+by myself. Bob has lost my gripsack containing my inaugural address." Of
+course, the misfortune reminded him of a story.
+
+"I feel," said Mr. Lincoln, "a good deal as the old member of the
+Methodist Church did when he lost his wife at the camp meeting, and
+went up to an old elder of the church and asked him if he could tell him
+whereabouts in h--l his wife was. In fact, I am in a worse fix than my
+Methodist friend, for if it were only a wife that were missing, mine
+would be sure to bob up somewhere."
+
+The clerk at the hotel told Mr. Lincoln that he would probably find his
+missing satchel in the baggage-room. Arriving there, Mr. Lincoln saw a
+satchel which he thought was his, and it was passed out to him. His key
+fitted the lock, but alas! when it was opened the satchel contained
+only a soiled shirt, some paper collars, a pack of cards and a bottle of
+whisky. A few minutes later the satchel containing the inaugural address
+was found among the pile of baggage.
+
+The recovery of the address also reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story, which
+is thus narrated by Ward Lamon in his "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln":
+
+The loss of the address and the search for it was the subject of a great
+deal of amusement. Mr. Lincoln said many funny things in connection with
+the incident. One of them was that he knew a fellow once who had saved
+up fifteen hundred dollars, and had placed it in a private banking
+establishment. The bank soon failed, and he afterward received ten per
+cent of his investment. He then took his one hundred and fifty dollars
+and deposited it in a savings bank, where he was sure it would be safe.
+In a short time this bank also failed, and he received at the final
+settlement ten per cent on the amount deposited. When the fifteen
+dollars was paid over to him, he held it in his hand and looked at it
+thoughtfully; then he said, "Now, darn you, I have got you reduced to a
+portable shape, so I'll put you in my pocket." Suiting the action to the
+word, Mr. Lincoln took his address from the bag and carefully placed
+it in the inside pocket of his vest, but held on to the satchel with
+as much interest as if it still contained his "certificate of moral
+character."
+
+
+
+
+NOTE PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT.
+
+The great English funny paper, London "Punch," printed this cartoon on
+September 27th, 1862. It is intended to convey the idea that Lincoln,
+having asserted that the war would be over in ninety days, had not
+redeemed his word: The text under the Cartoon in Punch was:
+
+MR. SOUTH TO MR. NORTH: "Your 'ninety-day' promissory note isn't taken
+up yet, sirree!"
+
+The tone of the cartoon is decidedly unfriendly. The North finally took
+up the note, but the South had to pay it. "Punch" was not pleased
+with the result, but "Mr. North" did not care particularly what this
+periodical thought about it. The United States, since then, has been
+prepared to take up all of its obligations when due, but it must be
+acknowledged that at the time this cartoon was published the outlook was
+rather dark and gloomy. Lincoln did not despair, however; but although
+business was in rather bad shape for a time, the financial skies finally
+cleared, business was resumed at the old stand, and Uncle Sam's credit
+is now as good, or better, than other nations' cash in hand.
+
+
+
+
+DOG WAS A "LEETLE BIT AHEAD."
+
+Lincoln could not sympathize with those Union generals who were prone to
+indulge in high-sounding promises, but whose performances did not by any
+means come up to their predictions as to what they would do if they ever
+met the enemy face to face. He said one day, just after one of these
+braggarts had been soundly thrashed by the Confederates:
+
+"These fellows remind me of the fellow who owned a dog which, so he
+said, just hungered and thirsted to combat and eat up wolves. It was a
+difficult matter, so the owner declared, to keep that dog from devoting
+the entire twenty-four hours of each day to the destruction of his
+enemies. He just 'hankered' to get at them.
+
+"One day a party of this dog-owner's friends thought to have some sport.
+These friends heartily disliked wolves, and were anxious to see the dog
+eat up a few thousand. So they organized a hunting party and invited
+the dog-owner and the dog to go with them. They desired to be personally
+present when the wolf-killing was in progress.
+
+"It was noticed that the dog-owner was not over-enthusiastic in the
+matter; he pleaded a 'business engagement,' but as he was the most
+notorious and torpid of the town loafers, and wouldn't have recognized a
+'business engagement' had he met it face to face, his excuse was treated
+with contempt. Therefore he had to go.
+
+"The dog, however, was glad enough to go, and so the party started out.
+Wolves were in plenty, and soon a pack was discovered, but when the
+'wolf-hound' saw the ferocious animals he lost heart, and, putting his
+tail between his legs, endeavored to slink away. At last--after many
+trials--he was enticed into the small growth of underbrush where the
+wolves had secreted themselves, and yelps of terror betrayed the fact
+that the battle was on.
+
+"Away flew the wolves, the dog among them, the hunting party following
+on horseback. The wolves seemed frightened, and the dog was restored to
+public favor. It really looked as if he had the savage creatures on the
+run, as he was fighting heroically when last sighted.
+
+"Wolves and dog soon disappeared, and it was not until the party arrived
+at a distant farmhouse that news of the combatants was gleaned.
+
+"'Have you seen anything of a wolf-dog and a pack of wolves around here?'
+was the question anxiously put to the male occupant of the house, who
+stood idly leaning upon the gate.
+
+"'Yep,' was the short answer.
+
+"'How were they going?'
+
+"'Purty fast.'
+
+"'What was their position when you saw them?'
+
+"'Well,' replied the farmer, in a most exasperatingly deliberate way,
+'the dog was a leetle bit ahead.'
+
+"Now, gentlemen," concluded the President, "that's the position in which
+you'll find most of these bragging generals when they get into a fight
+with the enemy. That's why I don't like military orators."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE'S" FIGHT WITH NEGROES.
+
+When Lincoln was nineteen years of age, he went to work for a Mr.
+Gentry, and, in company with Gentry's son, took a flatboat load of
+provisions to New Orleans. At a plantation six miles below Baton Rouge,
+while the boat was tied up to the shore in the dead hours of the night,
+and Abe and Allen were fast asleep in the bed, they were startled by
+footsteps on board. They knew instantly that it was a gang of negroes
+come to rob and perhaps murder them. Allen, thinking to frighten the
+negroes, called out, "Bring guns, Lincoln, and shoot them!" Abe came
+without the guns, but fell among the negroes with a huge bludgeon and
+belabored them most cruelly, following them onto the bank. They rushed
+back to their boat and hastily put out into the stream. It is said that
+Lincoln received a scar in this tussle which he carried with him to his
+grave. It was on this trip that he saw the workings of slavery for the
+first time. The sight of New Orleans was like a wonderful panorama
+to his eyes, for never before had he seen wealth, beauty, fashion
+and culture. He returned home with new and larger ideas and stronger
+opinions of right and justice.
+
+
+
+
+NOISE LIKE A TURNIP.
+
+"Every man has his own peculiar and particular way of getting at
+and doing things," said President Lincoln one day, "and he is often
+criticised because that way is not the one adopted by others. The great
+idea is to accomplish what you set out to do. When a man is successful
+in whatever he attempts, he has many imitators, and the methods used are
+not so closely scrutinized, although no man who is of good intent will
+resort to mean, underhanded, scurvy tricks.
+
+"That reminds me of a fellow out in Illinois, who had better luck in
+getting prairie chickens than any one in the neighborhood. He had a
+rusty old gun no other man dared to handle; he never seemed to exert
+himself, being listless and indifferent when out after game, but he
+always brought home all the chickens he could carry, while some of
+the others, with their finely trained dogs and latest improved
+fowling-pieces, came home alone.
+
+"'How is it, Jake?' inquired one sportsman, who, although a good shot,
+and knew something about hunting, was often unfortunate, 'that you never
+come home without a lot of birds?'
+
+"Jake grinned, half closed his eyes, and replied: 'Oh, I don't know that
+there's anything queer about it. I jes' go ahead an' git 'em.'
+
+"'Yes, I know you do; but how do you do it?'
+
+"'You'll tell.'
+
+"'Honest, Jake, I won't say a word. Hope to drop dead this minute.'
+
+"'Never say nothing, if I tell you?'
+
+"'Cross my heart three times.'
+
+"This reassured Jake, who put his mouth close to the ear of his eager
+questioner, and said, in a whisper:
+
+"'All you got to do is jes' to hide in a fence corner an' make a noise
+like a turnip. That'll bring the chickens every time.'"
+
+
+
+
+WARDING OFF GOD'S VENGEANCE.
+
+When Lincoln was a candidate for re-election to the Illinois Legislature
+in 1836, a meeting was advertised to be held in the court-house in
+Springfield, at which candidates of opposing parties were to speak. This
+gave men of spirit and capacity a fine opportunity to show the stuff of
+which they were made.
+
+George Forquer was one of the most prominent citizens; he had been a
+Whig, but became a Democrat--possibly for the reason that by means of
+the change he secured the position of Government land register, from
+President Andrew Jackson. He had the largest and finest house in
+the city, and there was a new and striking appendage to it, called
+a lightning-rod! The meeting was very large. Seven Whig and seven
+Democratic candidates spoke.
+
+Lincoln closed the discussion. A Kentuckian (Joshua F. Speed), who had
+heard Henry Clay and other distinguished Kentucky orators, stood near
+Lincoln, and stated afterward that he "never heard a more effective
+speaker;... the crowd seemed to be swayed by him as he pleased." What
+occurred during the closing portion of this meeting must be given in
+full, from Judge Arnold's book:
+
+"Forquer, although not a candidate, asked to be heard for the Democrats,
+in reply to Lincoln. He was a good speaker, and well known throughout
+the county. His special task that day was to attack and ridicule the
+young countryman from Salem.
+
+"Turning to Lincoln, who stood within a few feet of him, he said:
+'This young man must be taken down, and I am truly sorry that the task
+devolves upon me.' He then proceeded, in a very overbearing way, and
+with an assumption of great superiority, to attack Lincoln and his
+speech. He was fluent and ready with the rough sarcasm of the stump, and
+he went on to ridicule the person, dress and arguments of Lincoln
+with so much success that Lincoln's friends feared that he would be
+embarrassed and overthrown."
+
+"The Clary's Grove boys were present, and were restrained with difficulty
+from 'getting up a fight' in behalf of their favorite (Lincoln), they
+and all his friends feeling that the attack was ungenerous and unmanly.
+
+"Lincoln, however, stood calm, but his flashing eye and pale cheek
+indicated his indignation. As soon as Forquer had closed he took
+the stand, and first answered his opponent's arguments fully and
+triumphantly. So impressive were his words and manner that a hearer
+(Joshua F. Speed) believes that he can remember to this day and repeat
+some of the expressions.
+
+"Among other things he said: 'The gentleman commenced his speech by
+saying that "this young man," alluding to me, "must be taken down." I
+am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and the trades of a
+politician, but,' said he, pointing to Forquer, 'live long or die young,
+I would rather die now than, like the gentleman, change my politics,
+and with the change receive an office worth $3,000 a year, and then,'
+continued he, 'feel obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house, to
+protect a guilty conscience from an offended God!'"
+
+
+
+
+JEFF DAVIS AND CHARLES THE FIRST.
+
+Jefferson Davis insisted on being recognized by his official title as
+commander or President in the regular negotiation with the Government.
+This Mr. Lincoln would not consent to.
+
+Mr. Hunter thereupon referred to the correspondence between King Charles
+the First and his Parliament as a precedent for a negotiation between
+a constitutional ruler and rebels. Mr. Lincoln's face then wore that
+indescribable expression which generally preceded his hardest hits, and
+he remarked: "Upon questions of history, I must refer you to Mr. Seward,
+for he is posted in such things, and I don't profess to be; but my only
+distinct recollection of the matter is, that Charles lost his head."
+
+
+
+
+LOVED SOLDIERS' HUMOR.
+
+Lincoln loved anything that savored of wit or humor among the soldiers.
+He used to relate two stories to show, he said, that neither death nor
+danger could quench the grim humor of the American soldier:
+
+"A soldier of the Army of the Potomac was being carried to the rear of
+battle with both legs shot off, who, seeing a pie-woman, called out,
+'Say, old lady, are them pies sewed or pegged?'
+
+"And there was another one of the soldiers at the battle of
+Chancellorsville, whose regiment, waiting to be called into the fight,
+was taking coffee. The hero of the story put to his lips a crockery
+mug which he had carried with care through several campaigns. A stray
+bullet, just missing the tinker's head, dashed the mug into fragments
+and left only the handle on his finger. Turning his head in that
+direction, he scowled, 'Johnny, you can't do that again!'"
+
+
+
+
+BAD TIME FOR A BARBECUE.
+
+Captain T. W. S. Kidd of Springfield was the crier of the court in the
+days when Mr. Lincoln used to ride the circuit.
+
+"I was younger than he," says Captain Kidd, "but he had a sort of
+admiration for me, and never failed to get me into his stories. I was a
+story-teller myself in those days, and he used to laugh very heartily at
+some of the stories I told him.
+
+"Now and then he got me into a good deal of trouble. I was a Democrat,
+and was in politics more or less. A good many of our Democratic voters
+at that time were Irishmen. They came to Illinois in the days of the
+old canal, and did their honest share in making that piece of internal
+improvement an accomplished fact.
+
+"One time Mr. Lincoln told the story of one of those important young
+fellows--not an Irishman--who lived in every town, and have the cares
+of state on their shoulders. This young fellow met an Irishman on the
+street, and called to him, officiously: 'Oh, Mike, I'm awful glad I
+met you. We've got to do something to wake up the boys. The campaign is
+coming on, and we've got to get out voters. We've just had a meeting up
+here, and we're going to have the biggest barbecue that ever was heard
+of in Illinois. We are going to roast two whole oxen, and we're going to
+have Douglas and Governor Cass and some one from Kentucky, and all the
+big Democratic guns, and we're going to have a great big time.'
+
+"'By dad, that's good!' says the Irishman. 'The byes need stirrin' up.'
+
+"'Yes, and you're on one of the committees, and you want to hustle
+around and get them waked up, Mike.'
+
+"'When is the barbecue to be?' asked Mike.
+
+"'Friday, two weeks.'
+
+"'Friday, is it? Well, I'll make a nice committeeman, settin' the
+barbecue on a day with half of the Dimocratic party of Sangamon county
+can't ate a bite of mate. Go on wid ye.'
+
+"Lincoln told that story in one of his political speeches, and when the
+laugh was over he said: 'Now, gentlemen, I know that story is true, for
+Tom Kidd told it to me.' And then the Democrats would make trouble for
+me for a week afterward, and I'd have to explain."
+
+
+
+
+HE'D SEE IT AGAIN.
+
+About two years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency he
+went to Bloomington, Illinois, to try a case of some importance. His
+opponent--who afterward reached a high place in his profession--was a
+young man of ability, sensible but sensitive, and one to whom the loss
+of a case was a great blow. He therefore studied hard and made much
+preparation.
+
+This particular case was submitted to the jury late at night, and,
+although anticipating a favorable verdict, the young attorney spent a
+sleepless night in anxiety. Early next morning he learned, to his great
+chagrin, that he had lost the case.
+
+Lincoln met him at the court-house some time after the jury had come in,
+and asked him what had become of his case.
+
+With lugubrious countenance and in a melancholy tone the young man
+replied, "It's gone to hell."
+
+"Oh, well," replied Lincoln, "then you will see it again."
+
+
+
+
+CALL ANOTHER WITNESS.
+
+When arguing a case in court, Mr. Lincoln never used a word which the
+dullest juryman could not understand. Rarely, if ever, did a Latin term
+creep into his arguments. A lawyer, quoting a legal maxim one day
+in court, turned to Lincoln, and said: "That is so, is it not, Mr.
+Lincoln?"
+
+"If that's Latin." Lincoln replied, "you had better call another
+witness."
+
+
+
+
+A CONTEST WITH LITTLE "TAD."
+
+Mr. Carpenter, the artist, relates the following incident: "Some
+photographers came up to the White House to make some stereoscopic
+studies for me of the President's office. They requested a dark closet
+in which to develop the pictures, and, without a thought that I was
+infringing upon anybody's rights, I took them to an unoccupied room of
+which little 'Tad' had taken possession a few days before, and, with
+the aid of a couple of servants, had fitted up a miniature theater, with
+stage, curtains, orchestra, stalls, parquette and all. Knowing that the
+use required would interfere with none of his arrangements, I led the
+way to this apartment.
+
+"Everything went on well, and one or two pictures had been taken, when
+suddenly there was an uproar. The operator came back to the office and
+said that 'Tad' had taken great offense at the occupation of his room
+without his consent, and had locked the door, refusing all admission.
+
+"The chemicals had been taken inside, and there was no way of getting at
+them, he having carried off the key. In the midst of this conversation
+'Tad' burst in, in a fearful passion. He laid all the blame upon
+me--said that I had no right to use his room, and the men should not go
+in even to get their things. He had locked the door and they should not
+go there again--'they had no business in his room!'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln was sitting for a photograph, and was still in the chair.
+He said, very mildly, 'Tad, go and unlock the door.' Tad went off
+muttering into his mother's room, refusing to obey. I followed him into
+the passage, but no coaxing would pacify him. Upon my return to the
+President, I found him still patiently in the chair, from which he had
+not risen. He said: 'Has not the boy opened the door?' I replied that we
+could do nothing with him--he had gone off in a great pet. Mr. Lincoln's
+lips came together firmly, and then, suddenly rising, he strode across
+the passage with the air of one bent on punishment, and disappeared
+in the domestic apartments. Directly he returned with the key to the
+theater, which he unlocked himself.
+
+"'Tad,' said he, half apologetically, 'is a peculiar child. He was
+violently excited when I went to him. I said, "Tad, do you know that you
+are making your father a great deal of trouble?" He burst into tears,
+instantly giving me up the key.'"
+
+
+
+
+REMINDED HIM OF "A LITTLE STORY."
+
+When Lincoln's attention was called to the fact that, at one time in
+his boyhood, he had spelled the name of the Deity with a small "g," he
+replied:
+
+"That reminds me of a little story. It came about that a lot of
+Confederate mail was captured by the Union forces, and, while it was
+not exactly the proper thing to do, some of our soldiers opened several
+letters written by the Southerners at the front to their people at home.
+
+"In one of these missives the writer, in a postscript, jotted down this
+assertion:
+
+"'We'll lick the Yanks termorrer, if goddlemity (God Almighty) spares
+our lives.'
+
+"That fellow was in earnest, too, as the letter was written the day
+before the second battle of Manassas."
+
+
+
+
+"FETCHED SEVERAL SHORT ONES."
+
+"The first time I ever remember seeing 'Abe' Lincoln," is the testimony
+of one of his neighbors, "was when I was a small boy and had gone with
+my father to attend some kind of an election. One of the neighbors,
+James Larkins, was there.
+
+"Larkins was a great hand to brag on anything he owned. This time it was
+his horse. He stepped up before 'Abe,' who was in a crowd, and commenced
+talking to him, boasting all the while of his animal.
+
+"'I have got the best horse in the country,' he shouted to his young
+listener. 'I ran him nine miles in exactly three minutes, and he never
+fetched a long breath.'
+
+"'I presume,' said 'Abe,' rather dryly, 'he fetched a good many short
+ones, though.'"
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN LUGS THE OLD MAN.
+
+On May 3rd, 1862, "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" printed this
+cartoon, over the title of "Sandbag Lincoln and the Old Man of the Sea,
+Secretary of the Navy Welles." It was intended to demonstrate that the
+head of the Navy Department was incompetent to manage the affairs of the
+Navy; also that the Navy was not doing as good work as it might.
+
+When this cartoon was published, the United States Navy had cleared and
+had under control the Mississippi River as far south as Memphis;
+had blockaded all the cotton ports of the South; had assisted in the
+reduction of a number of Confederate forts; had aided Grant at Fort
+Donelson and the battle of Shiloh; the Monitor had whipped the ironclad
+terror, Merrimac (the Confederates called her the Virginia); Admiral
+Farragut's fleet had compelled the surrender of the city of New Orleans,
+the great forts which had defended it, and the Federal Government
+obtained control of the lower Mississippi.
+
+"The Old Man of the Sea" was therefore, not a drag or a weight upon
+President Lincoln, and the Navy was not so far behind in making a good
+record as the picture would have the people of the world believe. It was
+not long after the Monitor's victory that the United States Navy was
+the finest that ever plowed the seas. The building of the Monitor also
+revolutionized naval warfare.
+
+
+
+
+McCLELLAN WAS "INTRENCHING."
+
+About a week after the Chicago Convention, a gentleman from New York
+called upon the President, in company with the Assistant Secretary of
+War, Mr. Dana.
+
+In the course of conversation, the gentleman said: "What do you think,
+Mr. President, is the reason General McClellan does not reply to the
+letter from the Chicago Convention?"
+
+"Oh!" replied Mr. Lincoln, with a characteristic twinkle of the eye, "he
+is intrenching!"
+
+
+
+
+MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT, ANYWAY.
+
+From the day of his nomination by the Chicago convention, gifts poured
+in upon Lincoln. Many of these came in the form of wearing apparel. Mr.
+George Lincoln, of Brooklyn, who brought to Springfield, in January,
+1861, a handsome silk hat to the President-elect, the gift of a New
+York hatter, told some friends that in receiving the hat Lincoln laughed
+heartily over the gifts of clothing, and remarked to Mrs. Lincoln:
+"Well, wife, if nothing else comes out of this scrape, we are going to
+have some new clothes, are we not?"
+
+
+
+
+VICIOUS OXEN HAVE SHORT HORNS.
+
+In speaking of the many mean and petty acts of certain members of
+Congress, the President, while talking on the subject one day with
+friends, said:
+
+"I have great sympathy for these men, because of their temper and their
+weakness; but I am thankful that the good Lord has given to the vicious
+ox short horns, for if their physical courage were equal to their
+vicious disposition, some of us in this neck of the woods would get
+hurt."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S NAME FOR "WEEPING WATER."
+
+"I was speaking one time to Mr. Lincoln," said Governor Saunders, "of
+Nebraska, of a little Nebraskan settlement on the Weeping Water, a
+stream in our State."
+
+"'Weeping Water!' said he.
+
+"Then with a twinkle in his eye, he continued.
+
+"'I suppose the Indians out there call Minneboohoo, don't they? They
+ought to, if Laughing Water is Minnehaha in their language.'"
+
+
+
+
+PETER CARTWRIGHT'S DESCRIPTION OF LINCOLN.
+
+Peter Cartwright, the famous and eccentric old Methodist preacher, who
+used to ride a church circuit, as Mr. Lincoln and others did the court
+circuit, did not like Lincoln very well, probably because Mr. Lincoln
+was not a member of his flock, and once defeated the preacher for
+Congress. This was Cartwright's description of Lincoln: "This Lincoln is
+a man six feet four inches tall, but so angular that if you should
+drop a plummet from the center of his head it would cut him three times
+before it touched his feet."
+
+
+
+
+NO DEATHS IN HIS HOUSE.
+
+A gentleman was relating to the President how a friend of his had been
+driven away from New Orleans as a Unionist, and how, on his expulsion,
+when he asked to see the writ by which he was expelled, the deputation
+which called on him told him the Government would do nothing illegal,
+and so they had issued no illegal writs, and simply meant to make him go
+of his own free will.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "that reminds me of a hotel-keeper down at St.
+Louis, who boasted that he never had a death in his hotel, for whenever
+a guest was dying in his house he carried him out to die in the gutter."
+
+
+
+
+PAINTED HIS PRINCIPLES.
+
+The day following the adjournment of the Baltimore Convention, at which
+President Lincoln was renominated, various political organizations
+called to pay their respects to the President. While the Philadelphia
+delegation was being presented, the chairman of that body, in
+introducing one of the members, said:
+
+"Mr. President, this is Mr. S., of the second district of our State,--a
+most active and earnest friend of yours and the cause. He has, among
+other things, been good enough to paint, and present to our league
+rooms, a most beautiful portrait of yourself."
+
+President Lincoln took the gentleman's hand in his, and shaking it
+cordially said, with a merry voice, "I presume, sir, in painting your
+beautiful portrait, you took your idea of me from my principles and not
+from my person."
+
+
+
+
+DIGNIFYING THE STATUTE.
+
+Lincoln was married--he balked at the first date set for the ceremony
+and did not show up at all--November 4, 1842, under most happy auspices.
+The officiating clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Dresser, used the Episcopal
+church service for marriage. Lincoln placed the ring upon the bride's
+finger, and said, "With this ring I now thee wed, and with all my
+worldly goods I thee endow."
+
+Judge Thomas C. Browne, who was present, exclaimed, "Good gracious,
+Lincoln! the statute fixes all that!"
+
+"Oh, well," drawled Lincoln, "I just thought I'd add a little dignity to
+the statute."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CAMPAIGN MOTTOES.
+
+The joint debates between Lincoln and Douglas were attended by crowds
+of people, and the arrival of both at the places of speaking were in the
+nature of a triumphal procession. In these processions there were many
+banners bearing catch-phrases and mottoes expressing the sentiment of the
+people on the candidates and the issues.
+
+The following were some of the mottoes on the Lincoln banners:
+
+     +----------------------------------------------------------+
+     |Westward the star of empire takes its way;                |
+     |The girls link on to Lincoln, their mothers were for Clay.|
+     +----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+                 +----------------------+
+                 |Abe, the Giant-Killer.|
+                 +----------------------+
+
+            +---------------------------------+
+            |Edgar County for the Tall Sucker.|
+            +---------------------------------+
+
+            +----------------------------------+
+            |Free Territories and Free Men,    |
+            |  Free Pulpits and Free Preachers,|
+            |Free Press and a Free Pen,        |
+            |  Free Schools and Free Teachers. |
+            +----------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+GIVING AWAY THE CASE.
+
+Between the first election and inauguration of Mr. Lincoln the disunion
+sentiment grew rapidly in the South, and President Buchanan's failure to
+stop the open acts of secession grieved Mr. Lincoln sorely. Mr. Lincoln
+had a long talk with his friend, Judge Gillespie, over the state of
+affairs. One incident of the conversation is thus narrated by the Judge:
+
+"When I retired, it was the master of the house and chosen ruler of the
+country who saw me to my room. 'Joe,' he said, as he was about to leave
+me, 'I am reminded and I suppose you will never forget that trial down
+in Montgomery county, where the lawyer associated with you gave away the
+whole case in his opening speech. I saw you signaling to him, but you
+couldn't stop him.
+
+"'Now, that's just the way with me and Buchanan. He is giving away the
+case, and I have nothing to say, and can't stop him. Good-night.'"
+
+
+
+
+POSING WITH A BROOMSTICK.
+
+Mr. Leonard Volk, the artist, relates that, being in Springfield when
+Lincoln's nomination for President was announced, he called upon Mr.
+Lincoln, whom he found looking smiling and happy. "I exclaimed, 'I
+am the first man from Chicago, I believe, who has had the honor of
+congratulating you on your nomination for President.' Then those two
+great hands took both of mine with a grasp never to be forgotten,
+and while shaking, I said, 'Now that you will doubtless be the next
+President of the United States, I want to make a statue of you, and
+shall try my best to do you justice.'
+
+"Said he, 'I don't doubt it, for I have come to the conclusion that you
+are an honest man,' and with that greeting, I thought my hands in a fair
+way of being crushed.
+
+"On the Sunday following, by agreement, I called to make a cast of Mr.
+Lincoln's hands. I asked him to hold something in his hands, and told
+him a stick would do. Thereupon he went to the woodshed, and I heard the
+saw go, and he soon returned to the dining-room, whittling off the end
+of a piece of broom handle. I remarked to him that he need not whittle
+off the edges. 'Oh, well,' said he, 'I thought I would like to have it
+nice.'"
+
+
+
+
+"BOTH LENGTH AND BREADTH."
+
+During Lincoln's first and only term in Congress--he was elected in
+1846--he formed quite a cordial friendship with Stephen A. Douglas, a
+member of the United States Senate from Illinois, and the beaten one in
+the contest as to who should secure the hand of Miss Mary Todd. Lincoln
+was the winner; Douglas afterwards beat him for the United States
+Senate, but Lincoln went to the White House.
+
+During all of the time that they were rivals in love and in politics
+they remained the best of friends personally. They were always glad to
+see each other, and were frequently together. The disparity in their
+size was always the more noticeable upon such occasions, and they well
+deserved their nicknames of "Long Abe" and the "Little Giant." Lincoln
+was the tallest man in the National House of Representatives, and
+Douglas the shortest (and perhaps broadest) man the Senate, and when
+they appeared on the streets together much merriment was created.
+Lincoln, when joked about the matter, replied, in a very serious tone,
+"Yes, that's about the length and breadth of it."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" RECITES A SONG.
+
+Lincoln couldn't sing, and he also lacked the faculty of musical
+adaptation. He had a liking for certain ballads and songs, and while he
+memorized and recited their lines, someone else did the singing. Lincoln
+often recited for the delectation of his friends, the following, the
+authorship of which is unknown:
+
+  The first factional fight in old Ireland, they say,
+  Was all on account of St. Patrick's birthday;
+  It was somewhere about midnight without any doubt,
+  And certain it is, it made a great rout.
+
+  On the eighth day of March, as some people say,
+  St. Patrick at midnight he first saw the day;
+  While others assert 'twas the ninth he was born--
+  'Twas all a mistake--between midnight and morn.
+
+  Some blamed the baby, some blamed the clock;
+  Some blamed the doctor, some the crowing cock.
+  With all these close questions sure no one could know,
+  Whether the babe was too fast or the clock was too slow.
+
+  Some fought for the eighth, for the ninth some would die;
+  He who wouldn't see right would have a black eye.
+  At length these two factions so positive grew,
+  They each had a birthday, and Pat he had two.
+
+  Till Father Mulcahay who showed them their sins,
+  He said none could have two birthdays but as twins.
+  "Now boys, don't be fighting for the eight or the nine;
+  Don't quarrel so always, now why not combine."
+
+  Combine eight with nine. It is the mark;
+  Let that be the birthday. Amen! said the clerk.
+  So all got blind drunk, which completed their bliss,
+  And they've kept up the practice from that day to this.
+
+
+
+
+"MANAGE TO KEEP HOUSE."
+
+Senator John Sherman, of Ohio, introduced his brother, William T.
+Sherman (then a civilian) to President Lincoln in March, 1861. Sherman
+had offered his services, but, as in the case of Grant, they had been
+refused.
+
+After the Senator had transacted his business with the President, he
+said: "Mr. President, this is my brother, Colonel Sherman, who is just
+up from Louisiana; he may give you some information you want."
+
+To this Lincoln replied, as reported by Senator Sherman himself: "Ah!
+How are they getting along down there?"
+
+Sherman answered: "They think they are getting along swimmingly; they
+are prepared for war."
+
+To which Lincoln responded: "Oh, well, I guess we'll manage to keep the
+house."
+
+"Tecump," whose temper was not the mildest, broke out on "Brother John"
+as soon as they were out of the White House, cursed the politicians
+roundly, and wound up with, "You have got things in a h--l of a fix, and
+you may get out as best you can."
+
+Sherman was one of the very few generals who gave Lincoln little or no
+worry.
+
+
+
+
+GRANT "TUMBLED" RIGHT AWAY.
+
+General Grant told this story about Lincoln some years after the War:
+
+"Just after receiving my commission as lieutenant-general the President
+called me aside to speak to me privately. After a brief reference to
+the military situation, he said he thought he could illustrate what he
+wanted to say by a story. Said he:
+
+"'At one time there was a great war among the animals, and one side had
+great difficulty in getting a commander who had sufficient confidence in
+himself. Finally they found a monkey by the name of Jocko, who said he
+thought he could command their army if his tail could be made a little
+longer. So they got more tail and spliced it on to his caudal appendage.
+
+"'He looked at it admiringly, and then said he thought he ought to
+have still more tail. This was added, and again he called for more. The
+splicing process was repeated many times until they had coiled Jocko's
+tail around the room, filling all the space.
+
+"'Still he called for more tail, and, there being no other place to coil
+it, they began wrapping it around his shoulders. He continued his call
+for more, and they kept on winding the additional tail around him until
+its weight broke him down.'
+
+"I saw the point, and, rising from my chair, replied, 'Mr. President, I
+will not call for any more assistance unless I find it impossible to do
+with what I already have.'"
+
+
+
+
+"DON'T KILL HIM WITH YOUR FIST."
+
+Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln's time in
+Washington, was a powerful man; his strength was phenomenal, and a
+blow from his fist was like unto that coming from the business end of a
+sledge.
+
+Lamon tells this story, the hero of which is not mentioned by name, but
+in all probability his identity can be guessed:
+
+"On one occasion, when the fears of the loyal element of the city
+(Washington) were excited to fever-heat, a free fight near the old
+National Theatre occurred about eleven o'clock one night. An officer,
+in passing the place, observed what was going on, and seeing the great
+number of persons engaged, he felt it to be his duty to command the
+peace.
+
+"The imperative tone of his voice stopped the fighting for a moment, but
+the leader, a great bully, roughly pushed back the officer and told him
+to go away or he would whip him. The officer again advanced and said,
+'I arrest you,' attempting to place his hand on the man's shoulder, when
+the bully struck a fearful blow at the officer's face.
+
+"This was parried, and instantly followed by a blow from the fist of the
+officer, striking the fellow under the chin and knocking him senseless.
+Blood issued from his mouth, nose and ears. It was believed that the
+man's neck was broken. A surgeon was called, who pronounced the case a
+critical one, and the wounded man was hurried away on a litter to the
+hospital.
+
+"There the physicians said there was concussion of the brain, and that
+the man would die. All the medical skill that the officer could procure
+was employed in the hope of saving the life of the man. His
+conscience smote him for having, as he believed, taken the life of a
+fellow-creature, and he was inconsolable.
+
+"Being on terms of intimacy with the President, about two o'clock that
+night the officer went to the White House, woke up Mr. Lincoln, and
+requested him to come into his office, where he told him his story. Mr.
+Lincoln listened with great interest until the narrative was completed,
+and then asked a few questions, after which he remarked:
+
+"'I am sorry you had to kill the man, but these are times of war, and
+a great many men deserve killing. This one, according to your story,
+is one of them; so give yourself no uneasiness about the matter. I will
+stand by you.'
+
+"'That is not why I came to you. I knew I did my duty, and had no fears
+of your disapproval of what I did,' replied the officer; and then he
+added: 'Why I came to you was, I felt great grief over the unfortunate
+affair, and I wanted to talk to you about it.'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln then said, with a smile, placing his hand on the officer'
+shoulder: 'You go home now and get some sleep; but let me give you this
+piece of advice--hereafter, when you have occasion to strike a man,
+don't hit him with your fist; strike him with a club, a crowbar, or with
+something that won't kill him.'"
+
+
+
+
+COULD BE ARBITRARY.
+
+Lincoln could be arbitrary when occasion required. This is the letter he
+wrote to one of the Department heads:
+
+"You must make a job of it, and provide a place for the bearer of this,
+Elias Wampole. Make a job of it with the collector and have it done. You
+can do it for me, and you must."
+
+There was no delay in taking action in this matter. Mr. Wampole, or
+"Eli," as he was thereafter known, "got there."
+
+
+
+
+A GENERAL BUSTIFICATION.
+
+Many amusing stories are told of President Lincoln and his gloves. At
+about the time of his third reception he had on a tight-fitting pair of
+white kids, which he had with difficulty got on. He saw approaching in
+the distance an old Illinois friend named Simpson, whom he welcomed with
+a genuine Sangamon county (Illeenoy) shake, which resulted in bursting
+his white kid glove, with an audible sound. Then, raising his brawny
+hand up before him, looking at it with an indescribable expression, he
+said, while the whole procession was checked, witnessing this scene:
+
+"Well, my old friend, this is a general bustification. You and I were
+never intended to wear these things. If they were stronger they might do
+well enough to keep out the cold, but they are a failure to shake hands
+with between old friends like us. Stand aside, Captain, and I'll see you
+shortly."
+
+Simpson stood aside, and after the unwelcome ceremony was terminated he
+rejoined his old Illinois friend in familiar intercourse.
+
+
+
+
+MAKING QUARTERMASTERS.
+
+H. C. Whitney wrote in 1866: "I was in Washington in the Indian service
+for a few days before August, 1861, and I merely said to President
+Lincoln one day: 'Everything is drifting into the war, and I guess you
+will have to put me in the army.'
+
+"The President looked up from his work and said, good-humoredly:
+'I'm making generals now; in a few days I will be making quartermasters,
+and then I'll fix you.'"
+
+
+
+
+NO POSTMASTERS IN HIS POCKET.
+
+In the "Diary of a Public Man" appears this jocose anecdote:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln walked into the corridor with us; and, as he bade us
+good-by and thanked Blank for what he had told him, he again brightened
+up for a moment and asked him in an abrupt kind of way, laying his hand
+as he spoke with a queer but not uncivil familiarity on his shoulder,
+'You haven't such a thing as a postmaster in your pocket, have you?'
+
+"Blank stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in alarm, as
+if he suspected a sudden attack of insanity; then Mr. Lincoln went on:
+
+'You see it seems to me kind of unnatural that you shouldn't have at
+least a postmaster in your pocket. Everybody I've seen for days past has
+had foreign ministers and collectors, and all kinds, and I thought you
+couldn't have got in here without having at least a postmaster get into
+your pocket!'"
+
+
+
+
+HE "SKEWED" THE LINE.
+
+When a surveyor, Mr. Lincoln first platted the town of Petersburg, Ill.
+Some twenty or thirty years afterward the property-owners along one
+of the outlying streets had trouble in fixing their boundaries. They
+consulted the official plat and got no relief. A committee was sent
+to Springfield to consult the distinguished surveyor, but he failed to
+recall anything that would give them aid, and could only refer them to
+the record. The dispute therefore went into the courts. While the trial
+was pending, an old Irishman named McGuire, who had worked for some
+farmer during the summer, returned to town for the winter. The case
+being mentioned in his presence, he promptly said: "I can tell you all
+about it. I helped carry the chain when Abe Lincoln laid out this
+town. Over there where they are quarreling about the lines, when he was
+locating the street, he straightened up from his instrument and said:
+'If I run that street right through, it will cut three or four feet off
+the end of ----'s house. It's all he's got in the world and he never
+could get another. I reckon it won't hurt anything out here if I skew
+the line a little and miss him."'
+
+The line was "skewed," and hence the trouble, and more testimony
+furnished as to Lincoln's abounding kindness of heart, that would not
+willingly harm any human being.
+
+
+
+
+"WHEREAS," HE STOLE NOTHING.
+
+One of the most celebrated courts-martial during the War was that
+of Franklin W. Smith and his brother, charged with defrauding the
+government. These men bore a high character for integrity. At this time,
+however, courts-martial were seldom invoked for any other purpose than
+to convict the accused, and the Smiths shared the usual fate of persons
+whose cases were submitted to such arbitrament. They were kept in
+prison, their papers seized, their business destroyed, and their
+reputations ruined, all of which was followed by a conviction.
+
+The finding of the court was submitted to the President, who, after a
+careful investigation, disapproved the judgment, and wrote the following
+endorsement upon the papers:
+
+"Whereas, Franklin W. Smith had transactions with the Navy Department to
+the amount of a million and a quarter of dollars; and:
+
+"Whereas, he had a chance to steal at least a quarter of a million
+and was only charged with stealing twenty-two hundred dollars, and the
+question now is about his stealing one hundred, I don't believe he stole
+anything at all.
+
+"Therefore, the record and the findings are disapproved, declared null
+and void, and the defendants are fully discharged."
+
+
+
+
+NOT LIKE THE POPE'S BULL.
+
+President Lincoln, after listening to the arguments and appeals of a
+committee which called upon him at the White House not long before the
+Emancipation Proclamation was issued, said:
+
+"I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will see must
+necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet."
+
+
+
+
+COULD HE TELL?
+
+A "high" private of the One Hundred and Fortieth Infantry Regiment,
+Pennsylvania Volunteers, wounded at Chancellorsville, was taken to
+Washington. One day, as he was becoming convalescent, a whisper ran down
+the long row of cots that the President was in the building and would
+soon pass by. Instantly every boy in blue who was able arose, stood
+erect, hands to the side, ready to salute his Commander-in-Chief.
+
+The Pennsylvanian stood six feet seven inches in his stockings. Lincoln
+was six feet four. As the President approached this giant towering above
+him, he stopped in amazement, and casting his eyes from head to foot
+and from foot to head, as if contemplating the immense distance from one
+extremity to the other, he stood for a moment speechless.
+
+At length, extending his hand, he exclaimed, "Hello, comrade, do you
+know when your feet get cold?"
+
+
+
+
+DARNED UNCOMFORTABLE SITTING.
+
+"Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" of March 2nd, 1861, two days
+previous to the inauguration of President-elect Lincoln, contained the
+caricature reproduced here. It was intended to convey the idea that
+the National Administration would thereafter depend upon the support
+of bayonets to uphold it, and the text underneath the picture ran as
+follows:
+
+OLD ABE: "Oh, it's all well enough to say that I must support the
+dignity of my high office by force--but it's darned uncomfortable
+sitting, I can tell yer."
+
+This journal was not entirely friendly to the new Chief Magistrate, but
+it could not see into the future. Many of the leading publications of
+the East, among them some of those which condemned slavery and were
+opposed to secession, did not believe Lincoln was the man for the
+emergency, but instead of doing what they could do to help him along,
+they attacked him most viciously. No man, save Washington, was more
+brutally lied about than Lincoln, but he bore all the slurs and thrusts,
+not to mention the open, cruel antagonism of those who should have been
+his warmest friends, with a fortitude and patience few men have ever
+shown. He was on the right road, and awaited the time when his course
+should receive the approval it merited.
+
+
+
+
+"WHAT'S-HIS-NAME" GOT THERE.
+
+General James B. Fry told a good one on Secretary of War Stanton,
+who was worsted in a contention with the President. Several
+brigadier-generals were to be selected, and Lincoln maintained that
+"something must be done in the interest of the Dutch." Many complaints
+had come from prominent men, born in the Fatherland, but who were
+fighting for the Union.
+
+"Now, I want Schimmelpfennig given one of those brigadierships."
+
+Stanton was stubborn and headstrong, as usual, but his manner and tone
+indicated that the President would have his own way in the end. However,
+he was not to be beaten without having made a fight.
+
+"But, Mr. President," insisted the Iron War Secretary, "it may be that
+this Mr. Schim--what's-his-name--has no recommendations showing his
+fitness. Perhaps he can't speak English."
+
+"That doesn't matter a bit, Stanton," retorted Lincoln, "he may be deaf
+and dumb for all I know, but whatever language he speaks, if any, we can
+furnish troops who will understand what he says. That name of his will
+make up for any differences in religion, politics or understanding, and
+I'll take the risk of his coming out all right."
+
+Then, slamming his great hand upon the Secretary's desk, he said,
+"Schim-mel-fen-nig must be appointed."
+
+And he was, there and then.
+
+
+
+
+A REALLY GREAT GENERAL.
+
+"Do you know General A--?" queried the President one day to a friend who
+had "dropped in" at the White House.
+
+"Certainly; but you are not wasting any time thinking about him, are
+you?" was the rejoinder.
+
+"You wrong him," responded the President, "he is a really great man, a
+philosopher."
+
+"How do you make that out? He isn't worth the powder and ball necessary
+to kill him so I have heard military men say," the friend remarked.
+
+"He is a mighty thinker," the President returned, "because he has
+mastered that ancient and wise admonition, 'Know thyself;' he has formed
+an intimate acquaintance with himself, knows as well for what he is
+fitted and unfitted as any man living. Without doubt he is a remarkable
+man. This War has not produced another like him."
+
+"How is it you are so highly pleased with General A---- all at once?"
+
+"For the reason," replied Mr. Lincoln, with a merry twinkle of the
+eye, "greatly to my relief, and to the interests of the country, he has
+resigned. The country should express its gratitude in some substantial
+way."
+
+
+
+
+"SHRUNK UP NORTH."
+
+There was no member of the Cabinet from the South when Attorney-General
+Bates handed in his resignation, and President Lincoln had a great deal
+of trouble in making a selection. Finally Titian F. Coffey consented to
+fill the vacant place for a time, and did so until the appointment of
+Mr. Speed.
+
+In conversation with Mr. Coffey the President quaintly remarked:
+
+"My Cabinet has shrunk up North, and I must find a Southern man. I
+suppose if the twelve Apostles were to be chosen nowadays, the shrieks
+of locality would have to be heeded."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN ADOPTED THE SUGGESTION.
+
+It is not generally known that President Lincoln adopted a suggestion
+made by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase in regard to the
+Emancipation Proclamation, and incorporated it in that famous document.
+
+After the President had read it to the members of the Cabinet he
+asked if he had omitted anything which should be added or inserted to
+strengthen it. It will be remembered that the closing paragraph of the
+Proclamation reads in this way:
+
+"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted
+by the Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and
+the gracious favor of Almighty God!" President Lincoln's draft of the
+paper ended with the word "mankind," and the words, "and the gracious
+favor of Almighty God," were those suggested by Secretary Chase.
+
+
+
+
+SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.
+
+It was the President's overweening desire to accommodate all persons
+who came to him soliciting favors, but the opportunity was never offered
+until an untimely and unthinking disease, which possessed many of the
+characteristics of one of the most dreaded maladies, confined him to his
+bed at the White House.
+
+The rumor spread that the President was afflicted with this disease,
+while the truth was that it was merely a very mild attack of varioloid.
+The office-seekers didn't know the facts, and for once the Executive
+Mansion was clear of them.
+
+One day, a man from the West, who didn't read the papers, but wanted the
+postoffice in his town, called at the White House. The President,
+being then practically a well man, saw him. The caller was engaged in
+a voluble endeavor to put his capabilities in the most favorable light,
+when the President interrupted him with the remark that he would be
+compelled to make the interview short, as his doctor was due.
+
+"Why, Mr. President, are you sick?" queried the visitor.
+
+"Oh, nothing much," replied Mr. Lincoln, "but the physician says he
+fears the worst."
+
+"What worst, may I ask?"
+
+"Smallpox," was the answer; "but you needn't be scared. I'm only in the
+first stages now."
+
+The visitor grabbed his hat, sprang from his chair, and without a word
+bolted for the door.
+
+"Don't be in a hurry," said the President placidly; "sit down and talk
+awhile."
+
+"Thank you, sir; I'll call again," shouted the Westerner, as he
+disappeared through the opening in the wall.
+
+"Now, that's the way with people," the President said, when relating
+the story afterward. "When I can't give them what they want, they're
+dissatisfied, and say harsh things about me; but when I've something to
+give to everybody they scamper off."
+
+
+
+
+TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS.
+
+An applicant for a sutlership in the army relates this story: "In the
+winter of 1864, after serving three years in the Union Army, and being
+honorably discharged, I made application for the post sutlership at
+Point Lookout. My father being interested, we made application to Mr.
+Stanton, the Secretary of War. We obtained an audience, and were ushered
+into the presence of the most pompous man I ever met. As I entered he
+waved his hand for me to stop at a given distance from him, and then put
+these questions, viz.:
+
+"'Did you serve three years in the army?'
+
+"'I did, sir.'
+
+"'Were you honorably discharged?'
+
+"'I was, sir.'
+
+"'Let me see your discharge.'
+
+"I gave it to him. He looked it over, then said:
+
+'Were you ever wounded?' I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg,
+May 5, 1861.
+
+"He then said: 'I think we can give this position to a soldier who has
+lost an arm or leg, he being more deserving; and he then said I looked
+hearty and healthy enough to serve three years more. He would not give
+me a chance to argue my case.
+
+"The audience was at an end. He waved his hand to me. I was then
+dismissed from the august presence of the Honorable Secretary of War.
+
+"My father was waiting for me in the hallway, who saw by my countenance
+that I was not successful. I said to my father:
+
+"'Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us more satisfaction.'
+
+"He said it would do me no good, but we went over. Mr. Lincoln's
+reception room was full of ladies and gentlemen when we entered.
+
+"My turn soon came. Lincoln turned to my father and said:
+
+"'Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possible with your
+business, as it is growing late.'
+
+"My father then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him. Lincoln
+then said:
+
+"'Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your business as quickly as
+possible.'
+
+"There was but one chair by Lincoln, so he motioned my father to sit,
+while I stood. My father stated the business to him as stated above. He
+then said:
+
+"'Have you seen Mr. Stanton?'
+
+"We told him yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then said:
+
+"'Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stanton's business; I cannot interfere with
+him; he attends to all these matters and I am sorry I cannot help you.'
+
+"He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to revive our
+spirits. He succeeded well with my father, who was a Lincoln man, and
+who was a staunch Republican.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln then said:
+
+"'Now, gentlemen, I will tell you, what it is; I have thousands of
+applications like this every day, but we cannot satisfy all for this
+reason, that these positions are like office seekers--there are too many
+pigs for the teats.'
+
+"The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed their
+handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But the joke of 'Old Abe'
+put us all in a good humor. We then left the presence of the greatest
+and most just man who ever lived to fill the Presidential chair.'"
+
+
+
+
+GREELEY CARRIES LINCOLN TO THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
+
+No sooner was Abraham Lincoln made the candidate for the Presidency of
+the Republican Party, in 1860, than the opposition began to lampoon and
+caricature him. In the cartoon here reproduced, which is given the title
+of:
+
+"The Republican Party Going to the Right House," Lincoln is represented
+as entering the Lunatic Asylum, riding on a rail, carried by
+Horace Greeley, the great Abolitionist; Lincoln, followed by his
+"fellow-cranks," is assuring the latter that the millennium is "going to
+begin," and that all requests will be granted.
+
+Lincoln's followers are depicted as those men and women composing the
+"free love" element; those who want religion abolished; negroes, who
+want it understood that the white man has no rights his black brother is
+bound to respect; women suffragists, who demand that men be made subject
+to female authority; tramps, who insist upon free lodging-houses;
+criminals, who demand the right to steal from all they meet; and toughs,
+who want the police forces abolished, so that "the b'hoys" can "run
+wid de masheen," and have "a muss" whenever they feel like it, without
+interference by the authorities.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST TIME HE SAW DOUGLAS.
+
+Speaking of his last meeting with Judge Douglas, Mr. Lincoln said:
+"One day Douglas came rushing in and said he had just got a telegraph
+dispatch from some friends in Illinois urging him to come out and help
+set things right in Egypt, and that he would go, or stay in Washington,
+just where I thought he could do the most good.
+
+"I told him to do as he chose, but that probably he could do best in
+Illinois. Upon that he shook hands with me, and hurried away to catch
+the next train. I never saw him again."
+
+
+
+
+HURT HIS LEGS LESS.
+
+Lincoln was one of the attorneys in a case of considerable importance,
+court being held in a very small and dilapidated schoolhouse out in the
+country; Lincoln was compelled to stoop very much in order to enter
+the door, and the seats were so low that he doubled up his legs like a
+jackknife.
+
+Lincoln was obliged to sit upon a school bench, and just in front of him
+was another, making the distance between him and the seat in front of
+him very narrow and uncomfortable.
+
+His position was almost unbearable, and in order to carry out his
+preference which he secured as often as possible, and that was "to sit
+as near to the jury as convenient," he took advantage of his discomfort
+and finally said to the Judge on the "bench":
+
+"Your Honor, with your permission, I'll sit up nearer to the gentlemen
+of the jury, for it hurts my legs less to rub my calves against the
+bench than it does to skin my shins."
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE SHY OR GRAMMAR.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln had prepared his brief letter accepting the
+Presidential nomination he took it to Dr. Newton Bateman, the State
+Superintendent of Education.
+
+"Mr. Schoolmaster," he said, "here is my letter of acceptance. I am
+not very strong on grammar and I wish you to see if it is all right. I
+wouldn't like to have any mistakes in it.".
+
+The doctor took the letter and after reading it, said:
+
+"There is only one change I should suggest, Mr. Lincoln, you have
+written 'It shall be my care to not violate or disregard it in any
+part,' you should have written 'not to violate.' Never split an
+infinitive, is the rule."
+
+Mr. Lincoln took the manuscript, regarding it a moment with a puzzled
+air, "So you think I better put those two little fellows end to end, do
+you?" he said as he made the change.
+
+
+
+
+HIS FIRST SATIRICAL WRITING.
+
+Reuben and Charles Grigsby were married in Spencer county, Indiana, on
+the same day to Elizabeth Ray and Matilda Hawkins, respectively. They
+met the next day at the home of Reuben Grigsby, Sr., and held a double
+infare, to which most of the county was invited, with the exception of
+the Lincolns. This Abraham duly resented, and it resulted in his
+first attempt at satirical writing, which he called "The Chronicles of
+Reuben."
+
+The manuscript was lost, and not recovered until 1865, when a house
+belonging to one of the Grigsbys was torn down. In the loft a boy found
+a roll of musty old papers, and was intently reading them, when he was
+asked what he was doing.
+
+"Reading a portion of the Scriptures that haven't been revealed yet,"
+was the response. This was Lincoln's "Chronicles," which is herewith
+given:
+
+"THE CHRONICLES OF REUBEN."
+
+"Now, there was a man whose name was Reuben, and the same was very
+great in substance, in horses and cattle and swine, and a very great
+household.
+
+"It came to pass when the sons of Reuben grew up that they were desirous
+of taking to themselves wives, and, being too well known as to honor
+in their own country, they took a journey into a far country and there
+procured for themselves wives.
+
+"It came to pass also that when they were about to make the return home
+they sent a messenger before them to bear the tidings to their parents.
+
+"These, inquiring of the messenger what time their sons and wives would
+come, made a great feast and called all their kinsmen and neighbors in,
+and made great preparation.
+
+"When the time drew nigh, they sent out two men to meet the grooms and
+their brides, with a trumpet to welcome them, and to accompany them.
+
+"When they came near unto the house of Reuben, the father, the messenger
+came before them and gave a shout, and the whole multitude ran out with
+shouts of joy and music, playing on all kinds of instruments.
+
+"Some were playing on harps, some on viols, and some blowing on rams'
+horns.
+
+"Some also were casting dust and ashes toward Heaven, and chief among
+them all was Josiah, blowing his bugle and making sounds so great the
+neighboring hills and valleys echoed with the resounding acclamation.
+
+"When they had played and their harps had sounded till the grooms and
+brides approached the gates, Reuben, the father, met them and welcomed
+them to his house.
+
+"The wedding feast being now ready, they were all invited to sit down
+and eat, placing the bridegrooms and their brides at each end of the
+table.
+
+"Waiters were then appointed to serve and wait on the guests. When all
+had eaten and were full and merry, they went out again and played and
+sung till night.
+
+"And when they had made an end of feasting and rejoicing the multitude
+dispersed, each going to his own home.
+
+"The family then took seats with their waiters to converse while
+preparations were being made in two upper chambers for the brides and
+grooms.
+
+"This being done, the waiters took the two brides upstairs, placing one
+in a room at the right hand of the stairs and the other on the left.
+
+"The waiters came down, and Nancy, the mother, then gave directions to
+the waiters of the bridegrooms, and they took them upstairs, but placed
+them in the wrong rooms.
+
+"The waiters then all came downstairs.
+
+"But the mother, being fearful of a mistake, made inquiry of the
+waiters, and learning the true facts, took the light and sprang
+upstairs.
+
+"It came to pass she ran to one of the rooms and exclaimed, 'O Lord,
+Reuben, you are with the wrong wife.'
+
+"The young men, both alarmed at this, ran out with such violence against
+each other, they came near knocking each other down.
+
+"The tumult gave evidence to those below that the mistake was certain.
+
+"At last they all came down and had a long conversation about who made
+the mistake, but it could not be decided.
+
+"So ended the chapter."
+
+The original manuscript of "The Chronicles of Reuben" was last in the
+possession of Redmond Grigsby, of Rockport, Indiana. A newspaper which
+had obtained a copy of the "Chronicles," sent a reporter to interview
+Elizabeth Grigsby, or Aunt Betsy, as she was called, and asked her about
+the famous manuscript and the mistake made at the double wedding.
+
+"Yes, they did have a joke on us," said Aunt Betsy. "They said my man
+got into the wrong room and Charles got into my room. But it wasn't so.
+Lincoln just wrote that for mischief. Abe and my man often laughed about
+that."
+
+
+
+
+LIKELY TO DO IT.
+
+An officer, having had some trouble with General Sherman, being very
+angry, presented himself before Mr. Lincoln, who was visiting the camp,
+and said, "Mr. President, I have a cause of grievance. This morning I
+went to General Sherman and he threatened to shoot me."
+
+"Threatened to shoot you?" asked Mr. Lincoln. "Well, (in a stage
+whisper) if I were you I would keep away from him; if he threatens to
+shoot, I would not trust him, for I believe he would do it."
+
+
+
+
+"THE ENEMY ARE 'OURN'"
+
+Early in the Presidential campaign of 1864, President Lincoln said one
+night to a late caller at the White House:
+
+"We have met the enemy and they are 'ourn!' I think the cabal of
+obstructionists 'am busted.' I feel certain that, if I live, I am going
+to be re-elected. Whether I deserve to be or not, it is not for me
+to say; but on the score even of remunerative chances for speculative
+service, I now am inspired with the hope that our disturbed country
+further requires the valuable services of your humble servant. 'Jordan
+has been a hard road to travel,' but I feel now that, notwithstanding
+the enemies I have made and the faults I have committed, I'll be dumped
+on the right side of that stream.
+
+"I hope, however, that I may never have another four years of such
+anxiety, tribulation and abuse. My only ambition is and has been to put
+down the rebellion and restore peace, after which I want to resign
+my office, go abroad, take some rest, study foreign governments, see
+something of foreign life, and in my old age die in peace with all of
+the good of God's creatures."
+
+
+
+
+"AND--HERE I AM!"
+
+An old acquaintance of the President visited him in Washington. Lincoln
+desired to give him a place. Thus encouraged, the visitor, who was an
+honest man, but wholly inexperienced in public affairs or business,
+asked for a high office, Superintendent of the Mint.
+
+The President was aghast, and said: "Good gracious! Why didn't he ask to
+be Secretary of the Treasury, and have done with it?"
+
+Afterward, he said: "Well, now, I never thought Mr.---- had anything
+more than average ability, when we were young men together. But, then, I
+suppose he thought the same thing about me, and--here I am!"
+
+
+
+
+SAFE AS LONG AS THEY WERE GOOD.
+
+At the celebrated Peace Conference, whereat there was much "pow-wow"
+and no result, President Lincoln, in response to certain remarks by the
+Confederate commissioners, commented with some severity upon the conduct
+of the Confederate leaders, saying they had plainly forfeited all right
+to immunity from punishment for their treason.
+
+Being positive and unequivocal in stating his views concerning
+individual treason, his words were of ominous import. There was a pause,
+during which Commissioner Hunter regarded the speaker with a steady,
+searching look. At length, carefully measuring his words, Mr. Hunter
+said:
+
+"Then, Mr. President, if we understand you correctly, you think that
+we of the Confederacy have committed treason; are traitors to your
+Government; have forfeited our rights, and are proper subjects for the
+hangman. Is not that about what your words imply?"
+
+"Yes," replied President Lincoln, "you have stated the proposition
+better than I did. That is about the size of it!"
+
+Another pause, and a painful one succeeded, and then Hunter, with a
+pleasant smile remarked:
+
+"Well, Mr. Lincoln, we have about concluded that we shall not be hanged
+as long as you are President--if we behave ourselves."
+
+And Hunter meant what he said.
+
+
+
+
+"SMELT NO ROYALTY IN OUR CARRIAGE."
+
+On one occasion, in going to meet an appointment in the southern part of
+the Sucker State--that section of Illinois called Egypt--Lincoln, with
+other friends, was traveling in the "caboose" of a freight train, when
+the freight was switched off the main track to allow a special train to
+pass.
+
+Lincoln's more aristocratic rival (Stephen A. Douglas) was being
+conveyed to the same town in this special. The passing train was
+decorated with banners and flags, and carried a band of music, which was
+playing "Hail to the Chief."
+
+As the train whistled past, Lincoln broke out in a fit of laughter, and
+said: "Boys, the gentleman in that car evidently smelt no royalty in our
+carriage."
+
+
+
+
+HELL A MILE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
+
+Ward Lamon told this story of President Lincoln, whom he found one day
+in a particularly gloomy frame of mind. Lamon said:
+
+"The President remarked, as I came in, 'I fear I have made Senator Wade,
+of Ohio, my enemy for life.'
+
+"'How?' I asked.
+
+"'Well,' continued the President, 'Wade was here just now urging me
+to dismiss Grant, and, in response to something he said, I remarked,
+"Senator, that reminds me of a story."'
+
+"'What did Wade say?' I inquired of the President.
+
+"'He said, in a petulant way,' the President responded, '"It is with
+you, sir, all story, story! You are the father of every military blunder
+that has been made during the war. You are on your road to hell, sir,
+with this government, by your obstinacy, and you are not a mile off this
+minute."'
+
+"'What did you say then?'
+
+"I good-naturedly said to him,' the President replied, '"Senator, that
+is just about from here to the Capitol, is it not?" He was very angry,
+grabbed up his hat and cane, and went away.'"
+
+
+
+
+HIS "GLASS HACK"
+
+President Lincoln had not been in the White House very long before Mrs.
+Lincoln became seized with the idea that a fine new barouche was about
+the proper thing for "the first lady in the land." The President did not
+care particularly about it one way or the other, and told his wife to
+order whatever she wanted.
+
+Lincoln forgot all about the new vehicle, and was overcome with
+astonishment one afternoon when, having acceded to Mrs. Lincoln's desire
+to go driving, he found a beautiful barouche standing in front of the
+door of the White House.
+
+His wife watched him with an amused smile, but the only remark he made
+was, "Well, Mary, that's about the slickest 'glass hack' in town, isn't
+it?"
+
+
+
+
+LEAVE HIM KICKING.
+
+Lincoln, in the days of his youth, was often unfaithful to his Quaker
+traditions. On the day of election in 1840, word came to him that one
+Radford, a Democratic contractor, had taken possession of one of the
+polling places with his workmen, and was preventing the Whigs from
+voting. Lincoln started off at a gait which showed his interest in the
+matter in hand.
+
+He went up to Radford and persuaded him to leave the polls, remarking
+at the same time: "Radford, you'll spoil and blow, if you live much
+longer."
+
+Radford's prudence prevented an actual collision, which, it is said,
+Lincoln regretted. He told his friend Speed he wanted Radford to show
+fight so that he might "knock him down and leave him kicking."
+
+
+
+
+"WHO COMMENCED THIS FUSS?"
+
+President Lincoln was at all times an advocate of peace, provided it
+could be obtained honorably and with credit to the United States. As
+to the cause of the Civil War, which side of Mason and Dixon's line was
+responsible for it, who fired the first shots, who were the aggressors,
+etc., Lincoln did not seem to bother about; he wanted to preserve the
+Union, above all things. Slavery, he was assured, was dead, but he
+thought the former slaveholders should be recompensed.
+
+To illustrate his feelings in the matter he told this story:
+
+"Some of the supporters of the Union cause are opposed to accommodate or
+yield to the South in any manner or way because the Confederates began
+the war; were determined to take their States out of the Union, and,
+consequently, should be held responsible to the last stage for whatever
+may come in the future. Now this reminds me of a good story I heard
+once, when I lived in Illinois.
+
+"A vicious bull in a pasture took after everybody who tried to cross the
+lot, and one day a neighbor of the owner was the victim. This man was a
+speedy fellow and got to a friendly tree ahead of the bull, but not in
+time to climb the tree. So he led the enraged animal a merry race around
+the tree, finally succeeding in seizing the bull by the tail.
+
+"The bull, being at a disadvantage, not able to either catch the man or
+release his tail, was mad enough to eat nails; he dug up the earth with
+his feet, scattered gravel all around, bellowed until you could hear
+him for two miles or more, and at length broke into a dead run, the man
+hanging onto his tail all the time.
+
+"While the bull, much out of temper, was legging it to the best of his
+ability, his tormentor, still clinging to the tail, asked, 'Darn you,
+who commenced this fuss?'
+
+"It's our duty to settle this fuss at the earliest possible moment, no
+matter who commenced it. That's my idea of it."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE'S" LITTLE JOKE.
+
+When General W. T. Sherman, November 12th, 1864, severed all
+communication with the North and started for Savannah with his
+magnificent army of sixty thousand men, there was much anxiety for
+a month as to his whereabouts. President Lincoln, in response to an
+inquiry, said: "I know what hole Sherman went in at, but I don't know
+what hole he'll come out at."
+
+Colonel McClure had been in consultation with the President one day,
+about two weeks after Sherman's disappearance, and in this connection
+related this incident:
+
+"I was leaving the room, and just as I reached the door the President
+turned around, and, with a merry twinkling of the eye, inquired,
+'McClure, wouldn't you like to hear something from Sherman?'
+
+"The inquiry electrified me at the instant, as it seemed to imply that
+Lincoln had some information on the subject. I immediately answered,
+'Yes, most of all, I should like to hear from Sherman.'
+
+"To this President Lincoln answered, with a hearty laugh: 'Well, I'll be
+hanged if I wouldn't myself.'"
+
+
+
+
+WHAT SUMMER THOUGHT.
+
+Although himself a most polished, even a fastidious, gentleman, Senator
+Sumner never allowed Lincoln's homely ways to hide his great qualities.
+He gave him a respect and esteem at the start which others accorded only
+after experience. The Senator was most tactful, too, in his dealings
+with Mrs. Lincoln, and soon had a firm footing in the household. That he
+was proud of this, perhaps a little boastful, there is no doubt.
+
+Lincoln himself appreciated this. "Sumner thinks he runs me," he said,
+with an amused twinkle, one day.
+
+
+
+
+A USELESS DOG.
+
+When Hood's army had been scattered into fragments, President Lincoln,
+elated by the defeat of what had so long been a menacing force on the
+borders of Tennessee was reminded by its collapse of the fate of a
+savage dog belonging to one of his neighbors in the frontier settlements
+in which he lived in his youth. "The dog," he said, "was the terror of
+the neighborhood, and its owner, a churlish and quarrelsome fellow, took
+pleasure in the brute's forcible attitude.
+
+"Finally, all other means having failed to subdue the creature, a man
+loaded a lump of meat with a charge of powder, to which was attached a
+slow fuse; this was dropped where the dreaded dog would find it, and the
+animal gulped down the tempting bait.
+
+"There was a dull rumbling, a muffled explosion, and fragments of the
+dog were seen flying in every direction. The grieved owner, picking up
+the shattered remains of his cruel favorite, said: 'He was a good dog,
+but as a dog, his days of usefulness are over.' Hood's army was a good
+army," said Lincoln, by way of comment, "and we were all afraid of it,
+but as an army, its usefulness is gone."
+
+
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE "INFLUENCE" STORY.
+
+Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington, called one day on
+General Halleck, then Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, and,
+presuming upon a familiar acquaintance in California a few years since,
+solicited a pass outside of our lines to see a brother in Virginia,
+not thinking that he would meet with a refusal, as both his brother and
+himself were good Union men.
+
+"We have been deceived too often," said General Halleck, "and I regret I
+can't grant it."
+
+Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of with
+the same result. Finally, he obtained an interview with Mr. Lincoln, and
+stated his case.
+
+"Have you applied to General Halleck?" inquired the President.
+
+"Yes, and met with a flat refusal," said Judge B.
+
+"Then you must see Stanton," continued the President.
+
+"I have, and with the same result," was the reply.
+
+"Well, then," said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, "I can do nothing; for you
+must know that I have very little influence with this Administration,
+although I hope to have more with the next."
+
+
+
+
+FELT SORRY FOR BOTH.
+
+Many ladies attended the famous debates between Lincoln and Douglas, and
+they were the most unprejudiced listeners. "I can recall only one fact
+of the debates," says Mrs. William Crotty, of Seneca, Illinois, "that
+I felt so sorry for Lincoln while Douglas was speaking, and then to my
+surprise I felt so sorry for Douglas when Lincoln replied."
+
+The disinterested to whom it was an intellectual game, felt the power
+and charm of both men.
+
+
+
+
+WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
+
+"What made the deepest impression upon you?" inquired a friend one day,
+"when you stood in the presence of the Falls of Niagara, the greatest of
+natural wonders?"
+
+"The thing that struck me most forcibly when I saw the Falls," Lincoln
+responded, with characteristic deliberation, "was, where in the world
+did all that water come from?"
+
+
+
+
+"LONG ABE" FOUR YEARS LONGER.
+
+The second election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency of the United
+States was the reward of his courage and genius bestowed upon him by the
+people of the Union States. General George B. McClellan was his opponent
+in 1864 upon the platform that "the War is a failure," and carried but
+three States--New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. The States which did
+not think the War was a failure were those in New England, New York,
+Pennsylvania, all the Western commonwealths, West Virginia, Tennessee,
+Louisiana, Arkansas and the new State of Nevada, admitted into the Union
+on October 31st. President Lincoln's popular majority over McClellan,
+who never did much toward making the War a success, was more than four
+hundred thousand. Underneath the cartoon reproduced here, from "Harper's
+Weekly" of November 26th, 1864, were the words, "Long Abraham Lincoln a
+Little Longer."
+
+But the beloved President's time upon earth was not to be much longer,
+as he was assassinated just one month and ten days after his second
+inauguration. Indeed, the words, "a little longer," printed below the
+cartoon, were strangely prophetic, although not intended to be such.
+
+The people of the United States had learned to love "Long Abe," their
+affection being of a purely personal nature, in the main. No other Chief
+Executive was regarded as so sincerely the friend of the great mass of
+the inhabitants of the Republic as Lincoln. He was, in truth, one of
+"the common people," having been born among them, and lived as one of
+them.
+
+Lincoln's great height made him an easy subject for the cartoonist, and
+they used it in his favor as well as against him.
+
+
+
+
+"ALL SICKER'N YOUR MAN."
+
+A Commissioner to the Hawaiian Islands was to be appointed, and eight
+applicants had filed their papers, when a delegation from the South
+appeared at the White House on behalf of a ninth. Not only was their
+man fit--so the delegation urged--but was also in bad health, and a
+residence in that balmy climate would be of great benefit to him.
+
+The President was rather impatient that day, and before the members of
+the delegation had fairly started in, suddenly closed the interview with
+this remark:
+
+"Gentlemen, I am sorry to say that there are eight other applicants for
+that place, and they are all 'sicker'n' your man."
+
+
+
+
+EASIER TO EMPTY THE POTOMAC.
+
+An officer of low volunteer rank persisted in telling and re-telling his
+troubles to the President on a summer afternoon when Lincoln was tired
+and careworn.
+
+After listening patiently, he finally turned upon the man, and, looking
+wearily out upon the broad Potomac in the distance, said in a peremptory
+tone that ended the interview:
+
+"Now, my man, go away, go away. I cannot meddle in your case. I could as
+easily bail out the Potomac River with a teaspoon as attend to all the
+details of the army."
+
+
+
+
+HE WANTED A STEADY HAND.
+
+When the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln by Secretary
+Seward, for the President's signature, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped
+it in the ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held it
+a moment, then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little
+hesitation, he again took up the pen and went through the same movement
+as before. Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward and said:
+
+"I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning, and my right
+arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be
+for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I
+sign the Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say,
+'He hesitated.'"
+
+He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and slowly, firmly
+wrote "Abraham Lincoln," with which the whole world is now familiar.
+
+He then looked up, smiled, and said, "That will do."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN SAW STANTON ABOUT IT.
+
+Mr. Lovejoy, heading a committee of Western men, discussed an important
+scheme with the President, and the gentlemen were then directed to
+explain it to Secretary of War Stanton.
+
+Upon presenting themselves to the Secretary, and showing the President's
+order, the Secretary said: "Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind?"
+
+"He did, sir."
+
+"Then he is a d--d fool," said the angry Secretary.
+
+"Do you mean to say that the President is a d--d fool?" asked Lovejoy,
+in amazement.
+
+"Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that."
+
+The bewildered Illinoisan betook himself at once to the President and
+related the result of the conference.
+
+"Did Stanton say I was a d--d fool?" asked Lincoln at the close of the
+recital.
+
+"He did, sir, and repeated it."
+
+After a moment's pause, and looking up, the President said: "If Stanton
+said I was a d--d fool, then I must be one, for he is nearly always
+right, and generally says what he means. I will slip over and see him."
+
+
+
+
+MRS. LINCOLN'S SURPRISE.
+
+A good story is told of how Mrs. Lincoln made a little surprise for her
+husband.
+
+In the early days it was customary for lawyers to go from one county to
+another on horseback, a journey which often required several weeks.
+On returning from one of these trips, late one night, Mr. Lincoln
+dismounted from his horse at the familiar corner and then turned to go
+into the house, but stopped; a perfectly unknown structure was before
+him. Surprised, and thinking there must be some mistake, he went across
+the way and knocked at a neighbor's door. The family had retired, and so
+called out:
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"Abe Lincoln," was the reply. "I am looking for my house. I thought it
+was across the way, but when I went away a few weeks ago there was only
+a one-story house there and now there is a two-story house in its place.
+I think I must be lost."
+
+The neighbors then explained that Mrs. Lincoln had added another story
+during his absence. And Mr. Lincoln laughed and went to his remodeled
+house.
+
+
+
+
+MENACE TO THE GOVERNMENT.
+
+The persistence of office-seekers nearly drove President Lincoln wild.
+They slipped in through the half-opened doors of the Executive Mansion;
+they dogged his steps if he walked; they edged their way through the
+crowds and thrust their papers in his hands when he rode; and, taking it
+all in all, they well-nigh worried him to death.
+
+He once said that if the Government passed through the Rebellion without
+dismemberment there was the strongest danger of its falling a prey to
+the rapacity of the office-seeking class.
+
+"This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live without
+work, will finally test the strength of our institutions," were the
+words he used.
+
+
+
+
+TROOPS COULDN'T FLY OVER IT.
+
+On April 20th a delegation from Baltimore appeared at the White House
+and begged the President that troops for Washington be sent around and
+not through Baltimore.
+
+President Lincoln replied, laughingly: "If I grant this concession, you
+will be back tomorrow asking that no troops be marched 'around' it."
+
+The President was right. That afternoon, and again on Sunday and Monday,
+committees sought him, protesting that Maryland soil should not be
+"polluted" by the feet of soldiers marching against the South.
+
+The President had but one reply: "We must have troops, and as they can
+neither crawl under Maryland nor fly over it, they must come across it."
+
+
+
+
+PAT WAS "FORNINST THE GOVERNMENT."
+
+The Governor-General of Canada, with some of his principal officers,
+visited President Lincoln in the summer of 1864.
+
+They had been very troublesome in harboring blockade runners, and they
+were said to have carried on a large trade from their ports with the
+Confederates. Lincoln treated his guests with great courtesy.
+
+After a pleasant interview, the Governor, alluding to the coming
+Presidential election said, jokingly, but with a grain of sarcasm: "I
+understand Mr. President, that everybody votes in this country. If we
+remain until November, can we vote?"
+
+"You remind me," replied the President, "of a countryman of yours, a
+green emigrant from Ireland. Pat arrived on election day, and perhaps
+was as eager as your Excellency to vote, and to vote early, and late and
+often.
+
+"So, upon landing at Castle Garden, he hastened to the nearest voting
+place, and as he approached, the judge who received the ballots
+inquired, 'Who do you want to vote for? On which side are you?' Poor Pat
+was embarrassed; he did not know who were the candidates. He stopped,
+scratched his head, then, with the readiness of his countrymen, he said:
+
+"'I am forninst the Government, anyhow. Tell me, if your Honor plase:
+which is the rebellion side, and I'll tell you haw I want to vote. In
+ould Ireland, I was always on the rebellion side, and, by Saint Patrick,
+I'll do that same in America.' Your Excellency," said Mr. Lincoln,
+"would, I should think, not be at all at a loss on which side to vote!"
+
+
+
+
+"CAN'T SPARE THIS MAN."
+
+One night, about eleven o'clock, Colonel A. K. McClure, whose intimacy
+with President Lincoln was so great that he could obtain admittance to
+the Executive Mansion at any and all hours, called at the White House to
+urge Mr. Lincoln to remove General Grant from command.
+
+After listening patiently for a long time, the President, gathering
+himself up in his chair, said, with the utmost earnestness:
+
+"I can't spare this man; he fights!"
+
+In relating the particulars of this interview, Colonel McClure said:
+
+"That was all he said, but I knew that it was enough, and that Grant was
+safe in Lincoln's hands against his countless hosts of enemies. The only
+man in all the nation who had the power to save Grant was Lincoln,
+and he had decided to do it. He was not influenced by any personal
+partiality for Grant, for they had never met.
+
+"It was not until after the battle of Shiloh, fought on the 6th and
+7th of April, 1862, that Lincoln was placed in a position to exercise a
+controlling influence in shaping the destiny of Grant. The first reports
+from the Shiloh battle-field created profound alarm throughout the
+entire country, and the wildest exaggerations were spread in a floodtide
+of vituperation against Grant.
+
+"The few of to-day who can recall the inflamed condition of public
+sentiment against Grant caused by the disastrous first day's battle
+at Shiloh will remember that he was denounced as incompetent for his
+command by the public journals of all parties in the North, and with
+almost entire unanimity by Senators and Congressmen, regardless of
+political affinities.
+
+"I appealed to Lincoln for his own sake to remove Grant at once, and
+in giving my reasons for it I simply voiced the admittedly overwhelming
+protest from the loyal people of the land against Grant's continuance in
+command.
+
+"I did not forget that Lincoln was the one man who never allowed
+himself to appear as wantonly defying public sentiment. It seemed to
+me impossible for him to save Grant without taking a crushing load of
+condemnation upon himself; but Lincoln was wiser than all those
+around him, and he not only saved Grant, but he saved him by such
+well-concerted effort that he soon won popular applause from those who
+were most violent in demanding Grant's dismissal."
+
+
+
+
+HIS TEETH CHATTERED.
+
+During the Lincoln-Douglas joint debates of 1858, the latter accused
+Lincoln of having, when in Congress, voted against the appropriation
+for supplies to be sent the United States soldiers in Mexico. In reply,
+Lincoln said: "This is a perversion of the facts. I was opposed to the
+policy of the administration in declaring war against Mexico; but
+when war was declared I never failed to vote for the support of
+any proposition looking to the comfort of our poor fellows who were
+maintaining the dignity of our flag in a war that I thought unnecessary
+and unjust."
+
+He gradually became more and more excited; his voice thrilled and his
+whole frame shook. Sitting on the stand was O. B. Ficklin, who had
+served in Congress with Lincoln in 1847. Lincoln reached back, took
+Ficklin by the coat-collar, back of his neck, and in no gentle manner
+lifted him from his seat as if he had been a kitten, and roared:
+"Fellow-citizens, here is Ficklin, who was at that time in Congress with
+me, and he knows it is a lie."
+
+He shook Ficklin until his teeth chattered. Fearing he would shake
+Ficklin's head off, Ward Lamon grasped Lincoln's hand and broke his
+grip.
+
+After the speaking was over, Ficklin, who had warm personal friendship
+with him, said: "Lincoln, you nearly shook all the Democracy out of me
+to-day."
+
+
+
+
+"AARON GOT HIS COMMISSION."
+
+President Lincoln was censured for appointing one that had zealously
+opposed his second term.
+
+He replied: "Well, I suppose Judge E., having been disappointed before,
+did behave pretty ugly, but that wouldn't make him any less fit for the
+place; and I think I have Scriptural authority for appointing him.
+
+"You remember when the Lord was on Mount Sinai getting out a commission
+for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the mountain making a
+false god for the people to worship. Yet Aaron got his commission, you
+know."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND THE MINISTERS.
+
+At the time of Lincoln's nomination, at Chicago, Mr. Newton Bateman,
+Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois, occupied
+a room adjoining and opening into the Executive Chamber at Springfield.
+Frequently this door was open during Mr. Lincoln's receptions, and
+throughout the seven months or more of his occupation he saw him nearly
+every day. Often, when Mr. Lincoln was tired, he closed the door against
+all intruders, and called Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk. On
+one of these occasions, Mr. Lincoln took up a book containing canvass
+of the city of Springfield, in which he lived, showing the candidate
+for whom each citizen had declared it his intention to vote in the
+approaching election. Mr. Lincoln's friends had, doubtless at his own
+request, placed the result of the canvass in his hands. This was towards
+the close of October, and only a few days before election. Calling Mr.
+Bateman to a seat by his side, having previously locked all the doors,
+he said:
+
+"Let us look over this book; I wish particularly to see how the
+ministers if Springfield are going to vote." The leaves were turned, one
+by one, and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln frequently asked if
+this one and that one was not a minister, or an elder, or a member of
+such and such a church, and sadly expressed his surprise on receiving an
+affirmative answer. In that manner he went through the book, and then he
+closed it, and sat silently for some minutes regarding a memorandum in
+pencil which lay before him. At length he turned to Mr. Bateman, with a
+face full of sadness, and said:
+
+"Here are twenty-three ministers of different denominations, and all
+of them are against me but three, and here are a great many prominent
+members of churches, a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bateman,
+I am not a Christian--God knows I would be one--but I have carefully
+read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book," and he drew forth
+a pocket New Testament.
+
+"These men well know," he continued, "that I am for freedom in the
+Territories, freedom everywhere, as free as the Constitution and the
+laws will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this,
+and yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human
+bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me; I do
+not understand it at all."
+
+Here Mr. Lincoln paused--paused for long minutes, his features
+surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked up and down the
+reception-room in the effort to retain or regain his self-possession.
+Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling voice and cheeks wet with
+tears:
+
+"I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see
+the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place
+and work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing,
+but Truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty
+is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them
+that a house divided against itself cannot stand; and Christ and Reason
+say the same, and they will find it so.
+
+"Douglas doesn't care whether slavery is voted up or down, but God
+cares, and humanity cares, and I care; and with God's help I shall
+not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come, and I shall be
+vindicated; and these men will find they have not read their Bible
+right."
+
+Much of this was uttered as if he were speaking to himself, and with
+a sad, earnest solemnity of manner impossible to be described. After a
+pause he resumed:
+
+"Doesn't it seem strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of this
+contest? No revelation could make it plainer to me that slavery or the
+Government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as
+I look at it, but for this rock on which I stand" (alluding to the
+Testament which he still held in his hand), "especially with the
+knowledge of how these ministers are going to vote. It seems as if God
+had borne with this thing (slavery) until the teachers of religion have
+come to defend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character
+and sanction; and now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of
+wrath will be poured out."
+
+Everything he said was of a peculiarly deep, tender, and religious tone,
+and all was tinged with a touching melancholy. He repeatedly referred to
+his conviction that the day of wrath was at hand, and that he was to be
+an actor in the terrible struggle which would issue in the overthrow of
+slavery, although he might not live to see the end.
+
+After further reference to a belief in the Divine Providence and the
+fact of God in history, the conversation turned upon prayer. He freely
+stated his belief in the duty, privilege, and efficacy of prayer, and
+intimated, in no unmistakable terms, that he had sought in that way
+Divine guidance and favor. The effect of this conversation upon the
+mind of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lincoln profoundly
+respected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln had, in a quiet way,
+found a path to the Christian standpoint--that he had found God,
+and rested on the eternal truth of God. As the two men were about to
+separate, Mr. Bateman remarked:
+
+"I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this
+class of subjects; certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the
+sentiments you have expressed to me."
+
+He replied quickly: "I know they are, but I think more on these subjects
+than upon all others, and I have done so for years; and I am willing you
+should know it."
+
+
+
+
+HARDTACK BETTER THAN GENERALS.
+
+Secretary of War Stanton told the President the following story, which
+greatly amused the latter, as he was especially fond of a joke at the
+expense of some high military or civil dignitary.
+
+Stanton had little or no sense of humor.
+
+When Secretary Stanton was making a trip up the Broad River in North
+Carolina, in a tugboat, a Federal picket yelled out, "What have you got
+on board of that tug?"
+
+The severe and dignified answer was, "The Secretary of War and
+Major-General Foster."
+
+Instantly the picket roared back, "We've got Major-Generals enough up
+here. Why don't you bring us up some hardtack?"
+
+
+
+
+GOT THE PREACHER.
+
+A story told by a Cabinet member tended to show how accurately Lincoln
+could calculate political results in advance--a faculty which remained
+with him all his life.
+
+"A friend, who was a Democrat, had come to him early in the canvass and
+told him he wanted to see him elected, but did not like to vote against
+his party; still he would vote for him, if the contest was to be so
+close that every vote was needed.
+
+"A short time before the election Lincoln said to him: 'I have got the
+preacher, and I don't want your vote.'"
+
+
+
+
+BIG JOKE ON HALLECK.
+
+When General Halleck was Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, with
+headquarters at Washington, President Lincoln unconsciously played a big
+practical joke upon that dignified officer. The President had spent
+the night at the Soldiers' Home, and the next morning asked Captain
+Derickson, commanding the company of Pennsylvania soldiers, which was
+the Presidential guard at the White House and the Home--wherever the
+President happened to be--to go to town with him.
+
+Captain Derickson told the story in a most entertaining way:
+
+"When we entered the city, Mr. Lincoln said he would call at General
+Halleck's headquarters and get what news had been received from the
+army during the night. I informed him that General Cullum, chief aid to
+General Halleck, was raised in Meadville, and that I knew him when I was
+a boy.
+
+"He replied, 'Then we must see both the gentlemen.' When the carriage
+stopped, he requested me to remain seated, and said he would bring the
+gentlemen down to see me, the office being on the second floor. In a
+short time the President came down, followed by the other gentlemen.
+When he introduced them to me, General Cullum recognized and seemed
+pleased to see me.
+
+"In General Halleck I thought I discovered a kind of quizzical look,
+as much as to say, 'Isn't this rather a big joke to ask the
+Commander-in-Chief of the army down to the street to be introduced to a
+country captain?'"
+
+
+
+
+STORIES BETTER THAN DOCTORS.
+
+A gentleman, visiting a hospital at Washington, heard an occupant of one
+of the beds laughing and talking about the President, who had been there
+a short time before and gladdened the wounded with some of his stories.
+The soldier seemed in such good spirits that the gentleman inquired:
+
+"You must be very slightly wounded?"
+
+"Yes," replied the brave fellow, "very slightly--I have only lost one
+leg, and I'd be glad enough to lose the other, if I could hear some more
+of 'Old Abe's' stories."
+
+
+
+
+SHORT, BUT EXCITING.
+
+William B. Wilson, employed in the telegraph office at the War
+Department, ran over to the White House one day to summon Mr. Lincoln.
+He described the trip back to the War Department in this manner:
+
+"Calling one of his two younger boys to join him, we then started from
+the White House, between stately trees, along a gravel path which led to
+the rear of the old War Department building. It was a warm day, and Mr.
+Lincoln wore as part of his costume a faded gray linen duster which hung
+loosely around his long gaunt frame; his kindly eye was beaming with
+good nature, and his ever-thoughtful brow was unruffled.
+
+"We had barely reached the gravel walk before he stooped over, picked up
+a round smooth pebble, and shooting it off his thumb, challenged us to
+a game of 'followings,' which we accepted. Each in turn tried to hit
+the outlying stone, which was being constantly projected onward by
+the President. The game was short, but exciting; the cheerfulness
+of childhood, the ambition of young manhood, and the gravity of the
+statesman were all injected into it.
+
+"The game was not won until the steps of the War Department were
+reached. Every inch of progression was toughly contested, and when the
+President was declared victor, it was only by a hand span. He appeared
+to be as much pleased as if he had won a battle."
+
+
+
+
+MR. BULL DIDN'T GET HIS COTTON.
+
+Because of the blockade, by the Union fleets, of the Southern cotton
+ports, England was deprived of her supply of cotton, and scores of
+thousands of British operatives were thrown out of employment by the
+closing of the cotton mills at Manchester and other cities in Great
+Britain. England (John Bull) felt so badly about this that the British
+wanted to go to war on account of it, but when the United States eagle
+ruffled up its wings the English thought over the business and concluded
+not to fight.
+
+"Harper's Weekly" of May 16th, 1863, contained the cartoon we reproduce,
+which shows John Bull as manifesting much anxiety regarding the cotton
+he had bought from the Southern planters, but which the latter could not
+deliver. Beneath the cartoon is this bit of dialogue between John
+Bull and President Lincoln: MR. BULL (confiding creature): "Hi want my
+cotton, bought at fi'pence a pound."
+
+MR. LINCOLN: "Don't know anything about it, my dear sir. Your friends,
+the rebels, are burning all the cotton they can find, and I confiscate
+the rest. Good-morning, John!"
+
+As President Lincoln has a big fifteen-inch gun at his side, the black
+muzzle of which is pressed tightly against Mr. Bull's waistcoat, the
+President, to all appearances, has the best of the argument "by a long
+shot." Anyhow, Mr. Bull had nothing more to say, but gave the cotton
+matter up as a bad piece of business, and pocketed the loss.
+
+
+
+
+STICK TO AMERICAN PRINCIPLES.
+
+President Lincoln's first conclusion (that Mason and Slidell should be
+released) was the real ground on which the Administration submitted. "We
+must stick to American principles concerning the rights of neutrals." It
+was to many, as Secretary of the Treasury Chase declared it was to him,
+"gall and wormwood." James Russell Lowell's verse expressed best the
+popular feeling:
+
+We give the critters back, John, Cos Abram thought 'twas right; It
+warn't your bullyin' clack, John, Provokin' us to fight.
+
+The decision raised Mr. Lincoln immeasurably in the view of thoughtful
+men, especially in England.
+
+
+
+
+USED "RUDE TACT."
+
+General John C. Fremont, with headquarters at St. Louis, astonished the
+country by issuing a proclamation declaring, among other things, that
+the property, real and personal, of all the persons in the State of
+Missouri who should take up arms against the United States, or who
+should be directly proved to have taken an active part with its enemies
+in the field, would be confiscated to public use and their slaves, if
+they had any, declared freemen.
+
+The President was dismayed; he modified that part of the proclamation
+referring to slaves, and finally replaced Fremont with General Hunter.
+
+Mrs. Fremont (daughter of Senator T. H. Benton), her husband's real
+chief of staff, flew to Washington and sought Mr. Lincoln. It was
+midnight, but the President gave her an audience. Without waiting for an
+explanation, she violently charged him with sending an enemy to Missouri
+to look into Fremont's case, and threatening that if Fremont desired to
+he could set up a government for himself.
+
+"I had to exercise all the rude tact I have to avoid quarreling with
+her," said Mr. Lincoln afterwards.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" ON A WOODPILE.
+
+Lincoln's attempt to make a lawyer of himself under adverse and
+unpromising circumstances--he was a bare-footed farm-hand--excited
+comment. And it was not to be wondered. One old man, who was yet alive
+as late as 1901, had often employed Lincoln to do farm work for him, and
+was surprised to find him one day sitting barefoot on the summit of a
+woodpile and attentively reading a book.
+
+"This being an unusual thing for farm-hands in that early day to do,"
+said the old man, when relating the story, "I asked him what he was
+reading.
+
+"'I'm not reading,' he answered. 'I'm studying.'
+
+"'Studying what?' I inquired.
+
+"'Law, sir,' was the emphatic response.
+
+"It was really too much for me, as I looked at him sitting there proud
+as Cicero. 'Great God Almighty!' I exclaimed, and passed on." Lincoln
+merely laughed and resumed his "studies."
+
+
+
+
+TAKING DOWN A DANDY.
+
+In a political campaign, Lincoln once replied to Colonel Richard Taylor,
+a self-conceited, dandified man, who wore a gold chain and ruffled
+shirt. His party at that time was posing as the hard-working bone and
+sinew of the land, while the Whigs were stigmatized as aristocrats,
+ruffled-shirt gentry. Taylor making a sweeping gesture, his overcoat
+became torn open, displaying his finery. Lincoln in reply said, laying
+his hand on his jeans-clad breast:
+
+"Here is your aristocrat, one of your silk-stocking gentry, at your
+service." Then, spreading out his hands, bronzed and gaunt with toil:
+"Here is your rag-basin with lily-white hands. Yes, I suppose, according
+to my friend Taylor, I am a bloated aristocrat."
+
+
+
+
+WHEN OLD ABE GOT MAD.
+
+Soon after hostilities broke out between the North and South, Congress
+appointed a Committee on the Conduct of the War. This committee beset
+Mr. Lincoln and urged all sorts of measures. Its members were aggressive
+and patriotic, and one thing they determined upon was that the Army of
+the Potomac should move. But it was not until March that they became
+convinced that anything would be done.
+
+One day early in that month, Senator Chandler, of Michigan, a member of
+the committee, met George W. Julian. He was in high glee. "'Old' Abe is
+mad," said Julian, "and the War will now go on."
+
+
+
+
+WANTED TO "BORROW" THE ARMY.
+
+During one of the periods when things were at a standstill, the
+Washington authorities, being unable to force General McClellan to
+assume an aggressive attitude, President Lincoln went to the general's
+headquarters to have a talk with him, but for some reason he was unable
+to get an audience.
+
+Mr. Lincoln returned to the White House much disturbed at his failure
+to see the commander of the Union forces, and immediately sent for two
+general officers, to have a consultation. On their arrival, he told
+them he must have some one to talk to about the situation, and as he
+had failed to see General McClellan, he wished their views as to the
+possibility or probability of commencing active operations with the Army
+of the Potomac.
+
+"Something's got to be done," said the President, emphatically, "and
+done right away, or the bottom will fall out of the whole thing. Now, if
+McClellan doesn't want to use the army for awhile, I'd like to borrow it
+from him and see if I can't do something or other with it.
+
+"If McClellan can't fish, he ought at least to be cutting bait at a time
+like this."
+
+
+
+
+YOUNG "SUCKER" VISITORS.
+
+After Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency, the Executive
+Chamber, a large, fine room in the State House at Springfield, was set
+apart for him, where he met the public until after his election.
+
+As illustrative of the nature of many of his calls, the following
+incident was related by Mr. Holland, an eye-witness: "Mr. Lincoln being
+in conversation with a gentleman one day, two raw, plainly-dressed young
+'Suckers' entered the room, and bashfully lingered near the door. As
+soon as he observed them, and saw their embarrassment, he rose and
+walked to them, saying: 'How do you do, my good fellows? What can I do
+for you? Will you sit down?' The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of
+the two, declined to sit, and explained the object of the call thus:
+He had had a talk about the relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his
+companion, and had asserted his belief that they were of exactly the
+same height. He had come in to verify his judgment. Mr. Lincoln smiled,
+went and got his cane, and, placing the end of it upon the wall, said"
+'Here, young man, come under here.' "The young man came under the
+cane as Mr. Lincoln held it, and when it was perfectly adjusted to his
+height, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+"'Now, come out, and hold the cane.'
+
+"This he did, while Mr. Lincoln stood under. Rubbing his head back and
+forth to see that it worked easily under the measurement, he stepped
+out, and declared to the sagacious fellow who was curiously looking on,
+that he had guessed with remarkable accuracy--that he and the young man
+were exactly the same height. Then he shook hands with them and sent
+them on their way. Mr. Lincoln would just as soon have thought of
+cutting off his right hand as he would have thought of turning those
+boys away with the impression that they had in any way insulted his
+dignity."
+
+
+
+
+"AND YOU DON'T WEAR HOOPSKIRTS."
+
+An Ohio Senator had an appointment with President Lincoln at six
+o'clock, and as he entered the vestibule of the White House his
+attention was attracted toward a poorly clad young woman, who was
+violently sobbing. He asked her the cause of her distress. She said she
+had been ordered away by the servants, after vainly waiting many hours
+to see the President about her only brother, who had been condemned to
+death. Her story was this:
+
+She and her brother were foreigners, and orphans. They had been in this
+country several years. Her brother enlisted in the army, but, through
+bad influences, was induced to desert. He was captured, tried and
+sentenced to be shot--the old story.
+
+The poor girl had obtained the signatures of some persons who had
+formerly known him, to a petition for a pardon, and alone had come
+to Washington to lay the case before the President. Thronged as the
+waiting-rooms always were, she had passed the long hours of two days
+trying in vain to get an audience, and had at length been ordered away.
+
+The gentleman's feelings were touched. He said to her that he had come
+to see the President, but did not know as he should succeed. He told
+her, however, to follow him upstairs, and he would see what could be
+done for her.
+
+Just before reaching the door, Mr. Lincoln came out, and, meeting his
+friend, said good-humoredly, "Are you not ahead of time?" The gentleman
+showed him his watch, with the hand upon the hour of six.
+
+"Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, "I have been so busy to-day that I
+have not had time to get a lunch. Go in and sit down; I will be back
+directly."
+
+The gentleman made the young woman accompany him into the office, and
+when they were seated, said to her: "Now, my good girl, I want you to
+muster all the courage you have in the world. When the President comes
+back, he will sit down in that armchair. I shall get up to speak to him,
+and as I do so you must force yourself between us, and insist upon his
+examination of your papers, telling him it is a case of life and death,
+and admits of no delay." These instructions were carried out to the
+letter. Mr. Lincoln was at first somewhat surprised at the apparent
+forwardness of the young woman, but observing her distressed appearance,
+he ceased conversation with his friend, and commenced an examination of
+the document she had placed in his hands.
+
+Glancing from it to the face of the petitioner, whose tears had broken
+forth afresh, he studied its expression for a moment, and then his eye
+fell upon her scanty but neat dress. Instantly his face lighted up.
+
+"My poor girl," said he, "you have come here with no Governor, or
+Senator, or member of Congress to plead your cause. You seem honest and
+truthful; and you don't wear hoopskirts--and I will be whipped but I
+will pardon your brother." And he did.
+
+
+
+
+LIEUTENANT TAD LINCOLN'S SENTINELS.
+
+President Lincoln's favorite son, Tad, having been sportively
+commissioned a lieutenant in the United States Army by Secretary
+Stanton, procured several muskets and drilled the men-servants of the
+house in the manual of arms without attracting the attention of his
+father. And one night, to his consternation, he put them all on duty,
+and relieved the regular sentries, who, seeing the lad in full uniform,
+or perhaps appreciating the joke, gladly went to their quarters. His
+brother objected; but Tad insisted upon his rights as an officer. The
+President laughed but declined to interfere, but when the lad had lost
+his little authority in his boyish sleep, the Commander-in-Chief of the
+Army and Navy of the United States went down and personally discharged
+the sentries his son had put on the post.
+
+
+
+
+DOUGLAS HELD LINCOLN'S HAT.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln delivered his first inaugural he was introduced by his
+friend, United States Senator E. D. Baker, of Oregon. He carried a cane
+and a little roll--the manuscript of his inaugural address. There was
+moment's pause after the introduction, as he vainly looked for a spot
+where he might place his high silk hat.
+
+Stephen A. Douglas, the political antagonist of his whole public life,
+the man who had pressed him hardest in the campaign of 1860, was seated
+just behind him. Douglas stepped forward quickly, and took the hat which
+Mr. Lincoln held helplessly in his hand.
+
+"If I can't be President," Douglas whispered smilingly to Mrs. Brown,
+a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln and a member of the President's party, "I at
+least can hold his hat."
+
+
+
+
+THE DEAD MAN SPOKE.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once said in a speech: "Fellow-citizens, my friend, Mr.
+Douglas, made the startling announcement to-day that the Whigs are all
+dead.
+
+"If that be so, fellow-citizens, you will now experience the novelty of
+hearing a speech from a dead man; and I suppose you might properly say,
+in the language of the old hymn:
+
+"'Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound.'"
+
+
+
+
+MILITARY SNAILS NOT SPEEDY.
+
+President Lincoln--as he himself put it in conversation one day with a
+friend--"fairly ached" for his generals to "get down to business." These
+slow generals he termed "snails."
+
+Grant, Sherman and Sheridan were his favorites, for they were
+aggressive. They did not wait for the enemy to attack. Too many of the
+others were "lingerers," as Lincoln called them. They were magnificent
+in defense, and stubborn and brave, but their names figured too much on
+the "waiting list."
+
+The greatest fault Lincoln found with so many of the commanders on the
+Union side was their unwillingness to move until everything was exactly
+to their liking.
+
+Lincoln could not understand why these leaders of Northern armies
+hesitated.
+
+
+
+
+OUTRAN THE JACK-RABBIT.
+
+When the Union forces were routed in the first battle of Bull Run, there
+were many civilians present, who had gone out from Washington to witness
+the battle. Among the number were several Congressmen. One of these was
+a tall, long-legged fellow, who wore a long-tailed coat and a high plug
+hat. When the retreat began, this Congressman was in the lead of the
+entire crowd fleeing toward Washington. He outran all the rest, and was
+the first man to arrive in the city. No person ever made such good use
+of long legs as this Congressman. His immense stride carried him yards
+at every bound. He went over ditches and gullies at a single leap, and
+cleared a six-foot fence with a foot to spare. As he went over the fence
+his plug hat blew off, but he did not pause. With his long coat-tails
+flying in the wind, he continued straight ahead for Washington.
+
+Many of those behind him were scared almost to death, but the flying
+Congressman was such a comical figure that they had to laugh in spite of
+their terror.
+
+Mr. Lincoln enjoyed the description of how this Congressman led the race
+from Bull's Run, and laughed at it heartily.
+
+"I never knew but one fellow who could run like that," he said, "and
+he was a young man out in Illinois. He had been sparking a girl, much
+against the wishes of her father. In fact, the old man took such a
+dislike to him that he threatened to shoot him if he ever caught him
+around his premises again.
+
+"One evening the young man learned that the girl's father had gone
+to the city, and he ventured out to the house. He was sitting in the
+parlor, with his arm around Betsy's waist, when he suddenly spied the
+old man coming around the corner of the house with a shotgun. Leaping
+through a window into the garden, he started down a path at the top
+of his speed. He was a long-legged fellow, and could run like greased
+lightning. Just then a jack-rabbit jumped up in the path in front of
+him. In about two leaps he overtook the rabbit. Giving it a kick that
+sent it high in the air, he exclaimed: 'Git out of the road, gosh dern
+you, and let somebody run that knows how.'
+
+"I reckon," said Mr. Lincoln, "that the long-legged Congressman, when he
+saw the rebel muskets, must have felt a good deal like that young fellow
+did when he saw the old man's shot-gun."
+
+"FOOLING" THE PEOPLE.
+
+Lincoln was a strong believer in the virtue of dealing honestly with the
+people.
+
+"If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens," he said
+to a caller at the White House, "you can never regain their respect and
+esteem.
+
+"It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can
+even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the
+people all the time."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE, YOU CAN'T PLAY THAT ON ME."
+
+The night President-elect Lincoln arrived at Washington, one man was
+observed watching Lincoln very closely as he walked out of the railroad
+station. Standing a little to one side, the man looked very sharply at
+Lincoln, and, as the latter passed, seized hold of his hand, and said in
+a loud tone of voice, "Abe, you can't play that on me!"
+
+Ward Lamon and the others with Lincoln were instantly alarmed, and would
+have struck the stranger had not Lincoln hastily said, "Don't strike
+him! It is Washburne. Don't you know him?"
+
+Mr. Seward had given Congressman Washburne a hint of the time the train
+would arrive, and he had the right to be at the station when the
+train steamed in, but his indiscreet manner of loudly addressing the
+President-elect might have led to serious consequences to the latter.
+
+
+
+
+HIS "BROAD" STORIES.
+
+Mrs. Rose Linder Wilkinson, who often accompanied her father, Judge
+Linder, in the days when he rode circuit with Mr. Lincoln, tells the
+following story:
+
+"At night, as a rule, the lawyers spent awhile in the parlor, and
+permitted the women who happened to be along to sit with them. But after
+half an hour or so we would notice it was time for us to leave them. I
+remember traveling the circuit one season when the young wife of one of
+the lawyers was with him. The place was so crowded that she and I were
+made to sleep together. When the time came for banishing us from the
+parlor, we went up to our room and sat there till bed-time, listening
+to the roars that followed each ether swiftly while those lawyers
+down-stairs told stories and laughed till the rafters rang.
+
+"In the morning Mr. Lincoln said to me: 'Rose, did we disturb your sleep
+last night?' I answered, 'No, I had no sleep'--which was not entirely
+true but the retort amused him. Then the young lawyer's wife complained
+to him that we were not fairly used. We came along with them, young
+women, and when they were having the best time we were sent away like
+children to go to bed in the dark.
+
+"'But, Madame,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'you would not enjoy the things we
+laugh at.' And then he entered into a discussion on what have been
+termed his 'broad' stories. He deplored the fact that men seemed to
+remember them longer and with less effort than any others.
+
+"My father said: 'But, Lincoln, I don't remember the "broad" part of
+your stories so much as I do the moral that is in them,' and it was a
+thing in which they were all agreed."
+
+
+
+
+SORRY FOR THE HORSES.
+
+When President Lincoln heard of the Confederate raid at Fairfax, in
+which a brigadier-general and a number of valuable horses were captured,
+he gravely observed:
+
+"Well, I am sorry for the horses."
+
+"Sorry for the horses, Mr. President!" exclaimed the Secretary of
+War, raising his spectacles and throwing himself back in his chair in
+astonishment.
+
+"Yes," replied Mr., Lincoln, "I can make a brigadier-general in five
+minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten horses."
+
+
+
+
+MILD REBUKE TO A DOCTOR.
+
+Dr. Jerome Walker, of Brooklyn, told how Mr. Lincoln once administered
+to him a mild rebuke. The doctor was showing Mr. Lincoln through the
+hospital at City Point.
+
+"Finally, after visiting the wards occupied by our invalid and
+convalescing soldiers," said Dr. Walker, "we came to three wards
+occupied by sick and wounded Southern prisoners. With a feeling of
+patriotic duty, I said: 'Mr. President, you won't want to go in there;
+they are only rebels.'
+
+"I will never forget how he stopped and gently laid his large hand upon
+my shoulder and quietly answered, 'You mean Confederates!' And I have
+meant Confederates ever since.
+
+"There was nothing left for me to do after the President's remark but to
+go with him through these three wards; and I could not see but that he
+was just as kind, his hand-shakings just as hearty, his interest just as
+real for the welfare of the men, as when he was among our own soldiers."
+
+
+
+
+COLD MOLASSES WAS SWIFTER.
+
+"Old Pap," as the soldiers called General George H. Thomas, was
+aggravatingly slow at a time when the President wanted him to "get
+a move on"; in fact, the gallant "Rock of Chickamauga" was evidently
+entered in a snail-race.
+
+"Some of my generals are so slow," regretfully remarked Lincoln one day,
+"that molasses in the coldest days of winter is a race horse compared to
+them.
+
+"They're brave enough, but somehow or other they get fastened in a fence
+corner, and can't figure their way out."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CALLS MEDILL A COWARD.
+
+Joseph Medill, for many years editor of the Chicago Tribune, not long
+before his death, told the following story regarding the "talking to"
+President Lincoln gave himself and two other Chicago gentlemen who went
+to Washington to see about reducing Chicago's quota of troops after the
+call for extra men was made by the President in 1864:
+
+"In 1864, when the call for extra troops came, Chicago revolted. She had
+already sent 22,000 troops up to that time, and was drained. When the
+call came there were no young men to go, and no aliens except what were
+bought. The citizens held a mass meeting and appointed three persons, of
+whom I was one, to go to Washington and ask Stanton to give Cook County
+a new enrollment. On reaching Washington, we went to Stanton with our
+statement. He refused entirely to give us the desired aid. Then we went
+to Lincoln. 'I cannot do it,' he said, 'but I will go with you to the
+War Department, and Stanton and I will hear both sides.'
+
+"So we all went over to the War Department together. Stanton and General
+Frye were there, and they, of course, contended that the quota should
+not be changed. The argument went on for some time, and was finally
+referred to Lincoln, who had been sitting silently listening.
+
+"I shall never forget how he suddenly lifted his head and turned on us a
+black and frowning face.
+
+"'Gentlemen,' he said, in a voice full of bitterness, 'after Boston,
+Chicago has been the chief instrument in bringing war on this country.
+The Northwest has opposed the South as New England has opposed the
+South. It is you who are largely responsible for making blood flow as it
+has.
+
+"'You called for war until we had it. You called for Emancipation, and
+I have given it to you. Whatever you have asked, you have had. Now you
+come here begging to be let off from the call for men, which I have
+made to carry out the war which you demanded. You ought to be ashamed of
+yourselves. I have a right to expect better things of you.
+
+"'Go home and raise your six thousand extra men. And you, Medill, you
+are acting like a coward. You and your Tribune have had more influence
+than any paper in the Northwest in making this war. You can influence
+great masses, and yet you cry to be spared at a moment when your cause
+is suffering. Go home and send us those men!'
+
+"I couldn't say anything. It was the first time I ever was whipped, and
+I didn't have an answer. We all got up and went out, and when the door
+closed one of my colleagues said:
+
+"'Well, gentlemen, the old man is right. We ought to be ashamed of
+ourselves. Let us never say anything about this, but go home and raise
+the men.'
+
+"And we did--six thousand men--making twenty-eight thousand in the War
+from a city of one hundred and fifty-six thousand. But there might have
+been crape on every door, almost, in Chicago, for every family had lost
+a son or a husband. I lost two brothers. It was hard for the mothers."
+
+
+
+
+THEY DIDN'T BUILD IT.
+
+In 1862 a delegation of New York millionaires waited upon President
+Lincoln to request that he furnish a gunboat for the protection of New
+York harbor.
+
+Mr. Lincoln, after listening patiently, said: "Gentlemen, the credit of
+the Government is at a very low ebb; greenbacks are not worth more than
+forty or fifty cents on the dollar; it is impossible for me, in the
+present condition of things, to furnish you a gunboat, and, in this
+condition of things, if I was worth half as much as you, gentlemen, are
+represented to be, and as badly frightened as you seem to be, I would
+build a gunboat and give it to the Government."
+
+
+
+
+STANTON'S ABUSE OF LINCOLN.
+
+President Lincoln's sense of duty to the country, together with his keen
+judgment of men, often led to the appointment of persons unfriendly to
+him. Some of these appointees were, as well, not loyal to the National
+Government, for that matter.
+
+Regarding Secretary of War Stanton's attitude toward Lincoln, Colonel A.
+K. McClure, who was very close to President Lincoln, said:
+
+"After Stanton's retirement from the Buchanan Cabinet when Lincoln
+was inaugurated, he maintained the closest confidential relations with
+Buchanan, and wrote him many letters expressing the utmost contempt for
+Lincoln, the Cabinet, the Republican Congress, and the general policy of
+the Administration.
+
+"These letters speak freely of the 'painful imbecility of Lincoln,'
+of the 'venality and corruption' which ran riot in the government, and
+expressed the belief that no better condition of things was possible
+'until Jeff Davis turns out the whole concern.'
+
+"He was firmly impressed for some weeks after the battle of Bull Run
+that the government was utterly overthrown, as he repeatedly refers to
+the coming of Davis into the National Capital.
+
+"In one letter he says that 'in less than thirty days Davis will be in
+possession of Washington;' and it is an open secret that Stanton advised
+the revolutionary overthrow of the Lincoln government, to be replaced by
+General McClellan as military dictator. These letters, bad as they are,
+are not the worst letters written by Stanton to Buchanan. Some of
+them were so violent in their expressions against Lincoln and the
+administration that they have been charitably withheld from the
+public, but they remain in the possession of the surviving relatives of
+President Buchanan.
+
+"Of course, Lincoln had no knowledge of the bitterness exhibited by
+Stanton to himself personally and to his administration, but if he had
+known the worst that Stanton ever said or wrote about him, I doubt
+not that he would have called him to the Cabinet in January, 1862. The
+disasters the army suffered made Lincoln forgetful of everything but the
+single duty of suppressing the rebellion.
+
+"Lincoln was not long in discovering that in his new Secretary of War he
+had an invaluable but most troublesome Cabinet officer, but he saw
+only the great and good offices that Stanton was performing for the
+imperilled Republic.
+
+"Confidence was restored in financial circles by the appointment of
+Stanton, and his name as War Minister did more to strengthen the faith
+of the people in the government credit than would have been probable
+from the appointment of any other man of that day.
+
+"He was a terror to all the hordes of jobbers and speculators and
+camp-followers whose appetites had been whetted by a great war, and he
+enforced the strictest discipline throughout our armies.
+
+"He was seldom capable of being civil to any officer away from the army
+on leave of absence unless he had been summoned by the government for
+conference or special duty, and he issued the strictest orders from time
+to time to drive the throng of military idlers from the capital and
+keep them at their posts. He was stern to savagery in his enforcement of
+military law. The wearied sentinel who slept at his post found no mercy
+in the heart of Stanton, and many times did Lincoln's humanity overrule
+his fiery minister.
+
+"Any neglect of military duty was sure of the swiftest punishment, and
+seldom did he make even just allowance for inevitable military disaster.
+He had profound, unfaltering faith in the Union cause, and, above all,
+he had unfaltering faith in himself.
+
+"He believed that he was in all things except in name Commander-in-Chief
+of the armies and the navy of the nation, and it was with unconcealed
+reluctance that he at times deferred to the authority of the President."
+
+
+
+
+THE NEGRO AND THE CROCODILE.
+
+In one of his political speeches, Judge Douglas made use of the
+following figure of speech: "As between the crocodile and the negro,
+I take the side of the negro; but as between the negro and the white
+man--I would go for the white man every time."
+
+Lincoln, at home, noted that; and afterwards, when he had occasion
+to refer to the remark, he said: "I believe that this is a sort of
+proposition in proportion, which may be stated thus: 'As the negro is
+to the white man, so is the crocodile to the negro; and as the negro may
+rightfully treat the crocodile as a beast or reptile, so the white man
+may rightfully treat the negro as a beast or reptile.'"
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WAS READY TO FIGHT.
+
+On one occasion, Colonel Baker was speaking in a court-house, which had
+been a storehouse, and, on making some remarks that were offensive to
+certain political rowdies in the crowd, they cried: "Take him off the
+stand!"
+
+Immediate confusion followed, and there was an attempt to carry the
+demand into execution. Directly over the speaker's head was an old
+skylight, at which it appeared Mr. Lincoln had been listening to the
+speech. In an instant, Mr. Lincoln's feet came through the skylight,
+followed by his tall and sinewy frame, and he was standing by Colonel
+Baker's side. He raised his hand and the assembly subsided into silence.
+"Gentlemen," said Mr. Lincoln, "let us not disgrace the age and country
+in which we live. This is a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed.
+Mr. Baker has a right to speak, and ought to be permitted to do so. I am
+here to protect him, and no man shall take him from this stand if I can
+prevent it." The suddenness of his appearance, his perfect calmness and
+fairness, and the knowledge that he would do what he had promised to do,
+quieted all disturbance, and the speaker concluded his remarks without
+difficulty.
+
+
+
+
+IT WAS UP-HILL WORK.
+
+Two young men called on the President from Springfield, Illinois.
+Lincoln shook hands with them, and asked about the crops, the weather,
+etc.
+
+Finally one of the young men said, "Mother is not well, and she sent me
+up to inquire of you how the suit about the Wells property is getting
+on."
+
+Lincoln, in the same even tone with which he had asked the question,
+said: "Give my best wishes and respects to your mother, and tell her I
+have so many outside matters to attend to now that I have put that case,
+and others, in the hands of a lawyer friend of mine, and if you will
+call on him (giving name and address) he will give you the information
+you want."
+
+After they had gone, a friend, who was present, said: "Mr. Lincoln, you
+did not seem to know the young men?"
+
+He laughed and replied: "No, I had never seen them before, and I had to
+beat around the bush until I found who they were. It was up-hill work,
+but I topped it at last."
+
+
+
+
+LEE'S SLIM ANIMAL.
+
+President Lincoln wrote to General Hooker on June 5, 1863, warning
+Hooker not to run any risk of being entangled on the Rappahannock "like
+an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs, front and
+rear, without a fair chance to give one way or kick the other." On the
+10th he warned Hooker not to go south of the Rappahannock upon Lee's
+moving north of it. "I think Lee's army and not Richmond is your true
+objective power. If he comes toward the upper Potomac, follow on his
+flank, and on the inside track, shortening your lines while he lengthens
+his. Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. If he stay where he is,
+fret him, and fret him."
+
+On the 14th again he says: "So far as we can make out here, the enemy
+have Milroy surrounded at Winchester, and Tyler at Martinsburg. If they
+could hold out for a few days, could you help them? If the head of Lee's
+army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the flank road between
+Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim
+somewhere; could you not break him?"
+
+
+
+
+"MRS. NORTH AND HER ATTORNEY."
+
+In the issue of London "Punch" of September 24th, 1864, President
+Lincoln is pictured as sitting at a table in his law office, while in a
+chair to his right is a client, Mrs. North. The latter is a fine client
+for any attorney to have on his list, being wealthy and liberal, but as
+the lady is giving her counsel, who has represented her in a legal way
+for four years, notice that she proposes to put her legal business in
+the hands of another lawyer, the dejected look upon the face of Attorney
+Lincoln is easily accounted for. "Punch" puts these words in the lady's
+mouth:
+
+MRS. NORTH: "You see, Mr. Lincoln, we have failed utterly in our course
+of action; I want peace, and so, if you cannot effect an amicable
+arrangement, I must put the case into other hands."
+
+In this cartoon, "Punch" merely reflected the idea, or sentiment,
+current in England in 1864, that the North was much dissatisfied with
+the War policy of President Lincoln; and would surely elect General
+McClellan to succeed the Westerner in the White House. At the election
+McClellan carried but one Northern State--New Jersey, where he was
+born--President Lincoln sweeping the country like a prairie fire.
+
+"Punch" had evidently been deceived by some bold, bad man, who wanted a
+little spending money, and sold the prediction to the funny journal with
+a certificate of character attached, written by--possibly--a member of
+the Horse Marines. "Punch," was very much disgusted to find that its
+credulity and faith in mankind had been so imposed upon, especially when
+the election returns showed that "the-War-is-a-failure" candidate ran
+so slowly that Lincoln passed him as easily as though the Democratic
+nominee was tied to a post.
+
+
+
+
+SATISFACTION TO THE SOUL.
+
+In the far-away days when "Abe" went to school in Indiana, they had
+exercises, exhibitions and speaking-meetings in the schoolhouse or the
+church, and "Abe" was the "star." His father was a Democrat, and at that
+time "Abe" agreed with his parent. He would frequently make political
+and other speeches to the boys and explain tangled questions.
+
+Booneville was the county seat of Warrick county, situated about fifteen
+miles from Gentryville. Thither "Abe" walked to be present at the
+sittings of the court, and listened attentively to the trials and the
+speeches of the lawyers.
+
+One of the trials was that of a murderer. He was defended by Mr.
+John Breckinridge, and at the conclusion of his speech "Abe" was so
+enthusiastic that he ventured to compliment him. Breckinridge looked at
+the shabby boy, thanked him, and passed on his way.
+
+Many years afterwards, in 1862, Breckinridge called on the President,
+and he was told, "It was the best speech that I, up to that time, had
+ever heard. If I could, as I then thought, make as good a speech as
+that, my soul would be satisfied."
+
+
+
+
+WITHDREW THE COLT.
+
+Mr. Alcott, of Elgin, Ill., tells of seeing Mr. Lincoln coming away from
+church unusually early one Sunday morning. "The sermon could not have
+been more than half way through," says Mr. Alcott. "'Tad' was slung
+across his left arm like a pair of saddlebags, and Mr. Lincoln was
+striding along with long, deliberate steps toward his home. On one of
+the street corners he encountered a group of his fellow-townsmen. Mr.
+Lincoln anticipated the question which was about to be put by the group,
+and, taking his figure of speech from practices with which they were
+only too familiar, said: 'Gentlemen, I entered this colt, but he kicked
+around so I had to withdraw him."'
+
+
+
+
+"TAD" GOT HIS DOLLAR.
+
+No matter who was with the President, or how intently absorbed, his
+little son "Tad" was always welcome. He almost always accompanied his
+father.
+
+Once, on the way to Fortress Monroe, he became very troublesome.
+The President was much engaged in conversation with the party who
+accompanied him, and he at length said:
+
+"'Tad,' if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any more until we
+get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you a dollar."
+
+The hope of reward was effectual for awhile in securing silence, but,
+boylike, "Tad" soon forgot his promise, and was as noisy as ever. Upon
+reaching their destination, however, he said, very promptly: "Father,
+I want my dollar." Mr. Lincoln looked at him half-reproachfully for an
+instant, and then, taking from his pocketbook a dollar note, he said
+"Well, my son, at any rate, I will keep my part of the bargain."
+
+
+
+
+TELLS AN EDITOR ABOUT NASBY.
+
+Henry J. Raymond, the famous New York editor, thus tells of Mr.
+Lincoln's fondness for the Nasby letters:
+
+"It has been well said by a profound critic of Shakespeare, and it
+occurs to me as very appropriate in this connection, that the spirit
+which held the woe of Lear and the tragedy of "Hamlet" would have broken
+had it not also had the humor of the "Merry Wives of Windsor" and the
+merriment of the "Midsummer Night's Dream."
+
+"This is as true of Mr. Lincoln as it was of Shakespeare. The capacity
+to tell and enjoy a good anecdote no doubt prolonged his life.
+
+"The Saturday evening before he left Washington to go to the front, just
+previous to the capture of Richmond, I was with him from seven o'clock
+till nearly twelve. It had been one of his most trying days. The
+pressure of office-seekers was greater at this juncture than I ever knew
+it to be, and he was almost worn out.
+
+"Among the callers that evening was a party composed of two Senators,
+a Representative, an ex-Lieutenant-Governor of a Western State, and
+several private citizens. They had business of great importance,
+involving the necessity of the President's examination of voluminous
+documents. Pushing everything aside, he said to one of the party:
+
+"'Have you seen the Nasby papers?'
+
+"'No, I have not,' was the reply; 'who is Nasby?'
+
+"'There is a chap out in Ohio,' returned the President, 'who has been
+writing a series of letters in the newspapers over the signature of
+Petroleum V. Nasby. Some one sent me a pamphlet collection of them the
+other day. I am going to write to "Petroleum" to come down here, and I
+intend to tell him if he will communicate his talent to me, I will swap
+places with him!'
+
+"Thereupon he arose, went to a drawer in his desk, and, taking out
+the 'Letters,' sat down and read one to the company, finding in their
+enjoyment of it the temporary excitement and relief which another man
+would have found in a glass of wine. The instant he had ceased, the book
+was thrown aside, his countenance relapsed into its habitual serious
+expression, and the business was entered upon with the utmost
+earnestness."
+
+
+
+
+LONG AND SHORT OF IT.
+
+On the occasion of a serenade, the President was called for by the crowd
+assembled. He appeared at a window with his wife (who was somewhat below
+the medium height), and made the following "brief remarks":
+
+"Here I am, and here is Mrs. Lincoln. That's the long and the short of
+it."
+
+
+
+
+MORE PEGS THAN HOLES.
+
+Some gentlemen were once finding fault with the President because
+certain generals were not given commands.
+
+"The fact is," replied President Lincoln, "I have got more pegs than I
+have holes to put them in."
+
+
+
+
+"WEBSTER COULDN'T HAVE DONE MORE."
+
+Lincoln "got even" with the Illinois Central Railroad Company, in 1855,
+in a most substantial way, at the same time secured sweet revenge for an
+insult, unwarranted in every way, put upon him by one of the officials
+of that corporation.
+
+Lincoln and Herndon defended the Illinois Central Railroad in an action
+brought by McLean County, Illinois, in August, 1853, to recover taxes
+alleged to be due the county from the road. The Legislature had granted
+the road immunity from taxation, and this was a case intended to test
+the constitutionality of the law. The road sent a retainer fee of $250.
+
+In the lower court the case was decided in favor of the railroad. An
+appeal to the Supreme Court followed, was argued twice, and finally
+decided in favor of the road. This last decision was rendered some time
+in 1855. Lincoln then went to Chicago and presented the bill for legal
+services. Lincoln and Herndon only asked for $2,000 more.
+
+The official to whom he was referred, after looking at the bill,
+expressed great surprise.
+
+"Why, sir," he exclaimed, "this is as much as Daniel Webster himself
+would have charged. We cannot allow such a claim."
+
+"Why not?" asked Lincoln.
+
+"We could have hired first-class lawyers at that figure," was the
+response.
+
+"We won the case, didn't we?" queried Lincoln.
+
+"Certainly," replied the official.
+
+"Daniel Webster, then," retorted Lincoln in no amiable tone, "couldn't
+have done more," and "Abe" walked out of the official's office.
+
+Lincoln withdrew the bill, and started for home. On the way he stopped
+at Bloomington, where he met Grant Goodrich, Archibald Williams, Norman
+B. Judd, O. H. Browning, and other attorneys, who, on learning of his
+modest charge for the valuable services rendered the railroad, induced
+him to increase the demand to $5,000, and to bring suit for that sum.
+
+This was done at once. On the trial six lawyers certified that the bill
+was reasonable, and judgment for that sum went by default; the judgment
+was promptly paid, and, of course, his partner, Herndon, got "your half
+Billy," without delay.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MET CLAY.
+
+When a member of Congress, Lincoln went to Lexington, Kentucky, to hear
+Henry Clay speak. The Westerner, a Kentuckian by birth, and destined
+to reach the great goal Clay had so often sought, wanted to meet the
+"Millboy of the Slashes." The address was a tame affair, as was the
+personal greeting when Lincoln made himself known. Clay was courteous,
+but cold. He may never have heard of the man, then in his presence, who
+was to secure, without solicitation, the prize which he for many years
+had unsuccessfully sought. Lincoln was disenchanted; his ideal was
+shattered. One reason why Clay had not realized his ambition had become
+apparent.
+
+Clay was cool and dignified; Lincoln was cordial and hearty. Clay's hand
+was bloodless and frosty, with no vigorous grip in it; Lincoln's was
+warm, and its clasp was expressive of kindliness and sympathy.
+
+
+
+
+REMINDED "ABE" OF A LITTLE JOKE.
+
+President Lincoln had a little joke at the expense of General George B.
+McClellan, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in opposition
+to the Westerner in 1864. McClellan was nominated by the Democratic
+National Convention, which assembled at Chicago, but after he had
+been named, and also during the campaign, the military candidate was
+characteristically slow in coming to the front.
+
+President Lincoln had his eye upon every move made by General McClellan
+during the campaign, and when reference was made one day, in his
+presence, to the deliberation and caution of the New Jerseyite,
+Mr. Lincoln remarked, with a twinkle in his eye, "Perhaps he is
+intrenching."
+
+The cartoon we reproduce appeared in "Harper's Weekly," September 17th,
+1864, and shows General McClellan, with his little spade in hand, being
+subjected to the scrutiny of the President--the man who gave McClellan,
+when the latter was Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, every
+opportunity in the world to distinguish himself. There is a smile on the
+face of "Honest Abe," which shows conclusively that he does not regard
+his political opponent as likely to prove formidable in any way.
+President Lincoln "sized up" McClellan in 1861-2, and knew, to a
+fraction, how much of a man he was, what he could do, and how he went
+about doing it. McClellan was no politician, while the President was the
+shrewdest of political diplomats.
+
+
+
+
+HIS DIGNITY SAVED HIM.
+
+When Washington had become an armed camp, and full of soldiers,
+President Lincoln and his Cabinet officers drove daily to one or another
+of these camps. Very often his outing for the day was attending some
+ceremony incident to camp life: a military funeral, a camp wedding, a
+review, a flag-raising. He did not often make speeches. "I have made a
+great many poor speeches," he said one day, in excusing himself, "and
+I now feel relieved that my dignity does not permit me to be a public
+speaker."
+
+
+
+
+THE MAN HE WAS LOOKING FOR
+
+Judge Kelly, of Pennsylvania, who was one of the committee to advise
+Lincoln of his nomination, and who was himself a great many feet high,
+had been eyeing Lincoln's lofty form with a mixture of admiration and
+possibly jealousy.
+
+This had not escaped Lincoln, and as he shook hands with the judge he
+inquired, "What is your height?"
+
+"Six feet three. What is yours, Mr. Lincoln?"
+
+"Six feet four."
+
+"Then," said the judge, "Pennsylvania bows to Illinois. My dear man, for
+years my heart has been aching for a President that I could look up to,
+and I've at last found him."
+
+
+
+
+HIS CABINET CHANCES POOR.
+
+Mr. Jeriah Bonham, in describing a visit he paid Lincoln at his room in
+the State House at Springfield, where he found him quite alone, except
+that two of his children, one of whom was "Tad," were with him.
+
+"The door was open.
+
+"We walked in and were at once recognized and seated--the two boys still
+continuing their play about the room. "Tad" was spinning his top; and
+Lincoln, as we entered, had just finished adjusting the string for him
+so as to give the top the greatest degree of force. He remarked that he
+was having a little fun with the boys."
+
+At another time, at Lincoln's residence, "Tad" came into the room, and,
+putting his hand to his mouth, and his mouth to his father's ear, said,
+in a boy's whisper: "Ma says come to supper."
+
+All heard the announcement; and Lincoln, perceiving this, said: "You
+have heard, gentlemen, the announcement concerning the interesting state
+of things in the dining-room. It will never do for me, if elected, to
+make this young man a member of my Cabinet, for it is plain he cannot be
+trusted with secrets of state."
+
+THE GENERAL WAS "HEADED IN"
+
+A Union general, operating with his command in West Virginia, allowed
+himself and his men to be trapped, and it was feared his force would be
+captured by the Confederates. The President heard the report read by the
+operator, as it came over the wire, and remarked:
+
+"Once there was a man out West who was 'heading' a barrel, as they used
+to call it. He worked like a good fellow in driving down the hoops, but
+just about the time he thought he had the job done, the head would fall
+in. Then he had to do the work all over again.
+
+"All at once a bright idea entered his brain, and he wondered how it
+was he hadn't figured it out before. His boy, a bright, smart lad, was
+standing by, very much interested in the business, and, lifting the young
+one up, he put him inside the barrel, telling him to hold the head in
+its proper place, while he pounded down the hoops on the sides. This
+worked like a charm, and he soon had the 'heading' done.
+
+"Then he realized that his boy was inside the barrel, and how to get him
+out he couldn't for his life figure out. General Blank is now inside the
+barrel, 'headed in,' and the job now is to get him out."
+
+
+
+
+SUGAR-COATED.
+
+Government Printer Defrees, when one of the President's messages
+was being printed, was a good deal disturbed by the use of the term
+"sugar-coated," and finally went to Mr. Lincoln about it.
+
+Their relations to each other being of the most intimate character, he
+told the President frankly that he ought to remember that a message
+to Congress was a different affair from a speech at a mass meeting in
+Illinois; that the messages became a part of history, and should be
+written accordingly.
+
+"What is the matter now?" inquired the President.
+
+"Why," said Defrees, "you have used an undignified expression in the
+message"; and, reading the paragraph aloud, he added, "I would alter the
+structure of that, if I were you."
+
+"Defrees," replied the President, "that word expresses exactly my
+idea, and I am not going to change it. The time will never come in this
+country when people won't know exactly what 'sugar-coated' means."
+
+
+
+
+COULD MAKE "RABBIT-TRACKS."
+
+When a grocery clerk at New Salem, the annual election came around. A
+Mr. Graham was clerk, but his assistant was absent, and it was necessary
+to find a man to fill his place. Lincoln, a "tall young man," had
+already concentrated on himself the attention of the people of the town,
+and Graham easily discovered him. Asking him if he could write, "Abe"
+modestly replied, "I can make a few rabbit-tracks." His rabbit-tracks
+proving to be legible and even graceful, he was employed.
+
+The voters soon discovered that the new assistant clerk was honest and
+fair, and performed his duties satisfactorily, and when, the work done,
+he began to "entertain them with stories," they found that their town
+had made a valuable personal and social acquisition.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PROTECTED CURRENCY ISSUES.
+
+Marshal Ward Lamon was in President Lincoln's office in the White House
+one day, and casually asked the President if he knew how the currency
+of the country was made. Greenbacks were then under full headway of
+circulation, these bits of paper being the representatives of United
+State money.
+
+"Our currency," was the President's answer, "is made, as the lawyers
+would put it, in their legal way, in the following manner, to-wit:
+The official engraver strikes off the sheets, passes them over to the
+Register of the Currency, who, after placing his earmarks upon them,
+signs the same; the Register turns them over to old Father Spinner, who
+proceeds to embellish them with his wonderful signature at the bottom;
+Father Spinner sends them to Secretary of the Treasury Chase, and he, as
+a final act in the matter, issues them to the public as money--and may
+the good Lord help any fellow that doesn't take all he can honestly get
+of them!"
+
+Taking from his pocket a $5 greenback, with a twinkle in his eye,
+the President then said: "Look at Spinner's signature! Was there ever
+anything like it on earth? Yet it is unmistakable; no one will ever be
+able to counterfeit it!"
+
+Lamon then goes on to say:
+
+"'But,' I said, 'you certainly don't suppose that Spinner actually wrote
+his name on that bill, do you?'
+
+"'Certainly, I do; why not?' queried Mr. Lincoln.
+
+"I then asked, 'How much of this currency have we afloat?'
+
+"He remained thoughtful for a moment, and then stated the amount.
+
+"I continued: 'How many times do you think a man can write a signature
+like Spinner's in the course of twenty-four hours?'
+
+"The beam of hilarity left the countenance of the President at once.
+He put the greenback into his vest pocket, and walked the floor; after
+awhile he stopped, heaved a long breath and said: 'This thing frightens
+me!' He then rang for a messenger and told him to ask the Secretary of
+the Treasury to please come over to see him.
+
+"Mr. Chase soon put in an appearance; President Lincoln stated the cause
+of his alarm, and asked Mr. Chase to explain in detail the operations,
+methods, system of checks, etc., in his office, and a lengthy discussion
+followed, President Lincoln contending there were not sufficient
+safeguards afforded in any degree in the money-making department, and
+Secretary Chase insisting that every protection was afforded he could
+devise."
+
+Afterward the President called the attention of Congress to this
+important question, and devices were adopted whereby a check was put
+upon the issue of greenbacks that no spurious ones ever came out of the
+Treasury Department, at least. Counterfeiters were busy, though, but
+this was not the fault of the Treasury.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S APOLOGY TO GRANT.
+
+"General Grant is a copious worker and fighter," President Lincoln wrote
+to General Burnside in July, 1863, "but a meagre writer or telegrapher."
+
+Grant never wrote a report until the battle was over.
+
+President Lincoln wrote a letter to General Grant on July 13th, 1863,
+which indicated the strength of the hold the successful fighter had upon
+the man in the White House.
+
+It ran as follows:
+
+"I do not remember that you and I ever met personally.
+
+"I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost
+inestimable service you have done the country.
+
+"I write to say a word further.
+
+"When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should
+do what you finally did--march the troops across the neck, run the
+batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any
+faith, except a general hope, that you knew better than I, that the
+Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed.
+
+"When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and vicinity, I
+thought you should go down the river and join General Banks; and when
+you turned northward, east of Big Black, I feared it was a mistake.
+
+"I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and
+I was wrong."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN SAID "BY JING."
+
+
+
+
+Lincoln never used profanity, except when he quoted it to illustrate a
+point in a story. His favorite expressions when he spoke with emphasis
+were "By dear!" and "By jing!"
+
+Just preceding the Civil War he sent Ward Lamon on a ticklish mission to
+South Carolina.
+
+When the proposed trip was mentioned to Secretary Seward, he opposed it,
+saying, "Mr. President, I fear you are sending Lamon to his grave. I am
+afraid they will kill him in Charleston, where the people are excited
+and desperate. We can't spare Lamon, and we shall feel badly if anything
+happens to him."
+
+Mr. Lincoln said in reply: "I have known Lamon to be in many a close
+place, and he has never, been in one that he didn't get out of, somehow.
+By jing! I'll risk him. Go ahead, Lamon, and God bless you! If you
+can't bring back any good news, bring a palmetto." Lamon brought back a
+palmetto branch, but no promise of peace.
+
+
+
+
+IT TICKLED THE LITTLE WOMAN.
+
+Lincoln had been in the telegraph office at Springfield during the
+casting of the first and second ballots in the Republican National
+Convention at Chicago, and then left and went over to the office of the
+State Journal, where he was sitting conversing with friends while the
+third ballot was being taken.
+
+In a few moments came across the wires the announcement of the result.
+The superintendent of the telegraph company wrote on a scrap of paper:
+"Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated on the third ballot," and a boy ran with
+the message to Lincoln.
+
+He looked at it in silence, amid the shouts of those around him; then
+rising and putting it in his pocket, he said quietly: "There's a little
+woman down at our house would like to hear this; I'll go down and tell
+her."
+
+
+
+
+"SHALL ALL FALL TOGETHER."
+
+After Lincoln had finished that celebrated speech in "Egypt" (as a
+section of Southern Illinois was formerly designated), in the course
+of which he seized Congressman Ficklin by the coat collar and shook him
+fiercely, he apologized. In return, Ficklin said Lincoln had "nearly
+shaken the Democracy out of him." To this Lincoln replied:
+
+"That reminds me of what Paul said to Agrippa, which, in language and
+substance, was about this: 'I would to God that such Democracy as you
+folks here in Egypt have were not only almost, but altogether, shaken
+out of, not only you, but all that heard me this day, and that you would
+all join in assisting in shaking off the shackles of the bondmen by all
+legitimate means, so that this country may be made free as the good Lord
+intended it.'"
+
+Said Ficklin in rejoinder: "Lincoln, I remember of reading somewhere in
+the same book from which you get your Agrippa story, that Paul, whom
+you seem to desire to personate, admonished all servants (slaves) to be
+obedient to them that are their masters according to the flesh, in fear
+and trembling.
+
+"It would seem that neither our Savior nor Paul saw the iniquity of
+slavery as you and your party do. But you must not think that where you
+fail by argument to convince an old friend like myself and win him over
+to your heterodox abolition opinions, you are justified in resorting to
+violence such as you practiced on me to-day.
+
+"Why, I never had such a shaking up in the whole course of my life.
+Recollect that that good old book that you quote from somewhere says in
+effect this: 'Woe be unto him who goeth to Egypt for help, for he shall
+fall. The holpen shall fall, and they shall all fall together.'"
+
+
+
+
+DEAD DOG NO CURE.
+
+Lincoln's quarrel with Shields was his last personal encounter. In
+later years it became his duty to give an official reprimand to a young
+officer who had been court-martialed for a quarrel with one of his
+associates. The reprimand is probably the gentlest on record:
+
+"Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can
+spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all
+the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss
+of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than
+equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own.
+
+"Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in contesting for
+the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite."
+
+
+
+
+"THOROUGH" IS A GOOD WORD.
+
+Some one came to the President with a story about a plot to accomplish
+some mischief in the Government. Lincoln listened to what was a very
+superficial and ill-formed story, and then said: "There is one
+thing that I have learned, and that you have not. It is only one
+word--'thorough.'"
+
+Then, bringing his hand down on the table with a thump to emphasize his
+meaning, he added, "thorough!"
+
+
+
+
+THE CABINET WAS A-SETTIN'.
+
+Being in Washington one day, the Rev. Robert Collyer thought he'd take a
+look around. In passing through the grounds surrounding the White House,
+he cast a glance toward the Presidential residence, and was astonished
+to see three pairs of feet resting on the ledge of an open window in one
+of the apartments of the second story. The divine paused for a moment,
+calmly surveyed the unique spectacle, and then resumed his walk toward
+the War Department.
+
+Seeing a laborer at work not far from the Executive Mansion, Mr.
+Collyer asked him what it all meant. To whom did the feet belong, and,
+particularly, the mammoth ones? "You old fool," answered the workman,
+"that's the Cabinet, which is a-settin', an' them thar big feet belongs
+to 'Old Abe.'"
+
+
+
+
+A BULLET THROUGH HIS HAT.
+
+A soldier tells the following story of an attempt upon the life of Mr.
+Lincoln "One night I was doing sentinel duty at the entrance to the
+Soldiers' Home. This was about the middle of August, 1864. About eleven
+o'clock I heard a rifle shot, in the direction of the city, and shortly
+afterwards I heard approaching hoof-beats. In two or three minutes a
+horse came dashing up. I recognized the belated President. The President
+was bareheaded. The President simply thought that his horse had taken
+fright at the discharge of the firearms.
+
+"On going back to the place where the shot had been heard, we found
+the President's hat. It was a plain silk hat, and upon examination we
+discovered a bullet hole through the crown.
+
+"The next day, upon receiving the hat, the President remarked that it
+was made by some foolish marksman, and was not intended for him; but
+added that he wished nothing said about the matter.
+
+"The President said, philosophically: 'I long ago made up my mind that
+if anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. Besides, in this case, it
+seems to me, the man who would succeed me would be just as objectionable
+to my enemies--if I have any.'
+
+"One dark night, as he was going out with a friend, he took along a
+heavy cane, remarking, good-naturedly: 'Mother (Mrs. Lincoln) has got a
+notion into her head that I shall be assassinated, and to please her I
+take a cane when I go over to the War Department at night--when I don't
+forget it.'"
+
+
+
+
+NO KIND TO GET TO HEAVEN ON.
+
+Two ladies from Tennessee called at the White House one day and begged
+Mr. Lincoln to release their husbands, who were rebel prisoners at
+Johnson's Island. One of the fair petitioners urged as a reason for the
+liberation of her husband that he was a very religious man, and rang the
+changes on this pious plea.
+
+"Madam," said Mr. Lincoln, "you say your husband is a religious man.
+Perhaps I am not a good judge of such matters, but in my opinion the
+religion that makes men rebel and fight against their government is not
+the genuine article; nor is the religion the right sort which reconciles
+them to the idea of eating their bread in the sweat of other men's
+faces. It is not the kind to get to heaven on."
+
+Later, however, the order of release was made, President Lincoln
+remarking, with impressive solemnity, that he would expect the ladies
+to subdue the rebellious spirit of their husbands, and to that end he
+thought it would be well to reform their religion. "True patriotism,"
+said he, "is better than the wrong kind of piety."
+
+
+
+
+THE ONLY REAL PEACEMAKER.
+
+During the Presidential campaign of 1864 much ill-feeling was displayed
+by the opposition to President Lincoln. The Democratic managers issued
+posters of large dimensions, picturing the Washington Administration as
+one determined to rule or ruin the country, while the only salvation for
+the United States was the election of McClellan.
+
+We reproduce one of these 1864 campaign posters on this page, the title
+of which is, "The True Issue; or 'That's What's the Matter.'"
+
+The dominant idea or purpose of the cartoon-poster was to demonstrate
+McClellan's availability. Lincoln, the Abolitionist, and Davis, the
+Secessionist, are pictured as bigots of the worst sort, who were
+determined that peace should not be restored to the distracted country,
+except upon the lines laid down by them. McClellan, the patriotic
+peacemaker, is shown as the man who believed in the preservation of the
+Union above all things--a man who had no fads nor vagaries.
+
+This peacemaker, McClellan, standing upon "the War-is-a-failure"
+platform, is portrayed as a military chieftain, who would stand no
+nonsense; who would compel Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Davis to cease their
+quarreling; who would order the soldiers on both sides to quit their
+blood-letting and send the combatants back to the farm, workshop and
+counting-house; and the man whose election would restore order out of
+chaos, and make everything bright and lovely.
+
+
+
+
+THE APPLE WOMAN'S PASS.
+
+One day when President Lincoln was receiving callers a buxom Irish woman
+came into the office, and, standing before the President, with her hands
+on her hips, said:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln, can't I sell apples on the railroad?"
+
+President Lincoln replied: "Certainly, madam, you can sell all you
+wish."
+
+"But," she said, "you must give me a pass, or the soldiers will not let
+me."
+
+President Lincoln then wrote a few lines and gave them to her.
+
+"Thank you, sir; God bless you!" she exclaimed as she departed joyfully.
+
+
+
+
+SPLIT RAILS BY THE YARD.
+
+It was in the spring of 1830 that "Abe" Lincoln, "wearing a jean jacket,
+shrunken buckskin trousers, a coonskin cap, and driving an ox-team,"
+became a citizen of Illinois. He was physically and mentally equipped
+for pioneer work. His first desire was to obtain a new and decent suit
+of clothes, but, as he had no money, he was glad to arrange with Nancy
+Miller to make him a pair of trousers, he to split four hundred fence
+rails for each yard of cloth--fourteen hundred rails in all. "Abe" got
+the clothes after awhile.
+
+It was three miles from his father's cabin to her wood-lot, where he
+made the forest ring with the sound of his ax. "Abe" had helped his
+father plow fifteen acres of land, and split enough rails to fence it,
+and he then helped to plow fifty acres for another settler.
+
+
+
+
+THE QUESTION OF LEGS.
+
+Whenever the people of Lincoln's neighborhood engaged in dispute;
+whenever a bet was to be decided; when they differed on points of
+religion or politics; when they wanted to get out of trouble, or desired
+advice regarding anything on the earth, below it, above it, or under the
+sea, they went to "Abe."
+
+Two fellows, after a hot dispute lasting some hours, over the problem
+as to how long a man's legs should be in proportion to the size of his
+body, stamped into Lincoln's office one day and put the question to him.
+
+Lincoln listened gravely to the arguments advanced by both contestants,
+spent some time in "reflecting" upon the matter, and then, turning
+around in his chair and facing the disputants, delivered his opinion
+with all the gravity of a judge sentencing a fellow-being to death.
+
+"This question has been a source of controversy," he said, slowly
+and deliberately, "for untold ages, and it is about time it should be
+definitely decided. It has led to bloodshed in the past, and there is no
+reason to suppose it will not lead to the same in the future.
+
+"After much thought and consideration, not to mention mental worry and
+anxiety, it is my opinion, all side issues being swept aside, that a
+man's lower limbs, in order to preserve harmony of proportion, should be
+at least long enough to reach from his body to the ground."
+
+
+
+
+TOO MANY WIDOWS ALREADY.
+
+A Union officer in conversation one day told this story:
+
+"The first week I was with my command there were twenty-four deserters
+sentenced by court-martial to be shot, and the warrants for their
+execution were sent to the President to be signed. He refused.
+
+"I went to Washington and had an interview. I said:
+
+"'Mr. President, unless these men are made an example of, the army
+itself is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty to the many.'
+
+"He replied: 'Mr. General, there are already too many weeping widows in
+the United States. For God's sake, don't ask me to add to the number,
+for I won't do it.'"
+
+
+
+
+GOD NEEDED THAT CHURCH.
+
+In the early stages of the war, after several battles had been fought,
+Union troops seized a church in Alexandria, Va., and used it as a
+hospital.
+
+A prominent lady of the congregation went to Washington to see Mr.
+Lincoln and try to get an order for its release.
+
+"Have you applied to the surgeon in charge at Alexandria?" inquired Mr.
+Lincoln.
+
+"Yes, sir, but I can do nothing with him," was the reply.
+
+"Well, madam," said Mr. Lincoln, "that is an end of it, then. We put him
+there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose
+that he knows better what should be done under the circumstances than I
+do."
+
+The lady's face showed her keen disappointment. In order to learn her
+sentiment, Mr. Lincoln asked:
+
+"How much would you be willing to subscribe toward building a hospital
+there?"
+
+She said that the war had depreciated Southern property so much that she
+could afford to give but little.
+
+"This war is not over yet," said Mr. Lincoln, "and there will likely
+be another fight very soon. That church may be very useful in which to
+house our wounded soldiers. It is my candid opinion that God needs that
+church for our wounded fellows; so, madam, I can do nothing for you."
+
+
+
+
+THE MAN DOWN SOUTH.
+
+An amusing instance of the President's preoccupation of mind occurred
+at one of his levees, when he was shaking hands with a host of visitors
+passing him in a continuous stream.
+
+An intimate acquaintance received the usual conventional hand-shake and
+salutation, but perceiving that he was not recognized, kept his ground
+instead of moving on, and spoke again, when the President, roused to
+a dim consciousness that something unusual had happened, perceived
+who stood before him, and, seizing his friend's hand, shook it again
+heartily, saying:
+
+"How do you do? How do you do? Excuse me for not noticing you. I was
+thinking of a man down South."
+
+"The man down South" was General W. T. Sherman, then on his march to the
+sea.
+
+
+
+
+COULDN'T LET GO THE HOG.
+
+When Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania described the terrible butchery at
+the battle of Fredericksburg, Mr. Lincoln was almost broken-hearted.
+
+The Governor regretted that his description had so sadly affected the
+President. He remarked: "I would give all I possess to know how to
+rescue you from this terrible war." Then Mr. Lincoln's wonderful
+recuperative powers asserted themselves and this marvelous man was
+himself.
+
+Lincoln's whole aspect suddenly changed, and he relieved his mind by
+telling a story.
+
+"This reminds me, Governor," he said, "of an old farmer out in Illinois
+that I used to know.
+
+"He took it into his head to go into hog-raising. He sent out to Europe
+and imported the finest breed of hogs he could buy.
+
+"The prize hog was put in a pen, and the farmer's two mischievous boys,
+James and John, were told to be sure not to let it out. But James, the
+worst of the two, let the brute out the next day. The hog went straight
+for the boys, and drove John up a tree, then the hog went for the seat
+of James' trousers, and the only way the boy could save himself was by
+holding on to the hog's tail.
+
+"The hog would not give up his hunt, nor the boy his hold! After they
+had made a good many circles around the tree, the boy's courage began to
+give out, and he shouted to his brother, 'I say, John, come down, quick,
+and help me let go this hog!'
+
+"Now, Governor, that is exactly my case. I wish some one would come and
+help me to let the hog go."
+
+
+
+
+THE CABINET LINCOLN WANTED.
+
+Judge Joseph Gillespie, of Chicago, was a firm friend of Mr. Lincoln,
+and went to Springfield to see him shortly before his departure for the
+inauguration.
+
+"It was," said judge Gillespie, "Lincoln's Gethsemane. He feared he was
+not the man for the great position and the great events which confronted
+him. Untried in national affairs, unversed in international diplomacy,
+unacquainted with the men who were foremost in the politics of the
+nation, he groaned when he saw the inevitable War of the Rebellion
+coming on. It was in humility of spirit that he told me he believed that
+the American people had made a mistake in selecting him.
+
+"In the course of our conversation he told me if he could select his
+cabinet from the old bar that had traveled the circuit with him in
+the early days, he believed he could avoid war or settle it without a
+battle, even after the fact of secession.
+
+"'But, Mr. Lincoln,' said I, 'those old lawyers are all Democrats.'
+
+"'I know it,' was his reply. 'But I would rather have Democrats whom I
+know than Republicans I don't know.'"
+
+
+
+
+READY FOR "BUTCHER-DAY."
+
+Leonard Swett told this eminently characteristic story:
+
+"I remember one day being in his room when Lincoln was sitting at his
+table with a large pile of papers before him, and after a pleasant talk
+he turned quite abruptly and said: 'Get out of the way, Swett; to-morrow
+is butcher-day, and I must go through these papers and see if I cannot
+find some excuse to let these poor fellows off.'
+
+"The pile of papers he had were the records of courts-martial of men who
+on the following day were to be shot."
+
+
+
+
+"THE BAD BIRD AND THE MUDSILL."
+
+It took quite a long time, as well as the lives of thousands of men, to
+say nothing of the cost in money, to take Richmond, the Capital City of
+the Confederacy. In this cartoon, taken from "Frank Leslie's Illustrated
+Newspaper," of February 21, 1863, Jeff Davis is sitting upon the
+Secession eggs in the "Richmond" nest, smiling down upon President
+Lincoln, who is up to his waist in the Mud of Difficulties.
+
+The President finally waded through the morass, in which he had become
+immersed, got to the tree, climbed its trunk, reached the limb, upon
+which the "bad bird" had built its nest, threw the mother out, destroyed
+the eggs of Secession and then took the nest away with him, leaving the
+"bad bird" without any home at all.
+
+The "bad bird" had its laugh first, but the last laugh belonged to the
+"mudsill," as the cartoonist was pleased to call the President of the
+United States. It is true that the President got his clothes and hat all
+covered with mud, but as the job was a dirty one, as well as one that
+had to be done, the President didn't care. He was able to get another
+suit of clothes, as well as another hat, but the "bad bird" couldn't,
+and didn't, get another nest.
+
+The laugh was on the "bad bird" after all.
+
+
+
+
+GAVE THE SOLDIER HIS FISH.
+
+Once, when asked what he remembered about the war with Great Britain,
+Lincoln replied: "Nothing but this: I had been fishing one day and
+caught a little fish, which I was taking home. I met a soldier in the
+road, and, having been always told at home that we must be good to the
+soldiers, I gave him my fish."
+
+This must have been about 1814, when "Abe" was five years of age.
+
+
+
+
+A PECULIAR LAWYER.
+
+Lincoln was once associate counsel for a defendant in a murder case.
+He listened to the testimony given by witness after witness against his
+client, until his honest heart could stand it no longer; then, turning
+to his associate, he said: "The man is guilty; you defend him--I can't,"
+and when his associate secured a verdict of acquittal, Lincoln refused
+to share the fee to the extent of one cent.
+
+Lincoln would never advise clients to enter into unwise or unjust
+lawsuits, always preferring to refuse a retainer rather than be a party
+to a case which did not commend itself to his sense of justice.
+
+
+
+
+IF THEY'D ONLY "SKIP."
+
+General Creswell called at the White House to see the President the day
+of the latter's assassination. An old friend, serving in the Confederate
+ranks, had been captured by the Union troops and sent to prison. He
+had drawn an affidavit setting forth what he knew about the man,
+particularly mentioning extenuating circumstances.
+
+Creswell found the President very happy. He was greeted with: "Creswell,
+old fellow, everything is bright this morning. The War is over. It has
+been a tough time, but we have lived it out,--or some of us have," and
+he dropped his voice a little on the last clause of the sentence. "But
+it is over; we are going to have good times now, and a united country."
+
+General Creswell told his story, read his affidavit, and said, "I know
+the man has acted like a fool, but he is my friend, and a good fellow;
+let him out; give him to me, and I will be responsible that he won't
+have anything more to do with the rebs."
+
+"Creswell," replied Mr. Lincoln, "you make me think of a lot of young
+folks who once started out Maying. To reach their destination, they had
+to cross a shallow stream, and did so by means of an old flatboat. When
+the time came to return, they found to their dismay that the old scow
+had disappeared. They were in sore trouble, and thought over all manner
+of devices for getting over the water, but without avail.
+
+"After a time, one of the boys proposed that each fellow should pick up
+the girl he liked best and wade over with her. The masterly proposition
+was carried out, until all that were left upon the island was a little
+short chap and a great, long, gothic-built, elderly lady.
+
+"Now, Creswell, you are trying to leave me in the same predicament. You
+fellows are all getting your own friends out of this scrape; and you
+will succeed in carrying off one after another, until nobody but Jeff
+Davis and myself will be left on the island, and then I won't know what
+to do. How should I feel? How should I look, lugging him over?
+
+"I guess the way to avoid such an embarrassing situation is to let them
+all out at once."
+
+He made a somewhat similar illustration at an informal Cabinet meeting,
+at which the disposition of Jefferson Davis and other prominent
+Confederates was discussed. Each member of the Cabinet gave his
+opinion; most of them were for hanging the traitors, or for some severe
+punishment. President Lincoln said nothing.
+
+Finally, Joshua F. Speed, his old and confidential friend, who had
+been invited to the meeting, said, "I have heard the opinion of your
+Ministers, and would like to hear yours."
+
+"Well, Josh," replied President Lincoln, "when I was a boy in Indiana,
+I went to a neighbor's house one morning and found a boy of my own size
+holding a coon by a string. I asked him what he had and what he was
+doing.
+
+"He says, 'It's a coon. Dad cotched six last night, and killed all but
+this poor little cuss. Dad told me to hold him until he came back, and
+I'm afraid he's going to kill this one too; and oh, "Abe," I do wish he
+would get away!'
+
+"'Well, why don't you let him loose?'
+
+"'That wouldn't be right; and if I let him go, Dad would give me h--.
+But if he got away himself, it would be all right.'
+
+"Now," said the President, "if Jeff Davis and those other fellows will
+only get away, it will be all right. But if we should catch them, and I
+should let them go, 'Dad would give me h--!'"
+
+
+
+
+FATHER OF THE "GREENBACK."
+
+Don Piatt, a noted journalist of Washington, told the story of the first
+proposition to President Lincoln to issue interest-bearing notes as
+currency, as follows:
+
+"Amasa Walker, a distinguished financier of New England, suggested that
+notes issued directly from the Government to the people, as currency,
+should bear interest. This for the purpose, not only of making the notes
+popular, but for the purpose of preventing inflation, by inducing people
+to hoard the notes as an investment when the demands of trade would fail
+to call them into circulation as a currency.
+
+"This idea struck David Taylor, of Ohio, with such force that he sought
+Mr. Lincoln and urged him to put the project into immediate execution.
+The President listened patiently, and at the end said, 'That is a good
+idea, Taylor, but you must go to Chase. He is running that end of the
+machine, and has time to consider your proposition.'
+
+"Taylor sought the Secretary of the Treasury, and laid before him Amasa
+Walker's plan. Secretary Chase heard him through in a cold, unpleasant
+manner, and then said: 'That is all very well, Mr. Taylor; but there is
+one little obstacle in the way that makes the plan impracticable, and
+that is the Constitution.'
+
+"Saying this, he turned to his desk, as if dismissing both Mr. Taylor
+and his proposition at the same moment.
+
+"The poor enthusiast felt rebuked and humiliated. He returned to the
+President, however, and reported his defeat. Mr. Lincoln looked at
+the would-be financier with the expression at times so peculiar to
+his homely face, that left one in doubt whether he was jesting or in
+earnest. 'Taylor!' he exclaimed, 'go back to Chase and tell him not
+to bother himself about the Constitution. Say that I have that sacred
+instrument here at the White House, and I am guarding it with great
+care.'
+
+"Taylor demurred to this, on the ground that Secretary Chase showed by
+his manner that he knew all about it, and didn't wish to be bored by any
+suggestion.
+
+"'We'll see about that,' said the President, and taking a card from the
+table, he wrote upon it:
+
+"'The Secretary of the Treasury will please consider Mr. Taylor's
+proposition. We must have money, and I think this a good way to get it.
+
+"'A. LINCOLN.'"
+
+
+
+
+MAJOR ANDERSON'S BAD MEMORY.
+
+Among the men whom Captain Lincoln met in the Black Hawk campaign were
+Lieutenant-Colonel Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, President
+of the Confederacy, and Lieutenant Robert Anderson, all of the United
+States Army.
+
+Judge Arnold, in his "Life of Abraham Lincoln," relates that Lincoln and
+Anderson did not meet again until some time in 1861. After Anderson had
+evacuated Fort Sumter, on visiting Washington, he called at the White
+House to pay his respects to the President. Lincoln expressed his thanks
+to Anderson for his conduct at Fort Sumter, and then said:
+
+"Major, do you remember of ever meeting me before?"
+
+"No, Mr. President, I have no recollection of ever having had that
+pleasure."
+
+"My memory is better than yours," said Lincoln; "you mustered me into
+the service of the United States in 1832, at Dixon's Ferry, in the Black
+Hawk war."
+
+
+
+
+NO VANDERBILT.
+
+In February, 1860, not long before his nomination for the Presidency,
+Lincoln made several speeches in Eastern cities. To an Illinois
+acquaintance, whom he met at the Astor House, in New York, he said: "I
+have the cottage at Springfield, and about three thousand dollars in
+money. If they make me Vice-President with Seward, as some say they
+will, I hope I shall be able to increase it to twenty thousand, and that
+is as much as any man ought to want."
+
+
+
+
+SQUASHED A BRUTAL LIE.
+
+In September, 1864, a New York paper printed the following brutal story:
+
+"A few days after the battle of Antietam, the President was driving
+over the field in an ambulance, accompanied by Marshal Lamon, General
+McClellan and another officer. Heavy details of men were engaged in
+the task of burying the dead. The ambulance had just reached the
+neighborhood of the old stone bridge, where the dead were piled
+highest, when Mr. Lincoln, suddenly slapping Marshal Lamon on the knee,
+exclaimed: 'Come, Lamon, give us that song about "Picayune Butler";
+McClellan has never heard it.'
+
+"'Not now, if you please,' said General McClellan, with a shudder; 'I
+would prefer to hear it some other place and time.'"
+
+President Lincoln refused to pay any attention to the story, would
+not read the comments made upon it by the newspapers, and would permit
+neither denial nor explanation to be made. The National election was
+coming on, and the President's friends appealed to him to settle the
+matter for once and all. Marshal Lamon was particularly insistent, but
+the President merely said:
+
+"Let the thing alone. If I have not established character enough to
+give the lie to this charge, I can only say that I am mistaken in my
+own estimate of myself. In politics, every man must skin his own skunk.
+These fellows are welcome to the hide of this one. Its body has already
+given forth its unsavory odor."
+
+But Lamon would not "let the thing alone." He submitted to Lincoln a
+draft of what he conceived to be a suitable explanation, after reading
+which the President said:
+
+"Lamon, your 'explanation' is entirely too belligerent in tone for so
+grave a matter. There is a heap of 'cussedness' mixed up with your usual
+amiability, and you are at times too fond of a fight. If I were you, I
+would simply state the facts as they were. I would give the statement as
+you have here, without the pepper and salt. Let me try my hand at it."
+
+The President then took up a pen and wrote the following, which was
+copied and sent out as Marshal Lamon's refutation of the shameless
+slander:
+
+"The President has known me intimately for nearly twenty years, and has
+often heard me sing little ditties. The battle of Antietam was fought on
+the 17th day of September, 1862. On the first day of October, just
+two weeks after the battle, the President, with some others, including
+myself, started from Washington to visit the Army, reaching Harper's
+Ferry at noon of that day.
+
+"In a short while General McClellan came from his headquarters near the
+battleground, joined the President, and with him reviewed the troops
+at Bolivar Heights that afternoon, and at night returned to his
+headquarters, leaving the President at Harper's Ferry.
+
+"On the morning of the second, the President, with General Sumner,
+reviewed the troops respectively at Loudon Heights and Maryland Heights,
+and at about noon started to General McClellan's headquarters, reaching
+there only in time to see very little before night.
+
+"On the morning of the third all started on a review of the Third Corps
+and the cavalry, in the vicinity of the Antietam battle-ground. After
+getting through with General Burnside's corps, at the suggestion of
+General McClellan, he and the President left their horses to be led, and
+went into an ambulance to go to General Fitz John Porter's corps, which
+was two or three miles distant.
+
+"I am not sure whether the President and General McClellan were in the
+same ambulance, or in different ones; but myself and some others were
+in the same with the President. On the way, and on no part of the
+battleground, and on what suggestions I do not remember, the President
+asked me to sing the little sad song that follows ("Twenty Years Ago,
+Tom"), which he had often heard me sing, and had always seemed to like
+very much.
+
+"After it was over, some one of the party (I do not think it was the
+President) asked me to sing something else; and I sang two or three
+little comic things, of which 'Picayune Butler' was one. Porter's corps
+was reached and reviewed; then the battle-ground was passed over, and
+the most noted parts examined; then, in succession, the cavalry and
+Franklin's corps were reviewed, and the President and party returned
+to General McClellan's headquarters at the end of a very hard, hot and
+dusty day's work.
+
+"Next day (the 4th), the President and General McClellan visited such
+of the wounded as still remained in the vicinity, including the
+now lamented General Richardson; then proceeded to and examined the
+South-Mountain battle-ground, at which point they parted, General
+McClellan returning to his camp, and the President returning to
+Washington, seeing, on the way, General Hartsoff, who lay wounded at
+Frederick Town.
+
+"This is the whole story of the singing and its surroundings. Neither
+General McClellan nor any one else made any objections to the singing;
+the place was not on the battle-field; the time was sixteen days after
+the battle; no dead body was seen during the whole time the President
+was absent from Washington, nor even a grave that had not been rained on
+since the time it was made."
+
+
+
+
+"ONE WAR AT A TIME."
+
+Nothing in Lincoln's entire career better illustrated the surprising
+resources of his mind than his manner of dealing with "The Trent
+Affair." The readiness and ability with which he met this perilous
+emergency, in a field entirely new to his experience, was worthy the
+most accomplished diplomat and statesman. Admirable, also, was his cool
+courage and self-reliance in following a course radically opposed to
+the prevailing sentiment throughout the country and in Congress, and
+contrary to the advice of his own Cabinet.
+
+Secretary of the Navy Welles hastened to approve officially the act of
+Captain Wilkes in apprehending the Confederate Commissioners Mason and
+Slidell, Secretary Stanton publicly applauded, and even Secretary
+of State Seward, whose long public career had made him especially
+conservative, stated that he was opposed to any concession or surrender
+of Mason and Slidell.
+
+But Lincoln, with great sagacity, simply said, "One war at a time."
+
+
+
+
+PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LAST PUBLIC ADDRESS.
+
+The President made his last public address on the evening of April 11th,
+1865, to a gathering at the White House. Said he:
+
+"We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart.
+
+"The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the
+principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace,
+whose joyous expression cannot be restrained.
+
+"In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not
+be forgotten.
+
+"Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing be
+overlooked; their honors must not be parceled out with others.
+
+"I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting
+the good news to you; but no part of the honor, for plan or execution,
+is mine.
+
+"To General Grant, his skillful officers and brave men, all belongs."
+
+
+
+
+NO OTHERS LIKE THEM.
+
+One day an old lady from the country called on President Lincoln, her
+tanned face peering up to his through a pair of spectacles. Her errand
+was to present Mr. Lincoln a pair of stockings of her own make a yard
+long. Kind tears came to his eyes as she spoke to him, and then,
+holding the stockings one in each hand, dangling wide apart for
+general inspection, he assured her that he should take them with him to
+Washington, where (and here his eyes twinkled) he was sure he should not
+be able to find any like them.
+
+Quite a number of well-known men were in the room with the President
+when the old lady made her presentation. Among them was George S.
+Boutwell, who afterwards became Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+The amusement of the company was not at all diminished by Mr. Boutwell's
+remark, that the lady had evidently made a very correct estimate of Mr.
+Lincoln's latitude and longitude.
+
+
+
+
+CASH WAS AT HAND.
+
+Lincoln was appointed postmaster at New Salem by President Jackson. The
+office was given him because everybody liked him, and because he was the
+only man willing to take it who could make out the returns. Lincoln was
+pleased, because it gave him a chance to read every newspaper taken
+in the vicinity. He had never been able to get half the newspapers he
+wanted before.
+
+Years after the postoffice had been discontinued and Lincoln had
+become a practicing lawyer at Springfield, an agent of the Postoffice
+Department entered his office and inquired if Abraham Lincoln was
+within. Lincoln responded to his name, and was informed that the
+agent had called to collect the balance due the Department since the
+discontinuance of the New Salem office.
+
+A shade of perplexity passed over Lincoln's face, which did not escape
+the notice of friends present. One of them said at once:
+
+"Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help you."
+
+He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled out from a pile of books
+a little old trunk, and, returning to the table, asked the agent how
+much the amount of his debt was.
+
+The sum was named, and then Lincoln opened the trunk, pulled out a
+little package of coin wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted out the
+exact sum, amounting to more than seventeen dollars.
+
+After the agent had left the room, he remarked quietly that he had never
+used any man's money but his own. Although this sum had been in his
+hands during all those years, he had never regarded it as available,
+even for any temporary use of his own.
+
+
+
+
+WELCOMED THE LITTLE GIRLS.
+
+At a Saturday afternoon reception at the White House, many persons
+noticed three little girls, poorly dressed, the children of some
+mechanic or laboring man, who had followed the visitors into the White
+House to gratify their curiosity. They passed around from room to room,
+and were hastening through the reception-room, with some trepidation,
+when the President called to them:
+
+"Little girls, are you going to pass me without shaking hands?"
+
+Then he bent his tall, awkward form down, and shook each little girl
+warmly by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was spellbound by the
+incident, so simple in itself.
+
+
+
+
+"DON'T SWAP HORSES"
+
+Uncle Sam was pretty well satisfied with his horse, "Old Abe," and, as
+shown at the Presidential election of 1864, made up his mind to keep
+him, and not "swap" the tried and true animal for a strange one.
+"Harper's Weekly" of November 12th, 1864, had a cartoon which
+illustrated how the people of the United States felt about the matter
+better than anything published at the time. We reproduce it on this
+page. Beneath the picture was this text:
+
+JOHN BULL: "Why don't you ride the other horse a bit? He's the best
+animal." (Pointing to McClellan in the bushes at the rear.)
+
+BROTHER JONATHAN: "Well, that may be; but the fact is, OLD ABE is just
+where I can put my finger on him; and as for the other--though they say
+he's some when out in the scrub yonder--I never know where to find him."
+
+
+
+
+MOST VALUABLE POLITICAL ATTRIBUTE.
+
+"One time I remember I asked Mr. Lincoln what attribute he considered
+most valuable to the successful politician," said Captain T. W. S. Kidd,
+of Springfield.
+
+"He laid his hand on my shoulder and said, very earnestly:
+
+"'To be able to raise a cause which shall produce an effect, and then
+fight the effect.'
+
+"The more you think about it, the more profound does it become."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" RESENTED THE INSULT.
+
+A cashiered officer, seeking to be restored through the power of the
+executive, became insolent, because the President, who believed the man
+guilty, would not accede to his repeated requests, at last said, "Well,
+Mr. President, I see you are fully determined not to do me justice!"
+
+This was too aggravating even for Mr. Lincoln; rising he suddenly seized
+the disgraced officer by the coat collar, and marched him forcibly to
+the door, saying as he ejected him into the passage:
+
+"Sir, I give you fair warning never to show your face in this room
+again. I can bear censure, but not insult. I never wish to see your face
+again."
+
+
+
+
+ONE MAN ISN'T MISSED.
+
+Salmon P. Chase, when Secretary of the Treasury, had a disagreement with
+other members of the Cabinet, and resigned.
+
+The President was urged not to accept it, as "Secretary Chase is to-day
+a national necessity," his advisers said.
+
+"How mistaken you are!" Lincoln quietly observed. "Yet it is not
+strange; I used to have similar notions. No! If we should all be turned
+out to-morrow, and could come back here in a week, we should find our
+places filled by a lot of fellows doing just as well as we did, and in
+many instances better.
+
+"Now, this reminds me of what the Irishman said. His verdict was that
+'in this country one man is as good as another; and, for the matter
+of that, very often a great deal better.' No; this Government does not
+depend upon the life of any man."
+
+
+
+
+"STRETCHED THE FACTS."
+
+George B. Lincoln, a prominent merchant of Brooklyn, was traveling
+through the West in 1855-56, and found himself one night in a town on
+the Illinois River, by the name of Naples. The only tavern of the place
+had evidently been constructed with reference to business on a small
+scale. Poor as the prospect seemed, Mr. Lincoln had no alternative but
+to put up at the place.
+
+The supper-room was also used as a lodging-room. Mr. Lincoln told his
+host that he thought he would "go to bed."
+
+"Bed!" echoed the landlord. "There is no bed for you in this house
+unless you sleep with that man yonder. He has the only one we have to
+spare."
+
+"Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, "the gentleman has possession, and perhaps
+would not like a bed-fellow."
+
+Upon this a grizzly head appeared out of the pillows, and said:
+
+"What is your name?"
+
+"They call me Lincoln at home," was the reply.
+
+"Lincoln!" repeated the stranger; "any connection of our Illinois
+Abraham?"
+
+"No," replied Mr. Lincoln. "I fear not."
+
+"Well," said the old gentleman, "I will let any man by the name of
+'Lincoln' sleep with me, just for the sake of the name. You have heard
+of Abe?" he inquired.
+
+"Oh, yes, very often," replied Mr. Lincoln. "No man could travel far
+in this State without hearing of him, and I would be very glad to claim
+connection if I could do so honestly."
+
+"Well," said the old gentleman, "my name is Simmons. 'Abe' and I used
+to live and work together when young men. Many a job of woodcutting and
+rail-splitting have I done up with him. Abe Lincoln was the likeliest
+boy in God's world. He would work all day as hard as any of us and study
+by firelight in the log-house half the night; and in this way he made
+himself a thorough, practical surveyor. Once, during those days, I was
+in the upper part of the State, and I met General Ewing, whom President
+Jackson had sent to the Northwest to make surveys. I told him about Abe
+Lincoln, what a student he was, and that I wanted he should give him a
+job. He looked over his memorandum, and, holding out a paper, said:
+
+"'There is County must be surveyed; if your friend can do the work
+properly, I shall be glad to have him undertake it--the compensation
+will be six hundred dollars.'
+
+"Pleased as I could be, I hastened to Abe, after I got home, with an
+account of what I had secured for him. He was sitting before the fire
+in the log-cabin when I told him; and what do you think was his answer?
+When I finished, he looked up very quietly, and said:
+
+"'Mr. Simmons, I thank you very sincerely for your kindness, but I don't
+think I will undertake the job.'
+
+"'In the name of wonder,' said I, 'why? Six hundred does not grow upon
+every bush out here in Illinois.'
+
+"'I know that,' said Abe, 'and I need the money bad enough, Simmons,
+as you know; but I have never been under obligation to a Democratic
+Administration, and I never intend to be so long as I can get my living
+another way. General Ewing must find another man to do his work.'"
+
+A friend related this story to the President one day, and asked him if
+it were true.
+
+"Pollard Simmons!" said Lincoln. "Well do I remember him. It is correct
+about our working together, but the old man must have stretched the
+facts somewhat about the survey of the county. I think I should have
+been very glad of the job at the time, no matter what Administration was
+in power."
+
+
+
+
+IT LENGTHENED THE WAR.
+
+President Lincoln said, long before the National political campaign of
+1864 had opened:
+
+"If the unworthy ambition of politicians and the jealousy that exists in
+the army could be repressed, and all unite in a common aim and a common
+endeavor, the rebellion would soon be crushed."
+
+
+
+
+HIS THEORY OF THE REBELLION.
+
+The President once explained to a friend the theory of the Rebellion by
+the aid of the maps before him.
+
+Running his long fore-finger down the map, he stopped at Virginia.
+
+"We must drive them away from here" (Manassas Gap), he said, "and clear
+them out of this part of the State so that they cannot threaten us here
+(Washington) and get into Maryland.
+
+"We must keep up a good and thorough blockade of their ports. We must
+march an army into East Tennessee and liberate the Union sentiment
+there. Finally we must rely on the people growing tired and saying to
+their leaders, 'We have had enough of this thing, we will bear it no
+longer.'"
+
+Such was President Lincoln's plan for heading off the Rebellion in the
+summer of 1861. How it enlarged as the War progressed, from a call for
+seventy thousand volunteers to one for five hundred thousand men and
+$500,000,000 is a matter of well-known history.
+
+
+
+
+RAN AWAY WHEN VICTORIOUS.
+
+Three or four days after the battle of Bull Run, some gentlemen who had
+been on the field called upon the President.
+
+He inquired very minutely regarding all the circumstances of the affair,
+and, after listening with the utmost attention, said, with a touch of
+humor: "So it is your notion that we whipped the rebels and then ran
+away from them!"
+
+
+
+
+WANTED STANTON SPANKED.
+
+Old Dennis Hanks was sent to Washington at one time by persons
+interested in securing the release from jail of several men accused of
+being copperheads. It was thought Old Dennis might have some influence
+with the President.
+
+The latter heard Dennis' story and then said: "I will send for Mr.
+Stanton. It is his business."
+
+Secretary Stanton came into the room, stormed up and down, and said the
+men ought to be punished more than they were. Mr. Lincoln sat quietly in
+his chair and waited for the tempest to subside, and then quietly said
+to Stanton he would like to have the papers next day.
+
+When he had gone, Dennis said:
+
+"'Abe,' if I was as big and as ugly as you are, I would take him over my
+knee and spank him."
+
+The President replied: "No, Stanton is an able and valuable man for this
+Nation, and I am glad to bear his anger for the service he can give the
+Nation."
+
+
+
+
+STANTON WAS OUT OF TOWN.
+
+The quaint remark of the President to an applicant, "My dear sir, I have
+not much influence with the Administration," was one of Lincoln's little
+jokes.
+
+Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, once replied to an order from the
+President to give a colonel a commission in place of the resigning
+brigadier:
+
+"I shan't do it, sir! I shan't do it! It isn't the way to do it, sir,
+and I shan't do it. I don't propose to argue the question with you,
+sir."
+
+A few days after, the friend of the applicant who had presented the
+order to Secretary Stanton called upon the President and related his
+reception. A look of vexation came over the face of the President, and
+he seemed unwilling to talk of it, and desired the friend to see him
+another day. He did so, when he gave his visitor a positive order for
+the promotion. The latter told him he would not speak to Secretary
+Stanton again until he apologized.
+
+"Oh," said the President, "Stanton has gone to Fortress Monroe, and Dana
+is acting. He will attend to it for you."
+
+This he said with a manner of relief, as if it was a piece of good luck
+to find a man there who would obey his orders.
+
+The nomination was sent to the Senate and confirmed.
+
+
+
+
+IDENTIFIED THE COLORED MAN.
+
+Many applications reached Lincoln as he passed to and from the White
+House and the War Department. One day as he crossed the park he was
+stopped by a negro, who told him a pitiful story. The President wrote
+him out a check, which read. "Pay to colored man with one leg five
+dollars."
+
+
+
+
+OFFICE SEEKERS WORSE THAN WAR.
+
+When the Republican party came into power, Washington swarmed with
+office-seekers. They overran the White House and gave the President
+great annoyance. The incongruity of a man in his position, and with
+the very life of the country at stake, pausing to appoint postmasters,
+struck Mr. Lincoln forcibly. "What is the matter, Mr. Lincoln," said
+a friend one day, when he saw him looking particularly grave and
+dispirited. "Has anything gone wrong at the front?" "No," said the
+President, with a tired smile. "It isn't the war; it's the postoffice at
+Brownsville, Missouri."
+
+
+
+
+HE "SET 'EM UP."
+
+Immediately after Mr. Lincoln's nomination for President at the Chicago
+Convention, a committee, of which Governor Morgan, of New York, was
+chairman, visited him in Springfield, Ill., where he was officially
+informed of his nomination.
+
+After this ceremony had passed, Mr. Lincoln remarked to the company that
+as a fit ending to an interview so important and interesting as that
+which had just taken place, he supposed good manners would require that
+he should treat the committee with something to drink; and opening
+the door that led into the rear, he called out, "Mary! Mary!" A girl
+responded to the call, to whom Mr. Lincoln spoke a few words in an
+undertone, and, closing the door, returned again and talked with his
+guests. In a few minutes the maid entered, bearing a large waiter,
+containing several glass tumblers, and a large pitcher, and placed them
+upon the center-table. Mr. Lincoln arose, and, gravely addressing the
+company, said: "Gentlemen, we must pledge our mutual health in the most
+healthy beverage that God has given to man--it is the only beverage I
+have ever used or allowed my family to use, and I cannot conscientiously
+depart from it on the present occasion. It is pure Adam's ale from the
+spring." And, taking the tumbler, he touched it to his lips, and pledged
+them his highest respects in a cup of cold water. Of course, all his
+guests admired his consistency, and joined in his example.
+
+
+
+
+WASN'T STANTON'S SAY.
+
+A few days before the President's death, Secretary Stanton tendered
+his resignation as Secretary of War. He accompanied the act with a most
+heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lincoln's constant friendship and faithful
+devotion to the country, saying, also, that he, as Secretary, had
+accepted the position to hold it only until the war should end, and that
+now he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's words, and, tearing in
+pieces the paper containing the resignation, and throwing his arms about
+the Secretary, he said:
+
+"Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public servant, and
+it is not for you to say when you will no longer be needed here."
+
+Several friends of both parties were present on the occasion, and there
+was not a dry eye that witnessed the scene.
+
+
+
+
+"JEFFY" THREW UP THE SPONGE.
+
+When the War was fairly on, many people were astonished to find that
+"Old Abe" was a fighter from "way back." No one was the victim of
+greater amazement than Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate
+States of America. Davis found out that "Abe" was not only a hard
+hitter, but had staying qualities of a high order. It was a fight to
+a "finish" with "Abe," no compromises being accepted. Over the title,
+"North and South," the issue of "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper"
+of December 24th, 1864, contained the cartoon, see reproduce on this
+page. Underneath the picture were the lines:
+
+"Now, Jeffy, when you think you have had enough of this, say so, and
+I'll leave off." (See President's message.) In his message to Congress,
+December 6th,
+
+President Lincoln said: "No attempt at negotiation with the insurgent
+leader could result in any good. He would accept of nothing short of the
+severance of the Union."
+
+Therefore, Father Abraham, getting "Jeffy's" head "in chancery,"
+proceeded to change the appearance and size of the secessionist's
+countenance, much to the grief and discomfort of the Southerner. It was
+Lincoln's idea to re-establish the Union, and he carried out his purpose
+to the very letter. But he didn't "leave off" until "Jeffy" cried
+"enough."
+
+
+
+
+DIDN'T KNOW GRANT'S PREFERENCE.
+
+In October, 1864, President Lincoln, while he knew his re-election to
+the White House was in no sense doubtful, knew that if he lost New
+York and with it Pennsylvania on the home vote, the moral effect of
+his triumph would be broken and his power to prosecute the war and make
+peace would be greatly impaired. Colonel A. K. McClure was with Lincoln
+a good deal of the time previous to the November election, and tells
+this story:
+
+"His usually sad face was deeply shadowed with sorrow when I told him
+that I saw no reasonable prospect of carrying Pennsylvania on the home
+vote, although we had about held our own in the hand-to-hand conflict
+through which we were passing.
+
+"'Well, what is to be done?' was Lincoln's inquiry, after the whole
+situation had been presented to him. I answered that the solution of the
+problem was a very simple and easy one--that Grant was idle in front of
+Petersburg; that Sheridan had won all possible victories in the Valley;
+and that if five thousand Pennsylvania soldiers could be furloughed home
+from each army, the election could be carried without doubt.
+
+"Lincoln's face' brightened instantly at the suggestion, and I saw that
+he was quite ready to execute it. I said to him: 'Of course, you can
+trust want to make the suggestion to him to furlough five thousand
+Pennsylvania troops for two weeks?'
+
+"'To my surprise, Lincoln made no answer, and the bright face of a few
+moments before was instantly shadowed again. I was much disconcerted,
+as I supposed that Grant was the one man to whom Lincoln could turn with
+absolute confidence as his friend. I then said, with some earnestness:
+'Surely, Mr. President, you can trust Grant with a confidential
+suggestion to furlough Pennsylvania troops?'
+
+"Lincoln remained silent and evidently distressed at the proposition I
+was pressing upon him. After a few moments, and speaking with emphasis,
+I said: 'It can't be possible that Grant is not your friend; he can't be
+such an ingrate?'
+
+"Lincoln hesitated for some time, and then answered in these words:
+'Well, McClure, I have no reason to believe that Grant prefers my
+election to that of McClellan.'
+
+"I believe Lincoln was mistaken in his distrust of Grant."
+
+
+
+
+JUSTICE vs. NUMBERS.
+
+Lincoln was constantly bothered by members of delegations of
+"goody-goodies," who knew all about running the War, but had no inside
+information as to what was going on. Yet, they poured out their advice
+in streams, until the President was heartily sick of the whole business,
+and wished the War would find some way to kill off these nuisances.
+
+"How many men have the Confederates now in the field?" asked one of
+these bores one day.
+
+"About one million two hundred thousand," replied the President.
+
+"Oh, my! Not so many as that, surely, Mr. Lincoln."
+
+"They have fully twelve hundred thousand, no doubt of it. You see, all
+of our generals when they get whipped say the enemy outnumbers them
+from three or five to one, and I must believe them. We have four hundred
+thousand men in the field, and three times four make twelve,--don't you
+see it? It is as plain to be seen as the nose on a man's face; and at
+the rate things are now going, with the great amount of speculation and
+the small crop of fighting, it will take a long time to overcome twelve
+hundred thousand rebels in arms.
+
+"If they can get subsistence they have everything else, except a just
+cause. Yet it is said that 'thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel
+just.' I am willing, however, to risk our advantage of thrice in justice
+against their thrice in numbers."
+
+
+
+
+NO FALSE PRIDE IN LINCOLN.
+
+General McClellan had little or no conception of the greatness of
+Abraham Lincoln. As time went on, he began to show plainly his contempt
+of the President, frequently allowing him to wait in the ante-room of
+his house while he transacted business with others. This discourtesy was
+so open that McClellan's staff noticed it, and newspaper correspondents
+commented on it. The President was too keen not to see the situation,
+but he was strong enough to ignore it. It was a battle he wanted from
+McClellan, not deference.
+
+"I will hold McClellan's horse, if he will only bring us success," he
+said one day.
+
+
+
+
+EXTRA MEMBER OF THE CABINET.
+
+G. H. Giddings was selected as the bearer of a message from the
+President to Governor Sam Houston, of Texas. A conflict had arisen there
+between the Southern party and the Governor, Sam Houston, and on March
+18 the latter had been deposed. When Mr. Lincoln heard of this, he
+decided to try to get a message to the Governor, offering United States
+support if he would put himself at the head of the Union party of the
+State.
+
+Mr. Giddings thus told of his interview with the President:
+
+"He said to me that the message was of such importance that, before
+handing it to me, he would read it to me. Before beginning to read he
+said, 'This is a confidential and secret message. No one besides my
+Cabinet and myself knows anything about it, and we are all sworn to
+secrecy. I am going to swear you in as one of my Cabinet.'
+
+"And then he said to me in a jocular way, 'Hold up your right hand,'
+which I did.
+
+"'Now,' said he, consider yourself a member of my Cabinet."'
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN WAS ABUSED.
+
+With the possible exception of President Washington, whose political
+opponents did not hesitate to rob the vocabulary of vulgarity and
+wickedness whenever they desired to vilify the Chief Magistrate, Lincoln
+was the most and "best" abused man who ever held office in the United
+States. During the first half of his initial term there was no epithet
+which was not applied to him.
+
+One newspaper in New York habitually characterized him as "that hideous
+baboon at the other end of the avenue," and declared that "Barnum should
+buy and exhibit him as a zoological curiosity."
+
+Although the President did not, to all appearances, exhibit annoyance
+because of the various diatribes printed and spoken, yet the fact is
+that his life was so cruelly embittered by these and other expressions
+quite as virulent, that he often declared to those most intimate with
+him, "I would rather be dead than, as President, thus abused in the
+house of my friends."
+
+
+
+
+HOW "FIGHTING JOE" WAS APPOINTED.
+
+General "Joe" Hooker, the fourth commander of the noble but unfortunate
+Army of the Potomac, was appointed to that position by President Lincoln
+in January, 1863. General Scott, for some reason, disliked Hooker
+and would not appoint him. Hooker, after some months of discouraging
+waiting, decided to return to California, and called to pay his respects
+to President Lincoln. He was introduced as Captain Hooker, and to the
+surprise of the President began the following speech:
+
+"Mr. President, my friend makes a mistake. I am not Captain Hooker, but
+was once Lieutenant-Colonel Hooker of the regular army. I was lately
+a farmer in California, but since the Rebellion broke out I have been
+trying to get into service, but I find I am not wanted.
+
+"I am about to return home; but before going, I was anxious to pay my
+respects to you, and express my wishes for your personal welfare and
+success in quelling this Rebellion. And I want to say to you a word
+more.
+
+"I was at Bull Run the other day, Mr. President, and it is no vanity
+in me to say, I am a darned sight better general than you had on the
+field."
+
+This was said, not in the tone of a braggart, but of a man who knew what
+he was talking about. Hooker did not return to California, but in a
+few weeks Captain Hooker received from the President a commission as
+Brigadier-General Hooker.
+
+
+
+
+KEPT HIS COURAGE UP.
+
+The President, like old King Saul, when his term was about to expire,
+was in a quandary concerning a further lease of the Presidential office.
+He consulted again the "prophetess" of Georgetown, immortalized by his
+patronage.
+
+She retired to an inner chamber, and, after raising and consulting more
+than a dozen of distinguished spirits from Hades, she returned to the
+reception-parlor, where the chief magistrate awaited her, and declared
+that General Grant would capture Richmond, and that "Honest Old Abe"
+would be next President.
+
+She, however, as the report goes, told him to beware of Chase.
+
+
+
+
+A FORTUNE-TELLER'S PREDICTION.
+
+Lincoln had been born and reared among people who were believers in
+premonitions and supernatural appearances all his life, and he once
+declared to his friends that he was "from boyhood superstitious."
+
+He at one time said to Judge Arnold that "the near approach of the
+important events of his life were indicated by a presentiment or a
+strange dream, or in some other mysterious way it was impressed upon him
+that something important was to occur." This was earlier than 1850.
+
+It is said that on his second visit to New Orleans, Lincoln and his
+companion, John Hanks, visited an old fortune-teller--a voodoo negress.
+Tradition says that "during the interview she became very much excited,
+and after various predictions, exclaimed: 'You will be President, and
+all the negroes will be free.'"
+
+That the old voodoo negress should have foretold that the visitor would
+be President is not at all incredible. She doubtless told this to many
+aspiring lads, but Lincoln, so it is avowed took the prophecy seriously.
+
+
+
+
+TOO MUCH POWDER.
+
+So great was Lincoln's anxiety for the success of the Union arms that he
+considered no labor on his part too arduous, and spent much of his time
+in looking after even the small details.
+
+Admiral Dahlgren was sent for one morning by the President, who said
+"Well, captain, here's a letter about some new powder."
+
+After reading the letter he showed the sample of powder, and remarked
+that he had burned some of it, and did not believe it was a good
+article--here was too much residuum.
+
+"I will show you," he said; and getting a small piece of paper, placed
+thereupon some of the powder, then went to the fire and with the tongs
+picked up a coal, which he blew, clapped it on the powder, and after the
+resulting explosion, added, "You see there is too much left there."
+
+
+
+
+SLEEP STANDING UP.
+
+McClellan was a thorn in Lincoln's side--"always up in the air," as
+the President put it--and yet he hesitated to remove him. "The Young
+Napoleon" was a good organizer, but no fighter. Lincoln sent him
+everything necessary in the way of men, ammunition, artillery and
+equipments, but he was forever unready.
+
+Instead of making a forward movement at the time expected, he would
+notify the President that he must have more men. These were given him as
+rapidly as possible, and then would come a demand for more horses, more
+this and that, usually winding up with a demand for still "more men."
+
+Lincoln bore it all in patience for a long time, but one day, when he
+had received another request for more men, he made a vigorous protest.
+
+"If I gave McClellan all the men he asks for," said the President, "they
+couldn't find room to lie down. They'd have to sleep standing up."
+
+
+
+
+SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT ANOTHER BATTLE.
+
+General Meade, after the great victory at Gettysburg, was again face to
+face with General Lee shortly afterwards at Williamsport, and even the
+former's warmest friends agree that he might have won in another battle,
+but he took no action. He was not a "pushing" man like Grant. It
+was this negligence on the part of Meade that lost him the rank of
+Lieutenant-General, conferred upon General Sheridan.
+
+A friend of Meade's, speaking to President Lincoln and intimating that
+Meade should have, after that battle, been made Commander-in-Chief of
+the Union Armies, received this reply from Lincoln:
+
+"Now, don't misunderstand me about General Meade. I am profoundly
+grateful down to the bottom of my boots for what he did at Gettysburg,
+but I think that if I had been General Meade I would have fought another
+battle."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN UPBRAIDED LAMON.
+
+In one of his reminiscences of Lincoln, Ward Lamon tells how keenly the
+President-elect always regretted the "sneaking in act" when he made the
+celebrated "midnight ride," which he took under protest, and landed him
+in Washington known to but a few. Lamon says:
+
+"The President was convinced that he committed a grave mistake in
+listening to the solicitations of a 'professional spy' and of friends
+too easily alarmed, and frequently upbraided me for having aided him
+to degrade himself at the very moment in all his life when his behavior
+should have exhibited the utmost dignity and composure.
+
+"Neither he nor the country generally then understood the true facts
+concerning the dangers to his life. It is now an acknowledged fact that
+there never was a moment from the day he crossed the Maryland line, up
+to the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by
+violence, and that his life was spared until the night of the 14th of
+April, 1865, only through the ceaseless and watchful care of the guards
+thrown around him."
+
+
+
+
+MARKED OUT A FEW WORDS.
+
+President Lincoln was calm and unmoved when England and France were
+blustering and threatening war. At Lincoln's instance Secretary of State
+Seward notified the English Cabinet and the French Emperor that as
+ours was merely a family quarrel of a strictly private and confidential
+nature, there was no call for meddling; also that they would have a war
+on their hands in a very few minutes if they didn't keep their hands
+off.
+
+Many of Seward's notes were couched in decidedly peppery terms, some
+expressions being so tart that President Lincoln ran his pen through
+them.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN SILENCES SEWARD.
+
+General Farnsworth told the writer nearly twenty years ago that, being
+in the War Office one day, Secretary Stanton told him that at the last
+Cabinet meeting he had learned a lesson he should never forget, and
+thought he had obtained an insight into Mr. Lincoln's wonderful power
+over the masses. The Secretary said a Cabinet meeting was called to
+consider our relations with England in regard to the Mason-Slidell
+affair. One after another of the Cabinet presented his views, and Mr.
+Seward read an elaborate diplomatic dispatch, which he had prepared.
+
+Finally Mr. Lincoln read what he termed "a few brief remarks upon the
+subject," and asked the opinions of his auditors. They unanimously
+agreed that our side of the question needed no more argument than was
+contained in the President's "few brief remarks."
+
+Mr. Seward said he would be glad to adopt the remarks, and, giving them
+more of the phraseology usual in diplomatic circles, send them to Lord
+Palmerston, the British premier.
+
+"Then," said Secretary Stanton, "came the demonstration. The President,
+half wheeling in his seat, threw one leg over the chair-arm, and,
+holding the letter in his hand, said, 'Seward, do you suppose Palmerston
+will understand our position from that letter, just as it is?'
+
+"'Certainly, Mr. President.'
+
+"'Do you suppose the London Times will?'
+
+"'Certainly.'
+
+"'Do you suppose the average Englishman of affairs will?'
+
+"'Certainly; it cannot be mistaken in England.'
+
+"'Do you suppose that a hackman out on his box (pointing to the street)
+will understand it?'
+
+"'Very readily, Mr. President.'
+
+"'Very well, Seward, I guess we'll let her slide just as she is.'
+
+"And the letter did 'slide,' and settled the whole business in a manner
+that was effective."
+
+
+
+
+BROUGHT THE HUSBAND UP.
+
+One morning President Lincoln asked Major Eckert, on duty at the White
+House, "Who is that woman crying out in the hall? What is the matter
+with her?"
+
+Eckert said it was a woman who had come a long distance expecting to go
+down to the army to see her husband. An order had gone out a short time
+before to allow no women in the army, except in special cases.
+
+Mr. Lincoln sat moodily for a moment after hearing this story, and
+suddenly looking up, said, "Let's send her down. You write the order,
+Major."
+
+Major Eckert hesitated a moment, and replied, "Would it not be better
+for Colonel Hardie to write the order?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Lincoln, "that is better; let Hardie write it."
+
+The major went out, and soon returned, saying, "Mr. President, would
+it not be better in this case to let the woman's husband come to
+Washington?"
+
+Mr. Lincoln's face lighted up with pleasure. "Yes, yes," was the
+President's answer in a relieved tone; "that's the best way; bring him
+up."
+
+The order was written, and the man was sent to Washington.
+
+
+
+
+NO WAR WITHOUT BLOOD-LETTING.
+
+"You can't carry on war without blood-letting," said Lincoln one day.
+
+The President, although almost feminine in his kind-heartedness, knew
+not only this, but also that large bodies of soldiers in camp were at
+the mercy of diseases of every sort, the result being a heavy casualty
+list.
+
+Of the (estimated) half-million men of the Union armies who gave up
+their lives in the War of the Rebellion--1861-65--fully seventy-five
+per cent died of disease. The soldiers killed upon the field of battle
+constituted a comparatively small proportion of the casualties.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S TWO DIFFICULTIES.
+
+London "Punch" caricatured President Lincoln in every possible way,
+holding him and the Union cause up to the ridicule of the world so far
+as it could. On August 23rd, 1862, its cartoon entitled "Lincoln's Two
+Difficulties" had the text underneath: LINCOLN: "What? No money! No
+men!" "Punch" desired to create the impression that the Washington
+Government was in a bad way, lacking both money and men for the purpose
+of putting down the Rebellion; that the United States Treasury was
+bankrupt, and the people of the North so devoid of patriotism that they
+would not send men for the army to assist in destroying the Confederacy.
+The truth is, that when this cartoon was printed the North had five
+hundred thousand men in the field, and, before the War closed, had
+provided fully two million and a half troops. The report of the
+Secretary of the Treasury which showed the financial affairs and
+situation of the United States up to July, 1862. The receipts of
+the National Government for the year ending June 30th, 1862, were
+$10,000,000 in excess of the expenditures, although the War was costing
+the country $2,000,000 per day; the credit of the United States was
+good, and business matters were in a satisfactory state. The Navy, by
+August 23rd, 1862, had received eighteen thousand additional men,
+and was in fine shape; the people of the North stood ready to supply
+anything the Government needed, so that, all things taken together, the
+"Punch" cartoon was not exactly true, as the facts and figures
+abundantly proved.
+
+
+
+
+WHITE ELEPHANT ON HIS HANDS.
+
+An old and intimate friend from Springfield called on President Lincoln
+and found him much depressed.
+
+The President was reclining on a sofa, but rising suddenly he said to
+his friend:
+
+"You know better than any man living that from my boyhood up my ambition
+was to be President. I am President of one part of this divided country
+at least; but look at me! Oh, I wish I had never been born!
+
+"I've a white elephant on my hands--one hard to manage. With a fire
+in my front and rear to contend with, the jealousies of the military
+commanders, and not receiving that cordial co-operative support from
+Congress that could reasonably be expected with an active and formidable
+enemy in the field threatening the very life-blood of the Government, my
+position is anything but a bed of roses."
+
+
+
+
+WHEN LINCOLN AND GRANT CLASHED.
+
+Ward Lamon, one of President Lincoln's law partners, and his most
+intimate friend in Washington, has this to relate:
+
+"I am not aware that there was ever a serious discord or
+misunderstanding between Mr. Lincoln and General Grant, except on a
+single occasion. From the commencement of the struggle, Lincoln's policy
+was to break the backbone of the Confederacy by depriving it of its
+principal means of subsistence.
+
+"Cotton was its vital aliment; deprive it of this, and the rebellion
+must necessarily collapse. The Hon. Elihu B. Washburne from the outset
+was opposed to any contraband traffic with the Confederates.
+
+"Lincoln had given permits and passes through the lines to two
+persons--Mr. Joseph Mattox of Maryland and General Singleton of
+Illinois--to enable them to bring cotton and other Southern products
+from Virginia. Washburne heard of it, called immediately on Mr. Lincoln,
+and, after remonstrating with him on the impropriety of such a demarche,
+threatened to have General Grant countermand the permits if they were
+not revoked.
+
+"Naturally, both became excited. Lincoln declared that he did not
+believe General Grant would take upon himself the responsibility of such
+an act. 'I will show you, sir; I will show you whether Grant will do it
+or not,' responded Mr. Washburne, as he abruptly withdrew.
+
+"By the next boat, subsequent to this interview, the Congressman left
+Washington for the headquarters of General Grant. He returned shortly
+afterward to the city, and so likewise did Mattox and Singleton. Grant
+had countermanded the permits.
+
+"Under all the circumstances, it was, naturally, a source of exultation
+to Mr. Washburne and his friends, and of corresponding surprise and
+mortification to the President. The latter, however, said nothing
+further than this:
+
+"'I wonder when General Grant changed his mind on this subject? He was
+the first man, after the commencement of this War, to grant a permit for
+the passage of cotton through the lines, and that to his own father.'
+
+"The President, however, never showed any resentment toward General
+Grant.
+
+"In referring afterwards to the subject, the President said: 'It made
+me feel my insignificance keenly at the moment; but if my friends
+Washburne, Henry Wilson and others derive pleasure from so unworthy a
+victory over me, I leave them to its full enjoyment.'
+
+"This ripple on the otherwise unruffled current of their intercourse did
+not disturb the personal relations between Lincoln and Grant; but there
+was little cordiality between the President and Messrs. Washburne and
+Wilson afterwards."
+
+
+
+
+WON JAMES GORDON BENNETT'S SUPPORT.
+
+The story as to how President Lincoln won the support of James Gordon
+Bennett, Sr., founder of the New York Herald, is a most interesting one.
+It was one of Lincoln's shrewdest political acts, and was brought about
+by the tender, in an autograph letter, of the French Mission to Bennett.
+
+The New York Times was the only paper in the metropolis which supported
+him heartily, and President Lincoln knew how important it was to have
+the support of the Herald. He therefore, according to the way Colonel
+McClure tells it, carefully studied how to bring its editor into close
+touch with himself.
+
+The outlook for Lincoln's re-election was not promising. Bennett had
+strongly advocated the nomination of General McClellan by the Democrats,
+and that was ominous of hostility to Lincoln; and when McClellan was
+nominated he was accepted on all sides as a most formidable candidate.
+
+It was in this emergency that Lincoln's political sagacity served him
+sufficiently to win the Herald to his cause, and it was done by the
+confidential tender of the French Mission. Bennett did not break over to
+Lincoln at once, but he went by gradual approaches.
+
+His first step was to declare in favor of an entirely new candidate,
+which was an utter impossibility. He opened a "leader" in the Herald on
+the subject in this way: "Lincoln has proved a failure; McClellan
+has proved a failure; Fremont has proved a failure; let us have a new
+candidate."
+
+Lincoln, McClellan and Fremont were then all in the field as nominated
+candidates, and the Fremont defection was a serious threat to Lincoln.
+Of course, neither Lincoln nor McClellan declined, and the Herald,
+failing to get the new man it knew to be an impossibility, squarely
+advocated Lincoln's re-election.
+
+Without consulting any one, and without any public announcement:
+whatever, Lincoln wrote to Bennett, asking him to accept the mission to
+France. The offer was declined. Bennett valued the offer very much more
+than the office, and from that day until the day of the President's
+death he was one of Lincoln's most appreciative friends and hearty
+supporters on his own independent line.
+
+
+
+
+STOOD BY THE "SILENT MAN."
+
+Once, in reply to a delegation, which visited the White House, the
+members of which were unusually vociferous in their demands that the
+Silent Man (as General Grant was called) should be relieved from duty,
+the President remarked:
+
+"What I want and what the people want is generals who will fight battles
+and win victories.
+
+"Grant has done this, and I propose to stand by him."
+
+This declaration found its way into the newspapers, and Lincoln was
+upheld by the people of the North, who, also, wanted "generals who will
+fight battles and win victories."
+
+
+
+
+A VERY BRAINY NUBBIN.
+
+President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward met Alexander H.
+Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, on February 2nd, 1865, on
+the River Queen, at Fortress Monroe. Stephens was enveloped in overcoats
+and shawls, and had the appearance of a fair-sized man. He began to take
+off one wrapping after another, until the small, shriveled old man stood
+before them.
+
+Lincoln quietly said to Seward: "This is the largest shucking for so
+small a nubbin that I ever saw."
+
+President Lincoln had a friendly conference, but presented his ultimatum
+that the one and only condition of peace was that Confederates "must
+cease their resistance."
+
+
+
+
+SENT TO HIS "FRIENDS."
+
+During the Civil War, Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, had shown
+himself, in the National House of Representatives and elsewhere, one
+of the bitterest and most outspoken of all the men of that class which
+insisted that "the war was a failure." He declared that it was the
+design of "those in power to establish a despotism," and that they had
+"no intention of restoring the Union." He denounced the conscription
+which had been ordered, and declared that men who submitted to be
+drafted into the army were "unworthy to be called free men." He spoke of
+the President as "King Lincoln."
+
+Such utterances at this time, when the Government was exerting itself to
+the utmost to recruit the armies, were dangerous, and Vallandigham was
+arrested, tried by court-martial at Cincinnati, and sentenced to be
+placed in confinement during the war.
+
+General Burnside, in command at Cincinnati, approved the sentence,
+and ordered that he be sent to Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor; but the
+President ordered that he be sent "beyond our lines into those of
+his friends." He was therefore escorted to the Confederate lines in
+Tennessee, thence going to Richmond. He did not meet with a very cordial
+reception there, and finally sought refuge in Canada.
+
+Vallandigham died in a most peculiar way some years after the close of
+the War, and it was thought by many that his death was the result of
+premeditation upon his part.
+
+
+
+
+GO DOWN WITH COLORS FLYING.
+
+In August, 1864, the President called for five hundred thousand
+more men. The country was much depressed. The Confederates had, in
+comparatively small force, only a short time before, been to the very
+gates of Washington, and returned almost unharmed.
+
+The Presidential election was impending. Many thought another call for
+men at such a time would insure, if not destroy, Mr. Lincoln's chances
+for re-election. A friend said as much to him one day, after the
+President had told him of his purpose to make such a call.
+
+"As to my re-election," replied Mr. Lincoln, "it matters not. We must
+have the men. If I go down, I intend to go, like the Cumberland, with my
+colors flying!"
+
+
+
+
+ALL WERE TRAGEDIES.
+
+The cartoon reproduced below was published in "Harper's Weekly" on
+January 31st, 1863, the explanatory text, underneath, reading in this
+way:
+
+MANAGER LINCOLN: "Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to say that the tragedy
+entitled 'The Army of the Potomac' has been withdrawn on account of
+quarrels among the leading performers, and I have substituted three
+new and striking farces, or burlesques, one, entitled 'The Repulse of
+Vicksburg,' by the well-known favorite, E. M. Stanton, Esq., and
+the others, 'The Loss of the Harriet Lane,' and 'The Exploits of the
+Alabama'--a very sweet thing in farces, I assure you--by the veteran
+composer, Gideon Welles. (Unbounded applause by the Copperheads)."
+
+In July, after this cartoon appeared, the Army of the Potomac defeated
+Lee at Gettysburg, and sounded the death-knell of the Confederacy;
+General Hooker, with his corps from this Army opened the Tennessee
+River, thus affording some relief to the Union troops in Chattanooga;
+Hooker's men also captured Lookout Mountain, and assisted in taking
+Missionary Ridge.
+
+General Grant converted the farce "The Repulse of Vicksburg" into a
+tragedy for the Copperheads, taking that stronghold on July 4th, and
+Captain Winslow, with the Union man-of-war Kearsarge, meeting the
+Confederate privateer Alabama, off the coast of France, near Cherbourg,
+fought the famous ship to a finish and sunk her. Thus the tragedy of
+"The Army of the Potomac" was given after all, and Playwright Stanton
+and Composer Welles were vindicated, their compositions having been
+received by the public with great favor.
+
+
+
+
+"HE'S THE BEST OF US."
+
+Secretary of State Seward did not appreciate President Lincoln's ability
+until he had been associated with him for quite a time, but he was
+awakened to a full realization of the greatness of the Chief Executive
+"all of a sudden."
+
+Having submitted "Some Thoughts for the President's Consideration"--a
+lengthy paper intended as an outline of the policy, both domestic and
+foreign, the Administration should pursue--he was not more surprised
+at the magnanimity and kindness of President Lincoln's reply than the
+thorough mastery of the subject displayed by the President.
+
+A few months later, when the Secretary had begun to understand Mr.
+Lincoln, he was quick and generous to acknowledge his power.
+
+"Executive force and vigor are rare qualities," he wrote to Mrs. Seward.
+"The President is the best of us."
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN "COMPOSED."
+
+Superintendent Chandler, of the Telegraph Office in the War Department,
+once told how President Lincoln wrote telegrams. Said he:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. His method of
+composition was slow and laborious. It was evident that he thought out
+what he was going to say before he touched his pen to the paper. He
+would sit looking out of the window, his left elbow on the table, his
+hand scratching his temple, his lips moving, and frequently he spoke the
+sentence aloud or in a half whisper.
+
+"After he was satisfied that he had the proper expression, he would
+write it out. If one examines the originals of Mr. Lincoln's telegrams
+and letters, he will find very few erasures and very little interlining.
+This was because he had them definitely in his mind before writing them.
+
+"In this he was the exact opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with
+feverish haste, often scratching out words, and interlining frequently.
+Sometimes he would seize a sheet which he had filled, and impatiently
+tear it into pieces."
+
+
+
+
+HAMLIN MIGHT DO IT.
+
+Several United States Senators urged President Lincoln to muster
+Southern slaves into the Union Army. Lincoln replied:
+
+"Gentlemen, I have put thousands of muskets into the hands of loyal
+citizens of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Western North Carolina. They have
+said they could defend themselves, if they had guns. I have given them
+the guns. Now, these men do not believe in mustering-in the negro. If I
+do it, these thousands of muskets will be turned against us. We should
+lose more than we should gain."
+
+Being still further urged, President Lincoln gave them this answer:
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "I can't do it. I can't see it as you do. You may
+be right, and I may be wrong; but I'll tell you what I can do; I can
+resign in favor of Mr. Hamlin. Perhaps Mr. Hamlin could do it."
+
+The matter ended there, for the time being.
+
+
+
+
+THE GUN SHOT BETTER.
+
+The President took a lively interest in all new firearm improvements and
+inventions, and it sometimes happened that, when an inventor could get
+nobody else in the Government to listen to him, the President would
+personally test his gun. A former clerk in the Navy Department tells an
+incident illustrative.
+
+He had stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one
+striding up and down the hall muttering: "I do wonder if they have gone
+already and left the building all alone." Looking out, the clerk was
+surprised to see the President.
+
+"Good evening," said Mr. Lincoln. "I was just looking for that man who
+goes shooting with me sometimes."
+
+The clerk knew Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain messenger of the
+Ordnance Department who had been accustomed to going with him to test
+weapons, but as this man had gone home, the clerk offered his services.
+Together they went to the lawn south of the White House, where Mr.
+Lincoln fixed up a target cut from a sheet of white Congressional
+notepaper.
+
+"Then pacing off a distance of about eighty or a hundred feet," writes
+the clerk, "he raised the rifle to a level, took a quick aim, and drove
+the round of seven shots in quick succession, the bullets shooting all
+around the target like a Gatling gun and one striking near the center.
+
+"'I believe I can make this gun shoot better,' said Mr. Lincoln, after
+we had looked at the result of the first fire. With this he took from
+his vest pocket a small wooden sight which he had whittled from a pine
+stick, and adjusted it over the sight of the carbine. He then shot two
+rounds, and of the fourteen bullets nearly a dozen hit the paper!"
+
+
+
+
+LENIENT WITH McCLELLAN.
+
+General McClellan, aside from his lack of aggressiveness, fretted
+the President greatly with his complaints about military matters, his
+obtrusive criticism regarding political matters, and especially at his
+insulting declaration to the Secretary of War, dated June 28th, 1862,
+just after his retreat to the James River.
+
+General Halleck was made Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces in July,
+1862, and September 1st McClellan was called to Washington. The day
+before he had written his wife that "as a matter of self-respect,
+I cannot go there." President Lincoln and General Halleck called at
+McClellan's house, and the President said: "As a favor to me, I wish
+you would take command of the fortifications of Washington and all the
+troops for the defense of the capital."
+
+Lincoln thought highly of McClellan's ability as an organizer and
+his strength in defense, yet any other President would have had him
+court-martialed for using this language, which appeared in McClellan's
+letter of June 28th:
+
+"If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to
+you or to any other person in Washington. You have done your best to
+sacrifice this army."
+
+This letter, although addressed to the Secretary of War, distinctly
+embraced the President in the grave charge of conspiracy to defeat
+McClellan's army and sacrifice thousands of the lives of his soldiers.
+
+
+
+
+DIDN'T WANT A MILITARY REPUTATION.
+
+Lincoln was averse to being put up as a military hero.
+
+When General Cass was a candidate for the Presidency his friends sought
+to endow him with a military reputation.
+
+Lincoln, at that time a representative in Congress, delivered a speech
+before the House, which, in its allusion to Mr. Cass, was exquisitely
+sarcastic and irresistibly humorous:
+
+"By the way, Mr. Speaker," said Lincoln, "do you know I am a military
+hero?
+
+"Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled, and came
+away.
+
+"Speaking of General Cass's career reminds me of my own.
+
+"I was not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass to
+Hull's surrender; and like him I saw the place very soon afterwards.
+
+"It is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break,
+but I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion.
+
+"If General Cass went in advance of me picking whortleberries, I guess I
+surpassed him in charging upon the wild onion.
+
+"If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had
+a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes, and although I never
+fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say that I was often very
+hungry."
+
+Lincoln concluded by saying that if he ever turned Democrat and should
+run for the Presidency, he hoped they would not make fun of him by
+attempting to make him a military hero.
+
+
+
+
+"SURRENDER NO SLAVE."
+
+About March, 1862, General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at Fortress
+Monroe, advised President Lincoln that he had determined to regard all
+slaves coming into his camps as contraband of war, and to employ their
+labor under fair compensation, and Secretary of War Stanton replied to
+him, in behalf of the President, approving his course, and saying,
+"You are not to interfere between master and slave on the one hand, nor
+surrender slaves who may come within your lines."
+
+This was a significant milestone of progress to the great end that was
+thereafter to be reached.
+
+
+
+
+CONSCRIPTING DEAD MEN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln being found fault with for making another "call," said that
+if the country required it, he would continue to do so until the matter
+stood as described by a Western provost marshal, who says:
+
+"I listened a short time since to a butternut-clad individual, who
+succeeded in making good his escape, expatiate most eloquently on
+the rigidness with which the conscription was enforced south of the
+Tennessee River. His response to a question propounded by a citizen ran
+somewhat in this wise:
+
+"'Do they conscript close over the river?'
+
+"'Stranger, I should think they did! They take every man who hasn't been
+dead more than two days!'
+
+"If this is correct, the Confederacy has at least a ghost of a chance
+left."
+
+And of another, a Methodist minister in Kansas, living on a small
+salary, who was greatly troubled to get his quarterly instalment. He at
+last told the non-paying trustees that he must have his money, as he was
+suffering for the necessaries of life.
+
+"Money!" replied the trustees; "you preach for money? We thought you
+preached for the good of souls!"
+
+"Souls!" responded the reverend; "I can't eat souls; and if I could it
+would take a thousand such as yours to make a meal!"
+
+"That soul is the point, sir," said the President.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S REJECTED MANUSCRIPT.
+
+On February 5th, 1865, President Lincoln formulated a message to
+Congress, proposing the payment of $400,000,000 to the South as
+compensation for slaves lost by emancipation, and submitted it to his
+Cabinet, only to be unanimously rejected.
+
+Lincoln sadly accepted the decision, and filed away the manuscript
+message, together with this indorsement thereon, to which his signature
+was added: "February 5, 1865. To-day these papers, which explain
+themselves, were drawn up and submitted to the Cabinet unanimously
+disapproved by them."
+
+When the proposed message was disapproved, Lincoln soberly asked: "How
+long will the war last?"
+
+To this none could make answer, and he added: "We are spending now, in
+carrying on the war, $3,000,000 a day, which will amount to all this
+money, besides all the lives."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A STORY WRITER.
+
+In his youth, Mr. Lincoln once got an idea for a thrilling, romantic
+story. One day, in Springfield, he was sitting with his feet on the
+window sill, chatting with an acquaintance, when he suddenly changed the
+drift of the conversation by saying: "Did you ever write out a story in
+your mind? I did when I was a little codger. One day a wagon with a lady
+and two girls and a man broke down near us, and while they were fixing
+up, they cooked in our kitchen. The woman had books and read us stories,
+and they were the first I had ever heard. I took a great fancy to one
+of the girls; and when they were gone I thought of her a great deal,
+and one day when I was sitting out in the sun by the house I wrote out
+a story in my mind. I thought I took my father's horse and followed
+the wagon, and finally I found it, and they were surprised to see me. I
+talked with the girl, and persuaded her to elope with me; and that night
+I put her on my horse, and we started off across the prairie. After
+several hours we came to a camp; and when we rode up we found it was the
+one we had left a few hours before, and went in. The next night we tried
+again, and the same thing happened--the horse came back to the same
+place; and then we concluded that we ought not to elope. I stayed until
+I had persuaded her father to give her to me. I always meant to write
+that story out and publish it, and I began once; but I concluded that it
+was not much of a story. But I think that was the beginning of love with
+me."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S IDEAS ON CROSSING A RIVER WHEN HE GOT TO IT.
+
+Lincoln's reply to a Springfield (Illinois) clergyman, who asked him
+what was to be his policy on the slavery question was most apt:
+
+"Well, your question is rather a cool one, but I will answer it by
+telling you a story:
+
+"You know Father B., the old Methodist preacher? and you know Fox River
+and its freshets?
+
+"Well, once in the presence of Father B., a young Methodist was worrying
+about Fox River, and expressing fears that he should be prevented from
+fulfilling some of his appointments by a freshet in the river.
+
+"Father B. checked him in his gravest manner. Said he:
+
+"'Young man, I have always made it a rule in my life not to cross Fox
+River till I get to it.'
+
+"And," said the President, "I am not going to worry myself over the
+slavery question till I get to it."
+
+A few days afterward a Methodist minister called on the President, and
+on being presented to him, said, simply:
+
+"Mr. President, I have come to tell you that I think we have got to Fox
+River!"
+
+Lincoln thanked the clergyman, and laughed heartily.
+
+
+
+
+PRESIDENT NOMINATED FIRST.
+
+The day of Lincoln's second nomination for the Presidency he forgot
+all about the Republican National Convention, sitting at Baltimore,
+and wandered over to the War Department. While there, a telegram came
+announcing the nomination of Johnson as Vice-President.
+
+"What," said Lincoln to the operator, "do they nominate a Vice-President
+before they do a President?"
+
+"Why," replied the astonished official, "have you not heard of your own
+nomination? It was sent to the White House two hours ago."
+
+"It is all right," replied the President; "I shall probably find it on
+my return."
+
+
+
+
+"THEM GILLITEENS."
+
+The illustrated newspapers of the United States and England had a good
+deal of fun, not only with President Lincoln, but the latter's Cabinet
+officers and military commanders as well. It was said by these
+funny publications that the President had set up a guillotine in his
+"back-yard," where all those who offended were beheaded with both
+neatness, and despatch. "Harper's Weekly" of January 3rd, 1863,
+contained a cartoon labeled "Those Guillotines; a Little Incident at the
+White House," the personages figuring in the "incident" being Secretary
+of War Stanton and a Union general who had been unfortunate enough to
+lose a battle to the Confederates. Beneath the cartoon was the following
+dialogue:
+
+SERVANT: "If ye plase, sir, them Gilliteens has arrove." MR. LINCOLN:
+"All right, Michael. Now, gentlemen, will you be kind enough to step out
+in the back-yard?"
+
+The hair and whiskers of Secretary of War Stanton are ruffled and awry,
+and his features are not calm and undisturbed, indicating that he has
+an idea of what's the matter in that back-yard; the countenance of the
+officer in the rear of the Secretary of War wears rather an anxious, or
+worried, look, and his hair isn't combed smoothly, either.
+
+President Lincoln's frequent changes among army commanders--before
+he found Grant, Sherman and Sheridan--afforded an opportunity the
+caricaturists did not neglect, and some very clever cartoons were the
+consequence.
+
+
+
+
+"CONSIDER THE SYMPATHY OF LINCOLN."
+
+Consider the sympathy of Abraham Lincoln. Do you know the story of
+William Scott, private? He was a boy from a Vermont farm.
+
+There had been a long march, and the night succeeding it he had stood on
+picket. The next day there had been another long march, and that night
+William Scott had volunteered to stand guard in the place of a sick
+comrade who had been drawn for the duty.
+
+It was too much for William Scott. He was too tired. He had been found
+sleeping on his beat.
+
+The army was at Chain Bridge. It was in a dangerous neighborhood.
+Discipline must be kept.
+
+William Scott was apprehended, tried by court-martial, sentenced to
+be shot. News of the case was carried to Lincoln. William Scott was a
+prisoner in his tent, expecting to be shot next day.
+
+But the flaps of his tent were parted, and Lincoln stood before him.
+Scott said:
+
+"The President was the kindest man I had ever seen; I knew him at once
+by a Lincoln medal I had long worn.
+
+"I was scared at first, for I had never before talked with a great man;
+but Mr. Lincoln was so easy with me, so gentle, that I soon forgot my
+fright.
+
+"He asked me all about the people at home, the neighbors, the farm, and
+where I went to school, and who my schoolmates were. Then he asked
+me about mother and how she looked; and I was glad I could take her
+photograph from my bosom and show it to him.
+
+"He said how thankful I ought to be that my mother still lived, and how,
+if he were in my place, he would try to make her a proud mother, and
+never cause her a sorrow or a tear.
+
+"I cannot remember it all, but every word was so kind.
+
+"He had said nothing yet about that dreadful next morning; I thought it
+must be that he was so kind-hearted that he didn't like to speak of it.
+
+"But why did he say so much about my mother, and my not causing her a
+sorrow or a tear, when I knew that I must die the next morning?
+
+"But I supposed that was something that would have to go unexplained;
+and so I determined to brace up and tell him that I did not feel a bit
+guilty, and ask him wouldn't he fix it so that the firing party would
+not be from our regiment.
+
+"That was going to be the hardest of all--to die by the hands of my
+comrades.
+
+"Just as I was going to ask him this favor, he stood up, and he says to
+me:
+
+"'My boy, stand up here and look me in the face.'
+
+"I did as he bade me.
+
+"'My boy,' he said, 'you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I believe
+you when you tell me that you could not keep awake.
+
+"'I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment.
+
+"'But I have been put to a good deal of trouble on your account.
+
+"'I have had to come up here from Washington when I have got a great
+deal to do; and what I want to know is, how are you going to pay my
+bill?'
+
+"There was a big lump in my throat; I could scarcely speak. I had
+expected to die, you see, and had kind of got used to thinking that way.
+
+"To have it all changed in a minute! But I got it crowded down, and
+managed to say:
+
+"'I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln! I hope I am as grateful as ever a man can
+be to you for saving my life.
+
+"'But it comes upon me sudden and unexpected like. I didn't lay out for
+it at all; but there is some way to pay you, and I will find it after a
+little.
+
+"'There is the bounty in the savings bank; I guess we could borrow some
+money on the mortgage of the farm.'
+
+"'There was my pay was something, and if he would wait until pay-day
+I was sure the boys would help; so I thought we could make it up if it
+wasn't more than five or six hundred dollars.
+
+"'But it is a great deal more than that,' he said.
+
+"Then I said I didn't just see how, but I was sure I would find some
+way--if I lived.
+
+"Then Mr. Lincoln put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my face
+as if he was sorry, and said; "'My boy, my bill is a very large one.
+Your friends cannot pay it, nor your bounty, nor the farm, nor all your
+comrades!
+
+"'There is only one man in all the world who can pay it, and his name is
+William Scott!
+
+"'If from this day William Scott does his duty, so that, if I was there
+when he comes to die, he can look me in the face as he does now, and
+say, I have kept my promise, and I have done my duty as a soldier, then
+my debt will be paid.
+
+"'Will you make that promise and try to keep it?"
+
+The promise was given. Thenceforward there never was such a soldier as
+William Scott.
+
+This is the record of the end. It was after one of the awful battles of
+the Peninsula. He was shot all to pieces. He said:
+
+"Boys, I shall never see another battle. I supposed this would be my
+last. I haven't much to say.
+
+"You all know what you can tell them at home about me.
+
+"I have tried to do the right thing! If any of you ever have the chance
+I wish you would tell President Lincoln that I have never forgotten the
+kind words he said to me at the Chain Bridge; that I have tried to be a
+good soldier and true to the flag; that I should have paid my whole
+debt to him if I had lived; and that now, when I know that I am dying,
+I think of his kind face, and thank him again, because he gave me the
+chance to fall like a soldier in battle, and not like a coward, by the
+hands of my comrades."
+
+What wonder that Secretary Stanton said, as he gazed upon the tall form
+and kindly face as he lay there, smitten down by the assassin's bullet,
+"There lies the most perfect ruler of men who ever lived."
+
+
+
+
+SAVED A LIFE.
+
+One day during the Black Hawk War a poor old Indian came into the camp
+with a paper of safe conduct from General Lewis Cass in his possession.
+The members of Lincoln's company were greatly exasperated by late Indian
+barbarities, among them the horrible murder of a number of women and
+children, and were about to kill him; they said the safe-conduct paper
+was a forgery, and approached the old savage with muskets cocked to
+shoot him.
+
+Lincoln rushed forward, struck up the weapons with his hands, and
+standing in front of the victim, declared to the Indian that he should
+not be killed. It was with great difficulty that the men could be kept
+from their purpose, but the courage and firmness of Lincoln thwarted
+them.
+
+Lincoln was physically one of the bravest of men, as his company
+discovered.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PLAYED BALL.
+
+Frank P. Blair, of Chicago, tells an incident, showing Mr. Lincoln's
+love for children and how thoroughly he entered into all of their
+sports:
+
+"During the war my grandfather, Francis P. Blair, Sr., lived at Silver
+Springs, north of Washington, seven miles from the White House. It was a
+magnificent place of four or five hundred acres, with an extensive lawn
+in the rear of the house. The grandchildren gathered there frequently.
+
+"There were eight or ten of us, our ages ranging from eight to twelve
+years. Although I was but seven or eight years of age, Mr. Lincoln's
+visits were of such importance to us boys as to leave a clear impression
+on my memory. He drove out to the place quite frequently. We boys, for
+hours at a time played 'town ball' on the vast lawn, and Mr. Lincoln
+would join ardently in the sport. I remember vividly how he ran with the
+children; how long were his strides, and how far his coat-tails stuck
+out behind, and how we tried to hit him with the ball, as he ran the
+bases. He entered into the spirit of the play as completely as any of
+us, and we invariably hailed his coming with delight."
+
+
+
+
+HIS PASSES TO RICHMOND NOT HONORED.
+
+A man called upon the President and solicited a pass for Richmond.
+
+"Well," said the President, "I would be very happy to oblige, if my
+passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the past
+two years, given passes to two hundred and fifty thousand men to go to
+Richmond, and not one has got there yet."
+
+The applicant quietly and respectfully withdrew on his tiptoes.
+
+
+
+
+"PUBLIC HANGMAN" FOR THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A certain United States Senator, who believed that every man who
+believed in secession should be hanged, asked the President what he
+intended to do when the War was over.
+
+"Reconstruct the machinery of this Government," quickly replied Lincoln.
+
+"You are certainly crazy," was the Senator's heated response. "You
+talk as if treason was not henceforth to be made odious, but that
+the traitors, cutthroats and authors of this War should not only go
+unpunished, but receive encouragement to repeat their treason with
+impunity! They should be hanged higher than Haman, sir! Yes, higher than
+any malefactor the world has ever known!"
+
+The President was entirely unmoved, but, after a moment's pause, put a
+question which all but drove his visitor insane.
+
+"Now, Senator, suppose that when this hanging arrangement has been
+agreed upon, you accept the post of Chief Executioner. If you will take
+the office, I will make you a brigadier general and Public Hangman for
+the United States. That would just about suit you, wouldn't it?"
+
+"I am a gentleman, sir," returned the Senator, "and I certainly thought
+you knew me better than to believe me capable of doing such dirty work.
+You are jesting, Mr. President."
+
+The President was extremely patient, exhibiting no signs of ire, and to
+this bit of temper on the part of the Senator responded:
+
+"You speak of being a gentleman; yet you forget that in this free
+country all men are equal, the vagrant and the gentleman standing on the
+same ground when it comes to rights and duties, particularly in time
+of war. Therefore, being a gentleman, as you claim, and a law-abiding
+citizen, I trust, you are not exempt from doing even the dirty work at
+which your high spirit revolts."
+
+This was too much for the Senator, who quitted the room abruptly, and
+never again showed his face in the White House while Lincoln occupied
+it.
+
+"He won't bother me again," was the President's remark as he departed.
+
+
+
+
+FEW, BUT BOISTEROUS.
+
+Lincoln was a very quiet man, and went about his business in a quiet
+way, making the least noise possible. He heartily disliked those
+boisterous people who were constantly deluging him with advice, and
+shouting at the tops of their voices whenever they appeared at the White
+House. "These noisy people create a great clamor," said he one day, in
+conversation with some personal friends, "and remind me, by the way, of
+a good story I heard out in Illinois while I was practicing, or trying
+to practice, some law there. I will say, though, that I practiced more
+law than I ever got paid for.
+
+"A fellow who lived just out of town, on the bank of a large marsh,
+conceived a big idea in the money-making line. He took it to a prominent
+merchant, and began to develop his plans and specifications. 'There are
+at least ten million frogs in that marsh near me, an' I'll just arrest a
+couple of carloads of them and hand them over to you. You can send them
+to the big cities and make lots of money for both of us. Frogs' legs are
+great delicacies in the big towns, an' not very plentiful. It won't
+take me more'n two or three days to pick 'em. They make so much noise
+my family can't sleep, and by this deal I'll get rid of a nuisance and
+gather in some cash.'
+
+"The merchant agreed to the proposition, promised the fellow he would
+pay him well for the two carloads. Two days passed, then three, and
+finally two weeks were gone before the fellow showed up again, carrying
+a small basket. He looked weary and 'done up,' and he wasn't talkative
+a bit. He threw the basket on the counter with the remark, 'There's your
+frogs.'
+
+"'You haven't two carloads in that basket, have you?' inquired the
+merchant.
+
+"'No,' was the reply, 'and there ain't no two carloads in all this
+blasted world.'
+
+"'I thought you said there were at least ten millions of 'em in
+that marsh near you, according to the noise they made,' observed the
+merchant. 'Your people couldn't sleep because of 'em.'
+
+"'Well,' said the fellow, 'accordin' to the noise they made, there was,
+I thought, a hundred million of 'em, but when I had waded and swum that
+there marsh day and night fer two blessed weeks, I couldn't harvest
+but six. There's two or three left yet, an' the marsh is as noisy as it
+uster be. We haven't catched up on any of our lost sleep yet. Now, you
+can have these here six, an' I won't charge you a cent fer 'em.'
+
+"You can see by this little yarn," remarked the President, "that these
+boisterous people make too much noise in proportion to their numbers."
+
+
+
+
+KEEP PEGGING AWAY.
+
+Being asked one time by an "anxious" visitor as to what he would do
+in certain contingencies--provided the rebellion was not subdued after
+three or four years of effort on the part of the Government?
+
+"Oh," replied the President, "there is no alternative but to keep
+'pegging' away!"
+
+
+
+
+BEWARE OF THE TAIL.
+
+After the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation, Governor Morgan, of
+New York, was at the White House one day, when the President said:
+
+"I do not agree with those who say that slavery is dead. We are like
+whalers who have been long on a chase--we have at last got the harpoon
+into the monster, but we must now look how we steer, or, with one 'flop'
+of his tail, he will yet send us all into eternity!"
+
+
+
+
+"LINCOLN'S DREAM."
+
+President Lincoln was depicted as a headsman in a cartoon printed in
+"Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper," on February 14, 1863, the title
+of the picture being "Lincoln's Dreams; or, There's a Good Time Coming."
+
+The cartoon, reproduced here, represents, on the right, the Union
+Generals who had been defeated by the Confederates in battle, and had
+suffered decapitation in consequence--McDowell, who lost at Bull Run;
+McClellan, who failed to take Richmond, when within twelve miles of that
+city and no opposition, comparatively; and Burnside, who was so badly
+whipped at Fredericksburg. To the left of the block, where the President
+is standing with the bloody axe in his hand, are shown the members
+of the Cabinet--Secretary of State Seward, Secretary of War Stanton,
+Secretary of the Navy Welles, and others--each awaiting his turn. This
+part of the "Dream" was never realized, however, as the President did
+not decapitate any of his Cabinet officers.
+
+It was the idea of the cartoonist to hold Lincoln up as a man who would
+not countenance failure upon the part of subordinates, but visit the
+severest punishment upon those commanders who did not win victories.
+After Burnside's defeat at Fredericksburg, he was relieved by Hooker,
+who suffered disaster at Chancellorsville; Hooker was relieved by Meade,
+who won at Gettysburg, but was refused promotion because he did not
+follow up and crush Lee; Rosecrans was all but defeated at Chickamauga,
+and gave way to Grant, who, of all the Union commanders, had never
+suffered defeat. Grant was Lincoln's ideal fighting man, and the "Old
+Commander" was never superseded.
+
+
+
+
+THERE WAS NO NEED OF A STORY.
+
+Dr. Hovey, of Dansville, New York, thought he would call and see the
+President.
+
+Upon arriving at the White House he found the President on horseback,
+ready for a start.
+
+Approaching him, he said:
+
+"President Lincoln, I thought I would call and see you before leaving
+the city, and hear you tell a story."
+
+The President greeted him pleasantly, and asked where he was from.
+
+"From Western New York."
+
+"Well, that's a good enough country without stories," replied the
+President, and off he rode.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN A MAN OF SIMPLE HABITS.
+
+Lincoln's habits at the White House were as simple as they were at his
+old home in Illinois.
+
+He never alluded to himself as "President," or as occupying "the
+Presidency."
+
+His office he always designated as "the place."
+
+"Call me Lincoln," said he to a friend; "Mr. President" had become so
+very tiresome to him.
+
+"If you see a newsboy down the street, send him up this way," said he to
+a passenger, as he stood waiting for the morning news at his gate.
+
+Friends cautioned him about exposing himself so openly in the midst of
+enemies; but he never heeded them.
+
+He frequently walked the streets at night, entirely unprotected; and
+felt any check upon his movements a great annoyance.
+
+He delighted to see his familiar Western friends; and he gave them
+always a cordial welcome.
+
+He met them on the old footing, and fell at once into the accustomed
+habits of talk and story-telling.
+
+An old acquaintance, with his wife, visited Washington. Mr. and Mrs.
+Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the Presidential carriage.
+
+It should be stated in advance that the two men had probably never seen
+each other with gloves on in their lives, unless when they were used as
+protection from the cold.
+
+The question of each--Lincoln at the White House, and his friend at the
+hotel--was, whether he should wear gloves.
+
+Of course the ladies urged gloves; but Lincoln only put his in his
+pocket, to be used or not, according to the circumstances.
+
+When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, to take in their
+friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his wife's persuasions,
+very handsomely gloved.
+
+The moment he took his seat he began to draw off the clinging kids,
+while Lincoln began to draw his on!
+
+"No! no! no!" protested his friend, tugging at his gloves. "It is none
+of my doings; put up your gloves, Mr. Lincoln."
+
+So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and had their ride
+after their old fashion.
+
+
+
+
+HIS LAST SPEECH.
+
+President Lincoln was reading the draft of a speech. Edward, the
+conservative but dignified butler of the White House, was seen
+struggling with Tad and trying to drag him back from the window from
+which was waving a Confederate flag, captured in some fight and given to
+the boy. Edward conquered and Tad, rushing to find his father, met him
+coming forward to make, as it proved, his last speech.
+
+The speech began with these words, "We meet this evening, not in sorrow,
+but in gladness of heart." Having his speech written in loose leaves,
+and being compelled to hold a candle in the other hand, he would let the
+loose leaves drop to the floor one by one. "Tad" picked them up as they
+fell, and impatiently called for more as they fell from his father's
+hand.
+
+
+
+
+FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW BEFORE.
+
+President Lincoln, while entertaining a few select friends, is said to
+have related the following anecdote of a man who knew too much:
+
+He was a careful, painstaking fellow, who always wanted to be absolutely
+exact, and as a result he frequently got the ill-will of his less
+careful superiors.
+
+During the administration of President Jackson there was a singular
+young gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in Washington.
+
+His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a neighbor
+of the President, on which account the old hero had a kind feeling for
+him, and always got him out of difficulties with some of the higher
+officials, to whom his singular interference was distasteful.
+
+Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the General
+Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to Major H., a
+high official, in answer to an application made by an old gentleman in
+Virginia or Pennsylvania, for the establishment of a new postoffice.
+
+The writer of the letter said the application could not be granted, in
+consequence of the applicant's "proximity" to another office.
+
+When the letter came into G.'s hand to copy, being a great stickler for
+plainness, he altered "proximity" to "nearness to."
+
+Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+
+"Why," replied G., "because I don't think the man would understand what
+you mean by proximity."
+
+"Well," said Major H., "try him; put in the 'proximity' again."
+
+In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which he very
+indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty in the second
+war for independence, and he should like to have the name of the
+scoundrel who brought the charge of proximity or anything else wrong
+against him.
+
+"There," said G., "did I not say so?"
+
+G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the
+Postmaster-General, said to him: "I don't want you any longer; you know
+too much."
+
+Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+
+This time G.'s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very busy
+writing, when a stranger called in and asked him where the Patent Office
+was.
+
+"I don't know," said G.
+
+"Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?" said the stranger.
+
+"No," said G.
+
+"Nor the President's house?"
+
+"No."
+
+The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+
+"No," replied G.
+
+"Do you live in Washington, sir?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said G.
+
+"Good Lord! and don't you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+President's house and Capitol are?"
+
+"Stranger," said G., "I was turned out of the postoffice for knowing too
+much. I don't mean to offend in that way again.
+
+"I am paid for keeping this book.
+
+"I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything more
+you may take my head."
+
+"Good morning," said the stranger.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN BELIEVED IN EDUCATION.
+
+"That every man may receive at least a moderate education, and thereby
+be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by
+which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears
+to be an object of vital importance; even on this account alone, to say
+nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being
+able to read the Scriptures and other works, both of a religious and
+moral nature, for themselves.
+
+"For my part, I desire to see the time when education, by its means,
+morality, sobriety, enterprise and integrity, shall become much more
+general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power
+to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might
+have a tendency to accelerate the happy period."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN ON THE DRED SCOTT DECISION.
+
+In a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 26th, 1857, Lincoln referred
+to the decision of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, of the United States
+Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, in this manner:
+
+"The Chief justice does not directly assert, but plainly assumes as a
+fact, that the public estimate of the black man is more favorable now
+than it was in the days of the Revolution.
+
+"In those days, by common consent, the spread of the black man's bondage
+in the new countries was prohibited; but now Congress decides that it
+will not continue the prohibition, and the Supreme Court decides that it
+could not if it would.
+
+"In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all,
+and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of
+the negro universal and eternal, it is assailed and sneered at, and
+constructed and hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise
+from their graves, they could not at all recognize it.
+
+"All the powers of earth seem combining against the slave; Mammon is
+after him, ambition follows, philosophy follows, and the theology of the
+day is fast joining the cry."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MADE MANY NOTABLE SPEECHES.
+
+Abraham Lincoln made many notable addresses and speeches during his
+career previous to the time of his election to the Presidency.
+
+However, beautiful in thought and expression as they were, they were not
+appreciated by those who heard and read them until after the people
+of the United States and the world had come to understand the man who
+delivered them.
+
+Lincoln had the rare and valuable faculty of putting the most sublime
+feeling into his speeches; and he never found it necessary to incumber
+his wisest, wittiest and most famous sayings with a weakening mass of
+words.
+
+He put his thoughts into the simplest language, so that all might
+comprehend, and he never said anything which was not full of the deepest
+meaning.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT AILED THE BOYS.
+
+Mr. Roland Diller, who was one of Mr. Lincoln's neighbors in
+Springfield, tells the following:
+
+"I was called to the door one day by the cries of children in the
+street, and there was Mr. Lincoln, striding by with two of his boys,
+both of whom were wailing aloud. 'Why, Mr. Lincoln, what's the matter
+with the boys?' I asked.
+
+"'Just what's the matter with the whole world,' Lincoln replied. 'I've
+got three walnuts, and each wants two.'"
+
+
+
+
+TAD'S CONFEDERATE FLAG.
+
+One of the prettiest incidents in the closing days of the Civil War
+occurred when the troops, 'marching home again,' passed in grand form,
+if with well-worn uniforms and tattered bunting, before the White House.
+
+Naturally, an immense crowd had assembled on the streets, the lawns,
+porches, balconies, and windows, even those of the executive mansion
+itself being crowded to excess. A central figure was that of the
+President, Abraham Lincoln, who, with bared head, unfurled and waved our
+Nation's flag in the midst of lusty cheers.
+
+But suddenly there was an unexpected sight.
+
+A small boy leaned forward and sent streaming to the air the banner of
+the boys in gray. It was an old flag which had been captured from the
+Confederates, and which the urchin, the President's second son, Tad, had
+obtained possession of and considered an additional triumph to unfurl on
+this all-important day.
+
+Vainly did the servant who had followed him to the window plead with
+him to desist. No, Master Tad, Pet of the White House, was not to be
+prevented from adding to the loyal demonstration of the hour.
+
+To his surprise, however, the crowd viewed it differently. Had it
+floated from any other window in the capital that day, no doubt it would
+have been the target of contempt and abuse; but when the President,
+understanding what had happened, turned, with a smile on his grand,
+plain face, and showed his approval by a gesture and expression, cheer
+after cheer rent the air.
+
+
+
+
+CALLED BLESSINGS ON THE AMERICAN WOMEN.
+
+President Lincoln attended a Ladies' Fair for the benefit of the Union
+soldiers, at Washington, March 16th, 1864.
+
+In his remarks he said:
+
+"I appear to say but a word.
+
+"This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily upon all
+classes of people, but the most heavily upon the soldiers. For it has
+been said, 'All that a man hath will he give for his life,' and, while
+all contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life at stake,
+and often yields it up in his country's cause.
+
+"The highest merit, then, is due the soldiers.
+
+"In this extraordinary war extraordinary developments have manifested
+themselves such as have not been seen in former wars; and among these
+manifestations nothing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the
+relief of suffering soldiers and their families, and the chief agents in
+these fairs are the women of America!
+
+"I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy; I have never
+studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that if
+all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the
+world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would
+not do them justice for their conduct during the war.
+
+"I will close by saying, God bless the women of America!"
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S "ORDER NO. 252."
+
+After the United States had enlisted former negro slaves as soldiers to
+fight alongside the Northern troops for the maintenance of the integrity
+of the Union, so great was the indignation of the Confederate Government
+that President Davis declared he would not recognize blacks captured in
+battle and in uniform as prisoners of war. This meant that he would have
+them returned to their previous owners, have them flogged and fined for
+running away from their masters, or even shot if he felt like it. This
+attitude of the President of the Confederate States of America led to
+the promulgation of President Lincoln's famous "Order No. 252," which,
+in effect, was a notification to the commanding officers of the Southern
+forces that if negro prisoners of war were not treated as such, the
+Union commanders would retaliate. "Harper's Weekly" of August 15th,
+1863, contained a clever cartoon, which we reproduce, representing
+President Lincoln holding the South by the collar, while "Old
+Abe" shouts the following words of warning to Jeff Davis, who,
+cat-o'-nine-tails in hand, is in pursuit of a terrified little negro
+boy:
+
+MR. LINCOLN: "Look here, Jeff Davis! If you lay a finger on that boy, to
+hurt him, I'll lick this ugly cub of yours within an inch of his life!"
+
+Much to the surprise of the Confederates, the negro soldiers fought
+valiantly; they were fearless when well led, obeyed orders without
+hesitation, were amenable to discipline, and were eager and anxious, at
+all times, to do their duty. In battle they were formidable opponents,
+and in using the bayonet were the equal of the best trained troops. The
+Southerners hated them beyond power of expression.
+
+
+
+
+TALKED TO THE NEGROES OF RICHMOND.
+
+The President walked through the streets of Richmond--without a guard
+except a few seamen--in company with his son "Tad," and Admiral Porter,
+on April 4th, 1865, the day following the evacuation of the city.
+
+Colored people gathered about him on every side, eager to see and thank
+their liberator. Mr. Lincoln addressed the following remarks to one of
+these gatherings:
+
+"My poor friends, you are free--free as air. You can cast off the name
+of slave and trample upon it; it will come to you no more.
+
+"Liberty is your birthright. God gave it to you as He gave it to others,
+and it is a sin that you have been deprived of it for so many years.
+
+"But you must try to deserve this priceless boon. Let the world see that
+you merit it, and are able to maintain it by your good work.
+
+"Don't let your joy carry you into excesses; learn the laws, and obey
+them. Obey God's commandments, and thank Him for giving you liberty, for
+to Him you owe all things.
+
+"There, now, let me pass on; I have but little time to spare.
+
+"I want to see the Capitol, and must return at once to Washington to
+secure to you that liberty which you seem to prize so highly."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" ADDED A SAVING CLAUSE.
+
+Lincoln fell in love with Miss Mary S. Owens about 1833 or so, and,
+while she was attracted toward him she was not passionately fond of him.
+
+Lincoln's letter of proposal of marriage, sent by him to Miss Owens,
+while singular, unique, and decidedly unconventional, was certainly not
+very ardent. He, after the fashion of the lawyer, presented the matter
+very cautiously, and pleaded his own cause; then presented her side
+of the case, advised her not "to do it," and agreed to abide by her
+decision.
+
+Miss Owens respected Lincoln, but promptly rejected him--really very
+much to "Abe's" relief.
+
+
+
+
+HOW "JACK" WAS "DONE UP."
+
+Not far from New Salem, Illinois, at a place called Clary's Grove, a
+gang of frontier ruffians had established headquarters, and the champion
+wrestler of "The Grove" was "Jack" Armstrong, a bully of the worst type.
+
+Learning that Abraham was something of a wrestler himself, "Jack" sent
+him a challenge. At that time and in that community a refusal would have
+resulted in social and business ostracism, not to mention the stigma of
+cowardice which would attach.
+
+It was a great day for New Salem and "The Grove" when Lincoln and
+Armstrong met. Settlers within a radius of fifty miles flocked to the
+scene, and the wagers laid were heavy and many. Armstrong proved a
+weakling in the hands of the powerful Kentuckian, and "Jack's" adherents
+were about to mob Lincoln when the latter's friends saved him from
+probable death by rushing to the rescue.
+
+
+
+
+ANGELS COULDN'T SWEAR IT RIGHT.
+
+The President was once speaking about an attack made on him by the
+Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War for a certain alleged
+blunder in the Southwest--the matter involved being one which had
+fallen directly under the observation of the army officer to whom he was
+talking, who possessed official evidence completely upsetting all the
+conclusions of the Committee.
+
+"Might it not be well for me," queried the officer, "to set this matter
+right in a letter to some paper, stating the facts as they actually
+transpired?"
+
+"Oh, no," replied the President, "at least, not now. If I were to try to
+read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as
+well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how the
+very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the
+end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to
+anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten thousand angels swearing I
+was right would make no difference."
+
+
+
+
+"MUST GO, AND GO TO STAY."
+
+Ward Hill Lamon was President Lincoln's Cerberus, his watch dog,
+guardian, friend, companion and confidant. Some days before Lincoln's
+departure for Washington to be inaugurated, he wrote to Lamon at
+Bloomington, that he desired to see him at once. He went to Springfield,
+and Lincoln said:
+
+"Hill, on the 11th I go to Washington, and I want you to go along with
+me. Our friends have already asked me to send you as Consul to Paris.
+You know I would cheerfully give you anything for which our friends may
+ask or which you may desire, but it looks as if we might have war.
+
+"In that case I want you with me. In fact, I must have you. So get
+yourself ready and come along. It will be handy to have you around. If
+there is to be a fight, I want you to help me to do my share of it, as
+you have done in times past. You must go, and go to stay."
+
+This is Lamon's version of it.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WASN'T BUYING NOMINATIONS.
+
+To a party who wished to be empowered to negotiate reward for promises
+of influence in the Chicago Convention, 1860, Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+"No, gentlemen; I have not asked the nomination, and I will not now buy
+it with pledges.
+
+"If I am nominated and elected, I shall not go into the Presidency as
+the tool of this man or that man, or as the property of any factor or
+clique."
+
+
+
+
+HE ENVIED THE SOLDIER AT THE FRONT.
+
+After some very bad news had come in from the army in the field, Lincoln
+remarked to Schuyler Colfax:
+
+"How willingly would I exchange places to-day with the soldier who
+sleeps on the ground in the Army of the Potomac!"
+
+
+
+
+DON'T TRUST TOO FAR
+
+In the campaign of 1852, Lincoln, in reply to Douglas' speech, wherein
+he spoke of confidence in Providence, replied: "Let us stand by our
+candidate (General Scott) as faithfully as he has always stood by our
+country, and I much doubt if we do not perceive a slight abatement of
+Judge Douglas' confidence in Providence as well as the people. I suspect
+that confidence is not more firmly fixed with the judge than it was with
+the old woman whose horse ran away with her in a buggy. She said she
+'trusted in Providence till the britchen broke,' and then she 'didn't
+know what in airth to do.'"
+
+
+
+
+HE'D "RISK THE DICTATORSHIP."
+
+Lincoln's great generosity to his leaders was shown when, in January,
+1863, he assigned "Fighting Joe" Hooker to the command of the Army of
+the Potomac. Hooker had believed in a military dictatorship, and it was
+an open secret that McClellan might have become such had he possessed
+the nerve. Lincoln, however, was not bothered by this prattle, as he
+did not think enough of it to relieve McClellan of his command. The
+President said to Hooker:
+
+"I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying
+that both the army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it
+was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command.
+Only those generals who gain success can be dictators.
+
+"What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the
+dictatorship."
+
+Lincoln also believed Hooker had not given cordial support to General
+Burnside when he was in command of the army. In Lincoln's own peculiarly
+plain language, he told Hooker that he had done "a great wrong to the
+country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer."
+
+
+
+
+"MAJOR GENERAL, I RECKON."
+
+At one time the President had the appointment of a large additional
+number of brigadier and major generals. Among the immense number of
+applications, Mr. Lincoln came upon one wherein the claims of a certain
+worthy (not in the service at all), "for a generalship" were glowingly
+set forth. But the applicant didn't specify whether he wanted to be
+brigadier or major general.
+
+The President observed this difficulty, and solved it by a lucid
+indorsement. The clerk, on receiving the paper again, found written
+across its back, "Major General, I reckon. A. Lincoln."
+
+
+
+
+WOULD SEE THE TRACKS.
+
+Judge Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, said that he never saw Lincoln
+more cheerful than on the day previous to his departure from Springfield
+for Washington, and Judge Gillespie, who visited him a few days earlier,
+found him in excellent spirits.
+
+"I told him that I believed it would do him good to get down to
+Washington," said Herndon.
+
+"I know it will," Lincoln replied. "I only wish I could have got there
+to lock the door before the horse was stolen. But when I get to the
+spot, I can find the tracks."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" GAVE HER A "SURE TIP."
+
+If all the days Lincoln attended school were added together, they would
+not make a single year's time, and he never studied grammar or geography
+or any of the higher branches. His first teacher in Indiana was Hazel
+Dorsey, who opened a school in a log schoolhouse a mile and a half
+from the Lincoln cabin. The building had holes for windows, which were
+covered over with greased paper to admit light. The roof was just high
+enough for a man to stand erect. It did not take long to demonstrate
+that "Abe" was superior to any scholar in his class. His next teacher
+was Andrew Crawford, who taught in the winter of 1822-3, in the same
+little schoolhouse. "Abe" was an excellent speller, and it is said that
+he liked to show off his knowledge, especially if he could help out
+his less fortunate schoolmates. One day the teacher gave out the word
+"defied." A large class was on the floor, but it seemed that no one
+would be able to spell it. The teacher declared he would keep the whole
+class in all day and night if "defied" was not spelled correctly.
+
+When the word came around to Katy Roby, she was standing where she
+could see young "Abe." She started, "d-e-f," and while trying to decide
+whether to spell the word with an "i" or a "y," she noticed that Abe had
+his finger on his eye and a smile on his face, and instantly took the
+hint. She spelled the word correctly and school was dismissed.
+
+
+
+
+THE PRESIDENT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF HIM.
+
+Lincoln never forgot anyone or anything.
+
+At one of the afternoon receptions at the White House a stranger shook
+hands with him, and, as he did so, remarked casually, that he was
+elected to Congress about the time Mr. Lincoln's term as representative
+expired, which happened many years before.
+
+"Yes," said the President, "You are from--" (mentioning the State).
+"I remember reading of your election in a newspaper one morning on a
+steamboat going down to Mount Vernon."
+
+At another time a gentleman addressed him, saying, "I presume, Mr.
+President, you have forgotten me?"
+
+"No," was the prompt reply; "your name is Flood. I saw you last, twelve
+years ago, at--" (naming the place and the occasion).
+
+"I am glad to see," he continued, "that the Flood goes on."
+
+Subsequent to his re-election a deputation of bankers from various
+sections were introduced one day by the Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+After a few moments of general conversation, Lincoln turned to one of
+them and said:
+
+"Your district did not give me so strong a vote at the last election as
+it did in 1860."
+
+"I think, sir, that you must be mistaken," replied the banker. "I have
+the impression that your majority was considerably increased at the last
+election."
+
+"No," rejoined the President, "you fell off about six hundred votes."
+
+Then taking down from the bookcase the official canvass of 1860 and
+1864, he referred to the vote of the district named, and proved to be
+quite right in his assertion.
+
+
+
+
+ONLY HALF A MAN.
+
+As President Lincoln, arm in arm with ex-President Buchanan, entered the
+Capitol, and passed into the Senate Chamber, filled to overflowing with
+Senators, members of the Diplomatic Corps, and visitors, the contrast
+between the two men struck every observer.
+
+"Mr. Buchanan was so withered and bowed with age," wrote George W.
+Julian, of Indiana, who was among the spectators, "that in contrast with
+the towering form of Mr. Lincoln he seemed little more than half a man."
+
+
+
+
+GRANT CONGRATULATED LINCOLN.
+
+As soon as the result of the Presidential election of 1864 was known,
+General Grant telegraphed from City Point his congratulations, and added
+that "the election having passed off quietly... is a victory worth more
+to the country than a battle won."
+
+
+
+
+"BRUTUS AND CAESAR."
+
+London "Punch" persistently maintained throughout the War for the Union
+that the question of what to do with the blacks was the most bothersome
+of all the problems President Lincoln had to solve. "Punch" thought the
+Rebellion had its origin in an effort to determine whether there should
+or should not be slavery in the United States, and was fought with this
+as the main end in view. "Punch" of August 15th, 1863, contained the
+cartoon reproduced on this page, the title being "Brutus and Caesar."
+
+President Lincoln was pictured as Brutus, while the ghost of Caesar,
+which appeared in the tent of the American Brutus during the dark hours
+of the night, was represented in the shape of a husky and anything but
+ghost-like African, whose complexion would tend to make the blackest
+tar look like skimmed milk in comparison. This was the text below the
+cartoon: (From the American Edition of Shakespeare.) The Tent of Brutus
+(Lincoln). Night. Enter the Ghost of Caesar.
+
+BRUTUS: "Wall, now! Do tell! Who's you?"
+
+CAESAR: "I am dy ebil genus, Massa Linking. Dis child am awful
+impressional!"
+
+"Punch's" cartoons were decidedly unfriendly in tone toward President
+Lincoln, some of them being not only objectionable in the display of bad
+taste, but offensive and vulgar. It is true that after the assassination
+of the President, "Punch," in illustrations, paid marked and deserved
+tribute to the memory of the Great Emancipator, but it had little that
+was good to say of him while he was among the living and engaged in
+carrying out the great work for which he was destined to win eternal
+fame.
+
+
+
+
+HOW STANTON GOT INTO THE CABINET.
+
+President Lincoln, well aware of Stanton's unfriendliness, was surprised
+when Secretary of the Treasury Chase told him that Stanton had expressed
+the opinion that the arrest of the Confederate Commissioners, Mason and
+Slidell, was legal and justified by international law. The President
+asked Secretary Chase to invite Stanton to the White House, and Stanton
+came. Mr. Lincoln thanked him for the opinion he had expressed, and
+asked him to put it in writing.
+
+Stanton complied, the President read it carefully, and, after putting
+it away, astounded Stanton by offering him the portfolio of War.
+Stanton was a Democrat, had been one of the President's most persistent
+vilifiers, and could not realize, at first, that Lincoln meant what he
+said. He managed, however to say:
+
+"I am both surprised and embarrassed, Mr. President, and would ask a
+couple of days to consider this most important matter."
+
+Lincoln fully understood what was going on in Stanton's mind, and then
+said:
+
+"This is a very critical period in the life of the nation, Mr. Stanton,
+as you are well aware, and I well know you are as much interested in
+sustaining the government as myself or any other man. This is no time to
+consider mere party issues. The life of the nation is in danger. I
+need the best counsellors around me. I have every confidence in your
+judgment, and have concluded to ask you to become one of my counsellors.
+The office of the Secretary of War will soon be vacant, and I am anxious
+to have you take Mr. Cameron's place."
+
+Stanton decided to accept.
+
+"ABE" LIKE HIS FATHER.
+
+"Abe" Lincoln's father was never at loss for an answer. An old neighbor
+of Thomas Lincoln--"Abe's" father--was passing the Lincoln farm one day,
+when he saw "Abe's" father grubbing up some hazelnut bushes, and said to
+him: "Why, Grandpap, I thought you wanted to sell your farm?"
+
+"And so I do," he replied, "but I ain't goin' to let my farm know it."
+
+"'Abe's' jes' like his father," the old ones would say.
+
+
+
+
+"NO MOON AT ALL."
+
+One of the most notable of Lincoln's law cases was that in which he
+defended William D. Armstrong, charged with murder. The case was one
+which was watched during its progress with intense interest, and it had
+a most dramatic ending.
+
+The defendant was the son of Jack and Hannah Armstrong. The father was
+dead, but Hannah, who had been very motherly and helpful to Lincoln
+during his life at New Salem, was still living, and asked Lincoln to
+defend him. Young Armstrong had been a wild lad, and was often in bad
+company.
+
+The principal witness had sworn that he saw young Armstrong strike the
+fatal blow, the moon being very bright at the time.
+
+Lincoln brought forward the almanac, which showed that at the time
+the murder was committed there was no moon at all. In his argument,
+Lincoln's speech was so feelingly made that at its close all the men
+in the jury-box were in tears. It was just half an hour when the jury
+returned a verdict of acquittal.
+
+Lincoln would accept no fee except the thanks of the anxious mother.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" A SUPERB MIMIC.
+
+Lincoln's reading in his early days embraced a wide range. He was
+particularly fond of all stories containing fun, wit and humor, and
+every one of these he came across he learned by heart, thus adding to
+his personal store.
+
+He improved as a reciter and retailer of the stories he had read and
+heard, and as the reciter of tales of his own invention, and he had
+ready and eager auditors.
+
+Judge Herndon, in his "Abraham Lincoln," relates that as a mimic Lincoln
+was unequalled. An old neighbor said: "His laugh was striking. Such
+awkward gestures belonged to no other man. They attracted universal
+attention, from the old and sedate down to the schoolboy. Then, in a few
+moments, he was as calm and thoughtful as a judge on the bench, and as
+ready to give advice on the most important matters; fun and gravity grew
+on him alike."
+
+
+
+
+WHY HE WAS CALLED "HONEST ABE."
+
+During the year Lincoln was in Denton Offutt's store at New Salem, that
+gentleman, whose business was somewhat widely and unwisely spread about
+the country, ceased to prosper in his finances and finally failed. The
+store was shut up, the mill was closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of
+business.
+
+The year had been one of great advance, in many respects. He had made
+new and valuable acquaintances, read many books, mastered the grammar of
+his own tongue, won multitudes of friends, and became ready for a step
+still further in advance.
+
+Those who could appreciate brains respected him, and those whose ideas
+of a man related to his muscles were devoted to him. It was while he
+was performing the work of the store that he acquired the sobriquet
+of "Honest Abe"--a characterization he never dishonored, and an
+abbreviation that he never outgrew.
+
+He was judge, arbitrator, referee, umpire, authority, in all disputes,
+games and matches of man-flesh, horse-flesh, a pacificator in all
+quarrels; everybody's friend; the best-natured, the most sensible, the
+best-informed, the most modest and unassuming, the kindest, gentlest,
+roughest, strongest, best fellow in all New Salem and the region round
+about.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE'S" NAME REMAINED ON THE SIGN.
+
+Enduring friendship and love of old associations were prominent
+characteristics of President Lincoln. When about to leave Springfield
+for Washington, he went to the dingy little law office which had
+sheltered his saddest hours.
+
+He sat down on the couch, and said to his law partner, Judge Herndon:
+
+"Billy, you and I have been together for more than twenty years, and
+have never passed a word. Will you let my name stay on the old sign
+until I come back from Washington?"
+
+The tears started to Herndon's eyes. He put out his hand. "Mr. Lincoln,"
+said he, "I never will have any other partner while you live"; and to
+the day of assassination, all the doings of the firm were in the name of
+"Lincoln & Herndon."
+
+
+
+
+VERY HOMELY AT FIRST SIGHT.
+
+Early in January, 1861, Colonel Alex. K. McClure, of Philadelphia,
+received a telegram from President-elect Lincoln, asking him (McClure)
+to visit him at Springfield, Illinois. Colonel McClure described his
+disappointment at first sight of Lincoln in these words:
+
+"I went directly from the depot to Lincoln's house and rang the bell,
+which was answered by Lincoln himself opening the door. I doubt whether
+a wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting him.
+
+"Tall, gaunt, ungainly, ill clad, with a homeliness of manner that was
+unique in itself, I confess that my heart sank within me as I remembered
+that this was the man chosen by a great nation to become its ruler in
+the gravest period of its history.
+
+"I remember his dress as if it were but yesterday--snuff-colored and
+slouchy pantaloons, open black vest, held by a few brass buttons;
+straight or evening dresscoat, with tightly fitting sleeves to
+exaggerate his long, bony arms, and all supplemented by an awkwardness
+that was uncommon among men of intelligence.
+
+"Such was the picture I met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We sat
+down in his plainly furnished parlor, and were uninterrupted during the
+nearly four hours that I remained with him, and little by little, as
+his earnestness, sincerity and candor were developed in conversation, I
+forgot all the grotesque qualities which so confounded me when I first
+greeted him."
+
+
+
+
+THE MAN TO TRUST.
+
+"If a man is honest in his mind," said Lincoln one day, long before he
+became President, "you are pretty safe in trusting him."
+
+
+
+
+"WUZ GOIN' TER BE 'HITCHED."'
+
+"Abe's" nephew--or one of them--related a story in connection with
+Lincoln's first love (Anne Rutledge), and his subsequent marriage to
+Miss Mary Todd. This nephew was a plain, every-day farmer, and
+thought everything of his uncle, whose greatness he quite thoroughly
+appreciated, although he did not pose to any extreme as the relative of
+a President of the United States.
+
+Said he one day, in telling his story:
+
+"Us child'en, w'en we heerd Uncle 'Abe' wuz a-goin' to be married, axed
+Gran'ma ef Uncle 'Abe' never hed hed a gal afore, an' she says, sez she,
+'Well, "Abe" wuz never a han' nohow to run 'round visitin' much, or go
+with the gals, neither, but he did fall in love with a Anne Rutledge,
+who lived out near Springfield, an' after she died he'd come home an'
+ev'ry time he'd talk 'bout her, he cried dreadful. He never could talk
+of her nohow 'thout he'd jes' cry an' cry, like a young feller.'
+
+"Onct he tol' Gran'ma they wuz goin' ter be hitched, they havin'
+promised each other, an' thet is all we ever heered 'bout it. But, so
+it wuz, that arter Uncle 'Abe' hed got over his mournin', he wuz married
+ter a woman w'ich hed lived down in Kentuck.
+
+"Uncle 'Abe' hisself tol' us he wuz married the nex' time he come up ter
+our place, an' w'en we ast him why he didn't bring his wife up to see
+us, he said: 'She's very busy and can't come.'
+
+"But we knowed better'n that. He wuz too proud to bring her up,'cause
+nothin' would suit her, nohow. She wuzn't raised the way we wuz, an' wuz
+different from us, and we heerd, tu, she wuz as proud as cud be.
+
+"No, an' he never brought none uv the child'en, neither.
+
+"But then, Uncle 'Abe,' he wuzn't to blame. We never thought he wuz
+stuck up."
+
+
+
+
+HE PROPOSED TO SAVE THE UNION.
+
+Replying to an editorial written by Horace Greeley, the President wrote:
+
+"My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or to
+destroy slavery.
+
+"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it.
+
+"If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I
+could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do
+that.
+
+"What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it
+helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not
+believe it would help to save the Union.
+
+"I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the
+cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the
+cause."
+
+
+
+
+THE SAME OLD RUM.
+
+One of President Lincoln's friends, visiting at the White House, was
+finding considerable fault with the constant agitation in Congress
+of the slavery question. He remarked that, after the adoption of the
+Emancipation policy, he had hoped for something new.
+
+"There was a man down in Maine," said the President, in reply, "who
+kept a grocery store, and a lot of fellows used to loaf around for
+their toddy. He only gave 'em New England rum, and they drank pretty
+considerable of it. But after awhile they began to get tired of that,
+and kept asking for something new--something new--all the time. Well,
+one night, when the whole crowd were around, the grocer brought out his
+glasses, and says he, 'I've got something New for you to drink, boys,
+now.'
+
+"'Honor bright?' said they.
+
+"'Honor bright,' says he, and with that he sets out a jug. 'Thar' says
+he, 'that's something new; it's New England rum!' says he.
+
+"Now," remarked the President, in conclusion, "I guess we're a good deal
+like that crowd, and Congress is a good deal like that store-keeper!"
+
+
+
+
+SAVED LINCOLN'S LIFE
+
+When Mr. Lincoln was quite a small boy he met with an accident that
+almost cost him his life. He was saved by Austin Gollaher, a young
+playmate. Mr. Gollaher lived to be more than ninety years of age, and
+to the day of his death related with great pride his boyhood association
+with Lincoln.
+
+"Yes," Mr. Gollaher once said, "the story that I once saved Abraham
+Lincoln's life is true. He and I had been going to school together for a
+year or more, and had become greatly attached to each other. Then school
+disbanded on account of there being so few scholars, and we did not see
+each other much for a long while.
+
+"One Sunday my mother visited the Lincolns, and I was taken along. 'Abe'
+and I played around all day. Finally, we concluded to cross the creek
+to hunt for some partridges young Lincoln had seen the day before.
+The creek was swollen by a recent rain, and, in crossing on the narrow
+footlog, 'Abe' fell in. Neither of us could swim. I got a long pole and
+held it out to 'Abe,' who grabbed it. Then I pulled him ashore.
+
+"He was almost dead, and I was badly scared. I rolled and pounded him
+in good earnest. Then I got him by the arms and shook him, the water
+meanwhile pouring out of his mouth. By this means I succeeded in
+bringing him to, and he was soon all right.
+
+"Then a new difficulty confronted us. If our mothers discovered our
+wet clothes they would whip us. This we dreaded from experience, and
+determined to avoid. It was June, the sun was very warm, and we soon
+dried our clothing by spreading it on the rocks about us. We promised
+never to tell the story, and I never did until after Lincoln's tragic
+end."
+
+
+
+
+WOULD NOT RECALL A SINGLE WORD.
+
+In conversation with some friends at the White House on New Year's
+evening, 1863, President Lincoln said, concerning his Emancipation
+Proclamation:
+
+"The signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand was tired, but my
+resolution was firm.
+
+"I told them in September, if they did not return to their allegiance,
+and cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at this pillar of their
+strength.
+
+"And now the promise shall be kept, and not one word of it will I ever
+recall."
+
+
+
+
+OLD BROOM BEST AFTER ALL.
+
+During the time the enemies of General Grant were making their bitterest
+attacks upon him, and demanding that the President remove him from
+command, "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper," of June 13, 1863, came
+out with the cartoon reproduced. The text printed under the picture was
+to the following effect:
+
+OLD ABE: "Greeley be hanged! I want no more new brooms. I begin to think
+that the worst thing about my old ones was in not being handled right."
+
+The old broom the President holds in his right hand is labeled "Grant."
+The latter had captured Fort Donelson, defeated the Confederates at
+Shiloh, Iuka, Port Gibson, and other places, and had Vicksburg in his
+iron grasp. When the demand was made that Lincoln depose Grant, the
+President answered, "I can't spare this man; he fights!" Grant never
+lost a battle and when he found the enemy he always fought him.
+McClellan, Burnside, Pope and Hooker had been found wanting, so Lincoln
+pinned his faith to Grant. As noted in the cartoon, Horace Greeley,
+editor of the New York Tribune, Thurlow Weed, and others wanted Lincoln
+to try some other new brooms, but President Lincoln was wearied with
+defeats, and wanted a few victories to offset them. Therefore; he stood
+by Grant, who gave him victories.
+
+
+
+
+GOD WITH A LITTLE "g."
+
+     Abraham Lincoln
+       his hand and pen
+     he will be good
+       but god Knows When
+
+These lines were found written in young Lincoln's own hand at the bottom
+of a page whereon he had been ciphering. Lincoln always wrote a clear,
+regular "fist." In this instance he evidently did not appreciate the
+sacredness of the name of the Deity, when he used a little "g."
+
+Lincoln once said he did not remember the time when he could not write.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE'S" LOG.
+
+It was the custom in Sangamon for the "menfolks" to gather at noon and
+in the evening, when resting, in a convenient lane near the mill. They
+had rolled out a long peeled log, on which they lounged while they
+whittled and talked.
+
+Lincoln had not been long in Sangamon before he joined this circle. At
+once he became a favorite by his jokes and good-humor. As soon as
+he appeared at the assembly ground the men would start him to
+story-telling. So irresistibly droll were his "yarns" that whenever he'd
+end up in his unexpected way the boys on the log would whoop and roll
+off. The result of the rolling off was to polish the log like a mirror.
+The men, recognizing Lincoln's part in this polishing, christened their
+seat "Abe's log."
+
+Long after Lincoln had disappeared from Sangamon, "Abe's log" remained,
+and until it had rotted away people pointed it out, and repeated the
+droll stories of the stranger.
+
+
+
+
+IT WAS A FINE FIZZLE.
+
+President Lincoln, in company with General Grant, was inspecting the
+Dutch Gap Canal at City Point. "Grant, do you know what this reminds
+me of? Out in Springfield, Ill., there was a blacksmith who, not having
+much to do, took a piece of soft iron and attempted to weld it into an
+agricultural implement, but discovered that the iron would not hold out;
+then he concluded it would make a claw hammer; but having too much iron,
+attempted to make an ax, but decided after working awhile that there was
+not enough iron left. Finally, becoming disgusted, he filled the forge
+full of coal and brought the iron to a white heat; then with his tongs
+he lifted it from the bed of coals, and thrusting it into a tub of water
+near by, exclaimed: 'Well, if I can't make anything else of you, I will
+make a fizzle, anyhow.'" "I was afraid that was about what we had done
+with the Dutch Gap Canal," said General Grant.
+
+
+
+
+A TEETOTALER.
+
+When Lincoln was in the Black Hawk War as captain, the volunteer
+soldiers drank in with delight the jests and stories of the tall
+captain. Aesop's Fables were given a new dress, and the tales of the
+wild adventures that he had brought from Kentucky and Indiana were many,
+but his inspiration was never stimulated by recourse to the whisky jug.
+
+When his grateful and delighted auditors pressed this on him he had one
+reply: "Thank you, I never drink it."
+
+
+
+
+NOT TO "OPEN SHOP" THERE.
+
+President Lincoln was passing down Pennsylvania avenue in Washington one
+day, when a man came running after him, hailed him, and thrust a bundle
+of papers in his hands.
+
+It angered him not a little, and he pitched the papers back, saying,
+"I'm not going to open shop here."
+
+
+
+
+WE HAVE LIBERTY OF ALL KINDS.
+
+Lincoln delivered a remarkable speech at Springfield, Illinois, when but
+twenty-eight years of age, upon the liberty possessed by the people of
+the United States.
+
+In part, he said:
+
+"In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the
+American people, find our account running under date of the nineteenth
+century of the Christian era.
+
+"We find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion
+of the earth as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and
+salubrity of climate.
+
+"We find ourselves under the government of a system of political
+institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and
+religious liberty than any of which history of former times tells us.
+
+"We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal
+inheritors of these fundamental blessings.
+
+"We toiled not in the acquisition or establishment of them; they are a
+legacy bequeathed to us by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now
+lamented and departed race of ancestors.
+
+"Theirs was the task (and nobly did they perform it) to possess
+themselves, us, of this goodly land, to uprear upon its hills and
+valleys a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; 'tis ours to
+transmit these--the former unprofaned by the foot of an intruder, the
+latter undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by usurpation--to the
+generation that fate shall permit the world to know.
+
+"This task, gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to
+posterity--all imperatively require us faithfully to perform.
+
+"How, then, shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect the
+approach of danger?
+
+"Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the ocean
+and crush us at a blow?
+
+"Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa, combined, with all
+the treasures of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest,
+with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not, by force, take a drink from
+the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand
+years.
+
+"At what point, then, is this approach of danger to be expected?
+
+"I answer, if ever it reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot
+come from abroad.
+
+"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and
+finisher.
+
+"As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by
+suicide.
+
+"I hope I am not over-wary; but, if I am not, there is even now
+something of ill-omen amongst us.
+
+"I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country, the
+disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions in lieu of
+the sober judgment of courts, and the worse than savage mobs for the
+executive ministers of justice.
+
+"This disposition is awfully fearful in any community, and that it now
+exists in ours, though grating to our feelings to admit it, it would be
+a violation of truth and an insult to deny.
+
+"Accounts of outrages committed by mobs form the every-day news of the
+times.
+
+"They have pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana; they are
+neither peculiar to the eternal snows of the former, nor the burning sun
+of the latter.
+
+"They are not the creatures of climate, neither are they confined to the
+slave-holding or non-slave-holding States.
+
+"Alike they spring up among the pleasure-hunting Southerners and the
+order-loving citizens of the land of steady habits.
+
+"Whatever, then, their cause may be, it is common to the whole country.
+
+"Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they may
+undertake, may ever be found, whose ambition would aspire to nothing
+beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or Presidential chair; but
+such belong not to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle.
+
+"What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a
+Napoleon? Never!
+
+"Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto
+unexplored.
+
+"It seeks no distinction in adding story to story upon the monuments of
+fame, erected to the memory of others.
+
+"It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief.
+
+"It scorns to tread in the footpaths of any predecessor, however
+illustrious.
+
+"It thirsts and burns for distinction, and, if possible, it will have
+it, whether at the expense of emancipating the slaves or enslaving
+freemen.
+
+"Another reason which once was, but which to the same extent is now no
+more, has done much in maintaining our institutions thus far.
+
+"I mean the powerful influence which the interesting scenes of the
+Revolution had upon the passions of the people, as distinguished from
+their judgment.
+
+"But these histories are gone. They can be read no more forever. They
+were a fortress of strength.
+
+"But what the invading foeman could never do, the silent artillery of
+time has done, the levelling of the walls.
+
+"They were a forest of giant oaks, but the all-resisting hurricane swept
+over them and left only here and there a lone trunk, despoiled of its
+verdure, shorn of its foliage, unshading and unshaded, to murmur in a
+few more gentle breezes and to combat with its mutilated limbs a few
+more rude storms, then to sink and be no more.
+
+"They were the pillars of the temple of liberty, and now that they have
+crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, the descendants, supply
+the places with pillars hewn from the same solid quarry of sober reason.
+
+"Passion has helped us, but can do so no more. It will in future be our
+enemy.
+
+"Reason--cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason--must furnish all the
+materials for our support and defense.
+
+"Let those materials be molded into general intelligence, sound
+morality, and, in particular, a reverence for the Constitution and the
+laws; and then our country shall continue to improve, and our nation,
+revering his name, and permitting no hostile foot to pass or desecrate
+his resting-place, shall be the first to hear the last trump that shall
+awaken our Washington.
+
+"Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest as the rock of its
+basis, and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution,
+'the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'"
+
+
+
+
+TOM CORWINS'S LATEST STORY.
+
+One of Mr. Lincoln's warm friends was Dr. Robert Boal, of Lacon,
+Illinois. Telling of a visit he paid to the White House soon after Mr.
+Lincoln's inauguration, he said: "I found him the same Lincoln as a
+struggling lawyer and politician that I did in Washington as President
+of the United States, yet there was a dignity and self-possession about
+him in his high official authority. I paid him a second call in the
+evening. He had thrown off his reserve somewhat, and would walk up and
+down the room with his hands to his sides and laugh at the joke he was
+telling, or at one that was told to him. I remember one story he told to
+me on this occasion.
+
+"Tom Corwin, of Ohio, had been down to Alexandria, Va., that day and
+had come back and told Lincoln a story which pleased him so much that
+he broke out in a hearty laugh and said: 'I must tell you Tom Corwin's
+latest. Tom met an old man at Alexandria who knew George Washington, and
+he told Tom that George Washington often swore. Now, Corwin's father had
+always held the father of our country up as a faultless person and told
+his son to follow in his footsteps.
+
+"'"Well," said Corwin, "when I heard that George Washington was addicted
+to the vices and infirmities of man, I felt so relieved that I just
+shouted for joy."'"
+
+
+
+
+"CATCH 'EM AND CHEAT 'EM."
+
+The lawyers on the circuit traveled by Lincoln got together one night
+and tried him on the charge of accepting fees which tended to lower
+the established rates. It was the understood rule that a lawyer should
+accept all the client could be induced to pay. The tribunal was known as
+"The Ogmathorial Court."
+
+Ward Lamon, his law partner at the time, tells about it:
+
+"Lincoln was found guilty and fined for his awful crime against the
+pockets of his brethren of the bar. The fine he paid with great good
+humor, and then kept the crowd of lawyers in uproarious laughter until
+after midnight.
+
+"He persisted in his revolt, however, declaring that with his consent
+his firm should never during its life, or after its dissolution, deserve
+the reputation enjoyed by those shining lights of the profession, 'Catch
+'em and Cheat 'em.'"
+
+
+
+
+A JURYMAN'S SCORN.
+
+Lincoln had assisted in the prosecution of a man who had robbed his
+neighbor's hen roosts. Jogging home along the highway with the foreman
+of the jury that had convicted the hen stealer, he was complimented by
+Lincoln on the zeal and ability of the prosecution, and remarked: "Why,
+when the country was young, and I was stronger than I am now, I didn't
+mind packing off a sheep now and again, but stealing hens!" The good
+man's scorn could not find words to express his opinion of a man who
+would steal hens.
+
+
+
+
+HE "BROKE" TO WIN.
+
+A lawyer, who was a stranger to Mr. Lincoln, once expressed to General
+Linder the opinion that Mr. Lincoln's practice of telling stories to the
+jury was a waste of time.
+
+"Don't lay that flattering unction to your soul," Linder answered;
+"Lincoln is like Tansey's horse, he 'breaks to win.'"
+
+
+
+
+WANTED HER CHILDREN BACK.
+
+On the 3rd of January, 1863, "Harper's Weekly" appeared with a cartoon
+representing Columbia indignantly demanding of President Lincoln and
+Secretary of War Stanton that they restore to her those of her sons
+killed in battle. Below the picture is the reading matter:
+
+COLUMBIA: "Where are my 15,000 sons--murdered at Fredericksburg?"
+
+LINCOLN: "This reminds me of a little joke--"
+
+COLUMBIA: "Go tell your joke at Springfield!!"
+
+The battle of Fredericksburg was fought on December 13th, 1862, between
+General Burnside, commanding the Army of the Potomac, and General Lee's
+force. The Union troops, time and again, assaulted the heights where
+the Confederates had taken position, but were driven back with frightful
+losses. The enemy, being behind breastworks, suffered comparatively
+little. At the beginning of the fight the Confederate line was broken,
+but the result of the engagement was disastrous to the Union cause.
+Burnside had one thousand one hundred and fifty-two killed, nine
+thousand one hundred and one wounded, and three thousand two hundred
+and thirty-four missing, a total of thirteen thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-one. General Lee's losses, all told, were not much more than
+five thousand men.
+
+Burnside had succeeded McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac,
+mainly, it was said, through the influence of Secretary of War Stanton.
+Three months before, McClellan had defeated Lee at Antietam, the
+bloodiest battle of the War, Lee's losses footing up more than thirteen
+thousand men. At Fredericksburg, Burnside had about one hundred and
+twenty thousand men; at Antietam, McClellan had about eighty thousand.
+It has been maintained that Burnside should not have fought this battle,
+the chances of success being so few.
+
+
+
+
+SIX FEET FOUR AT SEVENTEEN.
+
+"Abe's" school teacher, Crawford, endeavored to teach his pupils some of
+the manners of the "polite society" of Indiana--1823 or so. This was a
+part of his system:
+
+One of the pupils would retire, and then come in as a stranger, and
+another pupil would have to introduce him to all the members of the
+school n what was considered "good manners."
+
+As "Abe" wore a linsey-woolsey shirt, buckskin breeches which were too
+short and very tight, and low shoes, and was tall and awkward, he no
+doubt created considerable merriment when his turn came. He was growing
+at a fearful rate; he was fifteen years of age, and two years later
+attained his full height of six feet four inches.
+
+
+
+
+HAD RESPECT FOR THE EGGS.
+
+Early in 1831, "Abe" was one of the guests of honor at a boat-launching,
+he and two others having built the craft. The affair was a notable one,
+people being present from the territory surrounding. A large party came
+from Springfield with an ample supply of whisky, to give the boat and
+its builders a send-off. It was a sort of bipartisan mass-meeting, but
+there was one prevailing spirit, that born of rye and corn. Speeches
+were made in the best of feeling, some in favor of Andrew Jackson and
+some in favor of Henry Clay. Abraham Lincoln, the cook, told a number
+of funny stories, and it is recorded that they were not of too refined a
+character to suit the taste of his audience. A sleight-of-hand performer
+was present, and among other tricks performed, he fried some eggs
+in Lincoln's hat. Judge Herndon says, as explanatory to the delay in
+passing up the hat for the experiment, Lincoln drolly observed: "It was
+out of respect for the eggs, not care for my hat."
+
+
+
+
+HOW WAS THE MILK UPSET?
+
+William G. Greene, an old-time friend of Lincoln, was a student at
+Illinois College, and one summer brought home with him, on a vacation,
+Richard Yates (afterwards Governor of Illinois) and some other boys,
+and, in order to entertain them, took them up to see Lincoln.
+
+He found him in his usual position and at his usual occupation--flat on
+his back, on a cellar door, reading a newspaper. This was the manner in
+which a President of the United States and a Governor of Illinois became
+acquainted with each other.
+
+Greene says Lincoln repeated the whole of Burns, and a large quantity of
+Shakespeare for the entertainment of the college boys, and, in return,
+was invited to dine with them on bread and milk. How he managed to upset
+his bowl of milk is not a matter of history, but the fact is that he
+did so, as is the further fact that Greene's mother, who loved
+Lincoln, tried to smooth over the accident and relieve the young man's
+embarrassment.
+
+
+
+
+"PULLED FODDER" FOR A BOOK.
+
+Once "Abe" borrowed Weems' "Life of Washington" from Joseph Crawford, a
+neighbor. "Abe" devoured it; read it and re-read it, and when asleep put
+it by him between the logs of the wall. One night a rain storm wet it
+through and ruined it.
+
+"I've no money," said "Abe," when reporting the disaster to Crawford,
+"but I'll work it out."
+
+"All right," was Crawford's response; "you pull fodder for three days,
+an' the book is your'n."
+
+"Abe" pulled the fodder, but he never forgave Crawford for putting so
+much work upon him. He never lost an opportunity to crack a joke at his
+expense, and the name "Blue-nose Crawford" "Abe" applied to him stuck to
+him throughout his life.
+
+
+
+
+PRAISES HIS RIVAL FOR OFFICE.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for the Legislature, it was the
+practice at that date in Illinois for two rival candidates to travel
+over the district together. The custom led to much good-natured raillery
+between them; and in such contests Lincoln was rarely, if ever, worsted.
+He could even turn the generosity of a rival to account by his whimsical
+treatment.
+
+On one occasion, says Mr. Weir, a former resident of Sangamon county, he
+had driven out from Springfield in company with a political opponent
+to engage in joint debate. The carriage, it seems, belonged to his
+opponent. In addressing the gathering of farmers that met them, Lincoln
+was lavish in praise of the generosity of his friend.
+
+"I am too poor to own a carriage," he said, "but my friend has
+generously invited me to ride with him. I want you to vote for me if you
+will; but if not then vote for my opponent, for he is a fine man."
+
+His extravagant and persistent praise of his opponent appealed to the
+sense of humor in his rural audience, to whom his inability to own a
+carriage was by no means a disqualification.
+
+
+
+
+ONE THING "ABE" DIDN'T LOVE.
+
+Lincoln admitted that he was not particularly energetic when it came to
+real hard work.
+
+"My father," said he one day, "taught me how to work, but not to love
+it. I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell
+stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh--anything but work."
+
+
+
+
+THE MODESTY OF GENIUS.
+
+The opening of the year 1860 found Mr. Lincoln's name freely mentioned
+in connection with the Republican nomination for the Presidency. To be
+classed with Seward, Chase, McLean, and other celebrities, was enough to
+stimulate any Illinois lawyer's pride; but in Mr. Lincoln's case, if it
+had any such effect, he was most artful in concealing it. Now and then,
+some ardent friend, an editor, for example, would run his name up to the
+masthead, but in all cases he discouraged the attempt.
+
+"In regard to the matter you spoke of," he answered one man who proposed
+his name, "I beg you will not give it a further mention. Seriously, I do
+not think I am fit for the Presidency."
+
+
+
+
+WHY SHE MARRIED HIM.
+
+There was a "social" at Lincoln's house in Springfield, and "Abe"
+introduced his wife to Ward Lamon, his law partner. Lamon tells the
+story in these words:
+
+"After introducing me to Mrs. Lincoln, he left us in conversation. I
+remarked to her that her husband was a great favorite in the eastern
+part of the State, where I had been stopping.
+
+"'Yes,' she replied, 'he is a great favorite everywhere. He is to be
+President of the United States some day; if I had not thought so I never
+would have married him, for you can see he is not pretty.
+
+"'But look at him, doesn't he look as if he would make a magnificent
+President?'"
+
+
+
+
+NIAGARA FALLS.
+
+(Written By Abraham Lincoln.)
+
+The following article on Niagara Falls, in Mr. Lincoln's handwriting,
+was found among his papers after his death:
+
+"Niagara Falls! By what mysterious power is it that millions and
+millions are drawn from all parts of the world to gaze upon Niagara
+Falls? There is no mystery about the thing itself. Every effect is just
+as any intelligent man, knowing the causes, would anticipate without
+seeing it. If the water moving onward in a great river reaches a point
+where there is a perpendicular jog of a hundred feet in descent in
+the bottom of the river, it is plain the water will have a violent
+and continuous plunge at that point. It is also plain, the water, thus
+plunging, will foam and roar, and send up a mist continuously, in
+which last, during sunshine, there will be perpetual rainbows. The mere
+physical of Niagara Falls is only this. Yet this is really a very small
+part of that world's wonder. Its power to excite reflection and emotion
+is its great charm. The geologist will demonstrate that the plunge, or
+fall, was once at Lake Ontario, and has worn its way back to its present
+position; he will ascertain how fast it is wearing now, and so get
+a basis for determining how long it has been wearing back from Lake
+Ontario, and finally demonstrate by it that this world is at least
+fourteen thousand years old. A philosopher of a slightly different turn
+will say, 'Niagara Falls is only the lip of the basin out of which pours
+all the surplus water which rains down on two or three hundred thousand
+square miles of the earth's surface.' He will estimate with approximate
+accuracy that five hundred thousand tons of water fall with their full
+weight a distance of a hundred feet each minute--thus exerting a force
+equal to the lifting of the same weight, through the same space, in the
+same time.
+
+"But still there is more. It calls up the indefinite past. When Columbus
+first sought this continent--when Christ suffered on the cross--when
+Moses led Israel through the Red Sea--nay, even when Adam first came
+from the hand of his Maker; then, as now, Niagara was roaring here. The
+eyes of that species of extinct giants whose bones fill the mounds of
+America have gazed on Niagara, as ours do now. Contemporary with the
+first race of men, and older than the first man, Niagara is strong and
+fresh to-day as ten thousand years ago. The Mammoth and Mastodon, so
+long dead that fragments of their monstrous bones alone testify that
+they ever lived, have gazed on Niagara--in that long, long time never
+still for a single moment (never dried), never froze, never slept, never
+rested."
+
+
+
+
+MADE IT HOT FOR LINCOLN.
+
+A lady relative, who lived for two years with the Lincolns, said that
+Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of lying on the floor with the back of a
+chair for a pillow when he read.
+
+One evening, when in this position in the hall, a knock was heard at the
+front door, and, although in his shirtsleeves, he answered the call. Two
+ladies were at the door, whom he invited into the parlor, notifying them
+in his open, familiar way, that he would "trot the women folks out."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln, from an adjoining room, witnessed the ladies' entrance,
+and, overhearing her husband's jocose expression, her indignation was
+so instantaneous she made the situation exceedingly interesting for him,
+and he was glad to retreat from the house. He did not return till very
+late at night, and then slipped quietly in at a rear door.
+
+
+
+
+WOULDN'T HOLD TITLE AGAINST HIM.
+
+During the rebellion the Austrian Minister to the United States
+Government introduced to the President a count, a subject of the
+Austrian government, who was desirous of obtaining a position in the
+American army.
+
+Being introduced by the accredited Minister of Austria he required no
+further recommendation to secure the appointment; but, fearing that his
+importance might not be fully appreciated by the republican President,
+the count was particular in impressing the fact upon him that he bore
+that title, and that his family was ancient and highly respectable.
+
+President Lincoln listened with attention, until this unnecessary
+commendation was mentioned; then, with a merry twinkle in his eye, he
+tapped the aristocratic sprig of hereditary nobility on the shoulder in
+the most fatherly way, as if the gentleman had made a confession of some
+unfortunate circumstance connected with his lineage, for which he was in
+no way responsible, and said:
+
+"Never mind, you shall be treated with just as much consideration for all
+that. I will see to it that your bearing a title shan't hurt you."
+
+
+
+
+ONLY ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
+
+A young man living in Kentucky had been enticed into the rebel army.
+After a few months he became disgusted, and managed to make his way
+back home. Soon after his arrival, the Union officer in command of the
+military stationed in the town had him arrested as a rebel spy, and,
+after a military trial he was condemned to be hanged.
+
+President Lincoln was seen by one of his friends from Kentucky, who
+explained his errand and asked for mercy. "Oh, yes, I understand; some
+one has been crying, and worked upon your feelings, and you have come
+here to work on mine."
+
+His friend then went more into detail, and assured him of his belief in
+the truth of the story. After some deliberation, Mr. Lincoln, evidently
+scarcely more than half convinced, but still preferring to err on the
+side of mercy, replied:
+
+"If a man had more than one life, I think a little hanging would not
+hurt this one; but after he is once dead we cannot bring him back, no
+matter how sorry we may be; so the boy shall be pardoned."
+
+And a reprieve was given on the spot.
+
+
+
+
+COULDN'T LOCATE HIS BIRTHPLACE.
+
+While the celebrated artist, Hicks, was engaged in painting Mr.
+Lincoln's portrait, just after the former's first nomination for the
+Presidency, he asked the great statesman if he could point out the
+precise spot where he was born.
+
+Lincoln thought the matter over for a day or two, and then gave the
+artist the following memorandum:
+
+"Springfield, Ill., June 14, 1860
+
+"I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin county, Kentucky, at a
+point within the now county of Larue, a mile or a mile and a half from
+where Rodgen's mill now is. My parents being dead, and my own memory not
+serving, I know no means of identifying the precise locality. It was on
+Nolen Creek.
+
+"A. LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+"SAMBO" WAS "AFEARED."
+
+In his message to Congress in December, 1864, just after his
+re-election, President Lincoln, in his message of December 6th, let
+himself out, in plain, unmistakable terms, to the effect that the
+freedmen should never be placed in bondage again. "Frank Leslie's
+Illustrated Newspaper" of December 24th, 1864, printed the cartoon we
+herewith reproduce, the text underneath running in this way:
+
+UNCLE ABE: "Sambo, you are not handsome, any more than myself, but as
+to sending you back to your old master, I'm not the man to do it--and,
+what's more, I won't." (Vice President's message.)
+
+Congress, at the previous sitting, had neglected to pass the resolution
+for the Constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery, but, on the 31st
+of January, 1865, the resolution was finally adopted, and the United
+States Constitution soon had the new feature as one of its clauses, the
+necessary number of State Legislatures approving it. President Lincoln
+regarded the passage of this resolution by Congress as most important,
+as the amendment, in his mind, covered whatever defects a rigid
+construction of the Constitution might find in his Emancipation
+Proclamation.
+
+After the latter was issued, negroes were allowed to enlist in the Army,
+and they fought well and bravely. After the War, in the reorganization
+of the Regular Army, four regiments of colored men were provided
+for--the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth
+Infantry. In the cartoon, Sambo has evidently been asking "Uncle Abe" as
+to the probability or possibility of his being again enslaved.
+
+
+
+
+WHEN MONEY MIGHT BE USED.
+
+Some Lincoln enthusiast in Kansas, with much more pretensions than
+power, wrote him in March, 1860 proposing to furnish a Lincoln
+delegation from that State to the Chicago Convention, and suggesting
+that Lincoln should pay the legitimate expenses of organizing, electing,
+and taking to the convention the promised Lincoln delegates.
+
+To this Lincoln replied that "in the main, the use of money is wrong,
+but for certain objects in a political contest the use of some is both
+right and indispensable." And he added: "If you shall be appointed a
+delegate to Chicago, I will furnish $100 to bear the expenses of the
+trip."
+
+He heard nothing further from the Kansas man until he saw an
+announcement in the newspapers that Kansas had elected delegates and
+instructed them for Seward.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" WAS NO BEAUTY.
+
+Lincoln's military service in the Back Hawk war had increased his
+popularity at New Salem, and he was put up as a candidate for the
+Legislature.
+
+A. Y. Ellis describes his personal appearance at this time as follows:
+"He wore a mixed jean coat, claw-hammer style, short in the sleeves and
+bob-tailed; in fact, it was so short in the tail that he could not sit
+on it; flax and tow linen pantaloons and a straw hat. I think he wore a
+vest, but do not remember how it looked; he wore pot-metal boots."
+
+
+
+
+"HE'S JUST BEAUTIFUL."
+
+Lincoln's great love for children easily won their confidence.
+
+A little girl, who had been told that the President was very homely, was
+taken by her father to see the President at the White House.
+
+Lincoln took her upon his knee and chatted with her for a moment in his
+merry way, when she turned to her father and exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, Pa! he isn't ugly at all; he's just beautiful!"
+
+
+
+
+BIG ENOUGH HOG FOR HIM.
+
+To a curiosity-seeker who desired a permit to pass the lines to
+visit the field of Bull Run, after the first battle, Lincoln made the
+following reply:
+
+"A man in Cortlandt county raised a porker of such unusual size that
+strangers went out of their way to see it.
+
+"One of them the other day met the old gentleman and inquired about the
+animal.
+
+"'Wall, yes,' the old fellow said, 'I've got such a critter, mi'ty big
+un; but I guess I'll have to charge you about a shillin' for lookin' at
+him.'
+
+"The stranger looked at the old man for a minute or so, pulled out the
+desired coin, handed it to him and started to go off. 'Hold on,' said
+the other, 'don't you want to see the hog?'
+
+"'No,' said the stranger; 'I have seen as big a hog as I want to see!'
+
+"And you will find that fact the case with yourself, if you should
+happen to see a few live rebels there as well as dead ones."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE" OFFERS A SPEECH FOR SOMETHING TO EAT.
+
+When Lincoln's special train from Springfield to Washington reached the
+Illinois State line, there was a stop for dinner. There was such a crowd
+that Lincoln could scarcely reach the dining-room. "Gentlemen," said he,
+as he surveyed the crowd, "if you will make me a little path, so that I
+can get through and get something to eat, I will make you a speech when
+I get back."
+
+
+
+
+THEY UNDERSTOOD EACH OTHER.
+
+When complaints were made to President Lincoln by victims of
+Secretary of War Stanton's harshness, rudeness, and refusal to be
+obliging--particularly in cases where Secretary Stanton had refused
+to honor Lincoln's passes through the lines--the President would often
+remark to this effect "I cannot always be sure that permits given by
+me ought to be granted. There is an understanding between myself and
+Stanton that when I send a request to him which cannot consistently be
+granted, he is to refuse to honor it. This he sometimes does."
+
+
+
+
+FEW FENCE RAILS LEFT.
+
+"There won't be a tar barrel left in Illinois to-night," said Senator
+Stephen A. Douglas, in Washington, to his Senatorial friends, who asked
+him, when the news of the nomination of Lincoln reached them, "Who is
+this man Lincoln, anyhow?"
+
+Douglas was right. Not only the tar barrels, but half the fences of the
+State of Illinois went up in the fire of rejoicing.
+
+
+
+
+THE "GREAT SNOW" OF 1830-31.
+
+In explanation of Lincoln's great popularity, D. W. Bartlett, in his
+"Life and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln," published in 1860 makes this
+statement of "Abe's" efficient service to his neighbors in the "Great
+Snow" of 1830-31:
+
+"The deep snow which occurred in 1830-31 was one of the chief troubles
+endured by the early settlers of central and southern Illinois. Its
+consequences lasted through several years. The people were ill-prepared
+to meet it, as the weather had been mild and pleasant--unprecedentedly
+so up to Christmas--when a snow-storm set in which lasted two days,
+something never before known even among the traditions of the Indians,
+and never approached in the weather of any winter since.
+
+"The pioneers who came into the State (then a territory) in 1800 say the
+average depth of snow was never, previous to 1830, more than knee-deep
+to an ordinary man, while it was breast-high all that winter.
+It became crusted over, so as, in some cases, to bear teams. Cattle
+and horses perished, the winter wheat was killed, the meager stock of
+provisions ran out, and during the three months' continuance of the
+snow, ice and continuous cold weather the most wealthy settlers came
+near starving, while some of the poor ones actually did. It was in the
+midst of such scenes that Abraham Lincoln attained his majority, and
+commenced his career of bold and manly independence.....
+
+"Communication between house and house was often entirely obstructed for
+teams, so that the young and strong men had to do all the traveling on
+foot; carrying from one neighbor what of his store he could spare to
+another, and bringing back in return something of his store sorely
+needed. Men living five, ten, twenty and thirty miles apart were called
+'neighbors' then. Young Lincoln was always ready to perform these acts
+of humanity, and was foremost in the counsels of the settlers when their
+troubles seemed gathering like a thick cloud about them."
+
+
+
+
+CREDITOR PAID DEBTORS DEBT.
+
+A certain rich man in Springfield, Illinois, sued a poor attorney for
+$2.50, and Lincoln was asked to prosecute the case. Lincoln urged the
+creditor to let the matter drop, adding, "You can make nothing out of
+him, and it will cost you a good deal more than the debt to bring suit."
+The creditor was still determined to have his way, and threatened
+to seek some other attorney. Lincoln then said, "Well, if you are
+determined that suit should be brought, I will bring it; but my charge
+will be $10."
+
+The money was paid him, and peremptory orders were given that the suit
+be brought that day. After the client's departure Lincoln went out of
+the office, returning in about an hour with an amused look on his face.
+
+Asked what pleased him, he replied, "I brought suit against ----, and
+then hunted him up, told him what I had done, handed him half of the
+$10, and we went over to the squire's office. He confessed judgment and
+paid the bill."
+
+Lincoln added that he didn't see any other way to make things
+satisfactory for his client as well as the other.
+
+
+
+
+HELPED OUT THE SOLDIERS.
+
+Judge Thomas B. Bryan, of Chicago, a member of the Union Defense
+Committee during the War, related the following concerning the original
+copy of the Emancipation Proclamation:
+
+"I asked Mr. Lincoln for the original draft of the Proclamation," said
+Judge Bryan, "for the benefit of our Sanitary Fair, in 1865. He sent it
+and accompanied it with a note in which he said:
+
+"'I had intended to keep this paper, but if it will help the soldiers, I
+give it to you.'
+
+"The paper was put up at auction and brought $3,000. The buyer afterward
+sold it again to friends of Mr. Lincoln at a greatly advanced price, and
+it was placed in the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, where it
+was burned in the great fire of 1871."
+
+
+
+
+EVERY FELLOW FOR HIMSELF.
+
+An elegantly dressed young Virginian assured Lincoln that he had done a
+great deal of hard manual labor in his time. Much amused at this solemn
+declaration, Lincoln said:
+
+"Oh, yes; you Virginians shed barrels of perspiration while standing off
+at a distance and superintending the work your slaves do for you. It is
+different with us. Here it is every fellow for himself, or he doesn't
+get there."
+
+
+
+
+"BUTCHER-KNIFE BOYS" AT THE POLLS.
+
+When young Lincoln had fully demonstrated that he was the champion
+wrestler in the country surrounding New Salem, the men of "de gang" at
+Clary's Grove, whose leader "Abe" had downed, were his sworn political
+friends and allies.
+
+Their work at the polls was remarkably effective. When the "Butcherknife
+boys," the "huge-pawed boys," and the "half-horse-half-alligator men"
+declared for a candidate the latter was never defeated.
+
+
+
+
+NO "SECOND COMING" FOR SPRINGFIELD.
+
+Soon after the opening of Congress in 1861, Mr. Shannon, from
+California, made the customary call at the White House. In the
+conversation that ensued, Mr Shannon said: "Mr. President, I met an old
+friend of yours in California last summer, a Mr. Campbell, who had a
+good deal to say of your Springfield life."
+
+"Ah!" returned Mr. Lincoln, "I am glad to hear of him. Campbell used
+to be a dry fellow in those days," he continued. "For a time he was
+Secretary of State. One day during the legislative vacation, a meek,
+cadaverous-looking man, with a white neck-cloth, introduced himself to
+him at his office, and, stating that he had been informed that Mr. C.
+had the letting of the hall of representatives, he wished to secure
+it, if possible, for a course of lectures he desired to deliver in
+Springfield.
+
+"'May I ask,' said the Secretary, 'what is to be the subject of your
+lectures?'
+
+"'Certainly,' was the reply, with a very solemn expression of
+countenance. 'The course I wish to deliver is on the Second Coming of
+our Lord.'
+
+"'It is of no use,' said C.; 'if you will take my advice, you will not
+waste your time in this city. It is my private opinion that, if the Lord
+has been in Springfield once, He will never come the second time!'"
+
+
+
+
+HOW HE WON A FRIEND.
+
+J. S. Moulton, of Chicago, a master in chancery and influential in
+public affairs, looked upon the candidacy of Mr. Lincoln for President
+as something in the nature of a joke. He did not rate the Illinois man
+in the same class with the giants of the East. In fact he had expressed
+himself as by no means friendly to the Lincoln cause.
+
+Still he had been a good friend to Lincoln and had often met him when
+the Springfield lawyer came to Chicago. Mr. Lincoln heard of Moulton's
+attitude, but did not see Moulton until after the election, when the
+President-elect came to Chicago and was tendered a reception at one of
+the big hotels.
+
+Moulton went up in the line to pay his respects to the newly-elected
+chief magistrate, purely as a formality, he explained to his companions.
+As Moulton came along the line Mr. Lincoln grasped Moulton's hand with
+his right, and with his left took the master of chancery by the shoulder
+and pulled him out of the line.
+
+"You don't belong in that line, Moulton," said Mr. Lincoln. "You belong
+here by me."
+
+Everyone at the reception was a witness to the honoring of Moulton. From
+that hour every faculty that Moulton possessed was at the service of the
+President. A little act of kindness, skillfully bestowed, had won him;
+and he stayed on to the end.
+
+
+
+
+NEVER SUED A CLIENT.
+
+If a client did not pay, Lincoln did not believe in suing for the fee.
+When a fee was paid him his custom was to divide the money into two
+equal parts, put one part into his pocket, and the other into an
+envelope labeled "Herndon's share."
+
+
+
+
+THE LINCOLN HOUSEHOLD GOODS.
+
+It is recorded that when "Abe" was born, the household goods of his
+father consisted of a few cooking utensils, a little bedding, some
+carpenter tools, and four hundred gallons of the fierce product of the
+mountain still.
+
+
+
+
+RUNNING THE MACHINE.
+
+One of the cartoon-posters issued by the Democratic National Campaign
+Committee in the fall of 1864 is given here. It had the legend, "Running
+the Machine," printed beneath; the "machine" was Secretary Chase's
+"Greenback Mill," and the mill was turning out paper money by the
+million to satisfy the demands of greedy contractors. "Uncle Abe" is
+pictured as about to tell one of his funny stories, of which the scene
+"reminds" him; Secretary of War Stanton is receiving a message from the
+front, describing a great victory, in which one prisoner and one gun
+were taken; Secretary of State Seward is handing an order to a messenger
+for the arrest of a man who had called him a "humbug," the habeas corpus
+being suspended throughout the Union at that period; Secretary of
+the Navy Welles--the long-haired, long-bearded man at the head of
+the table--is figuring out a naval problem; at the side of the table,
+opposite "Uncle Abe," are seated two Government contractors, shouting
+for "more greenbacks," and at the extreme left is Secretary of the
+Treasury Fessenden (who succeeded Chase when the latter was made Chief
+Justice of the United States Supreme Court), who complains that he
+cannot satisfy the greed of the contractors for "more greenbacks,"
+although he is grinding away at the mill day and night.
+
+
+
+
+WAS "BOSS" WHEN NECESSARY.
+
+Lincoln was the actual head of the administration, and whenever he chose
+to do so he controlled Secretary of War Stanton as well as the other
+Cabinet ministers.
+
+Secretary Stanton on one occasion said: "Now, Mr. President, those are
+the facts and you must see that your order cannot be executed."
+
+Lincoln replied in a somewhat positive tone: "Mr. Secretary, I reckon
+you'll have to execute the order."
+
+Stanton replied with vigor: "Mr. President, I cannot do it. This order
+is an improper one, and I cannot execute it."
+
+Lincoln fixed his eyes upon Stanton, and, in a firm voice and accent
+that clearly showed his determination, said: "Mr. Secretary, it will
+have to be done."
+
+It was done.
+
+
+
+
+"RATHER STARVE THAN SWINDLE."
+
+Ward Lamon, once Lincoln's law partner, relates a story which places
+Lincoln's high sense of honor in a prominent light. In a certain case,
+Lincoln and Lamon being retained by a gentleman named Scott, Lamon put
+the fee at $250, and Scott agreed to pay it. Says Lamon:
+
+"Scott expected a contest, but, to his surprise, the case was tried
+inside of twenty minutes; our success was complete. Scott was satisfied,
+and cheerfully paid over the money to me inside the bar, Lincoln looking
+on. Scott then went out, and Lincoln asked, 'What did you charge that
+man?'
+
+"I told him $250. Said he: 'Lamon, that is all wrong. The service was
+not worth that sum. Give him back at least half of it.'
+
+"I protested that the fee was fixed in advance; that Scott was perfectly
+satisfied, and had so expressed himself. 'That may be,' retorted
+Lincoln, with a look of distress and of undisguised displeasure, 'but I
+am not satisfied. This is positively wrong. Go, call him back and return
+half the money at least, or I will not receive one cent of it for my
+share.'
+
+"I did go, and Scott was astonished when I handed back half the fee.
+
+"This conversation had attracted the attention of the lawyers and
+the court. Judge David Davis, then on our circuit bench (afterwards
+Associate Justice on the United States Supreme bench), called Lincoln to
+him. The Judge never could whisper, but in this instance he probably
+did his best. At all events, in attempting to whisper to Lincoln he
+trumpeted his rebuke in about these words, and in rasping tones that
+could be heard all over the court-room: 'Lincoln, I have been watching
+you and Lamon. You are impoverishing this bar by your picayune charges
+of fees, and the lawyers have reason to complain of you. You are now
+almost as poor as Lazarus, and if you don't make people pay you more for
+your services you will die as poor as Job's turkey!'
+
+"Judge O. L. Davis, the leading lawyer in that part of the State,
+promptly applauded this malediction from the bench; but Lincoln was
+immovable.
+
+"'That money,' said he, 'comes out of the pocket of a poor, demented
+girl, and I would rather starve than swindle her in this manner.'"
+
+
+
+
+DON'T AIM TOO HIGH.
+
+"Billy, don't shoot too high--aim lower, and the common people will
+understand you," Lincoln once said to a brother lawyer.
+
+"They are the ones you want to reach--at least, they are the ones you
+ought to reach.
+
+"The educated and refined people will understand you, anyway. If you aim
+too high, your idea will go over the heads of the masses, and only hit
+those who need no hitting."
+
+
+
+
+NOT MUCH AT RAIL-SPLITTING.
+
+One who afterward became one of Lincoln's most devoted friends and
+adherents tells this story regarding the manner in which Lincoln
+received him when they met for the first time:
+
+"After a comical survey of my fashionable toggery,--my swallow-tail
+coat, white neck-cloth, and ruffled shirt (an astonishing outfit for a
+young limb of the law in that settlement), Lincoln said:
+
+"'Going to try your hand at the law, are you? I should know at a glance
+that you were a Virginian; but I don't think you would succeed at
+splitting rails. That was my occupation at your age, and I don't think I
+have taken as much pleasure in anything else from that day to this.'"
+
+
+
+
+GAVE THE SOLDIER THE PREFERENCE.
+
+July 27th, 1863, Lincoln wrote the Postmaster-General:
+
+"Yesterday little indorsements of mine went to you in two cases of
+postmasterships, sought for widows whose husbands have fallen in the
+battles of this war.
+
+"These cases, occurring on the same day, brought me to reflect more
+attentively than what I had before done as to what is fairly due from
+us here in dispensing of patronage toward the men who, by fighting our
+battles, bear the chief burden of saving our country.
+
+"My conclusion is that, other claims and qualifications being equal,
+they have the right, and this is especially applicable to the disabled
+soldier and the deceased soldier's family."
+
+
+
+
+THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT SCARED.
+
+When told how uneasy all had been at his going to Richmond, Lincoln
+replied:
+
+"Why, if any one else had been President and had gone to Richmond, I
+would have been alarmed; but I was not scared about myself a bit."
+
+
+
+
+JEFF. DAVIS' REPLY TO LINCOLN.
+
+On the 20th of July, 1864, Horace Greeley crossed into Canada to confer
+with refugee rebels at Niagara. He bore with him this paper from the
+President:
+
+"To Whom It May Concern: Any proposition which embraces the restoration
+of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of
+slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control
+the armies now at war with the United States, will be received and
+considered by the executive government of the United States, and will
+be met by liberal terms and other substantial and collateral points, and
+the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways."
+
+To this Jefferson Davis replied: "We are not fighting for slavery; we
+are fighting for independence."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WAS a GENTLEMAN.
+
+Lincoln was compelled to contend with the results of the ill-judged zeal
+of politicians, who forced ahead his flatboat and rail-splitting record,
+with the homely surroundings of his earlier days, and thus, obscured
+for the time, the other fact that, always having the heart, he had long
+since acquired the manners of a true gentleman.
+
+So, too, did he suffer from Eastern censors, who did not take those
+surroundings into account, and allowed nothing for his originality of
+character. One of these critics heard at Washington that Mr. Lincoln, in
+speaking at different times of some move or thing, said "it had petered
+out;" that some other one's plan "wouldn't gibe;" and being asked if the
+War and the cause of the Union were not a great care to him, replied:
+
+"Yes, it is a heavy hog to hold."
+
+The first two phrases are so familiar here in the West that they need no
+explanation. Of the last and more pioneer one it may be said that it had
+a special force, and was peculiarly Lincoln-like in the way applied by
+him.
+
+In the early times in Illinois, those having hogs, did their own
+killing, assisted by their neighbors. Stripped of its hair, one held the
+carcass nearly perpendicular in the air, head down, while others put
+one point of the gambrel-bar through a slit in its hock, then over the
+string-pole, and the other point through the other hock, and so swung
+the animal clear of the ground. While all this was being done, it took a
+good man to "hold the hog," greasy, warmly moist, and weighing some two
+hundred pounds. And often those with the gambrel prolonged the strain,
+being provokingly slow, in hopes to make the holder drop his burden.
+
+This latter thought is again expressed where President Lincoln, writing
+of the peace which he hoped would "come soon, to stay; and so come as to
+be worth the keeping in all future time," added that while there would
+"be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue and clenched
+teeth and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind
+on to this great consummation," he feared there would "be some white
+ones unable to forget that, with malignant heart and deceitful tongue,
+they had striven to hinder it."
+
+He had two seemingly opposite elements little understood by strangers,
+and which those in more intimate relations with him find difficult to
+explain; an open, boyish tongue when in a happy mood, and with this a
+reserve of power, a force of thought that impressed itself without words
+on observers in his presence. With the cares of the nation on his mind,
+he became more meditative, and lost much of his lively ways remembered
+"back in Illinois."
+
+
+
+
+HIS POOR RELATIONS.
+
+One of the most beautiful traits of Mr. Lincoln's character was his
+considerate regard for the poor and obscure relatives he had left,
+plodding along in their humble ways of life. Wherever upon his circuit
+he found them, he always went to their dwellings, ate with them, and,
+when convenient, made their houses his home. He never assumed in their
+presence the slightest superiority to them. He gave them money when
+they needed it and he had it. Countless times he was known to leave
+his companions at the village hotel, after a hard day's work in the
+court-room, and spend the evening with these old friends and companions
+of his humbler days. On one occasion, when urged not to go, he replied,
+"Why, Aunt's heart would be broken if I should leave town without
+calling upon her;" yet, he was obliged to walk several miles to make the
+call.
+
+
+
+
+DESERTER'S SINS WASHED OUT IN BLOOD.
+
+This was the reply made by Lincoln to an application for the pardon of
+a soldier who had shown himself brave in war, had been severely wounded,
+but afterward deserted:
+
+"Did you say he was once badly wounded?
+
+"Then, as the Scriptures say that in the shedding of blood is the
+remission of sins, I guess we'll have to let him off this time."
+
+
+
+
+SURE CURE FOR BOILS.
+
+President Lincoln and Postmaster-General Blair were talking of the war.
+
+"Blair," said the President, "did you ever know that fright has
+sometimes proven a cure for boils?" "No, Mr. President, how is that?"
+"I'll tell you. Not long ago when a colonel, with his cavalry, was at
+the front, and the Rebs were making things rather lively for us, the
+colonel was ordered out to a reconnaissance. He was troubled at the time
+with a big boil where it made horseback riding decidedly uncomfortable.
+He finally dismounted and ordered the troops forward without him. Soon
+he was startled by the rapid reports of pistols and the helter-skelter
+approach of his troops in full retreat before a yelling rebel force.
+He forgot everything but the yells, sprang into his saddle, and made
+capital time over the fences and ditches till safe within the lines. The
+pain from his boil was gone, and the boil, too, and the colonel swore
+that there was no cure for boils so sure as fright from rebel yells."
+
+
+
+
+PAY FOR EVERYTHING.
+
+When President Lincoln issued a military order, it was usually
+expressive, as the following shows:
+
+"War Department, Washington, July 22, '62.
+
+"First: Ordered that military commanders within the States of Virginia,
+South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas
+and Arkansas, in an orderly manner, seize and use any property, real
+or personal, which may be necessary or convenient for their several
+commands, for supplies, or for other military purposes; and that while
+property may be all stored for proper military objects, none shall be
+destroyed in wantonness or malice.
+
+"Second: That military and naval commanders shall employ as laborers
+within and from said States, so many persons of African descent as
+can be advantageously used for military or naval purposes, giving them
+reasonable wages for their labor.
+
+"Third: That as to both property and persons of African descent,
+accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail to show
+quantities and amounts, and from whom both property and such persons
+shall have come, as a basis upon which compensation can be made in
+proper cases; and the several departments of this Government shall
+attend to and perform their appropriate parts towards the execution of
+these orders.
+
+"By order of the President."
+
+
+
+
+BASHFUL WITH LADIES.
+
+Judge David Davis, Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and
+United States Senator from Illinois, was one of Lincoln's most intimate
+friends. He told this story on "Abe":
+
+"Lincoln was very bashful when in the presence of ladies. I remember
+once we were invited to take tea at a friend's house, and while in the
+parlor I was called to the front gate to see someone.
+
+"When I returned, Lincoln, who had undertaken to entertain the ladies,
+was twisting and squirming in his chair, and as bashful as a schoolboy."
+
+
+
+
+SAW HUMOR IN EVERYTHING.
+
+There was much that was irritating and uncomfortable in the
+circuit-riding of the Illinois court, but there was more which was
+amusing to a temperament like Lincoln's. The freedom, the long days in
+the open air, the unexpected if trivial adventures, the meeting with
+wayfarers and settlers--all was an entertainment to him. He found humor
+and human interest on the route where his companions saw nothing but
+commonplaces.
+
+"He saw the ludicrous in an assemblage of fowls," says H. C. Whitney,
+one of his fellow-itinerants, "in a man spading his garden, in a
+clothes-line full of clothes, in a group of boys, in a lot of pigs
+rooting at a mill door, in a mother duck teaching her brood to swim--in
+everything and anything."
+
+
+
+
+SPECIFIC FOR FOREIGN "RASH."
+
+It was in the latter part of 1863 that Russia offered its friendship to
+the United States, and sent a strong fleet of warships, together with
+munitions of war, to this country to be used in any way the President
+might see fit. Russia was not friendly to England and France, these
+nations having defeated her in the Crimea a few years before. As Great
+Britain and the Emperor of the French were continually bothering him,
+President Lincoln used Russia's kindly feeling and action as a means
+of keeping the other two powers named in a neutral state of mind.
+Underneath the cartoon we here reproduce, which was labeled "Drawing
+Things to a Head," and appeared in the issue of "Harper's Weekly," of
+November 28, 1863, was this DR. LINCOLN (to smart boy of the shop):
+"Mild applications of Russian Salve for our friends over the way, and
+heavy doses--and plenty of it for our Southern patient!!"
+
+Secretary of State Seward was the "smart boy" of the shop, and "our
+friend over the way" were England and France. The latter bothered
+President Lincoln no more, but it is a fact that the Confederate
+privateer Alabama was manned almost entirely by British seamen; also,
+that when the Alabama was sunk by the Kearsarge, in the summer of 1864,
+the Confederate seamen were picked up by an English vessel, taken to
+Southhampton, and set at liberty!
+
+
+
+
+FAVORED THE OTHER SIDE.
+
+Lincoln was candor itself when conducting his side of a case in court.
+General Mason Brayman tells this story as an illustration:
+
+"It is well understood by the profession that lawyers do not read
+authors favoring the opposite side. I once heard Mr. Lincoln, in the
+Supreme Court of Illinois, reading from a reported case some strong
+points in favor of his argument. Reading a little too far, and before
+becoming aware of it, plunged into an authority against himself.
+
+"Pausing a moment, he drew up his shoulders in a comical way, and half
+laughing, went on, 'There, there, may it please the court, I reckon
+I've scratched up a snake. But, as I'm in for it, I guess I'll read it
+through.'
+
+"Then, in his most ingenious and matchless manner, he went on with his
+argument, and won his case, convincing the court that it was not much of
+a snake after all."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND THE "SHOW"
+
+Lincoln was fond of going all by himself to any little show or concert.
+He would often slip away from his fellow-lawyers and spend the entire
+evening at a little magic lantern show intended for children.
+
+A traveling concert company was always sure of drawing Lincoln. A Mrs.
+Hillis, a member of the "Newhall Family," and a good singer, was the
+only woman who ever seemed to exhibit any liking for him--so Lincoln
+said. He attended a negro-minstrel show in Chicago, once, where he heard
+Dixie sung. It was entirely new, and pleased him greatly.
+
+
+
+
+"MIXING" AND "MINGLING."
+
+An Eastern newspaper writer told how Lincoln, after his first
+nomination, received callers, the majority of them at his law office:
+
+"While talking to two or three gentlemen and standing up, a very hard
+looking customer rolled in and tumbled into the only vacant chair and
+the one lately occupied by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's keen eye took in
+the fact, but gave no evidence of the notice.
+
+"Turning around at last he spoke to the odd specimen, holding out his
+hand at such a distance that our friend had to vacate the chair if he
+accepted the proffered shake. Mr. Lincoln quietly resumed his chair.
+
+"It was a small matter, yet one giving proof more positively than a
+larger event of that peculiar way the man has of mingling with a mixed
+crowd."
+
+
+
+
+TOOK PART OF THE BLAME.
+
+Among the lawyers who traveled the circuit with Lincoln was Usher F.
+Linder, whose daughter, Rose Linder Wilkinson, has left many Lincoln
+reminiscences.
+
+"One case in which Mr. Lincoln was interested concerned a member of my
+own family," said Mrs. Wilkinson. "My brother, Dan, in the heat of a
+quarrel, shot a young man named Ben Boyle and was arrested. My father
+was seriously ill with inflammatory rheumatism at the time, and could
+scarcely move hand or foot. He certainly could not defend Dan. I was his
+secretary, and I remember it was but a day or so after the shooting till
+letters of sympathy began to pour in. In the first bundle which I picked
+up there was a big letter, the handwriting on which I recognized as that
+of Mr. Lincoln. The letter was very sympathetic.
+
+"'I know how you feel, Linder,' it said. 'I can understand your anger
+as a father, added to all the other sentiments. But may we not be in a
+measure to blame? We have talked about the defense of criminals before
+our children; about our success in defending them; have left the
+impression that the greater the crime, the greater the triumph of
+securing an acquittal. Dan knows your success as a criminal lawyer,
+and he depends on you, little knowing that of all cases you would be of
+least value in this.'
+
+"He concluded by offering his services, an offer which touched my father
+to tears.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln tried to have Dan released on bail, but Ben Boyle's family
+and friends declared the wounded man would die, and feeling had grown so
+bitter that the judge would not grant any bail. So the case was changed
+to Marshall county, but as Ben finally recovered it was dismissed."
+
+
+
+
+THOUGHT OF LEARNING A TRADE.
+
+Lincoln at one time thought seriously of learning the blacksmith's
+trade. He was without means, and felt the immediate necessity of
+undertaking some business that would give him bread. While entertaining
+this project an event occurred which, in his undetermined state of mind,
+seemed to open a way to success in another quarter.
+
+Reuben Radford, keeper of a small store in the village of New Salem, had
+incurred the displeasure of the "Clary Grove Boys," who exercised their
+"regulating" prerogatives by irregularly breaking his windows. William
+G. Greene, a friend of young Lincoln, riding by Radford's store soon
+afterward, was hailed by him, and told that he intended to sell out.
+Mr. Greene went into the store, and offered him at random $400 for his
+stock, which offer was immediately accepted.
+
+Lincoln "happened in" the next day, and being familiar with the value of
+the goods, Mr. Greene proposed to him to take an inventory of the stock,
+to see what sort of a bargain he had made. This he did, and it was found
+that the goods were worth $600.
+
+Lincoln then made an offer of $125 for his bargain, with the proposition
+that he and a man named Berry, as his partner, take over Greene's notes
+given to Radford. Mr. Greene agreed to the arrangement, but Radford
+declined it, except on condition that Greene would be their security.
+Greene at last assented.
+
+Lincoln was not afraid of the "Clary Grove Boys"; on the contrary,
+they had been his most ardent friends since the time he thrashed "Jack"
+Armstrong, champion bully of "The Grove"--but their custom was not
+heavy.
+
+The business soon became a wreck; Greene had to not only assist in
+closing it up, but pay Radford's notes as well. Lincoln afterwards spoke
+of these notes, which he finally made good to Greene, as "the National
+Debt."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN DEFENDS FIFTEEN MRS. NATIONS.
+
+When Lincoln's sympathies were enlisted in any cause, he worked like a
+giant to win. At one time (about 1855) he was in attendance upon court
+at the little town of Clinton, Ill., and one of the cases on the docket
+was where fifteen women from a neighboring village were defendants, they
+having been indicted for trespass. Their offense, as duly set forth in
+the indictment, was that of swooping down upon one Tanner, the keeper
+of a saloon in the village, and knocking in the heads of his barrels.
+Lincoln was not employed in the case, but sat watching the trial as it
+proceeded.
+
+In defending the ladies, their attorney seemed to evince a little want
+of tact, and this prompted one of the former to invite Mr. Lincoln to
+add a few words to the jury, if he thought he could aid their cause. He
+was too gallant to refuse, and their attorney having consented, he made
+use of the following argument:
+
+"In this case I would change the order of indictment and have it read
+The State vs. Mr. Whiskey, instead of The State vs. The Ladies; and
+touching these there are three laws: the law of self-protection; the law
+of the land, or statute law; and the moral law, or law of God.
+
+"First the law of self-protection is a law of necessity, as evinced by
+our forefathers in casting the tea overboard and asserting their right
+to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness: In this case it is the
+only defense the Ladies have, for Tanner neither feared God nor regarded
+man.
+
+"Second, the law of the land, or statute law, and Tanner is recreant to
+both.
+
+"Third, the moral law, or law of God, and this is probably a law for the
+violation of which the jury can fix no punishment."
+
+Lincoln gave some of his own observations on the ruinous effects of
+whiskey in society, and demanded its early suppression.
+
+After he had concluded, the Court, without awaiting the return of the
+jury, dismissed the ladies, saying:
+
+"Ladies, go home. I will require no bond of you, and if any fine is ever
+wanted of you, we will let you know."
+
+
+
+
+AVOIDED EVEN APPEARANCE OF EVIL
+
+Frank W. Tracy, President of the First National Bank of Springfield,
+tells a story illustrative of two traits in Mr. Lincoln's character.
+Shortly after the National banking law went into effect the First
+National of Springield was chartered, and Mr. Tracy wrote to Mr.
+Lincoln, with whom he was well acquainted in a business way, and
+tendered him an opportunity to subscribe for some of the stock.
+
+In reply to the kindly offer Mr. Lincoln wrote, thanking Mr. Tracy,
+but at the same time declining to subscribe. He said he recognized that
+stock in a good National bank would be a good thing to hold, but he did
+not feel that he ought, as President, profit from a law which had been
+passed under his administration.
+
+"He seemed to wish to avoid even the appearance of evil," said Mr.
+Tracy, in telling of the incident. "And so the act proved both his
+unvarying probity and his unfailing policy."
+
+
+
+
+WAR DIDN'T ADMIT OF HOLIDAYS.
+
+Lincoln wrote a letter on October 2d, 1862, in which he observed:
+
+"I sincerely wish war was a pleasanter and easier business than it is,
+but it does not admit of holidays."
+
+
+
+
+"NEUTRALITY."
+
+Old John Bull got himself into a precious fine scrape when he went so
+far as to "play double" with the North, as well as the South, during the
+great American Civil War. In its issue of November 14th, 1863, London
+"Punch" printed a rather clever cartoon illustrating the predicament
+Bull had created for himself. John is being lectured by Mrs. North and
+Mrs. South--both good talkers and eminently able to hold their own
+in either social conversation, parliamentary debate or political
+argument--but he bears it with the best grace possible. This is the way
+the text underneath the picture runs:
+
+MRS. NORTH. "How about the Alabama, you wicked old man?" MRS. SOUTH:
+"Where's my rams? Take back your precious consols--there!!" "Punch" had
+a good deal of fun with old John before it was through with him, but,
+as the Confederate privateer Alabama was sent beneath the waves of the
+ocean at Cherbourg by the Kearsarge, and Mrs. South had no need for any
+more rams, John got out of the difficulty without personal injury. It
+was a tight squeeze, though, for Mrs. North was in a fighting humor, and
+prepared to scratch or pull hair. The fact that the privateer Alabama,
+built at an English shipyard and manned almost entirely by English
+sailors, had managed to do about $10,000,000 worth of damage to United
+States commerce, was enough to make any one angry.
+
+
+
+
+DAYS OF GLADNESS PAST.
+
+After the war was well on, a patriot woman of the West urged President
+Lincoln to make hospitals at the North where the sick from the Army of
+the Mississippi could revive in a more bracing air. Among other reasons,
+she said, feelingly: "If you grant my petition, you will be glad as long
+as you live."
+
+With a look of sadness impossible to describe, the President said:
+
+"I shall never be glad any more."
+
+
+
+
+WOULDN'T TAKE THE MONEY.
+
+Lincoln always regarded himself as the friend and protector of
+unfortunate clients, and such he would never press for pay for his
+services. A client named Cogdal was unfortunate in business, and gave a
+note in settlement of legal fees. Soon afterward he met with an accident
+by which he lost a hand. Meeting Lincoln some time after on the steps of
+the State-House, the kind lawyer asked him how he was getting along.
+
+"Badly enough," replied Cogdal; "I am both broken up in business and
+crippled." Then he added, "I have been thinking about that note of
+yours."
+
+Lincoln, who had probably known all about Cogdal's troubles, and had
+prepared himself for the meeting, took out his pocket-book, and saying,
+with a laugh, "Well, you needn't think any more about it," handed him
+the note.
+
+Cogdal protesting, Lincoln said, "Even if you had the money, I would not
+take it," and hurried away.
+
+
+
+
+GRANT HELD ON ALL THE TIME.
+
+(Dispatch to General Grant, August 17th, 1864.)
+
+"I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your
+hold where you are. Neither am I willing.
+
+"Hold on with a bulldog grip."
+
+
+
+
+CHEWED THE CUD IN SOLITUDE.
+
+As a student (if such a term could be applied to Lincoln), one who did
+not know him might have called him indolent. He would pick up a book and
+run rapidly over the pages, pausing here and there.
+
+At the end of an hour--never more than two or three hours--he would
+close the book, stretch himself out on the office lounge, and then, with
+hands under his head and eyes shut, would digest the mental food he had
+just taken.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE'S" YANKEE INGENUITY.
+
+War Governor Richard Yates (he was elected Governor of Illinois in
+1860, when Lincoln was first elected President) told a good story at
+Springfield (Ill.) about Lincoln.
+
+One day the latter was in the Sangamon River with his trousers rolled up
+five feet--more or less--trying to pilot a flatboat over a mill-dam. The
+boat was so full of water that it was hard to manage. Lincoln got the
+prow over, and then, instead of waiting to bail the water out, bored
+a hole through the projecting part and let it run out, affording a
+forcible illustration of the ready ingenuity of the future President.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PAID HOMAGE TO WASHINGTON.
+
+The Martyr President thus spoke of Washington in the course of an
+address:
+
+"Washington is the mightiest name on earth--long since the mightiest in
+the cause of civil liberty, still mightiest in moral reformation.
+
+"On that name a eulogy is expected. It cannot be.
+
+"To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington is
+alike impossible.
+
+"Let none attempt it.
+
+"In solemn awe pronounce the name, and, in its naked, deathless
+splendor, leave it shining on."
+
+
+
+
+STIRRED EVEN THE REPORTERS.
+
+Lincoln's influence upon his audiences was wonderful. He could sway
+people at will, and nothing better illustrates his extraordinary power
+than he manner in which he stirred up the newspaper reporters by his
+Bloomingon speech.
+
+Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago Tribune, told the story:
+
+"It was my journalistic duty, though a delegate to the convention, to
+make a 'longhand' report of the speeches delivered for the Tribune. I
+did make a few paragraphs of what Lincoln said in the first eight or ten
+minutes, but I became so absorbed in his magnetic oratory that I forgot
+myself and ceased to take notes, and joined with the convention in
+cheering and stamping and clapping to the end of his speech.
+
+"I well remember that after Lincoln sat down and calm had succeeded the
+tempest, I waked out of a sort of hypnotic trance, and then thought of
+my report for the paper. There was nothing written but an abbreviated
+introduction.
+
+"It was some sort of satisfaction to find that I had not been 'scooped,'
+as all the newspaper men present had been equally carried away by the
+excitement caused by the wonderful oration and had made no report or
+sketch of the speech."
+
+
+
+
+WHEN "ABE" CAME IN.
+
+When "Abe" was fourteen years of age, John Hanks journeyed from Kentucky
+to Indiana and lived with the Lincolns. He described "Abe's" habits
+thus:
+
+"When Lincoln and I returned to the house from work, he would go to the
+cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, take down a book, sit down on a
+chair, cock his legs up as high as his head, and read.
+
+"He and I worked barefooted, grubbed it, plowed, mowed, cradled
+together; plowed corn, gathered it, and shucked corn. 'Abe' read
+constantly when he had an opportunity."
+
+
+
+
+ETERNAL FIDELITY TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY.
+
+During the Harrison Presidential campaign of 1840, Lincoln said, in a
+speech at Springfield, Illinois:
+
+"Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers;
+but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was last to
+desert, but that I never deserted her.
+
+"I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed
+by the evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava of
+political corruption in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping
+with frightful velocity over the whole length and breadth of the land,
+bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or living thing.
+
+"I cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it, I, too, may be;
+bow to it I never will.
+
+"The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us
+from the support of a cause which we believe to be just. It shall never
+deter me.
+
+"If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those
+dimensions not wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is when I
+contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by all the world beside,
+and I standing up boldly alone, and hurling defiance at her victorious
+oppressors.
+
+"Here, without contemplating consequences, before heaven, and in the
+face of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem
+it, of the land of my life, my liberty, and my love; and who that thinks
+with me will not fearlessly adopt the oath that I take?
+
+"Let none falter who thinks he is right, and we may succeed.
+
+"But if, after all, we shall fail, be it so; we have the proud
+consolation of saying to our consciences, and to the departed shade of
+our country's freedom, that the cause approved of our judgment, and,
+adorned of our hearts in disaster, in chains, in death, we never
+faltered in defending."
+
+
+
+
+"ABE'S" "DEFALCATIONS."
+
+Lincoln could not rest for as instant under the consciousness that, even
+unwittingly, he had defrauded anybody. On one occasion, while clerking
+in Offutt's store, at New Salem, he sold a woman a little bale of goods,
+amounting, by the reckoning, to $2.20. He received the money, and the
+woman went away.
+
+On adding the items of the bill again to make himself sure of
+correctness, he found that he had taken six and a quarter cents too
+much.
+
+It was night, and, closing and locking the store, he started out on
+foot, a distance of two or three miles, for the house of his defrauded
+customer, and, delivering to her the sum whose possession had so much
+troubled him, went home satisfied.
+
+On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for the night, a
+woman entered and asked for half a pound of tea. The tea was weighed
+out and paid for, and the store was left for the night.
+
+The next morning Lincoln, when about to begin the duties of the day,
+discovered a four-ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once that he
+had made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a long walk before
+breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea.
+
+These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the man's perfect
+conscientiousness--his sensitive honesty--better, perhaps, than they
+would if they were of greater moment.
+
+
+
+
+HE WASN'T GUILELESS.
+
+Leonard Swett, of Chicago, whose counsels were doubtless among the most
+welcome to Lincoln, in summing up Lincoln's character, said:
+
+"From the commencement of his life to its close I have sometimes doubted
+whether he ever asked anybody's advice about anything. He would listen
+to everybody; he would hear everybody; but he rarely, if ever, asked for
+opinions.
+
+"As a politician and as President he arrived at all his conclusions from
+his own reflections, and when his conclusions were once formed he never
+doubted but what they were right.
+
+"One great public mistake of his (Lincoln's) character, as generally
+received and acquiesced in, is that he is considered by the people of
+this country as a frank, guileless, and unsophisticated man. There never
+was a greater mistake.
+
+"Beneath a smooth surface of candor and apparent declaration of all
+his thoughts and feelings he exercised the most exalted tact and wisest
+discrimination. He handled and moved men remotely as we do pieces upon a
+chess-board.
+
+"He retained through life all the friends he ever had, and he made the
+wrath of his enemies to praise him. This was not by cunning or intrigue
+in the low acceptation of the term, but by far-seeing reason and
+discernment. He always told only enough of his plans and purposes to
+induce the belief that he had communicated all; yet he reserved enough
+to have communicated nothing."
+
+
+
+
+SWEET, BUT MILD REVENGE.
+
+When the United States found that a war with Black Hawk could not be
+dodged, Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, issued a call for volunteers,
+and among the companies that immediately responded was one from Menard
+county, Illinois. Many of these volunteers were from New Salem and
+Clary's Grove, and Lincoln, being out of business, was the first to
+enlist.
+
+The company being full, the men held a meeting at Richland for the
+election of officers. Lincoln had won many hearts, and they told him
+that he must be their captain. It was an office to which he did not
+aspire, and for which he felt he had no special fitness; but he finally
+consented to be a candidate.
+
+There was but one other candidate, a Mr. Kirkpatrick, who was one of the
+most influential men of the region. Previously, Kirkpatrick had been
+an employer of Lincoln, and was so overbearing in his treatment of the
+young man that the latter left him.
+
+The simple mode of electing a captain adopted by the company was by
+placing the candidates apart, and telling the men to go and stand with
+the one they preferred. Lincoln and his competitor took their positions,
+and then the word was given. At least three out of every four went to
+Lincoln at once.
+
+When it was seen by those who had arranged themselves with the other
+candidate that Lincoln was the choice of the majority of the company,
+they left their places, one by one, and came over to the successful
+side, until Lincoln's opponent in the friendly strife was left standing
+almost alone.
+
+"I felt badly to see him cut so," says a witness of the scene.
+
+Here was an opportunity for revenge. The humble laborer was his
+employer's captain, but the opportunity was never improved. Mr. Lincoln
+frequently confessed that no subsequent success of his life had given
+him half the satisfaction that this election did.
+
+
+
+
+DIDN'T TRUST THE COURT.
+
+In one of his many stories of Lincoln, his law partner, W. H. Herndon,
+told this as illustrating Lincoln's shrewdness as a lawyer:
+
+"I was with Lincoln once and listened to an oral argument by him in
+which he rehearsed an extended history of the law. It was a carefully
+prepared and masterly discourse, but, as I thought, entirely useless.
+After he was through and we were walking home, I asked him why he went
+so far back in the history of the law. I presumed the court knew enough
+history.
+
+"'That's where you're mistaken,' was his instant rejoinder. 'I dared
+not just the case on the presumption that the court knows everything--in
+fact I argued it on the presumption that the court didn't know
+anything,' a statement, which, when one reviews the decision of our
+appellate courts, is not so extravagant as one would at first suppose."
+
+
+
+
+HANDSOMEST MAN ON EARTH.
+
+One day Thaddeus Stevens called at the White House with an elderly
+woman, whose son had been in the army, but for some offense had been
+court-martialed and sentenced to death. There were some extenuating
+circumstances, and after a full hearing the President turned to Stevens
+and said: "Mr. Stevens, do you think this is a case which will warrant
+my interference?"
+
+"With my knowledge of the facts and the parties," was the reply, "I
+should have no hesitation in granting a pardon."
+
+"Then," returned Mr. Lincoln, "I will pardon him," and proceeded
+forthwith to execute the paper.
+
+The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, save by her
+tears, and not a word was said between her and Stevens until they were
+half way down the stairs on their passage out, when she suddenly broke
+forth in an excited manner with the words:
+
+"I knew it was a copperhead lie!"
+
+"What do you refer to, madam?" asked Stevens.
+
+"Why, they told me he was an ugly-looking man," she replied, with
+vehemence. "He is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life."
+
+
+
+
+THAT COON CAME DOWN.
+
+"Lincoln's Last Warning" was the title of a cartoon which appeared in
+"Harper's Weekly," on October 11, 1862. Under the picture was the text:
+
+"Now if you don't come down I'll cut the tree from under you."
+
+This illustration was peculiarly apt, as, on the 1st of January, 1863,
+President Lincoln issued his great Emancipation Proclamation, declaring
+all slaves in the United States forever free. "Old Abe" was a handy
+man with the axe, he having split many thousands of rails with its keen
+edge. As the "Slavery Coon" wouldn't heed the warning, Lincoln did cut
+the tree from under him, and so he came down to the ground with a heavy
+thump.
+
+This Act of Emancipation put an end to the notion of the Southern slave
+holders that involuntary servitude was one of the "sacred institutions"
+on the Continent of North America. It also demonstrated that Lincoln was
+thoroughly in earnest when he declared that he would not only save the
+Union, but that he meant what he said in the speech wherein he asserted,
+"This Nation cannot exist half slave and half free."
+
+
+
+
+WROTE "PIECES" WHEN VERY YOUNG.
+
+At fifteen years of age "Abe" wrote "pieces," or compositions, and even
+some doggerel rhyme, which he recited, to the great amusement of his
+playmates.
+
+One of his first compositions was against cruelty to animals. He was
+very much annoyed and pained at the conduct of the boys, who were in the
+habit of catching terrapins and putting coals of fire on their backs,
+which thoroughly disgusted Abraham.
+
+"He would chide us," said "Nat" Grigsby, "tell us it was wrong, and
+would write against it."
+
+When eighteen years old, "Abe" wrote a "piece" on "National Politics,"
+and it so pleased a lawyer friend, named Pritchard, that the latter
+had it printed in an obscure paper, thereby adding much to the author's
+pride. "Abe" did not conceal his satisfaction. In this "piece" he wrote,
+among other things:
+
+"The American government is the best form of government for an
+intelligent people. It ought to be kept sound, and preserved forever,
+that general education should be fostered and carried all over the
+country; that the Constitution should be saved, the Union perpetuated
+and the laws revered, respected and enforced."
+
+
+
+
+"TRY TO STEER HER THROUGH."
+
+John A. Logan and a friend of Illinois called upon Lincoln at Willard's
+Hotel, Washington, February 23d, the morning of his arrival, and urged a
+vigorous, firm policy.
+
+Patiently listening, Lincoln replied seriously but cheerfully:
+
+"As the country has placed me at the helm of the ship, I'll try to steer
+her through."
+
+
+
+
+GRAND, GLOOMY AND PECULIAR.
+
+Lincoln was a marked and peculiar young man. People talked about him.
+His studious habits, his greed for information, his thorough mastery
+of the difficulties of every new position in which he was placed,
+his intelligence on all matters of public concern, his unwearying
+good-nature, his skill in telling a story, his great athletic power,
+his quaint, odd ways, his uncouth appearance--all tended to bring him in
+sharp contrast with the dull mediocrity by which he was surrounded.
+
+Denton Offutt, his old employer, said, after having had a conversation
+with Lincoln, that the young man "had talent enough in him to make a
+President."
+
+
+
+
+ON THE WAY TO GETTYSBURG.
+
+When Lincoln was on his way to the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, an
+old gentleman told him that his only son fell on Little Round Top at
+Gettysburg, and he was going to look at the spot. Mr. Lincoln replied:
+"You have been called on to make a terrible sacrifice for the Union, and
+a visit to that spot, I fear, will open your wounds afresh.
+
+"But, oh, my dear sir, if we had reached the end of such sacrifices,
+and had nothing left for us to do but to place garlands on the graves
+of those who have already fallen, we could give thanks even amidst our
+tears; but when I think of the sacrifices of life yet to be offered, and
+the hearts and homes yet to be made desolate before this dreadful war is
+over, my heart is like lead within me, and I feel at times like hiding
+in deep darkness." At one of the stopping places of the train, a very
+beautiful child, having a bunch of rosebuds in her hand, was lifted up
+to an open window of the President's car. "Floweth for the President."
+The President stepped to the window, took the rosebuds, bent down and
+kissed the child, saying, "You are a sweet little rosebud yourself. I
+hope your life will open into perpetual beauty and goodness."
+
+
+
+
+STOOD UP THE LONGEST.
+
+There was a rough gallantry among the young people; and Lincoln's old
+comrades and friends in Indiana have left many tales of how he "went to
+see the girls," of how he brought in the biggest back-log and made the
+brightest fire; of how the young people, sitting around it, watching the
+way the sparks flew, told their fortunes.
+
+He helped pare apples, shell corn and crack nuts. He took the girls to
+meeting and to spelling school, though he was not often allowed to take
+part in the spelling-match, for the one who "chose first" always chose
+"Abe" Lincoln, and that was equivalent to winning, as the others knew
+that "he would stand up the longest."
+
+
+
+
+A MORTIFYING EXPERIENCE.
+
+A lady reader or elocutionist came to Springfield in 1857. A large crowd
+greeted her. Among other things she recited "Nothing to Wear," a piece
+in which is described the perplexities that beset "Miss Flora McFlimsy"
+in her efforts to appear fashionable.
+
+In the midst of one stanza in which no effort is made to say anything
+particularly amusing, and during the reading of which the audience
+manifested the most respectful silence and attention, some one in the
+rear seats burst out with a loud, coarse laugh, a sudden and explosive
+guffaw.
+
+It startled the speaker and audience, and kindled a storm of
+unsuppressed laughter and applause. Everybody looked back to ascertain
+the cause of the demonstration, and were greatly surprised to find that
+it was Mr. Lincoln.
+
+He blushed and squirmed with the awkward diffidence of a schoolboy.
+What caused him to laugh, no one was able to explain. He was doubtless
+wrapped up in a brown study, and recalling some amusing episode,
+indulged in laughter without realizing his surroundings. The experience
+mortified him greatly.
+
+
+
+
+NO HALFWAY BUSINESS.
+
+Soon after Mr. Lincoln began to practice law at Springfield, he was
+engaged in a criminal case in which it was thought there was little
+chance of success. Throwing all his powers into it, he came off
+victorious, and promptly received for his services five hundred dollars.
+A legal friend, calling upon him the next morning, found him sitting
+before a table, upon which his money was spread out, counting it over
+and over.
+
+"Look here, Judge," said he. "See what a heap of money I've got from
+this case. Did you ever see anything like it? Why, I never had so much
+money in my life before, put it all together." Then, crossing his arms
+upon the table, his manner sobering down, he added: "I have got just
+five hundred dollars; if it were only seven hundred and fifty, I would
+go directly and purchase a quarter section of land, and settle it upon
+my old step-mother."
+
+His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed, he would loan
+him the amount, taking his note, to which Mr. Lincoln instantly acceded.
+
+His friend then said:
+
+"Lincoln, I would do just what you have indicated. Your step-mother is
+getting old, and will not probably live many years. I would settle the
+property upon her for her use during her lifetime, to revert to you upon
+her death."
+
+With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+"I shall do no such thing. It is a poor return at best for all the good
+woman's devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not going to be any
+halfway business about it." And so saying, he gathered up his money and
+proceeded forthwith to carry his long-cherished purpose into execution.
+
+
+
+
+DISCOURAGED LITIGATION.
+
+Lincoln believed in preventing unnecessary litigation, and carried out
+this in his practice. "Who was your guardian?" he asked a young man who
+came to him to complain that a part of the property left him had been
+withheld. "Enoch Kingsbury," replied the young man.
+
+"I know Mr. Kingsbury," said Lincoln, "and he is not the man to have
+cheated you out of a cent, and I can't take the case, and advise you to
+drop the subject."
+
+And it was dropped.
+
+
+
+
+GOING HOME TO GET READY.
+
+Edwin M. Stanton was one of the attorneys in the great "reaper patent"
+case heard in Cincinnati in 1855, Lincoln also having been retained.
+The latter was rather anxious to deliver the argument on the general
+propositions of law applicable to the case, but it being decided to have
+Mr. Stanton do this, the Westerner made no complaint.
+
+Speaking of Stanton's argument and the view Lincoln took of it, Ralph
+Emerson, a young lawyer who was present at the trial, said:
+
+"The final summing up on our side was by Mr. Stanton, and though he took
+but about three hours in its delivery, he had devoted as many, if not
+more, weeks to its preparation. It was very able, and Mr. Lincoln was
+throughout the whole of it a rapt listener. Mr. Stanton closed his
+speech in a flight of impassioned eloquence.
+
+"Then the court adjourned for the day, and Mr. Lincoln invited me to
+take a long walk with him. For block after block he walked rapidly
+forward, not saying a word, evidently deeply dejected.
+
+"At last he turned suddenly to me, exclaiming, 'Emerson, I am going
+home.' A pause. 'I am going home to study law.'
+
+"'Why,' I exclaimed, 'Mr. Lincoln, you stand at the head of the bar in
+Illinois now! What are you talking about?'
+
+"'Ah, yes,' he said, 'I do occupy a good position there, and I think
+that I can get along with the way things are done there now. But these
+college-trained men, who have devoted their whole lives to study, are
+coming West, don't you see? And they study their cases as we never do.
+They have got as far as Cincinnati now. They will soon be in Illinois.'
+
+"Another long pause; then stopping and turning toward me, his
+countenance suddenly assuming that look of strong determination which
+those who knew him best sometimes saw upon his face, he exclaimed, 'I am
+going home to study law! I am as good as any, of them, and when they get
+out to Illinois, I will be ready for them.'"
+
+
+
+
+"THE 'RAIL-SPUTTER' REPAIRING THE UNION."
+
+The cartoon given here in facsimile was one of the posters which
+decorated the picturesque Presidential campaign of 1864, and assisted
+in making the period previous to the vote-casting a lively and memorable
+one. This poster was a lithograph, and, as the title, "The Rail-Splitter
+at Work Repairing the Union," would indicate, the President is using the
+Vice-Presidential candidate on the Republican National ticket (Andrew
+Johnson) as an aid in the work. Johnson was, in early life, a tailor,
+and he is pictured as busily engaged in sewing up the rents made in the
+map of the Union by the secessionists.
+
+Both men are thoroughly in earnest, and, as history relates, the torn
+places in the Union map were stitched together so nicely that no one
+could have told, by mere observation, that a tear had ever been made.
+Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln upon the assassination of the
+latter, was a remarkable man. Born in North Carolina, he removed to
+Tennessee when young, was Congressman, Governor, and United States
+Senator, being made military Governor of his State in 1862. A strong,
+stanch Union man, he was nominated for the Vice-Presidency on the
+Lincoln ticket to conciliate the War Democrats. After serving out his
+term as President, he was again elected United States Senator from
+Tennessee, but died shortly after taking his seat. But he was just the
+sort of a man to assist "Uncle Abe" in sewing up the torn places in the
+Union map, and as military Governor of Tennessee was a powerful factor
+in winning friends in the South to the Union cause.
+
+
+
+
+"FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES."
+
+"Several of us lawyers," remarked one of his colleagues, "in the eastern
+end of the circuit, annoyed Lincoln once while he was holding court for
+Davis by attempting to defend against a note to which there were many
+makers. We had no legal, but a good moral defense, but what we wanted
+most of all was to stave it off till the next term of court by one
+expedient or another.
+
+"We bothered 'the court' about it till late on Saturday, the day of
+adjournment. He adjourned for supper with nothing left but this case to
+dispose of. After supper he heard our twaddle for nearly an hour, and
+then made this odd entry.
+
+"'L. D. Chaddon vs. J. D. Beasley et al. April Term, 1856. Champaign
+county Court. Plea in abatement by B. Z. Green, a defendant not served,
+filed Saturday at 11 o'clock a. m., April 24, 1856, stricken from the
+files by order of court. Demurrer to declaration, if there ever was one,
+overruled. Defendants who are served now, at 8 o'clock p. m., of the
+last day of the term, ask to plead to the merits, which is denied by the
+court on the ground that the offer comes too late, and therefore, as
+by nil dicet, judgment is rendered for Pl'ff. Clerk assess damages. A.
+Lincoln, Judge pro tem.'
+
+"The lawyer who reads this singular entry will appreciate its oddity
+if no one else does. After making it, one of the lawyers, on recovering
+from his astonishment, ventured to enquire: 'Well, Lincoln, how can we
+get this case up again?'
+
+"Lincoln eyed him quizzically for a moment, and then answered, 'You have
+all been so mighty smart about this case, you can find out how to take
+it up again yourselves."'
+
+
+
+
+ROUGH ON THE NEGRO.
+
+Mr. Lincoln, one day, was talking with the Rev. Dr. Sunderland about the
+Emancipation Proclamation and the future of the negro. Suddenly a ripple
+of amusement broke the solemn tone of his voice. "As for the negroes,
+Doctor, and what is going to become of them: I told Ben Wade the other
+day, that it made me think of a story I read in one of my first books,
+'Aesop's Fables.' It was an old edition, and had curious rough wood
+cuts, one of which showed three white men scrubbing a negro in a potash
+kettle filled with cold water. The text explained that the men thought
+that by scrubbing the negro they might make him white. Just about the
+time they thought they were succeeding, he took cold and died. Now, I
+am afraid that by the time we get through this War the negro will catch
+cold and die."
+
+
+
+
+CHALLENGED ALL COMERS.
+
+Personal encounters were of frequent occurrence in Gentryville in early
+days, and the prestige of having thrashed an opponent gave the victor
+marked social distinction. Green B. Taylor, with whom "Abe" worked the
+greater part of one winter on a farm, furnished an account of the noted
+fight between John Johnston, "Abe's" stepbrother, and William Grigsby,
+in which stirring drama "Abe" himself played an important role before
+the curtain was rung down.
+
+Taylor's father was the second for Johnston, and William Whitten
+officiated in a similar capacity for Grigsby. "They had a terrible
+fight," related Taylor, "and it soon became apparent that Grigsby was
+too much for Lincoln's man, Johnston. After they had fought a long time
+without interference, it having been agreed not to break the ring, 'Abe'
+burst through, caught Grigsby, threw him off and some feet away. There
+Grigsby stood, proud as Lucifer, and, swinging a bottle of liquor over
+his head, swore he was 'the big buck of the lick.'
+
+"'If any one doubts it,' he shouted, 'he has only to come on and whet
+his horns.'"
+
+A general engagement followed this challenge, but at the end of
+hostilities the field was cleared and the wounded retired amid the
+exultant shouts of their victors.
+
+
+
+
+"GOVERNMENT RESTS IN PUBLIC OPINION."
+
+Lincoln delivered a speech at a Republican banquet at Chicago, December
+10th, 1856, just after the Presidential campaign of that year, in which
+he said:
+
+"Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public
+opinion can change the government practically just so much.
+
+"Public opinion, on any subject, always has a 'central idea,' from which
+all its minor thoughts radiate.
+
+"That 'central idea' in our political public opinion at the beginning
+was, and until recently has continued to be, 'the equality of man.'
+
+"And although it has always submitted patiently to whatever of
+inequality there seemed to be as a matter of actual necessity, its
+constant working has been a steady progress toward the practical
+equality of all men.
+
+"Let everyone who really believes, and is resolved, that free society is
+not and shall not be a failure, and who can conscientiously declare that
+in the past contest he has done only what he thought best--let every
+such one have charity to believe that every other one can say as much.
+
+"Thus, let bygones be bygones; let party differences as nothing be,
+and with steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugurate the good old
+'central ideas' of the Republic.
+
+"We can do it. The human heart is with us; God is with us.
+
+"We shall never be able to declare that 'all States as States are
+equal,' nor yet that 'all citizens are equal,' but to renew the broader,
+better declaration, including both these and much more, that 'all men
+are created equal.'"
+
+
+
+
+HURRY MIGHT MAKE TROUBLE.
+
+Up to the very last moment of the life of the Confederacy, the London
+"Punch" had its fling at the United States. In a cartoon, printed
+February 18th, 1865, labeled "The Threatening Notice," "Punch" intimates
+that Uncle Sam is in somewhat of a hurry to serve notice on John Bull
+regarding the contentions in connection with the northern border of the
+United States.
+
+Lincoln, however, as attorney for his revered Uncle, advises caution.
+Accordingly, he tells his Uncle, according to the text under the picture:
+
+ATTORNEY LINCOLN: "Now, Uncle Sam, you're in a darned hurry to serve
+this here notice on John Bull. Now, it's my duty, as your attorney, to
+tell you that you may drive him to go over to that cuss, Davis." (Uncle
+Sam considers.) In this instance, President Lincoln is given credit for
+judgment and common sense, his advice to his Uncle Sam to be prudent
+being sound. There was trouble all along the Canadian border during the
+War, while Canada was the refuge of Northern conspirators and Southern
+spies, who, at times, crossed the line and inflicted great damage
+upon the States bordering on it. The plot to seize the great lake
+cities--Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and others--was
+figured out in Canada by the Southerners and Northern allies. President
+Lincoln, in his message to Congress in December, 1864, said the United
+States had given notice to England that, at the end of six months, this
+country would, if necessary, increase its naval armament upon the lakes.
+What Great Britain feared was the abrogation by the United States of all
+treaties regarding Canada. By previous stipulation, the United States
+and England were each to have but one war vessel on the Great Lakes.
+
+
+
+
+SAW HIMSELF DEAD.
+
+This story cannot be repeated in Lincoln's own language, although he
+told it often enough to intimate friends; but, as it was never taken
+down by a stenographer in the martyred President's exact words, the
+reader must accept a simple narration of the strange occurrence.
+
+It was not long after the first nomination of Lincoln for the
+Presidency, when he saw, or imagined he saw, the startling apparition.
+One day, feeling weary, he threw himself upon a lounge in one of the
+rooms of his house at Springfield to rest. Opposite the lounge upon
+which he was lying was a large, long mirror, and he could easily see the
+reflection of his form, full length.
+
+Suddenly he saw, or imagined he saw, two Lincolns in the mirror, each
+lying full length upon the lounge, but they differed strangely in
+appearance. One was the natural Lincoln, full of life, vigor, energy and
+strength; the other was a dead Lincoln, the face white as marble, the
+limbs nerveless and lifeless, the body inert and still.
+
+Lincoln was so impressed with this vision, which he considered merely
+an optical illusion, that he arose, put on his hat, and went out for
+a walk. Returning to the house, he determined to test the matter
+again--and the result was the same as before. He distinctly saw the two
+Lincolns--one living and the other dead.
+
+He said nothing to his wife about this, she being, at that time, in
+a nervous condition, and apprehensive that some accident would surely
+befall her husband. She was particularly fearful that he might be the
+victim of an assassin. Lincoln always made light of her fears, but yet
+he was never easy in his mind afterwards.
+
+To more thoroughly test the so-called "optical illusion," and prove,
+beyond the shadow of a doubt, whether it was a mere fanciful creation of
+the brain or a reflection upon the broad face of the mirror which might
+be seen at any time, Lincoln made frequent experiments. Each and
+every time the result was the same. He could not get away from the two
+Lincolns--one living and the other dead.
+
+Lincoln never saw this forbidding reflection while in the White House.
+Time after time he placed a couch in front of a mirror at a distance
+from the glass where he could view his entire length while lying down,
+but the looking-glass in the Executive Mansion was faithful to its
+trust, and only the living Lincoln was observable.
+
+The late Ward Lamon, once a law partner of Lincoln, and Marshal of the
+District of Columbia during his first administration, tells, in his
+"Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," of the dreams the President had--all
+foretelling death.
+
+Lamon was Lincoln's most intimate friend, being, practically, his
+bodyguard, and slept in the White House. In reference to Lincoln's
+"death dreams," he says:
+
+"How, it may be asked, could he make life tolerable, burdened as he was
+with that portentous horror, which, though visionary, and of trifling
+import in our eyes, was by his interpretation a premonition of impending
+doom? I answer in a word: His sense of duty to his country; his belief
+that 'the inevitable' is right; and his innate and irrepressible humor.
+
+"But the most startling incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln was a dream
+he had only a few days before his assassination. To him it was a thing
+of deadly import, and certainly no vision was ever fashioned more
+exactly like a dread reality. Coupled with other dreams, with the
+mirror-scene and with other incidents, there was something about it so
+amazingly real, so true to the actual tragedy which occurred soon after,
+that more than mortal strength and wisdom would have been required to
+let it pass without a shudder or a pang.
+
+"After worrying over it for some days, Mr. Lincoln seemed no longer able
+to keep the secret. I give it as nearly in his own words as I can, from
+notes which I made immediately after its recital. There were only two or
+three persons present.
+
+"The President was in a melancholy, meditative mood, and had been silent
+for some time. Mrs. Lincoln, who was present, rallied him on his solemn
+visage and want of spirit. This seemed to arouse him, and, without
+seeming to notice her sally, he said, in slow and measured tones:
+
+"'It seems strange how much there is in the Bible about dreams. There
+are, I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament and four or
+five in the New, in which dreams are mentioned; and there are many other
+passages scattered throughout the book which refer to visions. In
+the old days, God and His angels came to men in their sleep and made
+themselves known in dreams.'
+
+"Mrs. Lincoln here remarked, 'Why, you look dreadfully solemn; do you
+believe in dreams?'
+
+"'I can't say that I do,' returned Mr. Lincoln; 'but I had one the other
+night which has haunted me ever since. After it occurred the first
+time, I opened the Bible, and, strange as it may appear, it was at the
+twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which relates the wonderful dream
+Jacob had. I turned to other passages, and seemed to encounter a dream
+or a vision wherever I looked. I kept on turning the leaves of the
+old book, and everywhere my eyes fell upon passages recording matters
+strangely in keeping with my own thoughts--supernatural visitations,
+dreams, visions, etc.'
+
+"He now looked so serious and disturbed that Mrs. Lincoln exclaimed 'You
+frighten me! What is the matter?'
+
+"'I am afraid,' said Mr. Lincoln, observing the effect his words had
+upon his wife, 'that I have done wrong to mention the subject at all;
+but somehow the thing has got possession of me, and, like Banquo's
+ghost, it will not down.'
+
+"This only inflamed Mrs. Lincoln's curiosity the more, and while bravely
+disclaiming any belief in dreams, she strongly urged him to tell the
+dream which seemed to have such a hold upon him, being seconded in this
+by another listener. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but at length commenced very
+deliberately, his brow overcast with a shade of melancholy.
+
+"'About ten days ago,' said he, 'I retired very late. I had been up
+waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been
+long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to
+dream. There seemed to be a deathlike stillness about me. Then I heard
+subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping.
+
+"'I thought I left my bed and wandered down-stairs. There the silence
+was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible.
+I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same
+mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. It was light in
+all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the
+people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled
+and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this?
+
+"'Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so
+shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered.
+There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque,
+on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were
+stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of
+people, some gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered,
+others weeping pitifully.
+
+"'"Who is dead in the White House?" I demanded of one of the soldiers.
+
+"'"The President," was his answer; "he was killed by an assassin."
+
+"'Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which awoke me from my
+dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I
+have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.'
+
+"'That is horrid!' said Mrs. Lincoln. 'I wish you had not told it. I am
+glad I don't believe in dreams, or I should be in terror from this time
+forth.'
+
+"'Well,' responded Mr. Lincoln, thoughtfully, 'it is only a dream, Mary.
+Let us say no more about it, and try to forget it.'
+
+"This dream was so horrible, so real, and so in keeping with other
+dreams and threatening presentiments of his, that Mr. Lincoln was
+profoundly disturbed by it. During its recital he was grave, gloomy,
+and at times visibly pale, but perfectly calm. He spoke slowly, with
+measured accents and deep feeling.
+
+"In conversations with me, he referred to it afterwards, closing one
+with this quotation from 'Hamlet': 'To sleep; perchance to dream! ay,
+there's the rub!' with a strong accent upon the last three words.
+
+"Once the President alluded to this terrible dream with some show of
+playful humor. 'Hill,' said he, 'your apprehension of harm to me from
+some hidden enemy is downright foolishness. For a long time you have
+been trying to keep somebody-the Lord knows who--from killing me.
+
+"'Don't you see how it will turn out? In this dream it was not me, but
+some other fellow, that was killed. It seems that this ghostly assassin
+tried his hand on some one else. And this reminds me of an old farmer in
+Illinois whose family were made sick by eating greens.
+
+"'Some poisonous herb had got into the mess, and members of the family
+were in danger of dying. There was a half-witted boy in the family
+called Jake; and always afterward when they had greens the old man would
+say, "Now, afore we risk these greens, let's try 'em on Jake. If he
+stands 'em we're all right." Just so with me. As long as this imaginary
+assassin continues to exercise himself on others, I can stand it.'
+
+"He then became serious and said: 'Well, let it go. I think the Lord in
+His own good time and way will work this out all right. God knows what
+is best.'
+
+"These words he spoke with a sigh, and rather in a tone of soliloquy, as
+if hardly noting my presence.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln had another remarkable dream, which was repeated so
+frequently during his occupancy of the White House that he came to
+regard it is a welcome visitor. It was of a pleasing and promising
+character, having nothing in it of the horrible.
+
+"It was always an omen of a Union victory, and came with unerring
+certainty just before every military or naval engagement where our arms
+were crowned with success. In this dream he saw a ship sailing away
+rapidly, badly damaged, and our victorious vessels in close pursuit.
+
+"He saw, also, the close of a battle on land, the enemy routed, and our
+forces in possession of vantage ground of inestimable importance. Mr.
+Lincoln stated it as a fact that he had this dream just before the
+battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and other signal engagements throughout
+the War.
+
+"The last time Mr. Lincoln had this dream was the night before his
+assassination. On the morning of that lamentable day there was a Cabinet
+meeting, at which General Grant was present. During an interval of
+general discussion, the President asked General Grant if he had any news
+from General Sherman, who was then confronting Johnston. The reply was
+in the negative, but the general added that he was in hourly expectation
+of a dispatch announcing Johnston's surrender.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln then, with great impressiveness, said, 'We shall hear very
+soon, and the news will be important.'
+
+"General Grant asked him why he thought so.
+
+"'Because,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'I had a dream last night; and ever since
+this War began I have had the same dream just before every event of
+great national importance. It portends some important event which will
+happen very soon.'
+
+"On the night of the fateful 14th of April, 1865, Mrs. Lincoln's
+first exclamation, after the President was shot, was, 'His dream was
+prophetic!'
+
+"Lincoln was a believer in certain phases of the supernatural. Assured
+as he undoubtedly was by omens which, to his mind, were conclusive, that
+he would rise to greatness and power, he was as firmly convinced by
+the same tokens that he would be suddenly cut off at the height of his
+career and the fullness of his fame. He always believed that he would
+fall by the hand of an assassin.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln had this further idea: Dreams, being natural occurrences,
+in the strictest sense, he held that their best interpreters are the
+common people; and this accounts, in great measure, for the profound
+respect he always had for the collective wisdom of plain people--'the
+children of Nature,' he called them--touching matters belonging to
+the domain of psychical mysteries. There was some basis of truth, he
+believed, for whatever obtained general credence among these 'children
+of Nature.'
+
+"Concerning presentiments and dreams, Mr. Lincoln had a philosophy of
+his own, which, strange as it may appear, was in perfect harmony
+with his character in all other respects. He was no dabbler in
+divination--astrology, horoscopy, prophecy, ghostly lore, or witcheries
+of any sort."
+
+
+
+
+EVERY LITTLE HELPED.
+
+As the time drew near at which Mr. Lincoln said he would issue the
+Emancipation Proclamation, some clergymen, who feared the President
+might change his mind, called on him to urge him to keep his promise.
+
+"We were ushered into the Cabinet room," says Dr. Sunderland. "It
+was very dim, but one gas jet burning. As we entered, Mr. Lincoln was
+standing at the farther end of the long table, which filled the center
+of the room. As I stood by the door, I am so very short, that I was
+obliged to look up to see the President. Mr. Robbins introduced me, and
+I began at once by saying: 'I have come, Mr. President, to anticipate
+the new year with my respects, and if I may, to say to you a word about
+the serious condition of this country.'
+
+"'Go ahead, Doctor,' replied the President; 'every little helps.' But I
+was too much in earnest to laugh at his sally at my smallness."
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT TO LAY DOWN THE BURDEN.
+
+President Lincoln (at times) said he felt sure his life would end with
+the War. A correspondent of a Boston paper had an interview with him in
+July, 1864, and wrote regarding it:
+
+"The President told me he was certain he should not outlast the
+rebellion. As will be remembered, there was dissension then among the
+Republican leaders. Many of his best friends had deserted him, and were
+talking of an opposition convention to nominate another candidate, and
+universal gloom was among the people.
+
+"The North was tired of the War, and supposed an honorable peace
+attainable. Mr. Lincoln knew it was not--that any peace at that time
+would be only disunion. Speaking of it, he said: 'I have faith in the
+people. They will not consent to disunion. The danger is, they are
+misled. Let them know the truth, and the country is safe.'
+
+"He looked haggard and careworn; and further on in the interview I
+remarked on his appearance, 'You are wearing yourself out with work.'
+
+"'I can't work less,' he answered; 'but it isn't that--work never
+troubled me. Things look badly, and I can't avoid anxiety. Personally, I
+care nothing about a re-election, but if our divisions defeat us, I fear
+for the country.'
+
+"When I suggested that right must eventually triumph, he replied, 'I
+grant that, but I may never live to see it. I feel a presentiment that I
+shall not outlast the rebellion. When it is over, my work will be done.'
+
+"He never intimated, however, that he expected to be assassinated."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WOULD HAVE PREFERRED DEATH.
+
+Horace Greeley said, some time after the death of President Lincoln:
+
+"After the Civil War began, Lincoln's tenacity of purpose paralleled his
+former immobility; I believe he would have been nearly the last, if not
+the very last, man in America to recognize the Southern Confederacy had
+its armies been triumphant. He would have preferred death."
+
+
+
+
+"PUNCH" AND HIS LITTLE PICTURE.
+
+London "Punch" was not satisfied with anything President Lincoln did. On
+December 3rd, 1864, after Mr. Lincoln's re-election to the Presidency,
+a cartoon appeared in one of the pages of that genial publication,
+the reproduction being printed here, labeled "The Federal Phoenix." It
+attracted great attention at the time, and was particularly pleasing to
+the enemies of the United States, as it showed Lincoln as the Phoenix
+arising from the ashes of the Federal Constitution, the Public Credit,
+the Freedom of the Press, State Rights and the Commerce of the North
+American Republic.
+
+President Lincoln's endorsement by the people of the United States meant
+that the Confederacy was to be crushed, no matter what the cost; that
+the Union of States was to be preserved, and that State Rights was
+a thing of the past. "Punch" wished to create the impression that
+President Lincoln's re-election was a personal victory; that he would
+set up a despotism, with himself at its head, and trample upon the
+Constitution of the United States and all the rights the citizens of the
+Republic ever possessed.
+
+The result showed that "Punch" was suffering from an acute attack of
+needless alarm.
+
+
+
+
+FASCINATED By THE WONDERFUL
+
+Lincoln was particularly fascinated by the wonderful happenings recorded
+in history. He loved to read of those mighty events which had been
+foretold, and often brooded upon these subjects. His early convictions
+upon occult matters led him to read all books tending' to strengthen
+these convictions.
+
+The following lines, in Byron's "Dream," were frequently quoted by him:
+
+         "Sleep hath its own world,
+     A boundary between the things misnamed
+     Death and existence: Sleep hath its own world
+     And a wide realm of wild reality.
+     And dreams in their development have breath,
+     And tears and tortures, and the touch of joy;
+     They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts,
+     They take a weight from off our waking toils,
+     They do divide our being."
+
+Those with whom he was associated in his early youth and young manhood,
+and with whom he was always in cordial sympathy, were thorough believers
+in presentiments and dreams; and so Lincoln drifted on through years
+of toil and exceptional hardship--meditative, aspiring, certain of his
+star, but appalled at times by its malignant aspect. Many times prior to
+his first election to the Presidency he was both elated and alarmed by
+what seemed to him a rent in the veil which hides from mortal view what
+the future holds.
+
+He saw, or thought he saw, a vision of glory and of blood, himself
+the central figure in a scene which his fancy transformed from giddy
+enchantment to the most appalling tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+"WHY DON'T THEY COME!"
+
+The suspense of the days when the capital was isolated, the expected
+troops not arriving, and an hourly attack feared, wore on Mr. Lincoln
+greatly.
+
+"I begin to believe," he said bitterly, one day, to some Massachusetts
+soldiers, "that there is no North. The Seventh Regiment is a myth. Rhode
+Island is another. You are the only real thing."
+
+And again, after pacing the floor of his deserted office for a
+half-hour, he was heard to exclaim to himself, in an anguished tone:
+"Why don't they come! Why don't they come!"
+
+
+
+
+GRANT'S BRAND OF WHISKEY.
+
+Lincoln was not a man of impulse, and did nothing upon the spur of the
+moment; action with him was the result of deliberation and study. He
+took nothing for granted; he judged men by their performances and not
+their speech.
+
+If a general lost battles, Lincoln lost confidence in him; if a
+commander was successful, Lincoln put him where he would be of the most
+service to the country.
+
+"Grant is a drunkard," asserted powerful and influential politicians
+to the President at the White House time after time; "he is not himself
+half the time; he can't be relied upon, and it is a shame to have such a
+man in command of an army."
+
+"So Grant gets drunk, does he?" queried Lincoln, addressing himself to
+one of the particularly active detractors of the soldier, who, at that
+period, was inflicting heavy damage upon the Confederates.
+
+"Yes, he does, and I can prove it," was the reply.
+
+"Well," returned Lincoln, with the faintest suspicion of a twinkle in
+his eye, "you needn't waste your time getting proof; you just find out,
+to oblige me, what brand of whiskey Grant drinks, because I want to send
+a barrel of it to each one of my generals."
+
+That ended the crusade against Grant, so far as the question of drinking
+was concerned.
+
+
+
+
+HIS FINANCIAL STANDING.
+
+A New York firm applied to Abraham Lincoln, some years before he became
+President, for information as to the financial standing of one of his
+neighbors. Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+"I am well acquainted with Mr.---- and know his circumstances. First of
+all, he has a wife and baby; together they ought to be worth $50,000
+to any man. Secondly, he has an office in which there is a table worth
+$1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1. Last of all, there is in one
+corner a large rat hole, which will bear looking into. Respectfully,
+A. Lincoln."
+
+
+
+
+THE DANDY AND THE BOYS.
+
+President Lincoln appointed as consul to a South American country a
+young man from Ohio who was a dandy. A wag met the new appointee on his
+way to the White House to thank the President. He was dressed in the
+most extravagant style. The wag horrified him by telling him that the
+country to which he was assigned was noted chiefly for the bugs that
+abounded there and made life unbearable.
+
+"They'll bore a hole clean through you before a week has passed," was
+the comforting assurance of the wag as they parted at the White House
+steps. The new consul approached Lincoln with disappointment clearly
+written all over his face. Instead of joyously thanking the President,
+he told him the wag's story of the bugs. "I am informed, Mr. President,"
+he said, "that the place is full of vermin and that they could eat me up
+in a week's time." "Well, young man," replied Lincoln, "if that's true,
+all I've got to say is that if such a thing happened they would leave a
+mighty good suit of clothes behind."
+
+
+
+
+"SOME UGLY OLD LAWYER."
+
+A. W. Swan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, told this story on Lincoln,
+being an eyewitness of the scene:
+
+"One day President Lincoln was met in the park between the White House
+and the War Department by an irate private soldier, who was swearing in
+a high key, cursing the Government from the President down. Mr. Lincoln
+paused and asked him what was the matter. 'Matter enough,' was the
+reply. 'I want my money. I have been discharged here, and can't get my
+pay.' Mr. Lincoln asked if he had his papers, saying that he used to
+practice law in a small way, and possibly could help him.
+
+"My friend and I stepped behind some convenient shrubbery where we could
+watch the result. Mr. Lincoln took the papers from the hands of the
+crippled soldier, and sat down with him at the foot of a convenient
+tree, where he examined them carefully, and writing a line on the back,
+told the soldier to take them to Mr. Potts, Chief Clerk of the War
+Department, who would doubtless attend to the matter at once.
+
+"After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped out and asked him
+if he knew whom he had been talking with. 'Some ugly old fellow who
+pretends to be a lawyer,' was the reply. My companion asked to see the
+papers, and on their being handed to him, pointed to the indorsement
+they had received: This indorsement read:
+
+"'Mr. Potts, attend to this man's case at once and see that he gets his
+pay. A. L.'"
+
+
+
+
+GOOD MEMORY OF NAMES.
+
+The following story illustrates the power of Mr. Lincoln's memory of
+names and faces. When he was a comparatively young man, and a candidate
+for the Illinois Legislature, he made a personal canvass of the
+district. While "swinging around the circle" he stopped one day and took
+dinner with a farmer in Sangamon county.
+
+Years afterward, when Mr. Lincoln had become President, a soldier
+came to call on him at the White House. At the first glance the Chief
+Executive said: "Yes, I remember; you used to live on the Danville
+road. I took dinner with you when I was running for the Legislature.
+I recollect that we stood talking out at the barnyard gate while I
+sharpened my jackknife."
+
+"Y-a-a-s," drawled the soldier, "you did. But say, wherever did you put
+that whetstone? I looked for it a dozen times, but I never could find
+it after the day you used it. We allowed as how mabby you took it 'long
+with you."
+
+"No," said Lincoln, looking serious and pushing away a lot of documents
+of state from the desk in front of him. "No, I put it on top of that
+gatepost--that high one."
+
+"Well!" exclaimed the visitor, "mabby you did. Couldn't anybody else
+have put it there, and none of us ever thought of looking there for it."
+
+The soldier was then on his way home, and when he got there the first
+thing he did was to look for the whetstone. And sure enough, there it
+was, just where Lincoln had laid it fifteen years before. The honest
+fellow wrote a letter to the Chief Magistrate, telling him that the
+whetstone had been found, and would never be lost again.
+
+
+
+
+SETTLED OUT OF COURT.
+
+When Abe Lincoln used to be drifting around the country, practicing law
+in Fulton and Menard counties, Illinois, an old fellow met him going
+to Lewiston, riding a horse which, while it was a serviceable enough
+animal, was not of the kind to be truthfully called a fine saddler. It
+was a weatherbeaten nag, patient and plodding, and it toiled along
+with Abe--and Abe's books, tucked away in saddle-bags, lay heavy on the
+horse's flank.
+
+"Hello, Uncle Tommy," said Abe.
+
+"Hello, Abe," responded Uncle Tommy. "I'm powerful glad to see ye, Abe,
+fer I'm gwyne to have sumthin' fer ye at Lewiston co't, I reckon."
+
+"How's that, Uncle Tommy?" said Abe.
+
+"Well, Jim Adams, his land runs 'long o' mine, he's pesterin' me a heap
+an' I got to get the law on Jim, I reckon."
+
+"Uncle Tommy, you haven't had any fights with Jim, have you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"He's a fair to middling neighbor, isn't he?"
+
+"Only tollable, Abe."
+
+"He's been a neighbor of yours for a long time, hasn't he?"
+
+"Nigh on to fifteen year."
+
+"Part of the time you get along all right, don't you?"
+
+"I reckon we do, Abe."
+
+"Well, now, Uncle Tommy, you see this horse of mine? He isn't as good a
+horse as I could straddle, and I sometimes get out of patience with him,
+but I know his faults. He does fairly well as horses go, and it might
+take me a long time to get used to some other horse's faults. For all
+horses have faults. You and Uncle Jimmy must put up with each other as I
+and my horse do with one another."
+
+"I reckon, Abe," said Uncle Tommy, as he bit off about four ounces of
+Missouri plug. "I reckon you're about right."
+
+And Abe Lincoln, with a smile on his gaunt face, rode on toward
+Lewiston.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIVE POINTS SUNDAY SCHOOL.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln visited New York in 1860, he felt a great interest in
+many of the institutions for reforming criminals and saving the young
+from a life of crime. Among others, he visited, unattended, the Five
+Points House of Industry, and the superintendent of the Sabbath school
+there gave the following account of the event:
+
+"One Sunday morning I saw a tall, remarkable-looking man enter the
+room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed attention to our
+exercises, and his countenance expressed such genuine interest that I
+approached him and suggested that he might be willing to say something
+to the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and
+coming forward began a simple address, which at once fascinated every
+little hearer and hushed the room into silence. His language was
+strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intense feeling. The
+little faces would droop into sad conviction when he uttered sentences
+of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words
+of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the
+imperative shout of, 'Go on! Oh, do go on!' would compel him to resume.
+
+"As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked
+his powerful head and determined features, now touched into softness
+by the impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to
+learn something more about him, and while he was quietly leaving the
+room, I begged to know his name. He courteously replied: 'It is Abraham
+Lincoln, from Illinois.'"
+
+
+
+
+SENTINEL OBEYED ORDERS.
+
+A slight variation of the traditional sentry story is related by C. C.
+Buel. It was a cold, blusterous winter night. Says Mr. Buel:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln emerged from the front door, his lank figure bent over as
+he drew tightly about his shoulders the shawl which he employed for such
+protection; for he was on his way to the War Department, at the west
+corner of the grounds, where in times of battle he was wont to get the
+midnight dispatches from the field. As the blast struck him he thought
+of the numbness of the pacing sentry, and, turning to him, said: 'Young
+man, you've got a cold job to-night; step inside, and stand guard
+there.'
+
+"'My orders keep me out here,' the soldier replied.
+
+"'Yes,' said the President, in his argumentative tone; 'but your duty
+can be performed just as well inside as out here, and you'll oblige me
+by going in.'
+
+"'I have been stationed outside,' the soldier answered, and resumed his
+beat.
+
+"'Hold on there!' said Mr. Lincoln, as he turned back again; 'it occurs
+to me that I am Commander-in-Chief of the army, and I order you to go
+inside.'"
+
+
+
+
+WHY LINCOLN GROWED WHISKERS.
+
+Perhaps the majority of people in the United States don't know why
+Lincoln "growed" whiskers after his first nomination for the Presidency.
+Before that time his face was clean shaven.
+
+In the beautiful village of Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York,
+there lived, in 1860, little Grace Bedell. During the campaign of that
+year she saw a portrait of Lincoln, for whom she felt the love and
+reverence that was common in Republican families, and his smooth, homely
+face rather disappointed her. She said to her mother: "I think, mother,
+that Mr. Lincoln would look better if he wore whiskers, and I mean to
+write and tell him so."
+
+The mother gave her permission.
+
+Grace's father was a Republican; her two brothers were Democrats.
+Grace wrote at once to the "Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Esq., Springfield,
+Illinois," in which she told him how old she was, and where she lived;
+that she was a Republican; that she thought he would make a good
+President, but would look better if he would let his whiskers grow. If
+he would do so, she would try to coax her brothers to vote for him. She
+thought the rail fence around the picture of his cabin was very pretty.
+"If you have not time to answer my letter, will you allow your little
+girl to reply for you?"
+
+Lincoln was much pleased with the letter, and decided to answer it,
+which he did at once, as follows:
+
+"Springfield, Illinois, October 19, 1860.
+
+"Miss Grace Bedell.
+
+"My Dear Little Miss: Your very agreeable letter of the fifteenth is
+received. I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughter. I have
+three sons; one seventeen, one nine and one seven years of age. They,
+with their mother, constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers,
+having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece
+of silly affectation if I should begin it now? Your very sincere
+well-wisher, A. LINCOLN."
+
+When on the journey to Washington to be inaugurated, Lincoln's train
+stopped at Westfield. He recollected his little correspondent and spoke
+of her to ex-Lieutenant Governor George W. Patterson, who called out and
+asked if Grace Bedell was present.
+
+There was a large surging mass of people gathered about the train, but
+Grace was discovered at a distance; the crowd opened a pathway to the
+coach, and she came, timidly but gladly, to the President-elect, who
+told her that she might see that he had allowed his whiskers to grow at
+her request. Then, reaching out his long arms, he drew her up to him and
+kissed her. The act drew an enthusiastic demonstration of approval from
+the multitude.
+
+Grace married a Kansas banker, and became Grace Bedell Billings.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A DANCER.
+
+Lincoln made his first appearance in society when he was first sent to
+Springfield, Ill., as a member of the State Legislature. It was not
+an imposing figure which he cut in a ballroom, but still he was
+occasionally to be found there. Miss Mary Todd, who afterward became
+his wife, was the magnet which drew the tall, awkward young man from his
+den. One evening Lincoln approached Miss Todd, and said, in his peculiar
+idiom:
+
+"Miss Todd, I should like to dance with you the worst way." The young
+woman accepted the inevitable, and hobbled around the room with him.
+When she returned to her seat, one of her companions asked mischievously:
+
+"Well, Mary, did he dance with you the worst way."
+
+"Yes," she answered, "the very worst."
+
+
+
+
+SIMPLY PRACTICAL HUMANITY.
+
+An instance of young Lincoln's practical humanity at an early period of
+his life is recorded in this way:
+
+One evening, while returning from a "raising" in his wide neighborhood,
+with a number of companions, he discovered a stray horse, with saddle
+and bridle upon him. The horse was recognized as belonging to a man who
+was accustomed to get drunk, and it was suspected at once that he was
+not far off. A short search only was necessary to confirm the belief.
+
+The poor drunkard was found in a perfectly helpless condition, upon the
+chilly ground. Abraham's companions urged the cowardly policy of leaving
+him to his fate, but young Lincoln would not hear to the proposition.
+
+At his request, the miserable sot was lifted on his shoulders, and he
+actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house.
+
+Sending word to his father that he should not be back that night, with
+the reason for his absence, he attended and nursed the man until the
+morning, and had the pleasure of believing that he had saved his life.
+
+
+
+
+HAPPY FIGURES OF SPEECH.
+
+On one occasion, exasperated at the discrepancy between the aggregate of
+troops forwarded to McClellan and the number that same general reported
+as having received, Lincoln exclaimed: "Sending men to that army is like
+shoveling fleas across a barnyard--half of them never get there."
+
+To a politician who had criticised his course, he wrote: "Would you have
+me drop the War where it is, or would you prosecute it in future with
+elder stalk squirts charged with rosewater?"
+
+When, on his first arrival in Washington as President, he found himself
+besieged by office-seekers, while the War was breaking out, he said: "I
+feel like a man letting lodgings at one end of his house while the other
+end is on fire."
+
+
+
+
+A FEW "RHYTHMIC SHOTS."
+
+Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln's time in
+Washington, accompanied the President everywhere. He was a good singer,
+and, when Lincoln was in one of his melancholy moods, would "fire a few
+rhythmic shots" at the President to cheer the latter. Lincoln keenly
+relished nonsense in the shape of witty or comic ditties. A parody of "A
+Life on the Ocean Wave" was always pleasing to him:
+
+     "Oh, a life on the ocean wave,
+       And a home on the rolling deep!
+     With ratlins fried three times a day
+       And a leaky old berth for to sleep;
+     Where the gray-beard cockroach roams,
+       On thoughts of kind intent,
+     And the raving bedbug comes
+       The road the cockroach went."
+
+Lincoln could not control his laughter when he heard songs of this sort.
+
+He was fond of negro melodies, too, and "The Blue-Tailed Fly" was a
+great favorite with him. He often called for that buzzing ballad when
+he and Lamon were alone, and he wanted to throw off the weight of public
+and private cares. The ballad of "The Blue-Tailed Fly" contained two
+verses, which ran:
+
+     "When I was young I used to wait
+     At massa's table, 'n' hand de plate,
+     An' pass de bottle when he was dry,
+     An' brush away de blue-tailed fly.
+
+     "Ol' Massa's dead; oh, let him rest!
+     Dey say all things am for de best;
+     But I can't forget until I die
+     Ol' massa an' de blue-tailed fly."
+
+While humorous songs delighted the President, he also loved to listen to
+patriotic airs and ballads containing sentiment. He was fond of hearing
+"The Sword of Bunker Hill," "Ben Bolt," and "The Lament of the Irish
+Emigrant." His preference of the verses in the latter was this:
+
+     "I'm lonely now, Mary,
+       For the poor make no new friends;
+     But, oh, they love the better still
+       The few our Father sends!
+     And you were all I had, Mary,
+       My blessing and my pride;
+     There's nothing left to care for now,
+       Since my poor Mary died."
+
+Those who knew Lincoln were well aware he was incapable of so monstrous
+an act as that of wantonly insulting the dead, as was charged in the
+infamous libel which asserted that he listened to a comic song on the
+field of Antietam, before the dead were buried.
+
+
+
+
+OLD MAN GLENN'S RELIGION.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once remarked to a friend that his religion was like that
+of an old man named Glenn, in Indiana, whom he heard speak at a church
+meeting, and who said: "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I
+feel bad; and that's my religion."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln herself has said that Mr. Lincoln had no faith--no faith,
+in the usual acceptance of those words. "He never joined a church; but
+still, as I believe, he was a religious man by nature. He first seemed
+to think about the subject when our boy Willie died, and then more than
+ever about the time he went to Gettysburg; but it was a kind of poetry
+in his nature, and he never was a technical Christian."
+
+
+
+
+LAST ACTS OF MERCY.
+
+During the afternoon preceding his assassination the President signed a
+pardon for a soldier sentenced to be shot for desertion, remarking as
+he did so, "Well, I think the boy can do us more good above ground than
+under ground."
+
+He also approved an application for the discharge, on taking the oath of
+allegiance, of a rebel prisoner, in whose petition he wrote, "Let it be
+done."
+
+This act of mercy was his last official order.
+
+
+
+
+JUST LIKE SEWARD.
+
+The first corps of the army commanded by General Reynolds was once
+reviewed by the President on a beautiful plain at the north of Potomac
+Creek, about eight miles from Hooker's headquarters. The party rode
+thither in an ambulance over a rough corduroy road, and as they
+passed over some of the more difficult portions of the jolting way the
+ambulance driver, who sat well in front, occasionally let fly a volley
+of suppressed oaths at his wild team of six mules.
+
+Finally, Mr. Lincoln, leaning forward, touched the man on the shoulder
+and said,
+
+"Excuse me, my friend, are you an Episcopalian?"
+
+The man, greatly startled, looked around and replied:
+
+"No, Mr. President; I am a Methodist."
+
+"Well," said Lincoln, "I thought you must be an Episcopalian, because
+you swear just like Governor Seward, who is a church warder."
+
+
+
+
+A CHEERFUL PROSPECT.
+
+The first night after the departure of President-elect Lincoln from
+Springfield, on his way to Washington, was spent in Indianapolis.
+Governor Yates, O. H. Browning, Jesse K. Dubois, O. M. Hatch, Josiah
+Allen, of Indiana, and others, after taking leave of Mr. Lincoln to
+return to their respective homes, took Ward Lamon into a room, locked
+the door, and proceeded in the most solemn and impressive manner to
+instruct him as to his duties as the special guardian of Mr. Lincoln's
+person during the rest of his journey to Washington. Lamon tells the
+story as follows:
+
+"The lesson was concluded by Uncle Jesse, as Mr. Dubois was commonly,
+called, who said:
+
+"'Now, Lamon, we have regarded you as the Tom Hyer of Illinois, with
+Morrissey attachment. We intrust the sacred life of Mr. Lincoln to your
+keeping; and if you don't protect it, never return to Illinois, for we
+will murder you on sight."'
+
+
+
+
+THOUGHT GOD WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM.
+
+Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner was one of the few men to whom
+Mr. Lincoln confided his intention to issue the Proclamation of
+Emancipation.
+
+Mr. Lincoln told his Illinois friend of the visit of a delegation to
+him who claimed to have a message from God that the War would not be
+successful without the freeing of the negroes, to whom Mr. Lincoln
+replied: "Is it not a little strange that He should tell this to you,
+who have so little to do with it, and should not have told me, who has a
+great deal to do with it?"
+
+At the same time he informed Professor Turner he had his Proclamation in
+his pocket.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AND A BIBLE HERO.
+
+A writer who heard Mr. Lincoln's famous speech delivered in New York
+after his nomination for President has left this record of the event:
+
+"When Lincoln rose to speak, I was greatly disappointed. He was tall,
+tall, oh, so tall, and so angular and awkward that I had for an instant
+a feeling of pity for so ungainly a man. He began in a low tone of
+voice, as if he were used to speaking out of doors and was afraid of
+speaking too loud.
+
+"He said 'Mr. Cheerman,' instead of 'Mr. Chairman,' and employed many
+other words with an old-fashioned pronunciation. I said to myself, 'Old
+fellow, you won't do; it is all very well for the Wild West, but this
+will never go down in New York.' But pretty soon he began to get into
+the subject; he straightened up, made regular and graceful gestures; his
+face lighted as with an inward fire; the whole man was transfigured.
+
+"I forgot the clothing, his personal appearance, and his individual
+peculiarities. Presently, forgetting myself, I was on my feet with the
+rest, yelling like a wild Indian, cheering the wonderful man. In the
+close parts of his argument you could hear the gentle sizzling of the
+gas burners.
+
+"When he reached a climax the thunders of applause were terrific. It
+was a great speech. When I came out of the hall my face was glowing with
+excitement and my frame all a-quiver. A friend, with his eyes aglow,
+asked me what I thought of 'Abe' Lincoln, the rail-splitter. I said,
+'He's the greatest man since St. Paul.' And I think so yet."
+
+
+
+
+BOY WAS CARED FOR.
+
+President Lincoln one day noticed a small, pale, delicate-looking
+boy, about thirteen years old, among the number in the White House
+antechamber.
+
+The President saw him standing there, looking so feeble and faint, and
+said: "Come here, my boy, and tell me what you want."
+
+The boy advanced, placed his hand on the arm of the President's chair,
+and, with a bowed head and timid accents, said: "Mr. President, I have
+been a drummer boy in a regiment for two years, and my colonel got angry
+with me and turned me off. I was taken sick and have been a long time in
+the hospital."
+
+The President discovered that the boy had no home, no father--he had
+died in the army--no mother.
+
+"I have no father, no mother, no brothers, no sisters, and," bursting
+into tears, "no friends--nobody cares for me."
+
+Lincoln's eyes filled with tears, and the boy's heart was soon made glad
+by a request to certain officials "to care for this poor boy."
+
+
+
+
+THE JURY ACQUITTED HIM
+
+One of the most noted murder cases in which Lincoln defended the accused
+was tried in August, 1859. The victim, Crafton, was a student in his
+own law office, the defendant, "Peachy" Harrison, was a grandson of
+Rev. Peter Cartwright; both were connected with the best families in the
+county; they were brothers-in-law, and had always been friends.
+
+Senator John M. Palmer and General John A. McClelland were on the side
+of the prosecution. Among those who represented the defendant were
+Lincoln and Senator Shelby M. Cullom. The two young men had engaged in
+a political quarrel, and Crafton was stabbed to death by Harrison. The
+tragic pathos of a case which involved the deepest affections of almost
+an entire community reached its climax in the appearance in court of the
+venerable Peter Cartwright. Lincoln had beaten him for Congress in 1846.
+
+Eccentric and aggressive as he was, he was honored far and wide; and
+when he arose to take the witness stand, his white hair crowned
+with this cruel sorrow, the most indifferent spectator felt that his
+examination would be unbearable.
+
+It fell to Lincoln to question Cartwright. With the rarest gentleness he
+began to put his questions.
+
+"How long have you known the prisoner?"
+
+Cartwright's head dropped on his breast for a moment; then straightening
+himself, he passed his hand across his eyes and answered in a deep,
+quavering voice:
+
+"I have known him since a babe, he laughed and cried on my knee."
+
+The examination ended by Lincoln drawing from the witness the story of
+how Crafton had said to him, just before his death: "I am dying; I will
+soon part with all I love on earth, and I want you to say to my slayer
+that I forgive him. I want to leave this earth with a forgiveness of all
+who have in any way injured me."
+
+This examination made a profound impression on the jury. Lincoln closed
+his argument by picturing the scene anew, appealing to the jury to
+practice the same forgiving spirit that the murdered man had shown on
+his death-bed. It was undoubtedly to his handling of the grandfather's
+evidence that Harrison's acquittal was due.
+
+
+
+
+TOOK NOTHING BUT MONEY.
+
+During the War Congress appropriated $10,000 to be expended by the
+President in defending United States Marshals in cases of arrests and
+seizures where the legality of their actions was tested in the courts.
+Previously the Marshals sought the assistance of the Attorney-General
+in defending them, but when they found that the President had a fund for
+that purpose they sought to control the money.
+
+In speaking of these Marshals one day, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+"They are like a man in Illinois, whose cabin was burned down, and,
+according to the kindly custom of early days in the West, his neighbors
+all contributed something to start him again. In his case they had been
+so liberal that he soon found himself better off than before the fire,
+and he got proud. One day a neighbor brought him a bag of oats, but the
+fellow refused it with scorn.
+
+"'No,' said he, 'I'm not taking oats now. I take nothing but money.'"
+
+
+
+
+NAUGHTY BOY HAD TO TAKE HIS MEDICINE.
+
+The resistance to the military draft of 1863 by the City of New York,
+the result of which was the killing of several thousand persons,
+was illustrated on August 29th, 1863, by "Frank Leslie's Illustrated
+Newspaper," over the title of "The Naughty Boy, Gotham, Who Would Not
+Take the Draft." Beneath was also the text:
+
+MAMMY LINCOLN: "There now, you bad boy, acting that way, when your
+little sister Penn (State of Pennsylvania) takes hers like a lady!"
+
+Horatio Seymour was then Governor of New York, and a prominent "the War
+is a failure" advocate. He was in Albany, the State capital, when the
+riots broke out in the City of New York, July 13th, and after the mob
+had burned the Colored Orphan Asylum and killed several hundred negroes,
+came to the city. He had only soft words for the rioters, promising them
+that the draft should be suspended. Then the Government sent several
+regiments of veterans, fresh from the field of Gettysburg, where they
+had assisted in defeating Lee. These troops made short work of the
+brutal ruffians, shooting down three thousand or so of them, and the
+rioting was subdued. The "Naughty Boy Gotham" had to take his medicine,
+after all, but as the spirit of opposition to the War was still rampant,
+the President issued a proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus
+in all the States of the Union where the Government had control. This
+had a quieting effect upon those who were doing what they could in
+obstructing the Government.
+
+
+
+
+WOULD BLOW THEM TO H---.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had advised Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, commanding
+the United States Army, of the threats of violence on inauguration day,
+1861. General Scott was sick in bed at Washington when Adjutant-General
+Thomas Mather, of Illinois, called upon him in President-elect Lincoln's
+behalf, and the veteran commander was much wrought up. Said he to
+General Mather:
+
+"Present my compliments to Mr. Lincoln when you return to Springfield,
+and tell him I expect him to come on to Washington as soon as he is
+ready; say to him that I will look after those Maryland and Virginia
+rangers myself. I will plant cannon at both ends of Pennsylvania avenue,
+and if any of them show their heads or raise a finger, I'll blow them to
+h---."
+
+
+
+
+"YANKEE" GOODNESS OF HEART.
+
+One day, when the President was with the troops who were fighting at the
+front, the wounded, both Union and Confederate, began to pour in.
+
+As one stretcher was passing Lincoln, he heard the voice of a lad
+calling to his mother in agonizing tones. His great heart filled. He
+forgot the crisis of the hour. Stopping the carriers, he knelt, and
+bending over him, asked: "What can I do for you, my poor child?"
+
+"Oh, you will do nothing for me," he replied. "You are a Yankee. I
+cannot hope that my message to my mother will ever reach her."
+
+Lincoln, in tears, his voice full of tenderest love, convinced the boy
+of his sincerity, and he gave his good-bye words without reserve.
+
+The President directed them copied, and ordered that they be sent that
+night, with a flag of truce, into the enemy's lines.
+
+
+
+
+WALKED AS HE TALKED.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln made his famous humorous speech in Congress ridiculing
+General Cass, he began to speak from notes, but, as he warmed up,
+he left his desk and his notes, to stride down the alley toward the
+Speaker's chair.
+
+Occasionally, as he would complete a sentence amid shouts of laughter,
+he would return up the alley to his desk, consult his notes, take a sip
+of water and start off again.
+
+Mr. Lincoln received many congratulations at the close, Democrats
+joining the Whigs in their complimentary comments.
+
+One Democrat, however (who had been nicknamed "Sausage" Sawyer), didn't
+enthuse at all.
+
+"Sawyer," asked an Eastern Representative, "how did you like the lanky
+Illinoisan's speech? Very able, wasn't it?"
+
+"Well," replied Sawyer, "the speech was pretty good, but I hope he won't
+charge mileage on his travels while delivering it."
+
+
+
+
+THE SONG DID THE BUSINESS.
+
+The Virginia (Ill.) Enquirer, of March 1, 1879, tells this story:
+
+"John McNamer was buried last Sunday, near Petersburg, Menard county. A
+long while ago he was Assessor and Treasurer of the County for several
+successive terms. Mr. McNamer was an early settler in that section, and,
+before the town of Petersburg was laid out, in business in Old Salem, a
+village that existed many years ago two miles south of the present site
+of Petersburg.
+
+"'Abe' Lincoln was then postmaster of the place and sold whisky to its
+inhabitants. There are old-timers yet living in Menard who bought many
+a jug of corn-juice from 'Old Abe' when he lived at Salem. It was here
+that Anne Rutledge dwelt, and in whose grave Lincoln wrote that his
+heart was buried.
+
+"As the story runs, the fair and gentle Anne was originally John
+McNamer's sweetheart, but 'Abe' took a 'shine' to the young lady,
+and succeeded in heading off McNamer and won her affections. But Anne
+Rutledge died, and Lincoln went to Springfield, where he some time
+afterwards married.
+
+"It is related that during the War a lady belonging to a prominent
+Kentucky family visited Washington to beg for her son's pardon, who
+was then in prison under sentence of death for belonging to a band of
+guerrillas who had committed many murders and outrages.
+
+"With the mother was her daughter, a beautiful young lady, who was an
+accomplished musician. Mr. Lincoln received the visitors in his
+usual kind manner, and the mother made known the object of her visit,
+accompanying her plea with tears and sobs and all the customary romantic
+incidents.
+
+"There were probably extenuating circumstances in favor of the young
+rebel prisoner, and while the President seemed to be deeply pondering
+the young lady moved to a piano near by and taking a seat commenced to
+sing 'Gentle Annie,' a very sweet and pathetic ballad which, before the
+War, was a familiar song in almost every household in the Union, and is
+not yet entirely forgotten, for that matter.
+
+"It is to be presumed that the young lady sang the song with
+more plaintiveness and effect than 'Old Abe' had ever heard it in
+Springfield. During its rendition, he arose from his seat, crossed the
+room to a window in the westward, through which he gazed for several
+minutes with a 'sad, far-away look,' which has so often been noted as
+one of his peculiarities.
+
+"His memory, no doubt, went back to the days of his humble life on the
+Sangamon, and with visions of Old Salem and its rustic people, who once
+gathered in his primitive store, came a picture of the 'Gentle Annie'
+of his youth, whose ashes had rested for many long years under the wild
+flowers and brambles of the old rural burying-ground, but whose spirit
+then, perhaps, guided him to the side of mercy.
+
+"Be that as it may, President Lincoln drew a large red silk handkerchief
+from his coatpocket, with which he wiped his face vigorously. Then
+he turned, advanced quickly to his desk, wrote a brief note, which he
+handed to the lady, and informed her that it was the pardon she sought.
+
+"The scene was no doubt touching in a great degree and proves that a
+nice song, well sung, has often a powerful influence in recalling tender
+recollections. It proves, also, that Abraham Lincoln was a man of fine
+feelings, and that, if the occurrence was a put-up job on the lady's
+part, it accomplished the purpose all the same."
+
+
+
+
+A "FREE FOR ALL."
+
+Lincoln made a political speech at Pappsville, Illinois, when a
+candidate for the Legislature the first time. A free-for-all fight began
+soon after the opening of the meeting, and Lincoln, noticing one of
+his friends about to succumb to the energetic attack of an infuriated
+ruffian, edged his way through the crowd, and, seizing the bully by the
+neck and the seat of his trousers, threw him, by means of his strength
+and long arms, as one witness stoutly insists, "twelve feet away."
+Returning to the stand, and throwing aside his hat, he inaugurated his
+campaign with the following brief but pertinent declaration:
+
+"Fellow-citizens, I presume you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham
+Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate for
+the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman's
+dance. I am in favor of the national bank; I am in favor of the
+internal improvement system and a high protective tariff. These are my
+sentiments; if elected, I shall be thankful; if not, it will be all the
+same."
+
+
+
+
+THREE INFERNAL BORES.
+
+One day, when President Lincoln was alone and busily engaged on an
+important subject, involving vexation and anxiety, he was disturbed by
+the unwarranted intrusion of three men, who, without apology, proceeded
+to lay their claim before him.
+
+The spokesman of the three reminded the President that they were
+the owners of some torpedo or other warlike invention which, if the
+government would only adopt it, would soon crush the rebellion.
+
+"Now," said the spokesman, "we have been here to see you time and again;
+you have referred us to the Secretary of War, the Chief of Ordnance, and
+the General of the Army, and they give us no satisfaction. We have been
+kept here waiting, till money and patience are exhausted, and we now
+come to demand of you a final reply to our application."
+
+Mr. Lincoln listened to this insolent tirade, and at its close the old
+twinkle came into his eye.
+
+"You three gentlemen remind me of a story I once heard," said he, "of a
+poor little boy out West who had lost his mother. His father wanted to
+give him a religious education, and so placed him in the family of a
+clergyman, whom he directed to instruct the little fellow carefully in
+the Scriptures. Every day the boy had to commit to memory and recite one
+chapter of the Bible. Things proceeded smoothly until they reached that
+chapter which details the story of the trial of Shadrach, Meshach and
+Abednego in the fiery furnace. When asked to repeat these three names
+the boy said he had forgotten them.
+
+"His teacher told him that he must learn them, and gave him another day
+to do so. The next day the boy again forgot them.
+
+"'Now,' said the teacher, 'you have again failed to remember those names
+and you can go no farther until you have learned them. I will give you
+another day on this lesson, and if you don't repeat the names I will
+punish you.'
+
+"A third time the boy came to recite, and got down to the stumbling
+block, when the clergyman said: 'Now tell me the names of the men in the
+fiery furnace.'
+
+"'Oh,' said the boy, 'here come those three infernal bores! I wish the
+devil had them!'"
+
+Having received their "final answer," the three patriots retired, and at
+the Cabinet meeting which followed, the President, in high good humor,
+related how he had dismissed his unwelcome visitors.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S MEN WERE "HUSTLERS."
+
+In the Chicago Convention of 1860 the fight for Seward was maintained
+with desperate resolve until the final ballot was taken. Thurlow Weed
+was the Seward leader, and he was simply incomparable as a master in
+handling a convention. With him were Governor Morgan, Henry J. Raymond,
+of the New York Times, with William M. Evarts as chairman of the New
+York delegation, whose speech nominating Seward was the most impressive
+utterance of his life. The Bates men (Bates was afterwards Lincoln's
+Attorney-General) were led by Frank Blair, the only Republican
+Congressman from a slave State, who was nothing if not heroic, aided by
+his brother Montgomery (afterwards Lincoln's Postmaster General), who
+was a politician of uncommon cunning. With them was Horace Greeley, who
+was chairman of the delegation from the then almost inaccessible State
+of Oregon.
+
+It was Lincoln's friends, however, who were the "hustlers" of that
+battle. They had men for sober counsel like David Davis; men of supreme
+sagacity like Leonard Swett; men of tireless effort like Norman B. Judd;
+and they had what was more important than all--a seething multitude wild
+with enthusiasm for "Old Abe."
+
+
+
+
+A SLOW HORSE.
+
+On one occasion when Mr. Lincoln was going to attend a political
+convention one of his rivals, a liveryman, provided him with a slow
+horse, hoping that he would not reach his destination in time. Mr.
+Lincoln got there, however, and when he returned with the horse he said:
+"You keep this horse for funerals, don't you?" "Oh, no," replied the
+liveryman. "Well, I'm glad of that, for if you did you'd never get a
+corpse to the grave in time for the resurrection."
+
+
+
+
+DODGING "BROWSING PRESIDENTS."
+
+General McClellan, after being put in command of the Army, resented any
+"interference" by the President. Lincoln, in his anxiety to know
+the details of the work in the army, went frequently to McClellan's
+headquarters. That the President had a serious purpose in these visits
+McClellan did not see.
+
+"I enclose a card just received from 'A. Lincoln,'" he wrote to his wife
+one day; "it shows too much deference to be seen outside."
+
+In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke of being "interrupted" by
+the President and Secretary Seward, "who had nothing in particular to
+say," and again of concealing himself "to dodge all enemies in shape of
+'browsing' Presidents," etc.
+
+"I am becoming daily more disgusted with this Administration--perfectly
+sick of it," he wrote early in October; and a few days later, "I was
+obliged to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at 8 P. M., and was bored and
+annoyed. There are some of the greatest geese in the Cabinet I have ever
+seen--enough to tax the patience of Job."
+
+
+
+
+A GREENBACK LEGEND.
+
+At a Cabinet meeting once, the advisability of putting a legend on
+greenbacks similar to the In God We Trust legend on the silver coins was
+discussed, and the President was asked what his view was. He replied:
+"If you are going to put a legend on the greenback, I would suggest that
+of Peter and Paul: 'Silver and gold we have not, but what we have we'll
+give you.'"
+
+
+
+
+GOD'S BEST GIFT TO MAN.
+
+One of Mr. Lincoln's notable religious utterances was his reply to a
+deputation of colored people at Baltimore who presented him a Bible. He
+said:
+
+"In regard to the great book, I have only to say it is the best gift
+which God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world
+is communicated to us through this book. But for this book we could not
+know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained
+in it."
+
+
+
+
+SCALPING IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
+
+When Lincoln was President he told this story of the Black Hawk War:
+
+The only time he ever saw blood in this campaign, was one morning when,
+marching up a little valley that makes into the Rock River bottom, to
+reinforce a squad of outposts that were thought to be in danger, they
+came upon the tent occupied by the other party just at sunrise. The men
+had neglected to place any guard at night, and had been slaughtered in
+their sleep.
+
+As the reinforcing party came up the slope on which the camp had been
+made, Lincoln saw them all lying with their heads towards the rising
+sun, and the round red spot that marked where they had been scalped
+gleamed more redly yet in the ruddy light of the sun. This scene years
+afterwards he recalled with a shudder.
+
+
+
+
+MATRIMONIAL ADVICE.
+
+For a while during the Civil War, General Fremont was without a command.
+One day in discussing Fremont's case with George W. Julian, President
+Lincoln said he did not know where to place him, and that it reminds him
+of the old man who advised his son to take a wife, to which the young
+man responded: "All right; whose wife shall I take?"
+
+
+
+
+OWED LOTS OF MONEY.
+
+On April 14, 1865, a few hours previous to his assassination, President
+Lincoln sent a message by Congressman Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President
+during General Grant's first term, to the miners in the Rocky Mountains
+and the regions bounded by the Pacific ocean, in which he said:
+
+"Now that the Rebellion is overthrown, and we know pretty nearly the
+amount of our National debt, the more gold and silver we mine, we make
+the payment of that debt so much easier.
+
+"Now I am going to encourage that in every possible way. We shall have
+hundreds of thousands of disbanded soldiers, and many have feared that
+their return home in such great numbers might paralyze industry by
+furnishing, suddenly, a greater supply of labor than there will be
+demand for. I am going to try to attract them to the hidden wealth of
+our mountain ranges, where there is room enough for all. Immigration,
+which even the War has not stopped, will land upon our shores hundreds
+of thousands more per year from overcrowded Europe. I intend to point
+them to the gold and silver that wait for them in the West.
+
+"Tell the miners for me that I shall promote their interests to the
+utmost of my ability; because their prosperity as the prosperity of
+the nation; and," said he, his eye kindling with enthusiasm, "we shall
+prove, in a very few years, that we are indeed the treasury of the
+world."
+
+
+
+
+"ON THE LORD'S SIDE."
+
+President Lincoln made a significant remark to a clergyman in the early
+days of the War.
+
+"Let us have faith, Mr. President," said the minister, "that the Lord is
+on our side in this great struggle."
+
+Mr. Lincoln quietly answered: "I am not at all concerned about that, for
+I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right; but it is my
+constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation may be on the Lord's
+side."
+
+
+
+
+WANTED TO BE NEAR "ABE."
+
+It was Lincoln's custom to hold an informal reception once a week, each
+caller taking his turn.
+
+Upon one of these eventful days an old friend from Illinois stood in
+line for almost an hour. At last he was so near the President his voice
+could reach him, and, calling out to his old associate, he startled
+every one by exclaiming, "Hallo, 'Abe'; how are ye? I'm in line and hev
+come for an orfice, too."
+
+Lincoln singled out the man with the stentorian voice, and recognizing
+a particularly old friend, one whose wife had befriended him at a
+peculiarly trying time, the President responded to his greeting in a
+cordial manner, and told him "to hang onto himself and not kick the
+traces. Keep in line and you'll soon get here."
+
+They met and shook hands with the old fervor and renewed their
+friendship.
+
+The informal reception over, Lincoln sent for his old friend, and the
+latter began to urge his claims.
+
+After having given him some good advice, Lincoln kindly told him he
+was incapable of holding any such position as he asked for. The
+disappointment of the Illinois friend was plainly shown, and with a
+perceptible tremor in his voice he said, "Martha's dead, the gal is
+married, and I've guv Jim the forty."
+
+Then looking at Lincoln he came a little nearer and almost whispered, "I
+knowed I wasn't eddicated enough to git the place, but I kinder want to
+stay where I ken see 'Abe' Lincoln."
+
+He was given employment in the White House grounds.
+
+Afterwards the President said, "These brief interviews, stripped of
+even the semblance of ceremony, give me a better insight into the real
+character of the person and his true reason for seeking one."
+
+
+
+
+GOT HIS FOOT IN IT.
+
+William H. Seward, idol of the Republicans of the East, six months after
+Lincoln had made his "Divided House" speech, delivered an address at
+Rochester, New York, containing this famous sentence:
+
+"It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces,
+and it means that the United States must, and will, sooner or later,
+become either entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free-labor
+nation."
+
+Seward, who had simply followed in Lincoln's steps, was defeated for the
+Presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention of 1860,
+because he was "too radical," and Lincoln, who was still "radicaler,"
+was named.
+
+
+
+
+SAVED BY A LETTER.
+
+The chief interest of the Illinois campaign of 1843 lay in the race
+for Congress in the Capital district, which was between Hardin--fiery,
+eloquent, and impetuous Democrat--and Lincoln--plain, practical, and
+ennobled Whig. The world knows the result. Lincoln was elected.
+
+It is not so much his election as the manner in which he secured his
+nomination with which we have to deal. Before that ever-memorable spring
+Lincoln vacillated between the courts of Springfield, rated as a plain,
+honest, logical Whig, with no ambition higher politically than to occupy
+some good home office.
+
+Late in the fall of 1842 his name began to be mentioned in connection
+with Congressional aspirations, which fact greatly annoyed the leaders
+of his political party, who had already selected as the Whig candidate
+E. D. Baker, afterward the gallant Colonel who fell so bravely and died
+such an honorable death on the battlefield of Ball's Bluff.
+
+Despite all efforts of his opponents within his party, the name of the
+"gaunt rail-splitter" was hailed with acclaim by the masses, to whom
+he had endeared himself by his witticisms, honest tongue, and quaint
+philosophy when on the stump, or mingling with them in their homes.
+
+The convention, which met in early spring, in the city of Springfield,
+was to be composed of the usual number of delegates. The contest for the
+nomination was spirited and exciting.
+
+A few weeks before the meeting of the convention the fact was found by
+the leaders that the advantage lay with Lincoln, and that unless they
+pulled some very fine wires nothing could save Baker.
+
+They attempted to play the game that has so often won, by "convincing"
+delegates under instructions for Lincoln to violate them, and vote for
+Baker. They had apparently succeeded.
+
+"The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley." So it was in this
+case. Two days before the convention Lincoln received an intimation of
+this, and, late at night, wrote the following letter.
+
+The letter was addressed to Martin Morris, who resided at Petersburg,
+an intimate friend of his, and by him circulated among those who were
+instructed for him at the county convention.
+
+It had the desired effect. The convention met, the scheme of the
+conspirators miscarried, Lincoln was nominated, made a vigorous canvass,
+and was triumphantly elected, thus paving the way for his more extended
+and brilliant conquests.
+
+This letter, Lincoln had often told his friends, gave him ultimately
+the Chief Magistracy of the nation. He has also said, that, had he been
+beaten before the convention, he would have been forever obscured. The
+following is a verbatim copy of the epistle:
+
+"April 14, 1843.
+
+"Friend Morris: I have heard it intimated that Baker is trying to get
+you or Miles, or both of you, to violate the instructions of the meeting
+that appointed you, and to go for him. I have insisted, and still
+insist, that this cannot be true.
+
+"Sure Baker would not do the like. As well might Hardin ask me to vote
+for him in the convention.
+
+"Again, it is said there will be an attempt to get instructions in your
+county requiring you to go for Baker. This is all wrong. Upon the same
+rule, why might I not fly from the decision against me at Sangamon and
+get up instructions to their delegates to go for me. There are at least
+1,200 Whigs in the county that took no part, and yet I would as soon
+stick my head in the fire as attempt it.
+
+"Besides, if any one should get the nomination by such extraordinary
+means, all harmony in the district would inevitably be lost. Honest
+Whigs (and very nearly all of them are honest) would not quietly abide
+such enormities.
+
+"I repeat, such an attempt on Baker's part cannot be true. Write me at
+Springfield how the matter is. Don't show or speak of this letter.
+
+"A. LINCOLN."
+
+
+
+
+Mr. Morris did show the letter, and Mr. Lincoln always thanked his stars
+that he did.
+
+
+
+
+HIS FAVORITE POEM.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's favorite poem was "Oh! Why Should the Spirit of Mortal Be
+Proud?" written by William Knox, a Scotchman, although Mr. Lincoln never
+knew the author's name. He once said to a friend:
+
+"This poem has been a great favorite with me for years. It was first
+shown to me, when a young man, by a friend. I afterward saw it and cut
+it from a newspaper and learned it by heart. I would give a great deal
+to know who wrote it, but I have never been able to ascertain."
+
+    "Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?--
+    Like a swift-fleeing meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
+    A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
+    He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
+
+    "The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
+    Be scattered around, and together be laid;
+    And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
+    Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie.
+
+    "The infant a mother attended and loved;
+    The mother, that infant's affection who proved,
+    The husband, that mother and infant who blessed
+    --Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest.
+
+    "The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye,
+    Shone beauty and pleasure--her triumphs are by;
+    And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
+    Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
+
+    "The hand of the king, that the sceptre hath borne,
+    The brow of the priest, that the mitre hath worn,
+    The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave,
+    Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.
+
+    "The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap,
+    The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;
+    The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
+    Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
+
+    "The saint, who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
+    The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven;
+    The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
+    Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.
+
+    "So the multitude goes--like the flower or the weed
+    That withers away to let others succeed;
+    So the multitude comes--even those we behold,
+    To repeat every tale that has often been told:
+
+    "For we are the same our fathers have been;
+    We see the same sights our fathers have seen;
+    We drink the same stream, we view the same sun,
+    And run the same course our fathers have run.
+
+    "The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think;
+    From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink;
+    To the life we are clinging, they also would cling
+    --But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing.
+
+    "They loved--but the story we cannot unfold;
+    They scorned--but the heart of the haughty is cold;
+    They grieved--but no wail from their slumber will come;
+    They joyed--but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.
+
+    "They died--aye, they died--and we things that are now,
+    That walk on the turf that lies o'er their brow,
+    And make in their dwellings a transient abode,
+    Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.
+
+    "Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
+    Are mingled together in sunshine and rain;
+    And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
+    Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
+
+    "'Tis the wink of an eye,--'tis the draught of a breath;
+    --From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
+    From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud:
+    --Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?"
+
+
+
+
+FIVE-LEGGED CALF.
+
+President Lincoln had great doubt as to his right to emancipate the
+slaves under the War power. In discussing the question, he used to like
+the case to that of the boy who, when asked how many legs his calf would
+have if he called its tail a leg, replied, "five," to which the prompt
+response was made that calling the tail a leg would not make it a leg.
+
+
+
+
+A STAGE-COACH STORY.
+
+The following is told by Thomas H. Nelson, of Terre Haute, Indiana, who
+was appointed minister to Chili by Lincoln:
+
+Judge Abram Hammond, afterwards Governor of Indiana, and myself arranged
+to go from Terre Haute to Indianapolis in a stage-coach.
+
+As we stepped in we discovered that the entire back seat was occupied
+by a long, lank individual, whose head seemed to protrude from one end of
+the coach and his feet from the other. He was the sole occupant, and was
+sleeping soundly. Hammond slapped him familiarly on the shoulder, and
+asked him if he had chartered the coach that day.
+
+"Certainly not," and he at once took the front seat, politely giving
+us the place of honor and comfort. An odd-looking fellow he was, with
+a twenty-five cent hat, without vest or cravat. Regarding him as a good
+subject for merriment, we perpetrated several jokes.
+
+He took them all with utmost innocence and good nature, and joined in
+the laugh, although at his own expense.
+
+After an astounding display of wordy pyrotechnics, the dazed and
+bewildered stranger asked, "What will be the upshot of this comet
+business?"
+
+Late in the evening we reached Indianapolis, and hurried to Browning's
+hotel, losing sight of the stranger altogether.
+
+We retired to our room to brush our clothes. In a few minutes I
+descended to the portico, and there descried our long, gloomy fellow
+traveler in the center of an admiring group of lawyers, among whom were
+Judges McLean and Huntington, Albert S. White, and Richard W. Thompson,
+who seemed to be amused and interested in a story he was telling. I
+inquired of Browning, the landlord, who he was. "Abraham Lincoln, of
+Illinois, a member of Congress," was his response.
+
+I was thunderstruck at the announcement. I hastened upstairs and told
+Hammond the startling news, and together we emerged from the hotel by
+a back door, and went down an alley to another house, thus avoiding
+further contact with our distinguished fellow traveler.
+
+Years afterward, when the President-elect was on his way to Washington,
+I was in the same hotel looking over the distinguished party, when a
+long arm reached to my shoulder, and a shrill voice exclaimed, "Hello,
+Nelson! do you think, after all, the whole world is going to follow the
+darned thing off?" The words were my own in answer to his question in
+the stage-coach. The speaker was Abraham Lincoln.
+
+
+
+
+THE "400" GATHERED THERE.
+
+Lincoln had periods while "clerking" in the New Salem grocery store
+during which there was nothing for him to do, and was therefore in
+circumstances that made laziness almost inevitable. Had people come to
+him for goods, they would have found him willing to sell them. He sold
+all that he could, doubtless.
+
+The store soon became the social center of the village. If the people
+did not care (or were unable) to buy goods, they liked to go where they
+could talk with their neighbors and listen to stories. These Lincoln
+gave them in abundance, and of a rare sort.
+
+It was in these gatherings of the "Four Hundred" at the village store
+that Lincoln got his training as a debater. Public questions were
+discussed there daily and nightly, and Lincoln always took a prominent
+part in the discussions. Many of the debaters came to consider "Abe
+Linkin" as about the smartest man in the village.
+
+
+
+
+ONLY LEVEL-HEADED MEN WANTED.
+
+Lincoln wanted men of level heads for important commands. Not
+infrequently he gave his generals advice.
+
+He appreciated Hooker's bravery, dash and activity, but was fearful of
+the results of what he denominated "swashing around."
+
+This was one of his telegrams to Hooker:
+
+"And now, beware of rashness; beware of rashness, but, with energy and
+sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories."
+
+
+
+
+HIS FAITH IN THE MONITOR.
+
+When the Confederate iron-clad Merrimac was sent against the Union
+vessels in Hampton Roads President Lincoln expressed his belief in the
+Monitor to Captain Fox, the adviser of Captain Ericsson, who constructed
+the Monitor. "We have three of the most effective vessels in Hampton
+Roads, and any number of small craft that will hang on the stern of the
+Merrimac like small dogs on the haunches of a bear. They may not be
+able to tear her down, but they will interfere with the comfort of her
+voyage. Her trial trip will not be a pleasure trip, I am certain.
+
+"We have had a big share of bad luck already, but I do not believe the
+future has any such misfortunes in store for us as you anticipate." Said
+Captain Fox: "If the Merrimac does not sink our ships, who is to prevent
+her from dropping her anchor in the Potomac, where that steamer lies,"
+pointing to a steamer at anchor below the long bridge, "and throwing her
+hundred-pound shells into this room, or battering down the walls of the
+Capitol?"
+
+"The Almighty, Captain," answered the President, excitedly, but without
+the least affectation. "I expect set-backs, defeats; we have had them
+and shall have them. They are common to all wars. But I have not the
+slightest fear of any result which shall fatally impair our military
+and naval strength, or give other powers any right to interfere in our
+quarrel. The destruction of the Capitol would do both.
+
+"I do not fear it, for this is God's fight, and He will win it in His
+own good time. He will take care that our enemies will not push us too
+far.
+
+"Speaking of iron-clads," said the President, "you do not seem to
+take the little Monitor into account. I believe in the Monitor and her
+commander. If Captain Worden does not give a good account of the Monitor
+and of himself, I shall have made a mistake in following my judgment for
+the first time since I have been here, Captain.
+
+"I have not made a mistake in following my clear judgment of men since
+this War began. I followed that judgment when I gave Worden the command
+of the Monitor. I would make the appointment over again to-day. The
+Monitor should be in Hampton Roads now. She left New York eight days
+ago."
+
+After the captain had again presented what he considered the
+possibilities of failure the President replied, "No, no, Captain, I
+respect your judgments as you have reason to know, but this time you are
+all wrong.
+
+"The Monitor was one of my inspirations; I believed in her firmly when
+that energetic contractor first showed me Ericsson's plans. Captain
+Ericsson's plain but rather enthusiastic demonstration made my
+conversion permanent. It was called a floating battery then; I called
+it a raft. I caught some of the inventor's enthusiasm and it has been
+growing upon me. I thought then, and I am confident now, it is just what
+we want. I am sure that the Monitor is still afloat, and that she will
+yet give a good account of herself. Sometimes I think she may be the
+veritable sling with a stone that will yet smite the Merrimac Philistine
+in the forehead."
+
+Soon was the President's judgment verified, for the "Fight of the
+Monitor and Merrimac" changed all the conditions of naval warfare.
+
+After the victory was gained, the presiding Captain Fox and others went
+on board the Monitor, and Captain Worden was requested by the President
+to narrate the history of the encounter.
+
+Captain Worden did so in a modest manner, and apologized for not being
+able better to provide for his guests. The President smilingly responded
+"Some charitable people say that old Bourbon is an indispensable element
+in the fighting qualities of some of our generals in the field, but,
+Captain, after the account that we have heard to-day, no one will say
+that any Dutch courage is needed on board the Monitor."
+
+"It never has been, sir," modestly observed the captain.
+
+Captain Fox then gave a description of what he saw of the engagement and
+described it as indescribably grand. Then, turning to the President, he
+continued, "Now standing here on the deck of this battle-scarred
+vessel, the first genuine iron-clad--the victor in the first fight
+of iron-clads--let me make a confession, and perform an act of simple
+justice.
+
+"I never fully believed in armored vessels until I saw this battle.
+
+"I know all the facts which united to give us the Monitor. I withhold no
+credit from Captain Ericsson, her inventor, but I know that the country
+is principally indebted for the construction of the vessel to President
+Lincoln, and for the success of her trial to Captain Worden, her
+commander."
+
+
+
+
+HER ONLY IMPERFECTION.
+
+At one time a certain Major Hill charged Lincoln with making defamatory
+remarks regarding Mrs. Hill.
+
+Hill was insulting in his language to Lincoln who never lost his temper.
+
+When he saw his chance to edge a word in, Lincoln denied emphatically
+using the language or anything like that attributed to him.
+
+He entertained, he insisted, a high regard for Mrs. Hill, and the only
+thing he knew to her discredit was the fact that she was Major Hill's
+wife.
+
+
+
+
+THE OLD LADY'S PROPHECY.
+
+Among those who called to congratulate Mr. Lincoln upon his nomination
+for President was an old lady, very plainly dressed. She knew Mr.
+Lincoln, but Mr. Lincoln did not at first recognize her. Then she
+undertook to recall to his memory certain incidents connected with his
+ride upon the circuit--especially his dining at her house upon the road
+at different times. Then he remembered her and her home.
+
+Having fixed her own place in his recollection, she tried to recall to
+him a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he once ate at her
+house. He could not remember it--on the contrary, he only remembered
+that he had always fared well at her house.
+
+"Well," she said, "one day you came along after we had got through
+dinner, and we had eaten up everything, and I could give you nothing but
+a bowl of bread and milk, and you ate it; and when you got up you said
+it was good enough for the President of the United States!"
+
+The good woman had come in from the country, making a journey of eight
+or ten miles, to relate to Mr. Lincoln this incident, which, in her
+mind, had doubtless taken the form of a prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed
+the honest creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and
+dismissed her in the most happy frame of mind.
+
+
+
+
+HOW THE TOWN OF LINCOLN, ILL., WAS NAMED.
+
+The story of naming the town of Lincoln, the county seat of Logan
+county, Illinois, is thus given on good authority:
+
+The first railroad had been built through the county, and a station
+was about to be located there. Lincoln, Virgil Hitchcock, Colonel R.
+B. Latham and several others were sitting on a pile of ties and talking
+about moving a county seat from Mount Pulaski. Mr. Lincoln rose and
+started to walk away, when Colonel Latham said: "Lincoln, if you will
+help us to get the county seat here, we will call the place Lincoln."
+
+"All right, Latham," he replied.
+
+Colonel Latham then deeded him a lot on the west side of the courthouse,
+and he owned it at the time he was elected President.
+
+
+
+
+"OLD JEFF'S" BIG NIGHTMARE.
+
+"Jeff" Davis had a large and threatening nightmare in November, 1864,
+and what he saw in his troubled dreams was the long and lanky figure of
+Abraham Lincoln, who had just been endorsed by the people of the United
+States for another term in the White House at Washington. The cartoon
+reproduced here is from the issue of "Frank Leslie's Illustrated
+Newspaper" of December 3rd, 1864, it being entitled "Jeff Davis'
+November Nightmare."
+
+Davis had been told that McClellan, "the War is a failure" candidate for
+the Presidency, would have no difficulty whatever in defeating Lincoln;
+that negotiations with the Confederate officials for the cessation of
+hostilities would be entered into as soon as McClellan was seated in the
+Chief Executive's chair; that the Confederacy would, in all probability,
+be recognized as an independent government by the Washington
+Administration; that the "sacred institution" of slavery would continue
+to do business at the old stand; that the Confederacy would be one of
+the great nations of the world, and have all the "State Rights" and
+other things it wanted, with absolutely no interference whatever upon
+the part of the North.
+
+Therefore, Lincoln's re-election was a rough, rude shock to Davis, who
+had not prepared himself for such an event. Six months from the date of
+that nightmare-dream he was a prisoner in the hands of the Union forces,
+and the Confederacy was a thing of the past.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S LAST OFFICIAL ACT.
+
+Probably the last official act of President Lincoln's life was the
+signing of the commission reappointing Alvin Saunders Governor of
+Nebraska.
+
+"I saw Mr. Lincoln regarding the matter," said Governor Saunders, "and
+he told me to go home; that he would attend to it all right. I left
+Washington on the morning of the 14th, and while en route the news
+of the assassination on the evening of the same day reached me. I
+immediately wired back to find out what had become of my commission,
+and was told that the room had not been opened. When it was opened, the
+document was found lying on the desk.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln signed it just before leaving for the theater that fatal
+evening, and left it lying there, unfolded.
+
+"A note was found below the document as follows: 'Rather a lengthy
+commission, bestowing upon Mr. Alvin Saunders the official authority of
+Governor of the Territory of Nebraska.' Then came Lincoln's signature,
+which, with one exception, that of a penciled message on the back of a
+card sent up by a friend as Mr. Lincoln was dressing for the theater,
+was the very last signature of the martyred President."
+
+THE LAD NEEDED THE SLEEP.
+
+A personal friend of President Lincoln is authority for this:
+
+"I called on him one day in the early part of the War. He had just
+written a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced to be shot for
+sleeping at his post. He remarked as he read it to me:
+
+"'I could not think of going into eternity with the blood of the poor
+young man on my skirts.' Then he added:
+
+"'It is not to be wondered at that a boy, raised on a farm, probably in
+the habit of going to bed at dark, should, when required to watch, fall
+asleep; and I cannot consent to shoot him for such an act.'"
+
+
+
+
+"MASSA LINKUM LIKE DE LORD!"
+
+By the Act of Emancipation President Lincoln built for himself forever
+the first place in the affections of the African race in this country.
+The love and reverence manifested for him by many of these people has,
+on some occasions, almost reached adoration. One day Colonel McKaye, of
+New York, who had been one of a committee to investigate the condition
+of the freedmen, upon his return from Hilton Head and Beaufort called
+upon the President, and in the course of the interview said that up to
+the time of the arrival among them in the South of the Union forces
+they had no knowledge of any other power. Their masters fled upon the
+approach of our soldiers, and this gave the slaves the conception of
+a power greater than their masters exercised. This power they called
+"Massa Linkum."
+
+Colonel McKaye said their place of worship was a large building they
+called "the praise house," and the leader of the "meeting," a venerable
+black man, was known as "the praise man."
+
+On a certain day, when there was quite a large gathering of the people,
+considerable confusion was created by different persons attempting to
+tell who and what "Massa Linkum" was. In the midst of the excitement the
+white-headed leader commanded silence. "Brederen," said he, "you don't
+know nosen' what you'se talkin' 'bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa
+Linkum, he ebery whar. He know ebery ting."
+
+Then, solemnly looking up, he added: "He walk de earf like de Lord!"
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN TOOK THE NEWS.
+
+One of Lincoln's most dearly loved friends, United States Senator Edward
+D. Baker, of Oregon, Colonel of the Seventy-first Pennsylvania, a former
+townsman of Mr. Lincoln, was killed at the battle of Ball's Bluff, in
+October, 1861. The President went to General McClellan's headquarters to
+hear the news, and a friend thus described the effect it had upon him:
+
+"We could hear the click of the telegraph in the adjoining room and low
+conversation between the President and General McClellan, succeeded by
+silence, excepting the click, click of the instrument, which went on
+with its tale of disaster.
+
+"Five minutes passed, and then Mr. Lincoln, unattended, with bowed head
+and tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, his face pale and wan, his
+breast heaving with emotion, passed through the room. He almost fell as
+he stepped into the street. We sprang involuntarily from our seats to
+render assistance, but he did not fall.
+
+"With both hands pressed upon his heart, he walked down the street, not
+returning the salute of the sentinel pacing his beat before the door."
+
+
+
+
+PROFANITY AS A SAFETY-VALVE.
+
+Lincoln never indulged in profanity, but confessed that when Lee was
+beaten at Malvern Hill, after seven days of fighting, and Richmond,
+but twelve miles away, was at McClellan's mercy, he felt very much
+like swearing when he learned that the Union general had retired to
+Harrison's Landing.
+
+Lee was so confident his opponent would not go to Richmond that he took
+his army into Maryland--a move he would not have made had an energetic
+fighting man been in McClellan's place.
+
+It is true McClellan followed and defeated Lee in the bloodiest battle
+of the War--Antietam--afterwards following him into Virginia; but
+Lincoln could not bring himself to forgive the general's inaction before
+Richmond.
+
+
+
+
+WHY WE WON AT GETTYSBURG.
+
+President Lincoln said to General Sickles, just after the victory
+of Gettysburg: "The fact is, General, in the stress and pinch of the
+campaign there, I went to my room, and got down on my knees and prayed
+God Almighty for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His
+country, and the war was His war, but that we really couldn't stand
+another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville. And then and there I made
+a solemn vow with my Maker that if He would stand by you boys at
+Gettysburg I would stand by Him. And He did, and I will! And after this
+I felt that God Almighty had taken the whole thing into His hands."
+
+
+
+
+HAD TO WAIT FOR HIM.
+
+President Lincoln, having arranged to go to New York, was late for his
+train, much to the disgust of those who were to accompany him, and all
+were compelled to wait several hours until the next train steamed out
+of the station. President Lincoln was much amused at the dissatisfaction
+displayed, and then ventured the remark that the situation reminded him
+of "a little story." Said he:
+
+"Out in Illinois, a convict who had murdered his cellmate was sentenced
+to be hanged. On the day set for the execution, crowds lined the roads
+leading to the spot where the scaffold had been erected, and there was
+much jostling and excitement. The condemned man took matters coolly, and
+as one batch of perspiring, anxious men rushed past the cart in which he
+was riding, he called out, 'Don't be in a hurry, boys. You've got plenty
+of time. There won't be any fun until I get there.'
+
+"That's the condition of things now," concluded the President; "there
+won't be any fun at New York until I get there."
+
+
+
+
+PRESIDENT AND CABINET JOINED IN PRAYER.
+
+On the day the news of General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court-House
+was received, so an intimate friend of President Lincoln relates,
+the Cabinet meeting was held an hour earlier than usual. Neither the
+President nor any member of the Cabinet was able, for a time, to give
+utterance to his feelings. At the suggestion of Mr. Lincoln all dropped
+on their knees, and offered, in silence and in tears, their humble and
+heartfelt acknowledgments to the Almighty for the triumph He had granted
+to the National cause.
+
+
+
+
+BELIEVED HE WAS A CHRISTIAN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was much impressed with the devotion and earnestness of
+purpose manifested by a certain lady of the "Christian Commission"
+during the War, and on one occasion, after she had discharged the object
+of her visit, said to her:
+
+"Madam, I have formed a high opinion of your Christian character, and
+now, as we are alone, I have a mind to ask you to give me in brief your
+idea of what constitutes a true religious experience."
+
+The lady replied at some length, stating that, in her judgment, it
+consisted of a conviction of one's own sinfulness and weakness, and a
+personal need of the Saviour for strength and support; that views of
+mere doctrine might and would differ, but when one was really brought to
+feel his need of divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for
+strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evidence of his having been
+born again. This was the substance of her reply.
+
+When she had, concluded Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a few
+moments. He at length said, very earnestly: "If what you have told me
+is really a correct view of this great subject I think I can say with
+sincerity that I hope I am a Christian. I had lived," he continued,
+"until my boy Willie died without fully realizing these things. That
+blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness as I had never felt it
+before, and if I can take what you have stated as a test I think I can
+safely say that I know something of that change of which you speak; and
+I will further add that it has been my intention for some time, at a
+suitable opportunity, to make a public religious profession."
+
+
+
+
+WITH THE HELP OF GOD.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once remarked to Mr. Noah Brooks, one of his most intimate
+personal friends: "I should be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this
+footstool if I for one day thought that I could discharge the duties
+which have come upon me, since I came to this place, without the aid and
+enlightenment of One who is stronger and wiser than all others."
+
+He said on another occasion: "I am very sure that if I do not go away
+from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, from having learned
+here what a very poor sort of a man I am."
+
+
+
+
+TURNED TEARS TO SMILES.
+
+One night Schuyler Colfax left all other business to go to the White
+House to ask the President to respite the son of a constituent, who was
+sentenced to be shot, at Davenport, for desertion. Mr. Lincoln heard the
+story with his usual patience, though he was wearied out with incessant
+calls, and anxious for rest, and then replied:
+
+"Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline and
+subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but it makes me
+rested, after a hard day's work, if I can find some good excuse for
+saving a man's life, and I go to bed happy as I think how joyous the
+signing of my name will make him and his family and his friends."
+
+And with a happy smile beaming over that care-furrowed face, he signed
+that name that saved that life.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S LAST WRITTEN WORDS.
+
+As the President and Mrs. Lincoln were leaving the White House, a
+few minutes before eight o'clock, on the evening of April 14th, 1865,
+Lincoln wrote this note:
+
+"Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come to see me at 9 o'clock a. m.,
+to-morrow, April 15th, 1865."
+
+
+
+
+WOMEN PLEAD FOR PARDONS.
+
+One day during the War an attractively and handsomely dressed woman
+called on President Lincoln to procure the release from prison of a
+relation in whom she professed the deepest interest.
+
+She was a good talker, and her winning ways seemed to make a deep
+impression on the President. After listening to her story, he wrote a
+few words on a card: "This woman, dear Stanton, is a little smarter than
+she looks to be," enclosed it in an envelope and directed her to take it
+to the Secretary of War.
+
+On the same day another woman called, more humble in appearance, more
+plainly clad. It was the old story.
+
+Father and son both in the army, the former in prison. Could not the
+latter be discharged from the army and sent home to help his mother?
+
+A few strokes of the pen, a gentle nod of the head, and the little
+woman, her eyes filling with tears and expressing a grateful
+acknowledgment her tongue, could not utter, passed out.
+
+A lady so thankful for the release of her husband was in the act of
+kneeling in thankfulness. "Get up," he said, "don't kneel to me, but
+thank God and go."
+
+An old lady for the same reason came forward with tears in her eyes
+to express her gratitude. "Good-bye, Mr. Lincoln," said she; "I shall
+probably never see you again till we meet in heaven." She had the
+President's hand in hers, and he was deeply moved. He instantly took her
+right hand in both of his, and, following her to the door, said, "I am
+afraid with all my troubles I shall never get to the resting-place you
+speak of; but if I do, I am sure I shall find you. That you wish me to
+get there is, I believe, the best wish you could make for me. Good-bye."
+
+Then the President remarked to a friend, "It is more than many can
+often say, that in doing right one has made two people happy in one day.
+Speed, die when I may, I want it said of me by those who know me best,
+that I have always plucked a thistle and planted a flower when I thought
+a flower would grow."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN WISHED TO SEE RICHMOND.
+
+The President remarked to Admiral David D. Porter, while on board the
+flagship Malvern, on the James River, in front of Richmond, the day the
+city surrendered:
+
+"Thank God that I have lived to see this!
+
+"It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid dream for four years,
+and now the nightmare is gone.
+
+"I wish to see Richmond."
+
+
+
+
+SPOKEN LIKE A CHRISTIAN.
+
+Frederick Douglass told, in these words, of his first interview with
+President Lincoln:
+
+"I approached him with trepidation as to how this great man might
+receive me; but one word and look from him banished all my fears and set
+me perfectly at ease. I have often said since that meeting that it was
+much easier to see and converse with a great man than it was with a
+small man.
+
+"On that occasion he said:
+
+"'Douglass, you need not tell me who you are. Mr. Seward has told me all
+about you.'
+
+"I then saw that there was no reason to tell him my personal story,
+however interesting it might be to myself or others, so I told him at
+once the object of my visit. It was to get some expression from him upon
+three points:
+
+"1. Equal pay to colored soldiers.
+
+"2. Their promotion when they had earned it on the battle-field.
+
+"3. Should they be taken prisoners and enslaved or hanged, as Jefferson
+Davis had threatened, an equal number of Confederate prisoners should be
+executed within our lines.
+
+"A declaration to that effect I thought would prevent the execution of
+the rebel threat. To all but the last, President Lincoln assented. He
+argued, however, that neither equal pay nor promotion could be granted
+at once. He said that in view of existing prejudices it was a great step
+forward to employ colored troops at all; that it was necessary to avoid
+everything that would offend this prejudice and increase opposition to
+the measure.
+
+"He detailed the steps by which white soldiers were reconciled to the
+employment of colored troops; how these were first employed as laborers;
+how it was thought they should not be armed or uniformed like white
+soldiers; how they should only be made to wear a peculiar uniform; how
+they should be employed to hold forts and arsenals in sickly locations,
+and not enter the field like other soldiers.
+
+"With all these restrictions and limitations he easily made me see that
+much would be gained when the colored man loomed before the country as a
+full-fledged United States soldier to fight, flourish or fall in defense
+of the united republic. The great soul of Lincoln halted only when he
+came to the point of retaliation.
+
+"The thought of hanging men in cold blood, even though the rebels
+should murder a few of the colored prisoners, was a horror from which he
+shrank.
+
+"'Oh, Douglass! I cannot do that. If I could get hold of the actual
+murderers of colored prisoners I would retaliate; but to hang those who
+have no hand in such murders, I cannot.'
+
+"The contemplation of such an act brought to his countenance such an
+expression of sadness and pity that it made it hard for me to press my
+point, though I told him it would tend to save rather than destroy life.
+He, however, insisted that this work of blood, once begun, would be hard
+to stop--that such violence would beget violence. He argued more like a
+disciple of Christ than a commander-in-chief of the army and navy of a
+warlike nation already involved in a terrible war.
+
+"How sad and strange the fate of this great and good man, the saviour
+of his country, the embodiment of human charity, whose heart, though
+strong, was as tender as a heart of childhood; who always tempered
+justice with mercy; who sought to supplant the sword with counsel of
+reason, to suppress passion by kindness and moderation; who had a sigh
+for every human grief and a tear for every human woe, should at last
+perish by the hand of a desperate assassin, against whom no thought of
+malice had ever entered his heart!"
+
+
+
+
+"LINCOLN GOES IN WHEN THE QUAKERS ARE OUT"
+
+One of the campaign songs of 1860 which will never be forgotten was
+Whittier's "The Quakers Are Out:--"
+
+     "Give the flags to the winds!
+       Set the hills all aflame!
+     Make way for the man with
+       The Patriarch's name!
+     Away with misgivings--away
+       With all doubt,
+     For Lincoln goes in when the
+       Quakers are out!"
+
+Speaking of this song (with which he was greatly pleased) one day at
+the White House, the President said: "It reminds me of a little story
+I heard years ago out in Illinois. A political campaign was on, and the
+atmosphere was kept at a high temperature. Several fights had already
+occurred, many men having been seriously hurt, and the prospects were
+that the result would be close. One of the candidates was a professional
+politician with a huge wart on his nose, this disfigurement having
+earned for him the nickname of 'Warty.' His opponent was a young lawyer
+who wore 'biled' shirts, 'was shaved by a barber, and had his clothes
+made to fit him.
+
+"Now, 'Warty' was of Quaker stock, and around election time made a great
+parade of the fact. When there were no campaigns in progress he was
+anything but Quakerish in his language or actions. The young lawyer
+didn't know what the inside of a meeting house looked like.
+
+"Well, the night before election-day the two candidates came together at
+a joint debate, both being on the speakers' platform. The young lawyer
+had to speak after 'Warty,' and his reputation suffered at the hands of
+the Quaker, who told the many Friends present what a wicked fellow the
+young man was--never went to church, swore, drank, smoked and gambled.
+
+"After 'Warty' had finished the other arose and faced the audience. 'I'm
+not a good man,' said he, 'and what my opponent has said about me is
+true enough, but I'm always the same. I don't profess religion when I
+run for office, and then turn around and associate with bad people when
+the campaign's over. I'm no hypocrite. I don't sing many psalms. Neither
+does my opponent; and, talking about singing, I'd just like to hear my
+friend who is running against me sing the song--for the benefit of this
+audience--I heard him sing the night after he was nominated. I yield the
+floor to him:
+
+"Of course 'Warty' refused, his Quaker supporters grew suspicious, and
+when they turned out at the polls the following day they voted for the
+wicked young lawyer.
+
+"So, it's true that when 'the Quakers are out' the man they support is
+apt to go in."
+
+
+
+
+HAD CONFIDENCE IN HIM--"BUT--."
+
+"General Blank asks for more men," said Secretary of War Stanton to
+the President one day, showing the latter a telegram from the commander
+named appealing for re-enforcements.
+
+"I guess he's killed off enough men, hasn't he?" queried the President.
+
+"I don't mean Confederates--our own men. What's the use in sending
+volunteers down to him if they're only used to fill graves?"
+
+"His dispatch seems to imply that, in his opinion, you have not the
+confidence in him he thinks he deserves," the War Secretary went on to
+say, as he looked over the telegram again.
+
+"Oh," was the President's reply, "he needn't lose any of his sleep on
+that account. Just telegraph him to that effect; also, that I don't
+propose to send him any more men."
+
+
+
+
+HOW HOMINY WAS ORIGINATED.
+
+During the progress of a Cabinet meeting the subject of food for the men
+in the Army happened to come up. From that the conversation changed to
+the study of the Latin language.
+
+"I studied Latin once," said Mr. Lincoln, in a casual way.
+
+"Were you interested in it?" asked Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State.
+
+"Well, yes. I saw some very curious things," was the President's
+rejoinder.
+
+"What?" asked Secretary Seward.
+
+"Well, there's the word hominy, for instance. We have just ordered a lot
+of that stuff for the troops. I see how the word originated. I notice it
+came from the Latin word homo--a man.
+
+"When we decline homo, it is:
+
+"'Homo--a man.
+
+"'Hominis--of man.
+
+"'Homini--for man.'
+
+"So you see, hominy, being 'for man,' comes from the Latin. I guess
+those soldiers who don't know Latin will get along with it all
+right--though I won't rest real easy until I hear from the Commissary
+Department on it."
+
+
+
+
+HIS IDEA'S OLD, AFTER ALL.
+
+One day, while listening to one of the wise men who had called at the
+White House to unload a large cargo of advice, the President interjected
+a remark to the effect that he had a great reverence for learning.
+
+"This is not," President Lincoln explained, "because I am not an
+educated man. I feel the need of reading. It is a loss to a man not to
+have grown up among books."
+
+"Men of force," the visitor answered, "can get on pretty well without
+books. They do their own thinking instead of adopting what other men
+think."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Lincoln, "but books serve to show a man that those
+original thoughts of his aren't very new, after all."
+
+This was a point the caller was not willing to debate, and so he cut his
+call short.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S FIRST SPEECH.
+
+Lincoln made his first speech when he was a mere boy, going barefoot,
+his trousers held up by one suspender, and his shock of hair sticking
+through a hole in the crown of his cheap straw hat.
+
+"Abe," in company with Dennis Hanks, attended a political meeting,
+which was addressed by a typical stump speaker--one of those loud-voiced
+fellows who shouted at the top of his voice and waved his arms wildly.
+
+At the conclusion of the speech, which did not meet the views either
+of "Abe" or Dennis, the latter declared that "Abe" could make a better
+speech than that. Whereupon he got a dry-goods box and called on "Abe"
+to reply to the campaign orator.
+
+Lincoln threw his old straw hat on the ground, and, mounting the
+dry-goods box, delivered a speech which held the attention of the crowd
+and won him considerable applause. Even the campaign orator admitted
+that it was a fine speech and answered every point in his own "oration."
+
+Dennis Hanks, who thought "Abe" was about the greatest man that ever
+lived, was delighted, and he often told how young "Abe" got the better
+of the trained campaign speaker.
+
+
+
+
+"ABE WANTED NO SNEAKIN' 'ROUND."
+
+It was in 1830, when "Abe" was just twenty-one years of age, that
+the Lincoln family moved from Gentryville, Indiana, to near Decatur,
+Illinois, their household goods being packed in a wagon drawn by four
+oxen driven by "Abe."
+
+The winter previous the latter had "worked" in a country store in
+Gentryville and before undertaking the journey he invested all the money
+he had--some thirty dollars--in notions, such as needles, pins, thread,
+buttons and other domestic necessities. These he sold to families along
+the route and made a profit of about one hundred per cent.
+
+This mercantile adventure of his youth "reminded" the President of a
+very clever story while the members of the Cabinet were one day solemnly
+debating a rather serious international problem. The President was in
+the minority, as was frequently the case, and he was "in a hole," as
+he afterwards expressed it. He didn't want to argue the points raised,
+preferring to settle the matter in a hurry, and an apt story was his
+only salvation.
+
+Suddenly the President's fact brightened. "Gentlemen," said he,
+addressing those seated at the Cabinet table, "the situation just now
+reminds me of a fix I got into some thirty years or so ago when I was
+peddling 'notions' on the way from Indiana to Illinois. I didn't have a
+large stock, but I charged large prices, and I made money. Perhaps you
+don't see what I am driving at?"
+
+Secretary of State Seward was wearing a most gloomy expression of
+countenance; Secretary of War Stanton was savage and inclined to be
+morose; Secretary of the Treasury Chase was indifferent and cynical,
+while the others of the Presidential advisers resigned themselves to the
+hearing of the inevitable "story."
+
+"I don't propose to argue this matter," the President went on to say,
+"because arguments have no effect upon men whose opinions are fixed and
+whose minds are made up. But this little story of mine will make some
+things which now are in the dark show up more clearly."
+
+There was another pause, and the Cabinet officers, maintaining their
+previous silence, began wondering if the President himself really knew
+what he was "driving at."
+
+"Just before we left Indiana and crossed into Illinois," continued Mr.
+Lincoln solemnly, speaking in a grave tone of voice, "we came across a
+small farmhouse full of nothing but children. These ranged in years from
+seventeen years to seventeen months, and all were in tears. The mother
+of the family was red-headed and red-faced, and the whip she held in her
+right hand led to the inference that she had been chastising her brood.
+The father of the family, a meek-looking, mild-mannered, tow-headed
+chap, was standing in the front door-way, awaiting--to all
+appearances--his turn to feel the thong.
+
+"I thought there wasn't much use in asking the head of that house if she
+wanted any 'notions.' She was too busy. It was evident an insurrection
+had been in progress, but it was pretty well quelled when I got there.
+The mother had about suppressed it with an iron hand, but she was not
+running any risks. She kept a keen and wary eye upon all the children,
+not forgetting an occasional glance at the 'old man' in the doorway.
+
+"She saw me as I came up, and from her look I thought she was of the
+opinion that I intended to interfere. Advancing to the doorway, and
+roughly pushing her husband aside, she demanded my business.
+
+"'Nothing, madame,' I answered as gently as possible; 'I merely dropped
+in as I came along to see how things were going.'
+
+"'Well, you needn't wait,' was the reply in an irritated way; 'there's
+trouble here, an' lots of it, too, but I kin manage my own affairs
+without the help of outsiders. This is jest a family row, but I'll teach
+these brats their places ef I hev to lick the hide off ev'ry one of
+them. I don't do much talkin', but I run this house, an' I don't want no
+one sneakin' round tryin' to find out how I do it, either.'
+
+"That's the case here with us," the President said in conclusion. "We
+must let the other nations know that we propose to settle our family
+row in our own way, and 'teach these brats their places' (the seceding
+States) if we have to 'lick the hide off' of each and every one of them.
+And, like the old woman, we don't want any 'sneakin' 'round' by other
+countries who would like to find out how we are to do it, either.
+
+"Now, Seward, you write some diplomatic notes to that effect."
+
+And the Cabinet session closed.
+
+
+
+
+DIDN'T EVEN NEED STILTS.
+
+As the President considered it his duty to keep in touch with all the
+improvements in the armament of the vessels belonging to the United
+States Navy, he was necessarily interested in the various types of these
+floating fortresses. Not only was it required of the Navy Department to
+furnish seagoing warships, deep-draught vessels for the great rivers and
+the lakes, but this Department also found use for little gunboats which
+could creep along in the shallowest of water and attack the Confederates
+in by-places and swamps.
+
+The consequence of the interest taken by Mr. Lincoln in the Navy was
+that he was besieged, day and night, by steamboat contractors, each one
+eager to sell his product to the Washington Government. All sorts of
+experiments were tried, some being dire failures, while others were more
+than fairly successful. More than once had these tiny war vessels proved
+themselves of great service, and the United States Government had a
+large number of them built.
+
+There was one particular contractor who bothered the President more
+than all the others put together. He was constantly impressing upon Mr.
+Lincoln the great superiority of his boats, because they would run in
+such shallow water.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the President, "I've no doubt they'll run anywhere
+where the ground is a little moist!"
+
+
+
+
+"HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS PLACE?"
+
+"It seems to me," remarked the President one day while reading, over
+some of the appealing telegrams sent to the War Department by General
+McClellan, "that McClellan has been wandering around and has sort of
+got lost. He's been hollering for help ever since he went South--wants
+somebody to come to his deliverance and get him out of the place he's
+got into.
+
+"He reminds me of the story of a man out in Illinois who, in company
+with a number of friends, visited the State penitentiary. They wandered
+all through the institution and saw everything, but just about the time
+to depart this particular man became separated from his friends and
+couldn't find his way out.
+
+"He roamed up and down one corridor after another, becoming more
+desperate all the time, when, at last, he came across a convict who was
+looking out from between the bars of his cell-door. Here was salvation
+at last. Hurrying up to the prisoner he hastily asked,
+
+"'Say! How do you get out of this place?"
+
+
+
+
+"TAD" INTRODUCES "OUR FRIENDS."
+
+President Lincoln often avoided interviews with delegations representing
+various States, especially when he knew the objects of their errands,
+and was aware he could not grant their requests. This was the case with
+several commissioners from Kentucky, who were put off from day to day.
+
+They were about to give up in despair, and were leaving the White House
+lobby, their speech being interspersed with vehement and uncomplimentary
+terms concerning "Old Abe," when "Tad" happened along. He caught at
+these words, and asked one of them if they wanted to see "Old Abe,"
+laughing at the same time.
+
+"Yes," he replied.
+
+"Wait a minute," said "Tad," and rushed into his father's office. Said
+he, "Papa, may I introduce some friends to you?"
+
+His father, always indulgent and ready to make him happy, kindly said,
+"Yes, my son, I will see your friends."
+
+"Tad" went to the Kentuckians again, and asked a very dignified looking
+gentleman of the party his name. He was told his name. He then said,
+"Come, gentlemen," and they followed him.
+
+Leading them up to the President, "Tad," with much dignity, said, "Papa,
+let me introduce to you Judge ----, of Kentucky;" and quickly added,
+"Now Judge, you introduce the other gentlemen."
+
+The introductions were gone through with, and they turned out to be the
+gentlemen Mr. Lincoln had been avoiding for a week. Mr. Lincoln reached
+for the boy, took him in his lap, kissed him, and told him it was all
+right, and that he had introduced his friend like a little gentleman as
+he was. Tad was eleven years old at this time.
+
+The President was pleased with Tad's diplomacy, and often laughed at the
+incident as he told others of it. One day while caressing the boy, he
+asked him why he called those gentlemen "his friends." "Well," said Tad,
+"I had seen them so often, and they looked so good and sorry, and said
+they were from Kentucky, that I thought they must be our friends." "That
+is right, my son," said Mr. Lincoln; "I would have the whole human race
+your friends and mine, if it were possible."
+
+
+
+
+MIXED UP WORSE THAN BEFORE.
+
+The President told a story which most beautifully illustrated the
+muddled situation of affairs at the time McClellan's fate was hanging in
+the balance. McClellan's work was not satisfactory, but the President
+hesitated to remove him; the general was so slow that the Confederates
+marched all around him; and, to add to the dilemma, the President could
+not find a suitable man to take McClellan's place.
+
+The latter was a political, as well as a military, factor; his friends
+threatened that, if he was removed, many war Democrats would cast their
+influence with the South, etc. It was, altogether, a sad mix-up, and
+the President, for a time, was at his wits' end. He was assailed on all
+sides with advice, but none of it was worth acting upon.
+
+"This situation reminds me," said the President at a Cabinet meeting one
+day not long before the appointment of General Halleck as McClellan's
+successor in command of the Union forces, "of a Union man in Kentucky
+whose two sons enlisted in the Federal Army. His wife was of Confederate
+sympathies. His nearest neighbor was a Confederate in feeling, and his
+two sons were fighting under Lee. This neighbor's wife was a Union woman
+and it nearly broke her heart to know that her sons were arrayed against
+the Union.
+
+"Finally, the two men, after each had talked the matter over with his
+wife, agreed to obtain divorces; this they, did, and the Union man and
+Union woman were wedded, as were the Confederate man and the Confederate
+woman--the men swapped wives, in short. But this didn't seem to help
+matters any, for the sons of the Union woman were still fighting for the
+South, and the sons of the Confederate woman continued in the Federal
+Army; the Union husband couldn't get along with his Union wife, and
+the Confederate husband and his Confederate wife couldn't agree upon
+anything, being forever fussing and quarreling.
+
+"It's the same thing with the Army. It doesn't seem worth while to
+secure divorces and then marry the Army and McClellan to others, for
+they won't get along any better than they do now, and there'll only be a
+new set of heartaches started. I think we'd better wait; perhaps a real
+fighting general will come along some of these days, and then we'll
+all be happy. If you go to mixing in a mix-up, you only make the muddle
+worse."
+
+
+
+
+"LONG ABE'S" FEET "PROTRUDED OVER."
+
+George M. Pullman, the great sleeping-car builder, once told a joke in
+which Lincoln was the prominent figure. In fact, there wouldn't have
+been any joke had it not been for "Long Abe." At the time of the
+occurrence, which was the foundation for the joke--and Pullman admitted
+that the latter was on him--Pullman was the conductor of his only
+sleeping-car. The latter was an experiment, and Pullman was doing
+everything possible to get the railroads to take hold of it.
+
+"One night," said Pullman in telling the story, "as we were about going
+out of Chicago--this was long before Lincoln was what you might call
+a renowned man--a long, lean, ugly man, with a wart on his cheek, came
+into the depot. He paid me fifty cents, and half a berth was assigned
+him. Then he took off his coat and vest and hung them up, and they
+fitted the peg about as well as they fitted him. Then he kicked off
+his boots, which were of surprising length, turned into the berth, and,
+undoubtedly having an easy conscience, was sleeping like a healthy baby
+before the car left the depot.
+
+"Pretty soon along came another passenger and paid his fifty cents. In
+two minutes he was back at me, angry as a wet hen.
+
+"'There's a man in that berth of mine,' said he, hotly, 'and he's about
+ten feet high. How am I going to sleep there, I'd like to know? Go and
+look at him.'
+
+"In I went--mad, too. The tall, lank man's knees were under his
+chin, his arms were stretched across the bed and his feet were stored
+comfortably--for him. I shook him until he awoke, and then told him if
+he wanted the whole berth he would have to pay $1.
+
+"'My dear sir,' said the tall man, 'a contract is a contract. I have
+paid you fifty cents for half this berth, and, as you see, I'm occupying
+it. There's the other half,' pointing to a strip about six inches wide.
+'Sell that and don't disturb me again.'
+
+"And so saying, the man with a wart on his face went to sleep again. He
+was Abraham Lincoln, and he never grew any shorter afterward. We became
+great friends, and often laughed over the incident."
+
+
+
+
+COULD LICK ANY MAN IN THE CROWD.
+
+When the enemies of General Grant were bothering the President with
+emphatic and repeated demands that the "Silent Man" be removed from
+command, Mr. Lincoln remained firm. He would not consent to lose the
+services of so valuable a soldier. "Grant fights," said he in response
+to the charges made that Grant was a butcher, a drunkard, an incompetent
+and a general who did not know his business.
+
+"That reminds me of a story," President Lincoln said one day to a
+delegation of the "Grant-is-no-good" style.
+
+"Out in my State of Illinois there was a man nominated for sheriff of
+the county. He was a good man for the office, brave, determined and
+honest, but not much of an orator. In fact, he couldn't talk at all; he
+couldn't make a speech to save his life.
+
+"His friends knew he was a man who would preserve the peace of the
+county and perform the duties devolving upon him all right, but the
+people of the county didn't know it. They wanted him to come out boldly
+on the platform at political meetings and state his convictions and
+principles; they had been used to speeches from candidates, and were
+somewhat suspicious of a man who was afraid to open his mouth.
+
+"At last the candidate consented to make a speech, and his friends were
+delighted. The candidate was on hand, and, when he was called upon,
+advanced to the front and faced the crowd. There was a glitter in his
+eye that wasn't pleasing, and the way he walked out to the front of the
+stand showed that he knew just what he wanted to say.
+
+"'Feller Citizens,' was his beginning, the words spoken quietly, 'I'm
+not a speakin' man; I ain't no orator, an' I never stood up before a lot
+of people in my life before; I'm not goin' to make no speech, 'xcept to
+say that I can lick any man in the crowd!'"
+
+
+
+
+HIS WAY TO A CHILD'S HEART.
+
+Charles E. Anthony's one meeting with Mr. Lincoln presents an
+interesting contrast to those of the men who shared the emancipator's
+interest in public affairs. It was in the latter part of the winter
+of 1861, a short time before Mr. Lincoln left for his inauguration
+at Washington. Judge Anthony went to the Sherman House, where the
+President-elect was stopping, and took with him his son, Charles, then
+but a little boy. Charles played about the room as a child will, looking
+at whatever interested him for the time, and when the interview with his
+father was over he was ready to go.
+
+But Mr. Lincoln, ever interested in little children, called the lad to
+him and took him upon his great knee.
+
+"My impression of him all the time I had been playing about the room,"
+said Mr. Anthony, "was that he was a terribly homely man. I was rather
+repelled. But no sooner did he speak to me than the expression of his
+face changed completely, or, rather, my view of it changed. It at
+once became kindly and attractive. He asked me some questions, seeming
+instantly to find in the turmoil of all the great questions that must
+have been heavy upon him, the very ones that would go to the thought of
+a child. I answered him without hesitation, and after a moment he patted
+my shoulder and said:
+
+"'Well, you'll be a man before your mother yet,' and put me down.
+
+"I had never before heard the homely old expression, and it puzzled me
+for a time. After a moment I understood it, but he looked at me while I
+was puzzling over it, and seemed to be amused, as no doubt he was."
+
+The incident simply illustrates the ease and readiness with which
+Lincoln could turn from the mighty questions before the nation, give a
+moment's interested attention to a child, and return at once to matters
+of state.
+
+
+
+
+"LEFT IT THE WOMEN TO HOWL ABOUT ME."
+
+Donn Piatt, one of the brightest newspaper writers in the country, told
+a good story on the President in regard to the refusal of the latter to
+sanction the death penalty in cases of desertion from the Union Army.
+
+"There was far more policy in this course," said Piatt, "than kind
+feeling. To assert the contrary is to detract from Lincoln's force of
+character, as well as intellect. Our War President was not lost in his
+high admiration of brigadiers and major-generals, and had a positive
+dislike for their methods and the despotism upon which an army is based.
+He knew that he was dependent upon volunteers for soldiers, and to force
+upon such men as those the stern discipline of the Regular Army was to
+render the service unpopular. And it pleased him to be the source of
+mercy, as well as the fountain of honor, in this direction.
+
+"I was sitting with General Dan Tyler, of Connecticut, in the
+antechamber of the War Department, shortly after the adjournment of the
+Buell Court of Inquiry, of which we had been members, when President
+Lincoln came in from the room of Secretary Stanton. Seeing us, he said:
+'Well, gentlemen, have you any matter worth reporting?'
+
+"'I think so, Mr. President,' replied General Tyler. 'We had it proven
+that Bragg, with less than ten thousand men, drove your eighty-three
+thousand men under Buell back from before Chattanooga, down to the
+Ohio at Louisville, marched around us twice, then doubled us up at
+Perryville, and finally got out of the State of Kentucky with all his
+plunder.'
+
+"'Now, Tyler,' returned the President, 'what is the meaning of all this;
+what is the lesson? Don't our men march as well, and fight as well, as
+these rebels? If not, there is a fault somewhere. We are all of the same
+family--same sort.'
+
+"'Yes, there is a lesson,' replied General Tyler; 'we are of the same
+sort, but subject to different handling. Bragg's little force was
+superior to our larger number because he had it under control. If a man
+left his ranks, he was punished; if he deserted, he was shot. We had
+nothing of that sort. If we attempt to shoot a deserter you pardon him,
+and our army is without discipline.'
+
+"The President looked perplexed. 'Why do you interfere?' continued
+General Tyler. 'Congress has taken from you all responsibility.'
+
+"'Yes,' answered the President impatiently, 'Congress has taken the
+responsibility and left the women to howl all about me,' and so he
+strode away."
+
+
+
+
+HE'D RUIN ALL THE OTHER CONVICTS.
+
+One of the droll stories brought into play by the President as an ally
+in support of his contention, proved most effective. Politics was rife
+among the generals of the Union Army, and there was more "wire-pulling"
+to prevent the advancement of fellow commanders than the laying of plans
+to defeat the Confederates in battle.
+
+However, when it so happened that the name of a particularly unpopular
+general was sent to the Senate for confirmation, the protest against
+his promotion was almost unanimous. The nomination didn't seem to please
+anyone. Generals who were enemies before conferred together for the
+purpose of bringing every possible influence to bear upon the Senate
+and securing the rejection of the hated leader's name. The President was
+surprised. He had never known such unanimity before.
+
+"You remind me," said the President to a delegation of officers which
+called upon him one day to present a fresh protest to him regarding the
+nomination, "of a visit a certain Governor paid to the Penitentiary of
+his State. It had been announced that the Governor would hear the story
+of every inmate of the institution, and was prepared to rectify, either
+by commutation or pardon, any wrongs that had been done to any prisoner.
+
+"One by one the convicts appeared before His Excellency, and each one
+maintained that he was an innocent man, who had been sent to prison
+because the police didn't like him, or his friends and relatives wanted
+his property, or he was too popular, etc., etc. The last prisoner to
+appear was an individual who was not all prepossessing. His face was
+against him; his eyes were shifty; he didn't have the appearance of an
+honest man, and he didn't act like one.
+
+"'Well,' asked the Governor, impatiently, 'I suppose you're innocent
+like the rest of these fellows?'
+
+"'No, Governor,' was the unexpected answer; 'I was guilty of the crime
+they charged against me, and I got just what I deserved.'
+
+"When he had recovered from his astonishment, the Governor, looking
+the fellow squarely in the face, remarked with emphasis: 'I'll have to
+pardon you, because I don't want to leave so bad a man as you are in
+the company of such innocent sufferers as I have discovered your
+fellow-convicts to be. You might corrupt them and teach them wicked
+tricks. As soon as I get back to the capital, I'll have the papers made
+out.'
+
+"You gentlemen," continued the President, "ought to be glad that so bad
+a man, as you represent this officer to be, is to get his promotion,
+for then you won't be forced to associate with him and suffer the
+contamination of his presence and influence. I will do all I can to have
+the Senate confirm him."
+
+And he was confirmed.
+
+
+
+
+IN A HOPELESS MINORITY.
+
+The President was often in opposition to the general public sentiment of
+the North upon certain questions of policy, but he bided his time, and
+things usually came out as he wanted them. It was Lincoln's opinion,
+from the first, that apology and reparation to England must be made
+by the United States because of the arrest, upon the high seas, of the
+Confederate Commissioners, Mason and Slidell. The country, however (the
+Northern States), was wild for a conflict with England.
+
+"One war at a time," quietly remarked the President at a Cabinet
+meeting, where he found the majority of his advisers unfavorably
+disposed to "backing down." But one member of the Cabinet was a really
+strong supporter of the President in his attitude.
+
+"I am reminded," the President said after the various arguments had been
+put forward by the members of the Cabinet, "of a fellow out in my State
+of Illinois who happened to stray into a church while a revival meeting
+was in progress. To be truthful, this individual was not entirely sober,
+and with that instinct which seems to impel all men in his condition to
+assume a prominent part in proceedings, he walked up the aisle to the
+very front pew.
+
+"All noticed him, but he did not care; for awhile he joined audibly in
+the singing, said 'Amen' at the close of the prayers, but, drowsiness
+overcoming him, he went to sleep. Before the meeting closed, the
+pastor asked the usual question--'Who are on the Lord's side?'--and the
+congregation arose en masse. When he asked, 'Who are on the side of
+the Devil?' the sleeper was about waking up. He heard a portion of the
+interrogatory, and, seeing the minister on his feet, arose.
+
+"'I don't exactly understand the question,' he said, 'but I'll stand by
+you, parson, to the last. But it seems to me,' he added, 'that we're in
+a hopeless minority.'
+
+"I'm in a hopeless minority now," said the President, "and I'll have to
+admit it."
+
+
+
+
+"DID YE ASK MORRISSEY YET?"
+
+John Morrissey, the noted prize fighter, was the "Boss" of Tammany Hall
+during the Civil War period. It pleased his fancy to go to Congress, and
+his obedient constituents sent him there. Morrissey was such an absolute
+despot that the New York City democracy could not make a move without
+his consent, and many of the Tammanyites were so afraid of him that
+they would not even enter into business ventures without consulting the
+autocrat.
+
+President Lincoln had been seriously annoyed by some of his generals,
+who were afraid to make the slightest move before asking advice from
+Washington. One commander, in particular, was so cautious that he
+telegraphed the War Department upon the slightest pretext, the result
+being that his troops were lying in camp doing nothing, when they should
+have been in the field.
+
+"This general reminds me," the President said one day while talking to
+Secretary Stanton, at the War Department, "of a story I once heard about
+a Tammany man. He happened to meet a friend, also a member of Tammany,
+on the street, and in the course of the talk the friend, who was beaming
+with smiles and good nature, told the other Tammanyite that he was going
+to be married.
+
+"This first Tammany man looked more serious than men usually do upon
+hearing of the impending happiness of a friend. In fact, his face seemed
+to take on a look of anxiety and worry.
+
+"'Ain't you glad to know that I'm to get married?' demanded the second
+Tammanyite, somewhat in a huff.
+
+"'Of course I am,' was the reply; 'but,' putting his mouth close to the
+ear of the other, 'have ye asked Morrissey yet?'
+
+"Now, this general of whom we are speaking, wouldn't dare order out the
+guard without asking Morrissey," concluded the President.
+
+
+
+
+GOT THE LAUGH ON DOUGLAS.
+
+At one time, when Lincoln and Douglas were "stumping" Illinois, they
+met at a certain town, and it was agreed that they would have a joint
+debate. Douglas was the first speaker, and in the course of his talk
+remarked that in early life, his father, who, he said, was an excellent
+cooper by trade, apprenticed him out to learn the cabinet business.
+
+This was too good for Lincoln to let pass, so when his turn came to
+reply, he said:
+
+"I had understood before that Mr. Douglas had been bound out to learn
+the cabinet-making business, which is all well enough, but I was not
+aware until now that his father was a cooper. I have no doubt, however,
+that he was one, and I am certain, also, that he was a very good one,
+for (here Lincoln gently bowed toward Douglas) he has made one of the
+best whiskey casks I have ever seen."
+
+As Douglas was a short heavy-set man, and occasionally imbibed, the pith
+of the joke was at once apparent, and most heartily enjoyed by all.
+
+On another occasion, Douglas made a point against Lincoln by telling
+the crowd that when he first knew Lincoln he was a "grocery-keeper," and
+sold whiskey, cigars, etc.
+
+"Mr. L.," he said, "was a very good bar-tender!" This brought the laugh
+on Lincoln, whose reply, however, soon came, and then the laugh was on
+the other side.
+
+"What Mr. Douglas has said, gentlemen," replied Lincoln, "is true
+enough; I did keep a grocery and I did sell cotton, candles and cigars,
+and sometimes whiskey; but I remember in those days that Mr. Douglas was
+one of my best customers."
+
+
+
+
+"I can also say this; that I have since left my side of the counter,
+while Mr. Douglas still sticks to his!"
+
+This brought such a storm of cheers and laughter that Douglas was unable
+to reply.
+
+
+
+
+"FIXED UP" A BIT FOR THE "CITY FOLKS."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln knew her husband was not "pretty," but she liked to have
+him presentable when he appeared before the public. Stephen Fiske, in
+"When Lincoln Was First Inaugurated," tells of Mrs. Lincoln's anxiety
+to have the President-elect "smoothed down" a little when receiving a
+delegation that was to greet them upon reaching New York City.
+
+"The train stopped," writes Mr. Fiske, "and through the windows immense
+crowds could be seen; the cheering drowning the blowing off of steam of
+the locomotive. Then Mrs. Lincoln opened her handbag and said:
+
+"'Abraham, I must fix you up a bit for these city folks.'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln gently lifted her upon the seat before him; she parted,
+combed and brushed his hair and arranged his black necktie.
+
+"'Do I look nice now, mother?' he affectionately asked.
+
+"'Well, you'll do, Abraham,' replied Mrs. Lincoln critically. So he
+kissed her and lifted her down from the seat, and turned to meet Mayor
+Wood, courtly and suave, and to have his hand shaken by the other New
+York officials."
+
+
+
+
+EVEN REBELS OUGHT TO BE SAVED.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, a Universalist, had been
+nominated for hospital chaplain, and a protesting delegation went to
+Washington to see President Lincoln on the subject.
+
+"We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you in regard to the
+appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, as hospital chaplain."
+
+The President responded: "Oh, yes, gentlemen. I have sent his name to
+the Senate, and he will no doubt be confirmed at an early date." One of
+the young men replied: "We have not come to ask for the appointment, but
+to solicit you to withdraw the nomination."
+
+"Ah!" said Lincoln, "that alters the case; but on what grounds do you
+wish the nomination withdrawn?"
+
+The answer was: "Mr. Shrigley is not sound in his theological opinions."
+
+The President inquired: "On what question is the gentleman unsound?"
+
+Response: "He does not believe in endless punishment; not only so, sir,
+but he believes that even the rebels themselves will be finally saved."
+
+"Is that so?" inquired the President.
+
+The members of the committee responded, "Yes, yes.'
+
+"Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way under Heaven
+whereby the rebels can be saved, then, for God's sake and their sakes,
+let the man be appointed."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Shrigley was appointed, and served until the close of the
+war.
+
+
+
+
+TRIED TO DO WHAT SEEMED BEST.
+
+John M. Palmer, Major-General in the Volunteer Army, Governor of the
+State of Illinois, and United States Senator from the Sucker State,
+became acquainted with Lincoln in 1839, and the last time he saw the
+President was at the White House in February, 1865. Senator Palmer told
+the story of his interview as follows:
+
+"I had come to Washington at the request of the Governor, to complain
+that Illinois had been credited with 18,000 too few troops. I saw Mr.
+Lincoln one afternoon, and he asked me to come again in the morning.
+
+"Next morning I sat in the ante-room while several officers were
+relieved. At length I was told to enter the President's room. Mr.
+Lincoln was in the hands of the barber.
+
+"'Come in, Palmer,' he called out, 'come in. You're home folks. I can
+shave before you. I couldn't before those others, and I have to do it
+some time.'
+
+"We chatted about various matters, and at length I said:
+
+"'Well, Mr. Lincoln, if anybody had told me that in a great crisis like
+this the people were going out to a little one-horse town and pick out a
+one-horse lawyer for President I wouldn't have believed it.'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his chair, his face white with lather,
+a towel under his chin. At first I thought he was angry. Sweeping the
+barber away he leaned forward, and, placing one hand on my knee, said:
+
+"'Neither would I. But it was time when a man with a policy would have
+been fatal to the country. I have never had a policy. I have simply
+tried to do what seemed best each day, as each day came.'"
+
+
+
+
+"HOLDING A CANDLE TO THE CZAR."
+
+England was anything but pleased when the Czar Alexander, of Russia,
+showed his friendship for the United States by sending a strong fleet
+to this country with the accompanying suggestion that Uncle Sam, through
+his representative, President Lincoln, could do whatever he saw fit with
+the ironclads and the munitions of war they had stowed away in their
+holds.
+
+London "Punch," on November 7th, 1863, printed the cartoon shown on this
+page, the text under the picture reading in this way: "Holding a candle
+to the * * * * *." (Much the same thing.)
+
+Of course, this was a covert sneer, intended to convey the impression
+that President Lincoln, in order to secure the support and friendship
+of the Emperor of Russia as long as the War of the Rebellion lasted, was
+willing to do all sorts of menial offices, even to the extent of holding
+the candle and lighting His Most Gracious Majesty, the White Czar, to
+his imperial bed-chamber.
+
+It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the Emperor Alexander, who
+tendered inestimable aid to the President of the United States, was
+the Lincoln of Russia, having given freedom to millions of serfs in
+his empire; and, further than that, he was, like Lincoln, the victim of
+assassination. He was literally blown to pieces by a bomb thrown under
+his carriage while riding through the streets near the Winter Palace at
+St. Petersburg.
+
+
+
+
+NASHVILLE WAS NOT SURRENDERED.
+
+"I was told a mighty good story," said the President one day at a
+Cabinet meeting, "by Colonel Granville Moody, 'the fighting Methodist
+parson,' as they used to call him in Tennessee. I happened to meet Moody
+in Philadelphia, where he was attending a conference.
+
+"The story was about 'Andy' Johnson and General Buell. Colonel Moody
+happened to be in Nashville the day it was reported that Buell had
+decided to evacuate the city. The rebels, strongly re-inforced, were
+said to be within two days' march of the capital. Of course, the city
+was greatly excited. Moody said he went in search of Johnson at the edge
+of the evening and found him at his office closeted with two gentlemen,
+who were walking the floor with him, one on each side. As he entered
+they retired, leaving him alone with Johnson, who came up to him,
+manifesting intense feeling, and said:
+
+"'Moody, we are sold out. Buell is a traitor. He is going to evacuate
+the city, and in forty-eight hours we will all be in the hands of the
+rebels!'
+
+"Then he commenced pacing the floor again, twisting his hands and
+chafing like a caged tiger, utterly insensible to his friend's
+entreaties to become calm. Suddenly he turned and said:
+
+"'Moody, can you pray?'
+
+"'That is my business, sir, as a minister of the gospel,' returned the
+colonel.
+
+"'Well, Moody, I wish you would pray,' said Johnson, and instantly both
+went down upon their knees at opposite sides of the room.
+
+"As the prayer waxed fervent, Johnson began to respond in true Methodist
+style. Presently he crawled over on his hands and knees to Moody's side
+and put his arms over him, manifesting the deepest emotion.
+
+"Closing the prayer with a hearty 'amen' from each, they arose.
+
+"Johnson took a long breath, and said, with emphasis:
+
+"'Moody, I feel better.'
+
+"Shortly afterward he asked:
+
+"'Will you stand by me?'
+
+"'Certainly I will,' was the answer.
+
+"'Well, Moody, I can depend upon you; you are one in a hundred
+thousand.'
+
+"He then commenced pacing the floor again. Suddenly he wheeled, the
+current of his thought having changed, and said:
+
+"'Oh, Moody, I don't want you to think I have become a religious man
+because I asked you to pray. I am sorry to say it, I am not, and never
+pretended to be religious. No one knows this better than you, but,
+Moody, there is one thing about it, I do believe in Almighty God, and
+I believe also in the Bible, and I say, d--n me if Nashville shall be
+surrendered!'
+
+"And Nashville was not surrendered!"
+
+
+
+
+HE COULDN'T WAIT FOR THE COLONEL.
+
+General Fisk, attending a reception at the White House, saw waiting in
+the ante-room a poor old man from Tennessee, and learned that he had
+been waiting three or four days to get an audience, on which probably
+depended the life of his son, under sentence of death for some military
+offense.
+
+General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card and sent it in, with a
+special request that the President would see the man. In a moment the
+order came; and past impatient senators, governors and generals, the old
+man went.
+
+He showed his papers to Mr. Lincoln, who said he would look into the
+case and give him the result next day.
+
+The old man, in an agony of apprehension, looked up into the President's
+sympathetic face and actually cried out:
+
+"To-morrow may be too late! My son is under sentence of death! It ought
+to be decided now!"
+
+His streaming tears told how much he was moved.
+
+"Come," said Mr. Lincoln, "wait a bit and I'll tell you a story;" and
+then he told the old man General Fisk's story about the swearing driver,
+as follows:
+
+"The general had begun his military life as a colonel, and when he
+raised his regiment in Missouri he proposed to his men that he should
+do all the swearing of the regiment. They assented; and for months no
+instance was known of the violation of the promise.
+
+"The colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were not
+always the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper and his
+tongue.
+
+"John happened to be driving a mule team through a series of mudholes a
+little worse than usual, when, unable to restrain himself any longer, he
+burst forth into a volley of energetic oaths.
+
+"The colonel took notice of the offense and brought John to account.
+
+"'John,' said he, 'didn't you promise to let me do all the swearing of
+the regiment?'
+
+"'Yes, I did, colonel,' he replied, 'but the fact was, the swearing had
+to be done then or not at all, and you weren't there to do it.'"
+
+As he told the story the old man forgot his boy, and both the President
+and his listener had a hearty laugh together at its conclusion.
+
+Then he wrote a few words which the old man read, and in which he found
+new occasion for tears; but the tears were tears of joy, for the words
+saved the life of his son.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN PRONOUNCED THIS STORY FUNNY.
+
+The President was heard to declare one day that the story given below
+was one of the funniest he ever heard.
+
+One of General Fremont's batteries of eight Parrott guns, supported by
+a squadron of horse commanded by Major Richards, was in sharp conflict
+with a battery of the enemy near at hand. Shells and shot were flying
+thick and fast, when the commander of the battery, a German, one of
+Fremont's staff, rode suddenly up to the cavalry, exclaiming, in loud
+and excited terms, "Pring up de shackasses! Pring up de shackasses! For
+Cot's sake, hurry up de shackasses, im-me-di-ate-ly!"
+
+The necessity of this order, though not quite apparent, will be more
+obvious when it is remembered that "shackasses" are mules, carry
+mountain howitzers, which are fired from the backs of that much-abused
+but valuable animal; and the immediate occasion for the "shackasses"
+was that two regiments of rebel infantry were at that moment discovered
+ascending a hill immediately behind our batteries.
+
+The "shackasses," with the howitzers loaded with grape and canister,
+were soon on the ground.
+
+The mules squared themselves, as they well knew how, for the shock.
+
+A terrific volley was poured into the advancing column, which
+immediately broke and retreated.
+
+Two hundred and seventy-eight dead bodies were found in the ravine next
+day, piled closely together as they fell, the effects of that volley
+from the backs of the "shackasses."
+
+
+
+
+JOKE WAS ON LINCOLN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln enjoyed a joke at his own expense. Said he: "In the days
+when I used to be in the circuit, I was accosted in the cars by a
+stranger, who said, 'Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my
+possession which belongs to you.' 'How is that?' I asked, considerably
+astonished.
+
+"The stranger took a jackknife from his pocket. 'This knife,' said he,
+'was placed in my hands some years ago, with the injunction that I was
+to keep it until I had found a man uglier than myself. I have carried
+it from that time to this. Allow me to say, sir, that I think you are
+fairly entitled to the property.'"
+
+
+
+
+THE OTHER ONE WAS WORSE.
+
+It so happened that an official of the War Department had escaped
+serious punishment for a rather flagrant offense, by showing where
+grosser irregularities existed in the management of a certain bureau
+of the Department. So valuable was the information furnished that the
+culprit who "gave the snap away" was not even discharged.
+
+"That reminds me," the President said, when the case was laid before
+him, "of a story about Daniel Webster, when the latter was a boy.
+
+"When quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty of a gross
+violation of the rules. He was detected in the act, and called up by the
+teacher for punishment.
+
+"This was to be the old-fashioned 'feruling' of the hand. His hands
+happened to be very dirty.
+
+"Knowing this, on the way to the teacher's desk, he spit upon the palm
+of his right hand, wiping it off upon the side of his pantaloons.
+
+"'Give me your hand, sir,' said the teacher, very sternly.
+
+"Out went the right hand, partly cleansed. The teacher looked at it a
+moment, and said:
+
+"'Daniel, if you will find another hand in this school-room as filthy as
+that, I will let you off this time!'
+
+"Instantly from behind the back came the left hand.
+
+"'Here it is, sir,' was the ready reply.
+
+"'That will do,' said the teacher, 'for this time; you can take your
+seat, sir.'"
+
+
+
+
+"I'D A BEEN MISSED BY MYSE'F."
+
+The President did not consider that every soldier who ran away in
+battle, or did not stand firmly to receive a bayonet charge, was a
+coward. He was of opinion that self-preservation was the first law of
+Nature, but he didn't want this statute construed too liberally by the
+troops.
+
+At the same time he took occasion to illustrate a point he wished to
+make by a story in connection with a darky who was a member of the Ninth
+Illinois Infantry Regiment. This regiment was one of those engaged at
+the capture of Fort Donelson. It behaved gallantly, and lost as heavily
+as any.
+
+"Upon the hurricane-deck of one of our gunboats," said the President in
+telling the story, "I saw an elderly darky, with a very philosophical
+and retrospective cast of countenance, squatted upon his bundle,
+toasting his shins against the chimney, and apparently plunged into a
+state of profound meditation.
+
+"As the negro rather interested me, I made some inquiries, and found
+that he had really been with the Ninth Illinois Infantry at Donelson.
+and began to ask him some questions about the capture of the place.
+
+"'Were you in the fight?'
+
+"'Had a little taste of it, sa.'
+
+"'Stood your ground, did you?'
+
+"'No, sa, I runs.'
+
+"'Run at the first fire, did you?
+
+"'Yes, sa, and would hab run soona, had I knowd it war comin'."
+
+"'Why, that wasn't very creditable to your courage.'
+
+"'Dat isn't my line, sa--cookin's my profeshun.'
+
+"'Well, but have you no regard for your reputation?'
+
+"'Reputation's nuffin to me by de side ob life.'
+
+"'Do you consider your life worth more than other people's?'
+
+"'It's worth more to me, sa.'
+
+"'Then you must value it very highly?'
+
+"'Yes, sa, I does, more dan all dis wuld, more dan a million ob
+dollars, sa, for what would dat be wuth to a man wid de bref out ob him?
+Self-preserbation am de fust law wid me.'
+
+"'But why should you act upon a different rule from other men?'
+
+"'Different men set different values on their lives; mine is not in de
+market.'
+
+"'But if you lost it you would have the satisfaction of knowing that you
+died for your country.'
+
+"'Dat no satisfaction when feelin's gone.'
+
+"'Then patriotism and honor are nothing to you?'
+
+"'Nufin whatever, sat--I regard them as among the vanities.'
+
+"'If our soldiers were like you, traitors might have broken up the
+government without resistance.'
+
+"'Yes, sa, dar would hab been no help for it. I wouldn't put my life
+in de scale 'g'inst any gobernment dat eber existed, for no gobernment
+could replace de loss to me.'
+
+"'Do you think any of your company would have missed you if you had been
+killed?'
+
+"'Maybe not, sa--a dead white man ain't much to dese sogers, let alone a
+dead nigga--but I'd a missed myse'f, and dat was de p'int wid me.'
+
+"I only tell this story," concluded the President, "in order to
+illustrate the result of the tactics of some of the Union generals who
+would be sadly 'missed' by themselves, if no one else, if they ever got
+out of the Army."
+
+
+
+
+IT ALL "DEPENDED" UPON THE EFFECT.
+
+President Lincoln and some members of his Cabinet were with a part of
+the Army some distance south of the National Capital at one time, when
+Secretary of War Stanton remarked that just before he left Washington
+he had received a telegram from General Mitchell, in Alabama. General
+Mitchell asked instructions in regard to a certain emergency that had
+arisen.
+
+The Secretary said he did not precisely understand the emergency as
+explained by General Mitchell, but had answered back, "All right; go
+ahead."
+
+"Now," he said, as he turned to Mr. Lincoln, "Mr. President, if I have
+made an error in not understanding him correctly, I will have to get you
+to countermand the order."
+
+"Well," exclaimed President Lincoln, "that is very much like the
+happening on the occasion of a certain horse sale I remember that took
+place at the cross-roads down in Kentucky, when I was a boy.
+
+"A particularly fine horse was to be sold, and the people in large
+numbers had gathered together. They had a small boy to ride the horse up
+and down while the spectators examined the horse's points.
+
+"At last one man whispered to the boy as he went by: 'Look here, boy,
+hain't that horse got the splints?'
+
+"The boy replied: 'Mister, I don't know what the splints is, but if it's
+good for him, he has got it; if it ain't good for him, he ain't got it.'
+
+"Now," said President Lincoln, "if this was good for Mitchell, it was
+all right; but if it was not, I have got to countermand it."
+
+
+
+
+TOO SWIFT TO STAY IN THE ARMY.
+
+There were strange, queer, odd things and happenings in the Army at
+times, but, as a rule, the President did not allow them to worry him. He
+had enough to bother about.
+
+A quartermaster having neglected to present his accounts in proper
+shape, and the matter being deemed of sufficient importance to bring it
+to the attention of the President, the latter remarked:
+
+"Now this instance reminds me of a little story I heard only a short
+time ago. A certain general's purse was getting low, and he said it was
+probable he might be obliged to draw on his banker for some money.
+
+"'How much do you want, father?' asked his son, who had been with him a
+few days.
+
+"'I think I shall send for a couple of hundred,' replied the general.
+
+"Why, father,' said his son, very quietly, 'I can let you have it.'
+
+"'You can let me have it! Where did you get so much money?
+
+"'I won it playing draw-poker with your staff, sir!' replied the youth.
+
+"The earliest morning train bore the young man toward his home, and I've
+been wondering if that boy and that quartermaster had happened to meet
+at the same table."
+
+
+
+
+ADMIRED THE STRONG MAN.
+
+Governor Hoyt of Wisconsin tells a story of Mr. Lincoln's great
+admiration for physical strength. Mr. Lincoln, in 1859, made a speech at
+the Wisconsin State Agricultural Fair. After the speech, in company with
+the Governor, he strolled about the grounds, looking at the exhibits.
+They came to a place where a professional "strong man" was tossing
+cannon balls in the air and catching them on his arms and juggling
+with them as though they were light as baseballs. Mr. Lincoln had
+never before seen such an exhibition, and he was greatly surprised and
+interested.
+
+When the performance was over, Governor Hoyt, seeing Mr. Lincoln's
+interest, asked him to go up and be introduced to the athlete. He did
+so, and, as he stood looking down musingly on the man, who was very
+short, and evidently wondering that one so much smaller than he could be
+so much stronger, he suddenly broke out with one of his quaint speeches.
+"Why," he said, "why, I could lick salt off the top of your hat."
+
+
+
+
+WISHED THE ARMY CHARGED LIKE THAT.
+
+A prominent volunteer officer who, early in the War, was on duty in
+Washington and often carried reports to Secretary Stanton at the War
+Department, told a characteristic story on President Lincoln. Said he:
+
+"I was with several other young officers, also carrying reports to the
+War Department, and one morning we were late. In this instance we were
+in a desperate hurry to deliver the papers, in order to be able to catch
+the train returning to camp.
+
+"On the winding, dark staircase of the old War Department, which many
+will remember, it was our misfortune, while taking about three stairs
+at a time, to run a certain head like a catapult into the body of the
+President, striking him in the region of the right lower vest pocket.
+
+"The usual surprised and relaxed grunt of a man thus assailed came
+promptly.
+
+"We quickly sent an apology in the direction of the dimly seen form,
+feeling that the ungracious shock was expensive, even to the humblest
+clerk in the department.
+
+"A second glance revealed to us the President as the victim of the
+collision. Then followed a special tender of 'ten thousand pardons,' and
+the President's reply:
+
+"'One's enough; I wish the whole army would charge like that.'"
+
+
+
+
+"UNCLE ABRAHAM" HAD EVERYTHING READY.
+
+"You can't do anything with them Southern fellows," the old man at the
+table was saying.
+
+"If they get whipped, they'll retreat to them Southern swamps and bayous
+along with the fishes and crocodiles. You haven't got the fish-nets made
+that'll catch 'em."
+
+"Look here, old gentleman," remarked President Lincoln, who was sitting
+alongside, "we've got just the nets for traitors, in the bayous or
+anywhere."
+
+"Hey? What nets?"
+
+"Bayou-nets!" and "Uncle Abraham" pointed his joke with his fork,
+spearing a fishball savagely.
+
+
+
+
+NOT AS SMOOTH AS HE LOOKED.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's skill in parrying troublesome questions was wonderful.
+Once he received a call from Congressman John Ganson, of Buffalo, one of
+the ablest lawyers in New York, who, although a Democrat, supported
+all of Mr. Lincoln's war measures. Mr. Ganson wanted explanations. Mr.
+Ganson was very bald with a perfectly smooth face. He had a most direct
+and aggressive way of stating his views or of demanding what he thought
+he was entitled to. He said: "Mr. Lincoln, I have supported all of your
+measures and think I am entitled to your confidence. We are voting and
+acting in the dark in Congress, and I demand to know--think I have the
+right to ask and to know--what is the present situation, and what are
+the prospects and conditions of the several campaigns and armies."
+
+Mr. Lincoln looked at him critically for a moment and then said:
+"Ganson, how clean you shave!"
+
+Most men would have been offended, but Ganson was too broad and
+intelligent a man not to see the point and retire at once, satisfied,
+from the field.
+
+
+
+
+A SMALL CROP.
+
+Chauncey M. Depew says that Mr. Lincoln told him the following story,
+which he claimed was one of the best two things he ever originated: He
+was trying a case in Illinois where he appeared for a prisoner charged
+with aggravated assault and battery. The complainant had told a horrible
+story of the attack, which his appearance fully justified, when
+the District Attorney handed the witness over to Mr. Lincoln, for
+cross-examination. Mr. Lincoln said he had no testimony, and unless he
+could break down the complainant's story he saw no way out. He had
+come to the conclusion that the witness was a bumptious man, who rather
+prided himself upon his smartness in repartee and, so, after looking at
+him for some minutes, he said:
+
+"Well, my friend, how much ground did you and my client here fight
+over?"
+
+The fellow answered: "About six acres."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "don't you think that this is an almighty
+small crop of fight to gather from such a big piece of ground?"
+
+The jury laughed. The Court and District-Attorney and complainant all
+joined in, and the case was laughed out of court.
+
+
+
+
+"NEVER REGRET WHAT YOU DON'T WRITE."
+
+A simple remark one of the party might make would remind Mr. Lincoln of
+an apropos story.
+
+Secretary of the Treasury Chase happened to remark, "Oh, I am so sorry
+that I did not write a letter to Mr. So-and-so before I left home!"
+
+President Lincoln promptly responded:
+
+"Chase, never regret what you don't write; it is what you do write that
+you are often called upon to feel sorry for."
+
+
+
+
+A VAIN GENERAL.
+
+In an interview between President Lincoln and Petroleum V. Nasby, the
+name came up of a recently deceased politician of Illinois whose merit
+was blemished by great vanity. His funeral was very largely attended.
+
+"If General ---- had known how big a funeral he would have had," said
+Mr. Lincoln, "he would have died years ago."
+
+
+
+
+DEATH BED REPENTANCE.
+
+A Senator, who was calling upon Mr. Lincoln, mentioned the name of a
+most virulent and dishonest official; one, who, though very brilliant,
+was very bad.
+
+"It's a good thing for B----" said Mr. Lincoln, "that there is such a
+thing as a deathbed repentance."
+
+
+
+
+NO CAUSE FOR PRIDE.
+
+A member of Congress from Ohio came into Mr. Lincoln's presence in a
+state of unutterable intoxication, and sinking into a chair, exclaimed
+in tones that welled up fuzzy through the gallon or more of whiskey that
+he contained, "Oh, 'why should (hic) the spirit of mortal be proud?'"
+
+"My dear sir," said the President, regarding him closely, "I see no
+reason whatever."
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF LINCOLN'S LIFE
+
+When Abraham Lincoln once was asked to tell the story of his life, he
+replied:
+
+"It is contained in one line of Gray's 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard':
+
+"'The short and simple annals of the poor.'"
+
+That was true at the time he said it, as everything else he said was
+Truth, but he was then only at the beginning of a career that was
+to glorify him as one of the heroes of the world, and place his name
+forever beside the immortal name of the mighty Washington.
+
+Many great men, particularly those of America, began life in humbleness
+and poverty, but none ever came from such depths or rose to such a
+height as Abraham Lincoln.
+
+His birthplace, in Hardin county, Kentucky, was but a wilderness,
+and Spencer county, Indiana, to which the Lincoln family removed when
+Abraham was in his eighth year, was a wilder and still more uncivilized
+region.
+
+The little red schoolhouse which now so thickly adorns the country
+hillside had not yet been built. There were scattered log schoolhouses,
+but they were few and far between. In several of these Mr. Lincoln got
+the rudiments of an education--an education that was never finished, for
+to the day of his death he was a student and a seeker after knowledge.
+
+Some records of his schoolboy days are still left us. One is a book
+made and bound by Lincoln himself, in which he had written the table of
+weights and measures, and the sums to be worked out therefrom. This was
+his arithmetic, for he was too poor to own a printed copy.
+
+
+
+
+A YOUTHFUL POET.
+
+On one of the pages of this quaint book he had written these four lines
+of schoolboy doggerel:
+
+     "Abraham Lincoln,
+       His Hand and Pen,
+     He Will be Good,
+       But God knows when."
+
+The poetic spirit was strong in the young scholar just then for on
+another page of the same book he had written these two verses, which are
+supposed to have been original with him:
+
+     "Time, what an empty vapor 'tis,
+       And days, how swift they are;
+     Swift as an Indian arrow
+       Fly on like a shooting star.
+
+     The present moment just is here,
+       Then slides away in haste,
+     That we can never say they're ours,
+       But only say they're past."
+
+Another specimen of the poetical, or rhyming ability, is found in the
+following couplet, written by him for his friend, Joseph C. Richardson:
+
+     "Good boys who to their books apply,
+      Will all be great men by and by."
+
+In all, Lincoln's "schooling" did not amount to a year's time, but he
+was a constant student outside of the schoolhouse. He read all the books
+he could borrow, and it was his chief delight during the day to lie
+under the shade of some tree, or at night in front of an open fireplace,
+reading and studying. His favorite books were the Bible and Aesop's
+fables, which he kept always within reach and read time and again.
+
+The first law book he ever read was "The Statutes of Indiana," and it
+was from this work that he derived his ambition to be a lawyer.
+
+
+
+
+MADE SPEECHES WHEN A BOY.
+
+When he was but a barefoot boy he would often make political speeches to
+the boys in the neighborhood, and when he had reached young manhood
+and was engaged in the labor of chopping wood or splitting rails
+he continued this practice of speech-making with only the stumps and
+surrounding trees for hearers.
+
+At the age of seventeen he had attained his full height of six feet four
+inches and it was at this time he engaged as a ferry boatman on the Ohio
+river, at thirty-seven cents a day.
+
+That he was seriously beginning to think of public affairs even at
+this early age is shown by the fact that about this time he wrote
+a composition on the American Government, urging the necessity for
+preserving the Constitution and perpetuating the Union. A Rockport
+lawyer, by the name of Pickert, who read this composition, declared that
+"the world couldn't beat it."
+
+When the dreaded disease, known as the "milk-sick" created such havoc
+in Indiana in 1829, the father of Abraham Lincoln, who was of a roving
+disposition, sought and found a new home in Illinois, locating near the
+town of Decatur, in Macon county, on a bluff overlooking the Sangamon
+river. A short time thereafter Abraham Lincoln came of age, and having
+done his duty to his father, began life on his own account.
+
+His first employer was a man named Denton Offut, who engaged Lincoln,
+together with his step-brother and John Hanks, to take a boat-load of
+stock and provisions to New Orleans. Offut was so well pleased with the
+energy and skill that Lincoln displayed on this trip that he engaged him
+as clerk in a store which Offut opened a few months later at New Salem.
+
+It was while clerking for Offut that Lincoln performed many of those
+marvelous feats of strength for which he was noted in his youth, and
+displayed his wonderful skill as a wrestler. In addition to being six
+feet four inches high he now weighed two hundred and fourteen pounds.
+And his strength and skill were so great combined that he could
+out-wrestle and out-lift any man in that section of the country.
+
+During his clerkship in Offut's store Lincoln continued to read and
+study and made considerable progress in grammar and mathematics. Offut
+failed in business and disappeared from the village. In the language of
+Lincoln he "petered out," and his tall, muscular clerk had to seek other
+employment.
+
+
+
+
+ASSISTANT PILOT ON A STEAMBOAT.
+
+In his first public speech, which had already been delivered, Lincoln
+had contended that the Sangamon river was navigable, and it now fell to
+his lot to assist in giving practical proof of his argument. A steamboat
+had arrived at New Salem from Cincinnati, and Lincoln was hired as an
+assistant in piloting the vessel through the uncertain channel of
+the Sangamon river to the Illinois river. The way was obstructed by
+a milldam. Lincoln insisted to the owners of the dam that under the
+Federal Constitution and laws no one had a right to dam up or obstruct
+a navigable stream and as he had already proved that the Sangamon was
+navigable a portion of the dam was torn away and the boat passed safely
+through.
+
+
+
+
+"CAPTAIN LINCOLN" PLEASED HIM.
+
+At this period in his career the Blackhawk War broke out, and Lincoln
+was one of the first to respond to Governor Reynold's call for a
+thousand mounted volunteers to assist the United States troops in
+driving Blackhawk back across the Mississippi. Lincoln enlisted in the
+company from Sangamon county and was elected captain. He often remarked
+that this gave him greater pleasure than anything that had happened in
+his life up to this time. He had, however, no opportunities in this war
+to perform any distinguished service.
+
+Upon his return from the Blackhawk War, in which, as he said afterward,
+in a humorous speech, when in Congress, that he "fought, bled and came
+away," he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Legislature. This was
+the only time in his life, as he himself has said, that he was ever
+beaten by the people. Although defeated, in his own town of New Salem he
+received all of the two hundred and eight votes cast except three.
+
+
+
+
+FAILURE AS A BUSINESS MAN.
+
+Lincoln's next business venture was with William Berry in a general
+store, under the firm name of Lincoln & Berry, but did not take long
+to show that he was not adapted for a business career. The firm failed,
+Berry died and the debts of the firm fell entirely upon Lincoln. Many of
+these debts he might have escaped legally, but he assumed them all
+and it was not until fifteen years later that the last indebtedness of
+Lincoln & Berry was discharged. During his membership in this firm he
+had applied himself to the study of law, beginning at the beginning,
+that is with Blackstone. Now that he had nothing to do he spent much of
+his time lying under the shade of a tree poring over law books, borrowed
+from a comrade in the Blackhawk War, who was then a practicing lawyer at
+Springfield.
+
+
+
+
+GAINS FAME AS A STORY TELLER.
+
+It was about this time, too, that Lincoln's fame as a story-teller
+began to spread far and wide. His sayings and his jokes were repeated
+throughout that section of the country, and he was famous as a
+story-teller before anyone ever heard of him as a lawyer or a
+politician.
+
+It required no little moral courage to resist the temptation that beset
+an idle young man on every hand at that time, for drinking and carousing
+were of daily and nightly occurrence. Lincoln never drank intoxicating
+liquors, nor did he at that time use tobacco, but in any sports that
+called for skill or muscle he took a lively interest, even in horse
+races and cock fights.
+
+
+
+
+SURVEYOR WITH NO STRINGS ON HIM.
+
+John Calhoun was at that time surveyor of Sangamon county. He had been
+a lawyer and had noticed the studious Lincoln. Needing an assistant he
+offered the place to Lincoln. The average young man without any regular
+employment and hard-pressed for means to pay his board as Lincoln was,
+would have jumped at the opportunity, but a question of principle was
+involved which had to be settled before Lincoln would accept. Calhoun
+was a Democrat and Lincoln was a Whig, therefore Lincoln said, "I will
+take the office if I can be perfectly free in my political actions, but
+if my sentiments or even expression of them are to be abridged in any
+way, I would not have it or any other office."
+
+With this understanding he accepted the office and began to study
+books on surveying, furnished him by his employer. He was not a natural
+mathematician, and in working out his most difficult problems he sought
+the assistance of Mentor Graham, a famous schoolmaster in those days,
+who had previously assisted Lincoln in his studies. He soon became a
+competent surveyor, however, and was noted for the accurate way in which
+he ran his lines and located his corners.
+
+Surveying was not as profitable then as it has since become, and the
+young surveyor often had to take his pay in some article other than
+money. One old settler relates that for a survey made for him by Lincoln
+he paid two buckskins, which Hannah Armstrong "foxed" on his pants so
+that the briars would not wear them out.
+
+About this time, 1833, he was made postmaster at New Salem, the first
+Federal office he ever held. Although the postoffice was located in
+a store, Lincoln usually carried the mail around in his hat and
+distributed it to people when he met them.
+
+
+
+
+A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE.
+
+The following year Lincoln again ran for the Legislature, this time as
+an avowed Whig. Of the four successful candidates, Lincoln received the
+second highest number of votes.
+
+When Lincoln went to take his seat in the Legislature at Vandalia he was
+so poor that he was obliged to borrow $200 to buy suitable clothes
+and uphold the dignity of his new position. He took little part in
+the proceedings, keeping in the background, but forming many lasting
+acquaintances and friendships.
+
+Two years later, when he was again a candidate for the same office,
+there were more political issues to be met, and Lincoln met them with
+characteristic honesty and boldness. During the campaign he issued the
+following letter:
+
+"New Salem, June 13, 1836.
+
+"To the Editor of The Journal:
+
+"In your paper of last Saturday I see a communication over the signature
+of 'Many Voters' in which the candidates who are announced in the
+journal are called upon to 'show their hands.' Agreed. Here's mine:
+
+"I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in
+bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all whites to
+the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding
+females).
+
+"If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my
+constituents, as well those that oppose as those that support me.
+
+"While acting as their Representative, I shall be governed by their will
+on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will
+is; and upon all others I shall do what my own judgment teaches me
+will best advance their interests. Whether elected or not, I go for
+distributing the proceeds of the sales of public lands to the several
+States to enable our State, in common with others, to dig canals and
+construct railroads without borrowing money and paying the interest on
+it.
+
+"If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for Hugh L.
+White, for President.
+
+"Very respectfully,
+
+"A. LINCOLN."
+
+This was just the sort of letter to win the support of the plain-spoken
+voters of Sangamon county. Lincoln not only received more votes than
+any other candidate on the Legislative ticket, but the county which had
+always been Democratic was turned Whig.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAMOUS "LONG NINE."
+
+The other candidates elected with Lincoln were Ninian W. Edwards, John
+Dawson, Andrew McCormick, "Dan" Stone, William F. Elkin, Robert L.
+Wilson, "Joe" Fletcher, and Archer G. Herndon. These were known as the
+"Long Nine." Their average height was six feet, and average weight two
+hundred pounds.
+
+This Legislature was one of the most famous that ever convened in
+Illinois. Bonds to the amount of $12,000,000 were voted to assist in
+building thirteen hundred miles of railroad, to widen and deepen all the
+streams in the State and to dig a canal from the Illinois river to Lake
+Michigan. Lincoln favored all these plans, but in justice to him it must
+be said that the people he represented were also in favor of them.
+
+It was at this session that the State capital was changed from Vandalia
+to Springfield. Lincoln, as the leader of the "Long Nine," had charge of
+the bill and after a long and bitter struggle succeeded in passing it.
+
+
+
+
+BEGINS TO OPPOSE SLAVERY.
+
+At this early stage in his career Abraham Lincoln began his opposition
+to slavery which eventually resulted in his giving liberty to four
+million human beings. This Legislature passed the following resolutions
+on slavery:
+
+"Resolved by the General Assembly, of the State of Illinois: That we
+highly disapprove of the formation of Abolition societies and of the
+doctrines promulgated by them.
+
+"That the right of property in slaves is sacred to the slave-holding
+States by the Federal Constitution, and that they cannot be deprived of
+that right without their consent,
+
+"That the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the District of
+Columbia against the consent of the citizens of said district without a
+manifest breach of good faith."
+
+Against this resolution Lincoln entered a protest, but only succeeded in
+getting one man in the Legislature to sign the protest with him.
+
+The protest was as follows:
+
+"Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both
+branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned
+hereby protest against the passage of the same.
+
+"They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both
+injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of abolition
+doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils.
+
+"They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power under
+the Constitution to interfere with the institution of slavery in the
+different States.
+
+"They believe that the Congress of the United States has the power under
+the Constitution to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but
+that the power ought not to be exercised unless at the request of the
+people of the District.
+
+"The difference between these opinions and those contained in the above
+resolutions is their reason for entering this protest.
+
+"DAN STONE,
+
+"A. LINCOLN,
+
+"Representatives from the county of Sangamon."
+
+
+
+
+BEGINS TO PRACTICE LAW.
+
+At the end of this session of the Legislature, Mr. Lincoln decided to
+remove to Springfield and practice law. He entered the office of John T.
+Stuart, a former comrade in the Blackhawk War, and in March, 1837, was
+licensed to practice.
+
+Stephen T. Logan was judge of the Circuit Court, and Stephen A. Douglas,
+who was destined to become Lincoln's greatest political opponent,
+was prosecuting attorney. When Lincoln was not in his law office his
+headquarters were in the store of his friend Joshua F. Speed, in which
+gathered all the youthful orators and statesmen of that day, and where
+many exciting arguments and discussions were held. Lincoln and Douglas
+both took part in the discussion held in Speed's store. Douglas was
+the acknowledged leader of the Democratic side and Lincoln was rapidly
+coming to the front as a leader among the Whig debaters. One evening in
+the midst of a heated argument Douglas, or "the Little Giant," as he was
+called, exclaimed:
+
+"This store is no place to talk politics."
+
+
+
+
+HIS FIRST JOINT DEBATE.
+
+Arrangements were at once made for a joint debate between the leading
+Democrats and Whigs to take place in a local church. The Democrats were
+represented by Douglas, Calhoun, Lamborn and Thomas. The Whig speakers
+were Judge Logan, Colonel E. D. Baker, Mr. Browning and Lincoln. This
+discussion was the forerunner of the famous joint-debate between
+Lincoln and Douglas, which took place some years later and attracted
+the attention of the people throughout the United States. Although Mr.
+Lincoln was the last speaker in the first discussion held, his speech
+attracted more attention than any of the others and added much to his
+reputation as a public debater.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's last campaign for the Legislature was in 1840. In the same
+year he was made an elector on the Harrison presidential ticket, and
+in his canvass of the State frequently met the Democratic champion,
+Douglas, in debate. After 1840 Mr. Lincoln declined re-election to the
+Legislature, but he was a presidential elector on the Whig tickets of
+1844 and 1852, and on the Republican ticket for the State at large in
+1856.
+
+
+
+
+MARRIES A SPRINGFIELD BELLE.
+
+Among the social belles of Springfield was Mary Todd, a handsome and
+cultivated girl of the illustrious descent which could be traced back to
+the sixth century, to whom Mr. Lincoln was married in 1842. Stephen A.
+Douglas was his competitor in love as well as in politics. He courted
+Mary Todd until it became evident that she preferred Mr. Lincoln.
+
+Previous to his marriage Mr. Lincoln had two love affairs, one of them
+so serious that it left an impression upon his whole future life. One
+of the objects of his affection was Miss Mary Owen, of Green county,
+Kentucky, who decided that Mr. Lincoln "was deficient in those little
+links which make up the chain of woman's happiness." The affair ended
+without any damage to Mr. Lincoln's heart or the heart of the lady.
+
+
+
+
+STORY OF ANNE RUTLEDGE.
+
+Lincoln's first love, however, had a sad termination. The object of his
+affections at that time was Anne Rutledge, whose father was one of the
+founders of New Salem. Like Miss Owen, Miss Rutledge was also born in
+Kentucky, and was gifted with the beauty and graces that distinguish
+many Southern women. At the time that Mr. Lincoln and Anne Rutledge were
+engaged to be married, he thought himself too poor to properly support
+a wife, and they decided to wait until such time as he could better his
+financial condition. A short time thereafter Miss Rutledge was attacked
+with a fatal illness, and her death was such a blow to her intended
+husband that for a long time his friends feared that he would lose his
+mind.
+
+
+
+
+HIS DUEL WITH SHIELDS.
+
+Just previous to his marriage with Mary Todd, Mr. Lincoln was challenged
+to fight a duel by James Shields, then Auditor of State. The challenge
+grew out of some humorous letters concerning Shields, published in a
+local paper. The first of these letters was written by Mr. Lincoln.
+The others by Mary Todd and her sister. Mr. Lincoln acknowledged the
+authorship of the letters without naming the ladies, and agreed to meet
+Shields on the field of honor. As he had the choice of weapons he named
+broadswords, and actually went to the place selected for the duel.
+
+The duel was never fought. Mutual friends got together and patched up an
+understanding between Mr. Lincoln and the hot-headed Irishman.
+
+
+
+
+FORMS NEW PARTNERSHIP.
+
+Before this time Mr. Lincoln had dissolved partnership with Stuart and
+entered into a law partnership with Judge Logan. In 1843 both Lincoln
+and Logan were candidates for nomination for Congress and the personal
+ill-will caused by their rivalry resulted in the dissolution of the
+firm and the formation of a new law firm of Lincoln & Herndon, which
+continued, nominally at least, until Mr. Lincoln's death.
+
+The congressional nomination, however, went to Edward D. Baker, who
+was elected. Two years later the principal candidates for the Whig
+nomination for Congress were Mr. Lincoln and his former law partner,
+Judge Logan. Party sentiment was so strongly in favor of Lincoln that
+Judge Logan withdrew and Lincoln was nominated unanimously. The campaign
+that followed was one of the most memorable and interesting ever held in
+Illinois.
+
+
+
+
+DEFEATS PETER CARTWRIGHT FOR CONGRESS.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's opponent on the Democratic ticket was no less a person
+than old Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist preacher and circuit
+rider. Cartwright had preached to almost every congregation in the
+district and had a strong following in all the churches. Mr. Lincoln did
+not underestimate the strength of his great rival. He abandoned his law
+business entirely and gave his whole attention to the canvass. This time
+Mr. Lincoln was victorious and was elected by a large majority.
+
+When Lincoln took his seat in Congress, in 1847, he was the only Whig
+member from Illinois. His great political rival, Douglas, was in the
+Senate. The Mexican War had already broken out, which, in common with
+his party, he had opposed. Later in life he was charged with having
+opposed the voting of supplies to the American troops in Mexico, but
+this was a falsehood which he easily disproved. He was strongly
+opposed to the War, but after it was once begun he urged its vigorous
+prosecution and voted with the Democrats on all measures concerning the
+care and pay of the soldiers. His opposition to the War, however, cost
+him a re-election; it cost his party the congressional district, which
+was carried by the Democrats in 1848. Lincoln's former law partner,
+Judge Logan, secured the Whig nomination that year and was defeated.
+
+
+
+
+MAKES SPEECHES FOR "OLD ZACH."
+
+In the national convention at Philadelphia, in 1848, Mr. Lincoln was a
+delegate and advocated the nomination of General Taylor.
+
+After the nomination of General Taylor, or "Old Zach," or "rough and
+Ready," as he was called, Mr. Lincoln made a tour of New York and
+several New England States, making speeches for his candidate.
+
+Mr. Lincoln went to New England in this campaign on account of the
+great defection in the Whig party. General Taylor's nomination was
+unsatisfactory to the free-soil element, and such leaders as Henry
+Wilson, Charles Francis Adams, Charles Allen, Charles Sumner, Stephen
+C. Phillips, Richard H. Dana, Jr., and Anson Burlingame, were in open
+revolt. Mr. Lincoln's speeches were confined largely to a defense of
+General Taylor, but at the same time he denounced the free-soilers for
+helping to elect Cass. Among other things he said that the free-soilers
+had but one principle and that they reminded him of the Yankee peddler
+going to sell a pair of pantaloons and describing them as "large enough
+for any man, and small enough for any boy."
+
+It is an odd fact in history that the prominent Whigs of Massachusetts
+at that time became the opponents of Mr. Lincoln's election to the
+presidency and the policy of his administration, while the free-soilers,
+whom he denounced, were among his strongest supporters, advisers and
+followers.
+
+At the second session of Congress Mr. Lincoln's one act of consequence
+was the introduction of a bill providing for the gradual emancipation
+of the slaves in the District of Columbia. Joshua R. Giddings, the great
+antislavery agitator, and one or two lesser lights supported it, but the
+bill was laid on the table.
+
+After General Taylor's election Mr. Lincoln had the distribution of
+Federal patronage in his own Congressional district, and this added much
+to his political importance, although it was a ceaseless source of worry
+to him.
+
+
+
+
+DECLINES A HIGH OFFICE.
+
+Just before the close of his term in Congress Mr. Lincoln was an
+applicant for the office of Commissioner of the General Land Office, but
+was unsuccessful. He had been such a factor in General Taylor's election
+that the administration thought something was due him, and after
+his return to Illinois he was called to Washington and offered the
+Governorship of the Territory of Oregon. It is likely he would have
+accepted this had not Mrs. Lincoln put her foot down with an emphatic
+no.
+
+He declined a partnership with a well-known Chicago lawyer and returning
+to his Springfield home resumed the practice of law.
+
+From this time until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which
+opened the way for the admission of slavery into the territories, Mr.
+Lincoln devoted himself more industriously than ever to the practice of
+law, and during those five years he was probably a greater student than
+he had ever been before. His partner, W. H. Herndon, has told of the
+changes that took place in the courts and in the methods of practice
+while Mr. Lincoln was away.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A LAWYER.
+
+When he returned to active practice he saw at once that the courts
+had grown more learned and dignified and that the bar relied more upon
+method and system and a knowledge of the statute law than upon the stump
+speech method of early days.
+
+Mr. Herndon tells us that Lincoln would lie in bed and read by candle
+light, sometimes until two o'clock in the morning, while his famous
+colleagues, Davis, Logan, Swett, Edwards and Herndon, were soundly and
+sometimes loudly sleeping. He read and reread the statutes and books of
+practice, devoured Shakespeare, who was always a favorite of his, and
+studied Euclid so diligently that he could easily demonstrate all the
+propositions contained in the six books.
+
+Mr. Lincoln detested office work. He left all that to his partner. He
+disliked to draw up legal papers or to write letters. The firm of which
+he was a member kept no books. When either Lincoln or Herndon received
+a fee they divided the money then and there. If his partner were not in
+the office at the time Mr. Lincoln would wrap up half of the fee in a
+sheet of paper, on which he would write, "Herndon's half," giving the
+name of the case, and place it in his partner's desk.
+
+But in court, arguing a case, pleading to the jury and laying down the
+law, Lincoln was in his element. Even when he had a weak case he was a
+strong antagonist, and when he had right and justice on his side, as he
+nearly always had, no one could beat him.
+
+He liked an outdoor life, hence he was fond of riding the circuit. He
+enjoyed the company of other men, liked discussion and argument, loved
+to tell stories and to hear them, laughing as heartily at his own
+stories as he did at those that were told to him.
+
+
+
+
+TELLING STORIES ON THE CIRCUIT.
+
+The court circuit in those days was the scene of many a story-telling
+joust, in which Lincoln was always the chief. Frequently he would sit up
+until after midnight reeling off story after story, each one followed
+by roars of laughter that could be heard all over the country tavern,
+in which the story-telling group was gathered. Every type of character
+would be represented in these groups, from the learned judge on the
+bench down to the village loafer.
+
+Lincoln's favorite attitude was to sit with his long legs propped up on
+the rail of the stove, or with his feet against the wall, and thus he
+would sit for hours entertaining a crowd, or being entertained.
+
+One circuit judge was so fond of Lincoln's stories that he often would
+sit up until midnight listening to them, and then declare that he had
+laughed so much he believed his ribs were shaken loose.
+
+The great success of Abraham Lincoln as a trial lawyer was due to a
+number of facts. He would not take a case if he believed that the law
+and justice were on the other side. When he addressed a jury he made
+them feel that he only wanted fair play and justice. He did not talk
+over their heads, but got right down to a friendly tone such as we use
+in ordinary conversation, and talked at them, appealing to their honesty
+and common sense.
+
+And making his argument plain by telling a story or two that brought the
+matter clearly within their understanding.
+
+When he did not know the law in a particular case he never pretended to
+know it. If there were no precedents to cover a case he would state his
+side plainly and fairly; he would tell the jury what he believed was
+right for them to do, and then conclude with his favorite expression,
+"it seems to me that this ought to be the law."
+
+Some time before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise a lawyer friend
+said to him: "Lincoln, the time is near at hand when we shall have to be
+all Abolitionists or all Democrats."
+
+"When that time comes my mind is made up," he replied, "for I believe
+the slavery question never can be compromised."
+
+
+
+
+THE LION IS AROUSED TO ACTION.
+
+While Lincoln took a mild interest in politics, he was not a candidate
+for office, except as a presidential elector, from the time of leaving
+Congress until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. This repeal
+Legislation was the work of Lincoln's political antagonist, Stephen A.
+Douglas, and aroused Mr. Lincoln to action as the lion is roused by some
+foe worthy of his great strength and courage.
+
+Mr. Douglas argued that the true intent and meaning of the act was not
+to legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor to exclude it
+therefrom, but to leave the people perfectly free to form and regulate
+their domestic institutions in their own way.
+
+"Douglas' argument amounts to this," said Mr. Lincoln, "that if any one
+man chooses to enslave another no third man shall be allowed to object."
+
+After the adjournment of Congress Mr. Douglas returned to Illinois and
+began to defend his action in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
+His most important speech was made at Springfield, and Mr. Lincoln was
+selected to answer it. That speech alone was sufficient to make Mr.
+Lincoln the leader of anti-Slavery sentiment in the West, and some of
+the men who heard it declared that it was the greatest speech he ever
+made.
+
+With the repeal of the Missouri Compromise the Whig party began to break
+up, the majority of its members who were pronounced Abolitionists began
+to form the nucleus of the Republican party. Before this party was
+formed, however, Mr. Lincoln was induced to follow Douglas around the
+State and reply to him, but after one meeting at Peoria, where they both
+spoke, they entered into an agreement to return to their homes and make
+no more speeches during the campaign.
+
+
+
+
+SEEKS A SEAT IN THE SENATE.
+
+Mr. Lincoln made no secret at this time of his ambition to represent
+Illinois in the United States Senate. Against his protest he was
+nominated and elected to the Legislature, but resigned his seat. His
+old rival, James Shields, with whom he was once near to a duel, was then
+senator, and his term was to expire the following year.
+
+A letter, written by Mr. Lincoln to a friend in Paris, Illinois, at this
+time is interesting and significant. He wrote:
+
+"I have a suspicion that a Whig has been elected to the Legislature from
+Eagar. If this is not so, why, then, 'nix cum arous;' but if it is
+so, then could you not make a mark with him for me for United States
+senator? I really have some chance."
+
+Another candidate besides Mr. Lincoln was seeking the seat in the
+United States Senate, soon to be vacated by Mr. Shields. This was Lyman
+Trumbull, an anti-slavery Democrat. When the Legislature met it was
+found that Mr. Lincoln lacked five votes of an election, while Mr.
+Trumbull had but five supporters. After several ballots Mr. Lincoln
+feared that Trumbull's votes would be given to a Democratic candidate
+and he determined to sacrifice himself for the principle at stake.
+Accordingly he instructed his friends in the Legislature to vote for
+Judge Trumbull, which they did, resulting in Trumbull's election.
+
+The Abolitionists in the West had become very radical in their views,
+and did not hesitate to talk of opposing the extension of slavery by
+the use of force if necessary. Mr. Lincoln, on the other hand, was
+conservative and counseled moderation. In the meantime many outrages,
+growing out of the extension of slavery, were being perpetrated on the
+borders of Kansas and Missouri, and they no doubt influenced Mr. Lincoln
+to take a more radical stand against the slavery question.
+
+An incident occurred at this time which had great effect in this
+direction. The negro son of a colored woman in Springfield had gone
+South to work. He was born free, but did not have his free papers with
+him. He was arrested and would have been sold into slavery to pay his
+prison expenses, had not Mr. Lincoln and some friends purchased his
+liberty. Previous to this Mr. Lincoln had tried to secure the boy's
+release through the Governor of Illinois, but the Governor informed him
+that nothing could be done.
+
+Then it was that Mr. Lincoln rose to his full height and exclaimed:
+
+"Governor, I'll make the ground in this country too hot for the foot of
+a slave, whether you have the legal power to secure the release of this
+boy or not."
+
+
+
+
+HELPS TO ORGANIZE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
+
+The year after Mr. Trumbull's election to the Senate the Republican
+party was formally organized. A state convention of that party was
+called to meet at Bloomington May 29, 1856. The call for this convention
+was signed by many Springfield Whigs, and among the names was that of
+Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's name had been signed to the call by his
+law partner, but when he was informed of this action he endorsed it
+fully. Among the famous men who took part in this convention were
+Abraham Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, David Davis, Leonard Swett, Richard
+Yates, Norman, B. Judd and Owen Lovejoy, the Alton editor, whose life,
+like Lincoln's, finally paid the penalty for his Abolition views. The
+party nominated for Governor, Wm. H. Bissell, a veteran of the Mexican
+War, and adopted a platform ringing with anti-slavery sentiment.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was the greatest power in the campaign that followed. He was
+one of the Fremont Presidential electors, and he went to work with all
+his might to spread the new party gospel and make votes for the old
+"Path-Finder of the Rocky Mountains."
+
+An amusing incident followed close after the Bloomington convention. A
+meeting was called at Springfield to ratify the action at Bloomington.
+Only three persons attended--Mr. Lincoln, his law partner and a man
+named John Paine. Mr. Lincoln made a speech to his colleagues, in which,
+among other things, he said: "While all seems dead, the age itself is
+not. It liveth as sure as our Maker liveth."
+
+In this campaign Mr. Lincoln was in general demand not only in his own
+state, but in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin as well.
+
+The result of that Presidential campaign was the election of Buchanan
+as President, Bissell as Governor, leaving Mr. Lincoln the undisputed
+leader of the new party. Hence it was that two years later he was the
+inevitable man to oppose Judge Douglas in the campaign for United States
+Senator.
+
+
+
+
+THE RAIL-SPLITTER vs. THE LITTLE GIANT.
+
+No record of Abraham Lincoln's career would be complete without the
+story of the memorable joint debates between the "Rail-Splitter of
+the Sangamon Valley" and the "Little Giant." The opening lines in Mr.
+Lincoln's speech to the Republican Convention were not only prophetic
+of the coming rebellion, but they clearly made the issue between the
+Republican and Democratic parties for two Presidential campaigns to
+follow. The memorable sentences were as follows:
+
+"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government
+cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect
+the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do
+expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing
+or the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further
+spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief
+that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will
+push it forward till it becomes alike lawful in all the states, old as
+well as new, North as well as South."
+
+It is universally conceded that this speech contained the most important
+utterances of Mr. Lincoln's life.
+
+Previous to its delivery, the Democratic convention had endorsed Mr.
+Douglas for re-election to the Senate, and the Republican convention had
+resolved that "Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for
+United States Senator, to fill the vacancy about to be created by the
+expiration of Mr. Douglas' term of office."
+
+Before Judge Douglas had made many speeches in this Senatorial campaign,
+Mr. Lincoln challenged him to a joint debate, which was accepted, and
+seven memorable meetings between these two great leaders followed.
+The places and dates were: Ottawa, August 21st; Freeport, August 27th;
+Jonesboro, September 15th; Charleston, September 18th; Galesburg,
+October 7th; Quincy, October 13th; and Alton, October 15th.
+
+The debates not only attracted the attention of the people in the state
+of Illinois, but aroused an interest throughout the whole country equal
+to that of a Presidential election.
+
+
+
+
+WERE LIKE CROWDS AT A CIRCUS.
+
+All the meetings of the joint debate were attended by immense crowds
+of people. They came in all sorts of vehicles, on horseback, and many
+walked weary miles on foot to hear these two great leaders discuss the
+issues of the campaign. There had never been political meetings held
+under such unusual conditions as these, and there probably never will
+be again. At every place the speakers were met by great crowds of their
+friends and escorted to the platforms in the open air where the debates
+were held. The processions that escorted the speakers were most unique.
+They carried flags and banners and were preceded by bands of music. The
+people discharged cannons when they had them, and, when they did not,
+blacksmiths' anvils were made to take their places.
+
+Oftentimes a part of the escort would be mounted, and in most of the
+processions were chariots containing young ladies representing the
+different states of the Union designated by banners they carried.
+Besides the bands, there was usually vocal music. Patriotic songs were
+the order of the day, the "Star-Spangled Banner" and "Hail Columbia"
+being great favorites.
+
+So far as the crowds were concerned, these joint debates took on the
+appearance of a circus day, and this comparison was strengthened by the
+sale of lemonade, fruit, melons and confectionery on the outskirts of
+the gatherings.
+
+At Ottawa, after his speech, Mr. Lincoln was carried around on the
+shoulders of his enthusiastic supporters, who did not put him down until
+they reached the place where he was to spend the night.
+
+In the joint debates, each of the candidates asked the other a series
+of questions. Judge Douglas' replies to Mr. Lincoln's shrewd questions
+helped Douglas to win the Senatorial election, but they lost him the
+support of the South in the campaign for President two years thereafter.
+Mr. Lincoln was told when he framed his questions that if Douglas
+answered them in the way it was believed he would that the answers would
+make him Senator.
+
+"That may be," said Mr. Lincoln, "but if he takes that shoot he never
+can be President."
+
+The prophecy was correct. Mr. Douglas was elected Senator, but two years
+later only carried one state--Missouri--for President.
+
+
+
+
+HIS BUCKEYE CAMPAIGN.
+
+After the close of this canvass, Mr. Lincoln again devoted himself to
+the practice of his profession, but he was destined to remain but a
+short time in retirement. In the fall of 1859 Mr. Douglas went to Ohio
+to stump the state for his friend, Mr. Pugh, the Democratic candidate
+for Governor. The Ohio Republicans at once asked Mr. Lincoln to come to
+the state and reply to the "Little Giant." He accepted the invitation
+and made two masterly speeches in the campaign. In one of them,
+delivered at Cincinnati, he prophesied the outcome of the rebellion if
+the Southern people attempted to divide the Union by force.
+
+Addressing himself particularly to the Kentuckians in the audience, he
+said:
+
+"I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know, now, when that
+thing takes place, what do you mean to do? I often hear it intimated
+that you mean to divide the Union whenever a Republican, or anything
+like it, is elected President of the United States. [A Voice--"That is
+so."] 'That is so,' one of them says; I wonder if he is a Kentuckian? [A
+Voice--"He is a Douglas man."] Well, then, I want to know what you are
+going to do with your half of it?
+
+"Are you going to split the Ohio down through, and push your half off
+a piece? Or are you going to keep it right alongside of us outrageous
+fellows? Or are you going to build up a wall some way between your
+country, and ours, by which that movable property of yours can't come
+over here any more, to the danger of your losing it? Do you think
+you can better yourselves on that subject by leaving us here under no
+obligation whatever to return those specimens of your movable property
+that come hither?
+
+"You have divided the Union because we would not do right with you, as
+you think, upon that subject; when we cease to be under obligations to
+do anything for you, how much better off do you think you will be? Will
+you make war upon us and kill us all? Why, gentlemen, I think you are
+as gallant and as brave men as live; that you can fight as bravely in a
+good cause, man for man, as any other people living; that you have shown
+yourselves capable of this upon various occasions; but, man for man, you
+are not better than we are, and there are not so many of you as there
+are of us.
+
+"You will never make much of a hand at whipping us. If we were fewer in
+numbers than you, I think that you could whip us; if we were equal, it
+would likely be a drawn battle; but, being inferior in numbers, you will
+make nothing by attempting to master us.
+
+"But perhaps I have addressed myself as long, or longer, to the
+Kentuckians than I ought to have done, inasmuch as I have said that,
+whatever course you take, we intend in the end to beat you."
+
+
+
+
+FIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK.
+
+Later in the year Mr. Lincoln also spoke in Kansas, where he was
+received with great enthusiasm, and in February of the following year
+he made his great speech in Cooper Union, New York, to an immense
+gathering, presided over by William Cullen Bryant, the poet, who was
+then editor of the New York Evening Post. There was great curiosity to
+see the Western rail-splitter who had so lately met the famous "Little
+Giant" of the West in debate, and Mr. Lincoln's speech was listened to
+by many of the ablest men in the East.
+
+This speech won for him many supporters in the Presidential campaign
+that followed, for his hearers at once recognized his wonderful ability
+to deal with the questions then uppermost in the public mind.
+
+
+
+
+FIRST NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT.
+
+The Republican National Convention of 1860 met in Chicago, May 16, in
+an immense building called the "Wigwam." The leading candidates for
+President were William H. Seward of New York and Abraham Lincoln of
+Illinois. Among others spoken of were Salmon P. Chase of Ohio and Simon
+Cameron of Pennsylvania.
+
+On the first ballot for President, Mr. Seward received one hundred
+and seventy-three and one-half votes; Mr. Lincoln, one hundred and two
+votes, the others scattering. On the first ballot, Vermont had divided
+her vote, but on the second the chairman of the Vermont delegation
+announced: "Vermont casts her ten votes for the young giant of the
+West--Abraham Lincoln."
+
+This was the turning point in the convention toward Mr. Lincoln's
+nomination. The second ballot resulted: Seward, one hundred and
+eighty-four and one-half; Lincoln, one hundred and eighty-one. On the
+third ballot, Mr. Lincoln received two hundred and thirty votes. One and
+one-half votes more would nominate him. Before the ballot was announced,
+Ohio made a change of four votes in favor of Mr. Lincoln, making him the
+nominee for President.
+
+Other states tried to follow Ohio's example, but it was a long time
+before any of the delegates could make themselves heard. Cannons planted
+on top of the wigwam were roaring and booming; the large crowd in the
+wigwam and the immense throng outside were cheering at the top of their
+lungs, while bands were playing victorious airs.
+
+When order had been restored, it was announced that on the third ballot
+Abraham Lincoln of Illinois had received three hundred and fifty-four
+votes and was nominated by the Republican party to the office of
+President of the United States.
+
+Mr. Lincoln heard the news of his nomination while sitting in a
+newspaper office in Springfield, and hurried home to tell his wife.
+
+As Mr. Lincoln had predicted, Judge Douglas' position on slavery in the
+territories lost him the support of the South, and when the Democratic
+convention met at Charleston, the slave-holding states forced the
+nomination of John C. Breckinridge. A considerable number of people who
+did not agree with either party nominated John Bell of Tennessee.
+
+In the election which followed, Mr. Lincoln carried all of the free
+states, except New Jersey, which was divided between himself and
+Douglas; Breckinridge carried all the slave states, except Kentucky,
+Tennessee and Virginia, which went for Bell, and Missouri gave its vote
+to Douglas.
+
+
+
+
+FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
+
+The election was scarcely over before it was evident that the Southern
+States did not intend to abide by the result, and that a conspiracy was
+on foot to divide the Union. Before the Presidential election even, the
+Secretary of War in President Buchanan's Cabinet had removed one hundred
+and fifty thousand muskets from Government armories in the North and
+sent them to Government armories in the South.
+
+Before Mr. Lincoln had prepared his inaugural address, South Carolina,
+which took the lead in the secession movement, had declared through her
+Legislature her separation from the Union. Before Mr. Lincoln took his
+seat, other Southern States had followed the example of South Carolina,
+and a convention had been held at Montgomery, Alabama, which had elected
+Jefferson Davis President of the new Confederacy, and Alexander H.
+Stevens, of Georgia, Vice-President.
+
+Southern men in the Cabinet, Senate and House had resigned their seats
+and gone home, and Southern States were demanding that Southern forts
+and Government property in their section should be turned over to them.
+
+Between his election and inauguration, Mr. Lincoln remained silent,
+reserving his opinions and a declaration of his policy for his inaugural
+address.
+
+Before Mr. Lincoln's departure from Springfield for Washington, threats
+had been freely made that he would never reach the capital alive, and,
+in fact, a conspiracy was then on foot to take his life in the city of
+Baltimore.
+
+Mr. Lincoln left Springfield on February 11th, in company with his wife
+and three sons, his brother-in-law, Dr. W. S. Wallace; David Davis,
+Norman B. Judd, Elmer E. Elsworth, Ward H. Lamon, Colonel E. V. Sunder
+of the United States Army, and the President's two secretaries.
+
+
+
+
+GOOD-BYE TO THE OLD FOLK.
+
+Early in February, before leaving for Washington, Mr. Lincoln slipped
+away from Springfield and paid a visit to his aged step-mother in Coles
+county. He also paid a visit to the unmarked grave of his father and
+ordered a suitable stone to mark the spot.
+
+Before leaving Springfield, he made an address to his fellow-townsmen,
+in which he displayed sincere sorrow at parting from them.
+
+"Friends," he said, "no one who has never been placed in a like position
+can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I
+feel at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have lived
+among you, and during all that time I have received nothing but kindness
+at your hands. Here I have lived from my youth until now I am an old
+man. Here the most sacred ties of earth were assumed. Here all my
+children were born, and here one of them lies buried.
+
+"To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All the
+strange, checkered past seems to crowd now upon my mind. To-day I leave
+you. I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon
+Washington. Unless the great God who assisted him shall be with and aid
+me, I must fail; but if the same omniscient mind and almighty arm that
+directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall not
+fail--I shall succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may
+not forsake us now.
+
+"To Him I commend you all. Permit me to ask that with equal sincerity
+and faith you will invoke His wisdom and guidance for me. With these
+words I must leave you, for how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I
+must now bid you an affectionate farewell."
+
+The journey from Springfield to Philadelphia was a continuous ovation
+for Mr. Lincoln. Crowds assembled to meet him at the various places
+along the way, and he made them short speeches, full of humor and good
+feeling. At Harrisburg, Pa., the party was met by Allan Pinkerton, who
+knew of the plot in Baltimore to take the life of Mr. Lincoln.
+
+
+
+
+THE "SECRET PASSAGE" TO WASHINGTON.
+
+Throughout his entire life, Abraham Lincoln's physical courage was as
+great and superb as his moral courage. When Mr. Pinkerton and Mr.
+Judd urged the President-elect to leave for Washington that night, he
+positively refused to do it. He said he had made an engagement to assist
+at a flag raising in the forenoon of the next day and to show himself to
+the people of Harrisburg in the afternoon, and that he intended to keep
+both engagements.
+
+At Philadelphia the Presidential party was met by Mr. Seward's son,
+Frederick, who had been sent to warn Mr. Lincoln of the plot against his
+life. Mr. Judd, Mr. Pinkerton and Mr. Lamon figured out a plan to take
+Mr. Lincoln through Baltimore between midnight and daybreak, when the
+would-be assassins would not be expecting him, and this plan was carried
+out so thoroughly that even the conductor on the train did not know the
+President-elect was on board.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was put into his berth and the curtains drawn. He was
+supposed to be a sick man. When the conductor came around, Mr. Pinkerton
+handed him the "sick man's" ticket and he passed on without question.
+
+When the train reached Baltimore, at half-past three o'clock in the
+morning, it was met by one of Mr. Pinkerton's detectives, who reported
+that everything was "all right," and in a short time the party was
+speeding on to the national capital, where rooms had been engaged for
+Mr. Lincoln and his guard at Willard's Hotel.
+
+Mr. Lincoln always regretted this "secret passage" to Washington, for
+it was repugnant to a man of his high courage. He had agreed to the plan
+simply because all of his friends urged it as the best thing to do.
+
+Now that all the facts are known, it is assured that his friends were
+right, and that there never was a moment from the day he crossed the
+Maryland line until his assassination that his life was not in danger,
+and was only saved as long as it was by the constant vigilance of those
+who were guarding him.
+
+
+
+
+HIS ELOQUENT INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
+
+The wonderful eloquence of Abraham Lincoln--clear, sincere,
+natural--found grand expression in his first inaugural address, in which
+he not only outlined his policy toward the States in rebellion, but made
+that beautiful and eloquent plea for conciliation. The closing sentences
+of Mr. Lincoln's first inaugural address deservedly take rank with his
+Gettysburg speech:
+
+"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen," he said, "and not
+in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not
+assail you.
+
+"You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You
+have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I
+shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect and defend' it.
+
+"I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be
+enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds
+of affection.
+
+"The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every battle-field and
+patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad
+land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as
+surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
+
+
+
+
+FOLLOWS PRECEDENT OF WASHINGTON.
+
+In selecting his Cabinet, Mr. Lincoln, consciously or unconsciously,
+followed a precedent established by Washington, of selecting men of
+almost opposite opinions. His Cabinet was composed of William H. Seward
+of New York, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Secretary of
+the Treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon E.
+Welles of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith of
+Indiana, Secretary of the Interior; Montgomery Blair of Maryland,
+Postmaster-General; Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney-General.
+
+Mr. Chase, although an anti-slavery leader, was a States-Rights Federal
+Republican, while Mr. Seward was a Whig, without having connected
+himself with the anti-slavery movement.
+
+Mr. Chase and Mr. Seward, the leading men of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, were
+as widely apart and antagonistic in their views as were Jefferson, the
+Democrat, and Hamilton, the Federalist, the two leaders in Washington's
+Cabinet. But in bringing together these two strong men as his chief
+advisers, both of whom had been rival candidates for the Presidency, Mr.
+Lincoln gave another example of his own greatness and self-reliance, and
+put them both in a position to render greater service to the Government
+than they could have done, probably, as President.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had been in office little more than five weeks when the War
+of the Rebellion began by the firing on Fort Sumter.
+
+
+
+
+GREATER DIPLOMAT THAN SEWARD.
+
+The War of the Rebellion revealed to the people--in fact, to the whole
+world--the many sides of Abraham Lincoln's character. It showed him as
+a real ruler of men--not a ruler by the mere power of might, but by
+the power of a great brain. In his Cabinet were the ablest men in the
+country, yet they all knew that Lincoln was abler than any of them.
+
+Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, was a man famed in statesmanship
+and diplomacy. During the early stages of the Civil War, when France
+and England were seeking an excuse to interfere and help the Southern
+Confederacy, Mr. Seward wrote a letter to our minister in London,
+Charles Francis Adams, instructing him concerning the attitude of
+the Federal government on the question of interference, which would
+undoubtedly have brought about a war with England if Abraham Lincoln had
+not corrected and amended the letter. He did this, too, without yielding
+a point or sacrificing in any way his own dignity or that of the
+country.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN A GREAT GENERAL.
+
+Throughout the four years of war, Mr. Lincoln spent a great deal of time
+in the War Department, receiving news from the front and conferring with
+Secretary of War Stanton concerning military affairs.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's War Secretary, Edwin M. Stanton, who had succeeded
+Simon Cameron, was a man of wonderful personality and iron will. It is
+generally conceded that no other man could have managed the great War
+Secretary so well as Lincoln. Stanton had his way in most matters,
+but when there was an important difference of opinion he always found
+Lincoln was the master.
+
+Although Mr. Lincoln's communications to the generals in the field
+were oftener in the nature of suggestions than positive orders, every
+military leader recognized Mr. Lincoln's ability in military operations.
+In the early stages of the war, Mr. Lincoln followed closely every plan
+and movement of McClellan, and the correspondence between them proves
+Mr. Lincoln to have been far the abler general of the two. He kept close
+watch of Burnside, too, and when he gave the command of the Army of the
+Potomac to "Fighting Joe" Hooker he also gave that general some fatherly
+counsel and advice which was of great benefit to him as a commander.
+
+
+
+
+ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN GRANT.
+
+It was not until General Grant had been made Commander-in-Chief that
+President Lincoln felt he had at last found a general who did not
+need much advice. He was the first to recognize that Grant was a great
+military leader, and when he once felt sure of this fact nothing could
+shake his confidence in that general. Delegation after delegation called
+at the White House and asked for Grant's removal from the head of the
+army. They accused him of being a butcher, a drunkard, a man without
+sense or feeling.
+
+President Lincoln listened to all of these attacks, but he always had
+an apt answer to silence Grant's enemies. Grant was doing what Lincoln
+wanted done from the first--he was fighting and winning victories, and
+victories are the only things that count in war.
+
+
+
+
+REASONS FOR FREEING THE SLAVES.
+
+The crowning act of Lincoln's career as President was the emancipation
+of the slaves. All of his life he had believed in gradual emancipation,
+but all of his plans contemplated payment to the slaveholders. While he
+had always been opposed to slavery, he did not take any steps to use it
+as a war measure until about the middle of 1862. His chief object was to
+preserve the Union.
+
+He wrote to Horace Greeley that if he could save the Union without
+freeing any of the slaves he would do it; that if he could save it by
+freeing some and leaving the others in slavery he would do that; that if
+it became necessary to free all the slaves in order to save the Union he
+would take that course.
+
+The anti-slavery men were continually urging Mr. Lincoln to set the
+slaves free, but he paid no attention to their petitions and demands
+until he felt that emancipation would help him to preserve the Union of
+the States.
+
+The outlook for the Union cause grew darker and darker in 1862, and Mr.
+Lincoln began to think, as he expressed it, that he must "change
+his tactics or lose the game." Accordingly he decided to issue the
+Emancipation Proclamation as soon as the Union army won a substantial
+victory. The battle of Antietam, on September 17, gave him the
+opportunity he sought. He told Secretary Chase that he had made a
+solemn vow before God that if General Lee should be driven back from
+Pennsylvania he would crown the result by a declaration of freedom to
+the slaves.
+
+On the twenty-second of that month he issued a proclamation stating
+that at the end of one hundred days he would issue another proclamation
+declaring all slaves within any State or Territory to be forever free,
+which was done in the form of the famous Emancipation Proclamation.
+
+
+
+
+HARD TO REFUSE PARDONS.
+
+In the conduct of the war and in his purpose to maintain the Union,
+Abraham Lincoln exhibited a will of iron and determination that could
+not be shaken, but in his daily contact with the mothers, wives and
+daughters begging for the life of some soldier who had been condemned to
+death for desertion or sleeping on duty he was as gentle and weak as a
+woman.
+
+It was a difficult matter for him to refuse a pardon if the slightest
+excuse could be found for granting it.
+
+Secretary Stanton and the commanding generals were loud in declaring
+that Mr. Lincoln would destroy the discipline of the army by his
+wholesale pardoning of condemned soldiers, but when we come to examine
+the individual cases we find that Lincoln was nearly always right, and
+when he erred it was always on the side of humanity.
+
+During the four years of the long struggle for the preservation of
+the Union, Mr. Lincoln kept "open shop," as he expressed it, where
+the general public could always see him and make known their wants and
+complaints. Even the private soldier was not denied admittance to the
+President's private office, and no request or complaint was too small or
+trivial to enlist his sympathy and interest.
+
+
+
+
+A FUN-LOVING AND HUMOR-LOVING MAN.
+
+It was once said of Shakespeare that the great mind that conceived the
+tragedies of "Hamlet," "Macbeth," etc., would have lost its reason if it
+had not found vent in the sparkling humor of such comedies as "The Merry
+Wives of Windsor" and "The Comedy of Errors."
+
+The great strain on the mind of Abraham Lincoln produced by four years
+of civil war might likewise have overcome his reason had it not found
+vent in the yarns and stories he constantly told. No more fun-loving or
+humor-loving man than Abraham Lincoln ever lived. He enjoyed a joke
+even when it was on himself, and probably, while he got his greatest
+enjoyment from telling stories, he had a keen appreciation of the humor
+in those that were told him.
+
+His favorite humorous writer was David R. Locke, better known as
+"Petroleum V. Nasby," whose political satires were quite famous in their
+day. Nearly every prominent man who has written his recollections of
+Lincoln has told how the President, in the middle of a conversation on
+some serious subject, would suddenly stop and ask his hearer if he ever
+read the Nasby letters.
+
+Then he would take from his desk a pamphlet containing the letters and
+proceed to read them, laughing heartily at all the good points they
+contained. There is probably no better evidence of Mr. Lincoln's love of
+humor and appreciation of it than his letter to Nasby, in which he said:
+"For the ability to write these things I would gladly trade places with
+you."
+
+Mr. Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864. His opponent on the
+Democratic ticket was General George B. McClellan, whose command of the
+Army of the Potomac had been so unsatisfactory at the beginning of the
+war. Mr. Lincoln's election was almost unanimous, as McClellan carried
+but three States--Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey.
+
+General Grant, in a telegram of congratulation, said that it was "a
+victory worth more to the country than a battle won."
+
+The war was fast drawing to a close. The black war clouds were breaking
+and rolling away. Sherman had made his famous march to the sea.
+Through swamp and ravine, Grant was rapidly tightening the lines
+around Richmond. Thomas had won his title of the "Rock of Chickamauga."
+Sheridan had won his spurs as the great modern cavalry commander, and
+had cleaned out the Shenandoah Valley. Sherman was coming back from his
+famous march to join Grant at Richmond.
+
+The Confederacy was without a navy. The Kearsarge had sunk the Alabama,
+and Farragut had fought and won the famous victory in Mobile Bay. It was
+certain that Lee would soon have to evacuate Richmond only to fall into
+the hands of Grant.
+
+Lincoln saw the dawn of peace. When he came to deliver his second
+inaugural address, it contained no note of victory, no exultation over
+a fallen foe. On the contrary, it breathed the spirit of brotherly love
+and of prayer for an early peace: "With malice toward none, with charity
+for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right,
+let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to
+care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his
+orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting
+peace among ourselves and with all nations."
+
+Not long thereafter, General Lee evacuated Richmond with about half of
+his original army, closely pursued by Grant. The boys in blue overtook
+their brothers in gray at Appomattox Court House, and there, beneath the
+warm rays of an April sun, the great Confederate general made his final
+surrender. The war was over, the American flag was floated over all the
+territory of the United States, and peace was now a reality. Mr. Lincoln
+visited Richmond and the final scenes of the war and then returned to
+Washington to carry out his announced plan of "binding up the nation's
+wounds."
+
+He had now reached the climax of his career and touched the highest
+point of his greatness. His great task was over, and the heavy burden
+that had so long worn upon his heart was lifted.
+
+While the whole nation was rejoicing over the return of peace, the
+Saviour of the Union was stricken down by the hand of an assassin.
+
+
+
+
+WARNINGS OF HIS TRAGIC DEATH.
+
+From early youth, Mr. Lincoln had presentiments that he would die a
+violent death, or, rather, that his final days would be marked by
+some great tragic event. From the time of his first election to the
+Presidency, his closest friends had tried to make him understand that
+he was in constant danger of assassination, but, notwithstanding his
+presentiments, he had such splendid courage that he only laughed at
+their fears.
+
+During the summer months he lived at the Soldiers' Home, some miles from
+Washington, and frequently made the trip between the White House and the
+Home without a guard or escort. Secretary of War Stanton and Ward
+Lamon, Marshal of the District, were almost constantly alarmed over
+Mr. Lincoln's carelessness in exposing himself to the danger of
+assassination.
+
+They warned him time and again, and provided suitable body-guards to
+attend him. But Mr. Lincoln would often give the guards the slip, and,
+mounting his favorite riding horse, "Old Abe," would set out alone after
+dark from the White House for the Soldiers' Home.
+
+While riding to the Home one night, he was fired upon by some one in
+ambush, the bullet passing through his high hat. Mr. Lincoln would not
+admit that the man who fired the shot had tried to kill him. He always
+attributed it to an accident, and begged his friends to say nothing
+about it.
+
+Now that all the circumstances of the assassination are known, it is
+plain that there was a deep-laid and well-conceived plot to kill Mr.
+Lincoln long before the crime was actually committed. When Mr. Lincoln
+was delivering his second inaugural address on the steps of the Capitol,
+an excited individual tried to force his way through the guards in the
+building to get on the platform with Mr. Lincoln.
+
+It was afterward learned that this man was John Wilkes Booth, who
+afterwards assassinated Mr. Lincoln in Ford's Theatre, on the night of
+the 14th of April.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN AT THE THEATRE.
+
+The manager of the theatre had invited the President to witness a
+performance of a new play known as "Our American Cousin," in which the
+famous actress, Laura Keane, was playing. Mr. Lincoln was particularly
+fond of the theatre. He loved Shakespeare's plays above all others and
+never missed a chance to see the leading Shakespearean actors.
+
+As "Our American Cousin" was a new play, the President did not care
+particularly to see it, but as Mrs. Lincoln was anxious to go, he
+consented and accepted the invitation.
+
+General Grant was in Washington at the time, and as he was extremely
+anxious about the personal safety of the President, he reported every
+day regularly at the White House. Mr. Lincoln invited General Grant and
+his wife to accompany him and Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre on the night
+of the assassination, and the general accepted, but while they were
+talking he received a note from Mrs. Grant saying that she wished to
+leave Washington that evening to visit her daughter in Burlington.
+General Grant made his excuses to the President and left to accompany
+Mrs. Grant to the railway station. It afterwards became known that it
+was also a part of the plot to assassinate General Grant, and only Mrs.
+Grant's departure from Washington that evening prevented the attempt
+from being made.
+
+General Grant afterwards said that as he and Mrs. Grant were riding
+along Pennsylvania avenue to the railway station a horseman rode rapidly
+by at a gallop, and, wheeling his horse, rode back, peering into their
+carriage as he passed.
+
+Mrs. Grant remarked to the general: "That is the very man who sat near
+us at luncheon to-day and tried to overhear our conversation. He was so
+rude, you remember, as to cause us to leave the dining-room. Here he is
+again, riding after us."
+
+General Grant attributed the action of the man to idle curiosity, but
+learned afterward that the horseman was John Wilkes Booth.
+
+
+
+
+LAMON'S REMARKABLE REQUEST.
+
+Probably one reason why Mr. Lincoln did not particularly care to go to
+the theatre that night was a sort of half promise he had made to his
+friend and bodyguard, Marshal Lamon. Two days previous he had sent
+Lamon to Richmond on business connected with a call of a convention for
+reconstruction. Before leaving, Mr. Lamon saw Mr. Usher, the Secretary
+of the Interior, and asked him to persuade Mr. Lincoln to use more
+caution about his personal safety, and to go out as little as possible
+while Lamon was absent. Together they went to see Mr. Lincoln, and Lamon
+asked the President if he would make him a promise.
+
+"I think I can venture to say I will," said Mr. Lincoln. "What is it?"
+
+"Promise me that you will not go out after night while I am gone," said
+Mr. Lamon, "particularly to the theatre."
+
+Mr. Lincoln turned to Mr. Usher and said: "Usher, this boy is a
+monomaniac on the subject of my safety. I can hear him or hear of
+his being around at all times in the night, to prevent somebody from
+murdering me. He thinks I shall be killed, and we think he is going
+crazy. What does any one want to assassinate me for? If any one wants to
+do so, he can do it any day or night if he is ready to give his life for
+mine. It is nonsense."
+
+Mr. Usher said to Mr. Lincoln that it was well to heed Lamon's warning,
+as he was thrown among people from whom he had better opportunities to
+know about such matters than almost any one.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Lincoln to Lamon, "I promise to do the best I can
+toward it."
+
+
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN WAS MURDERED.
+
+The assassination of President Lincoln was most carefully planned, even
+to the smallest detail. The box set apart for the President's party was
+a double one in the second tier at the left of the stage. The box had
+two doors with spring locks, but Booth had loosened the screws with
+which they were fastened so that it was impossible to secure them from
+the inside. In one door he had bored a hole with a gimlet, so that he
+could see what was going on inside the box.
+
+An employee of the theatre by the name of Spangler, who was an
+accomplice of the assassin, had even arranged the seats in the box to
+suit the purposes of Booth.
+
+On the fateful night the theatre was packed. The Presidential party
+arrived a few minutes after nine o'clock, and consisted of the President
+and Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Harris and Major Rathbone, daughter and stepson
+of Senator Harris of New York. The immense audience rose to its feet and
+cheered the President as he passed to his box.
+
+Booth came into the theatre about ten o'clock. He had not only, planned
+to kill the President, but he had also planned to escape into Maryland,
+and a swift horse, saddled and ready for the journey, was tied in the
+rear of the theatre. For a few minutes he pretended to be interested in
+the performance, and then gradually made his way back to the door of the
+President's box.
+
+Before reaching there, however, he was confronted by one of the
+President's messengers, who had been stationed at the end of the passage
+leading to the boxes to prevent any one from intruding. To this man
+Booth handed a card saying that the President had sent for him, and was
+permitted to enter.
+
+Once inside the hallway leading to the boxes, he closed the hall door
+and fastened it by a bar prepared for the occasion, so that it was
+impossible to open it from without. Then he quickly entered the box
+through the right-hand door. The President was sitting in an easy
+armchair in the left-hand corner of the box nearest the audience. He
+was leaning on one hand and with the other had hold of a portion of the
+drapery. There was a smile on his face. The other members of the party
+were intently watching the performance on the stage.
+
+The assassin carried in his right hand a small silver-mounted derringer
+pistol and in his left a long double-edged dagger. He placed the pistol
+just behind the President's left ear and fired.
+
+Mr. Lincoln bent slightly forward and his eyes closed, but in every
+other respect his attitude remained unchanged.
+
+The report of the pistol startled Major Rathbone, who sprang to his
+feet. The murderer was then about six feet from the President, and
+Rathbone grappled with him, but was shaken off. Dropping his pistol,
+Booth struck at Rathbone with the dagger and inflicted a severe wound.
+The assassin then placed his left hand lightly on the railing of the box
+and jumped to the stage, eight or nine feet below.
+
+
+
+
+BOOTH BRANDISHES HIS DAGGER AND ESCAPES.
+
+The box was draped with the American flag, and, in jumping, Booth's
+spurs caught in the folds, tearing down the flag, the assassin falling
+heavily to the stage and spraining his ankle. He arose, however, and
+walked theatrically across the stage, brandished his knife and shouted,
+"Sic semper tyrannis!" and then added, "The South is avenged."
+
+For the moment the audience was horrified and incapable of action. One
+man only, a lawyer named Stuart, had sufficient presence of mind to leap
+upon the stage and attempt to capture the assassin. Booth went to the
+rear door of the stage, where his horse was held in readiness for
+him, and, leaping into the saddle, dashed through the streets toward
+Virginia. Miss Keane rushed to the President's box with water and
+stimulants, and medical aid was summoned.
+
+By this time the audience realized the tragedy that had been enacted,
+and then followed a scene such as has never been witnessed in any public
+gathering in this country. Women wept, shrieked and fainted; men raved
+and swore, and horror was depicted on every face. Before the audience
+could be gotten out of the theatre, horsemen were dashing through the
+streets and the telegraph was carrying the terrible details of the
+tragedy throughout the nation.
+
+
+
+
+WALT WHITMAN'S DESCRIPTION.
+
+Walt Whitman, the poet, has sketched in graphic language the scenes of
+that most eventful fourteenth of April. His account of the assassination
+has become historic, and is herewith given:
+
+"The day (April 14, 1865) seems to have been a pleasant one throughout
+the whole land--the moral atmosphere pleasant, too--the long storm, so
+dark, so fratricidal, full of blood and doubt and gloom, over and ended
+at last by the sunrise of such an absolute national victory, and utter
+breaking down of secessionism--we almost doubted our senses! Lee had
+capitulated, beneath the apple tree at Appomattox. The other armies, the
+flanges of the revolt, swiftly followed.
+
+"And could it really be, then? Out of all the affairs of this world of
+woe and passion, of failure and disorder and dismay, was there really
+come the confirmed, unerring sign of peace, like a shaft of pure
+light--of rightful rule--of God?
+
+"But I must not dwell on accessories. The deed hastens. The popular
+afternoon paper, the little Evening Star, had scattered all over its
+third page, divided among the advertisements in a sensational manner in
+a hundred different places:
+
+"'The President and his lady will be at the theatre this evening.'
+
+"Lincoln was fond of the theatre. I have myself seen him there several
+times. I remember thinking how funny it was that he, the leading actor
+in the greatest and stormiest drama known to real history's stage,
+through centuries, should sit there and be so completely interested in
+those human jackstraws, moving about with their silly little gestures,
+foreign spirit, and flatulent text.
+
+"So the day, as I say, was propitious. Early herbage, early flowers,
+were out. I remember where I was stopping at the time, the season being
+advanced, there were many lilacs in full bloom.
+
+"By one of those caprices that enter and give tinge to events without
+being a part of them, I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy
+of this day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never fails.
+
+"On this occasion the theatre was crowded, many ladies in rich and gay
+costumes, officers in their uniforms, many well-known citizens, young
+folks, the usual cluster of gas lights, the usual magnetism of so many
+people, cheerful with perfumes, music of violins and flutes--and over
+all, that saturating, that vast, vague wonder, Victory, the nation's
+victory, the triumph of the Union, filling the air, the thought, the
+sense, with exhilaration more than all the perfumes.
+
+"The President came betimes, and, with his wife, witnessed the play
+from the large stage boxes of the second tier, two thrown into one,
+and profusely draped with the national flag. The acts and scenes of the
+piece--one of those singularly witless compositions which have at the
+least the merit of giving entire relief to an audience engaged in mental
+action or business excitements and cares during the day, as it makes not
+the slightest call on either the moral, emotional, esthetic or
+spiritual nature--a piece in which among other characters, so called, a
+Yankee--certainly such a one as was never seen, or at least like it
+ever seen in North America, is introduced in England, with a varied
+fol-de-rol of talk, plot, scenery, and such phantasmagoria as goes to
+make up a modern popular drama--had progressed perhaps through a couple
+of its acts, when, in the midst of this comedy, or tragedy, or non-such,
+or whatever it is to be called, and to offset it, or finish it out, as
+if in Nature's and the Great Muse's mockery of these poor mimics, comes
+interpolated that scene, not really or exactly to be described at all
+(for on the many hundreds who were there it seems to this hour to have
+left little but a passing blur, a dream, a blotch)--and yet partially
+described as I now proceed to give it:
+
+"There is a scene in the play, representing the modern parlor, in
+which two unprecedented ladies are informed by the unprecedented
+and impossible Yankee that he is not a man of fortune, and therefore
+undesirable for marriage-catching purposes; after which, the comments
+being finished, the dramatic trio make exit, leaving the stage clear for
+a moment.
+
+"There was a pause, a hush, as it were. At this period came the death of
+Abraham Lincoln.
+
+"Great as that was, with all its manifold train circling around it, and
+stretching into the future for many a century, in the politics, history,
+art, etc., of the New World, in point of fact, the main thing, the
+actual murder, transpired with the quiet and simplicity of any commonest
+occurrence--the bursting of a bud or pod in the growth of vegetation,
+for instance.
+
+"Through the general hum following the stage pause, with the change
+of positions, etc., came the muffled sound of a pistol shot, which not
+one-hundredth part of the audience heard at the time--and yet a moment's
+hush--somehow, surely a vague, startled thrill--and then, through the
+ornamented, draperied, starred and striped space-way of the President's
+box, a sudden figure, a man, raises himself with hands and feet,
+stands a moment on the railing, leaps below to the stage, falls out of
+position, catching his boot heel in the copious drapery (the American
+flag), falls on one knee, quickly recovers himself, rises as if nothing
+had happened (he really sprains his ankle, unfelt then)--and the figure,
+Booth, the murderer, dressed in plain black broadcloth, bareheaded, with
+a full head of glossy, raven hair, and his eyes, like some mad animal's,
+flashing with light and resolution, yet with a certain strange calmness
+holds aloft in one hand a large knife--walks along not much back of the
+footlights--turns fully towards the audience, his face of statuesque
+beauty, lit by those basilisk eyes, flashing with desperation, perhaps
+insanity--launches out in a firm and steady voice the words, 'Sic
+semper tyrannis'--and then walks with neither slow nor very rapid pace
+diagonally across to the back of the stage, and disappears.
+
+"(Had not all this terrible scene--making the mimic ones
+preposterous--had it not all been rehearsed, in blank, by Booth,
+beforehand?)
+
+"A moment's hush, incredulous--a scream--a cry of murder--Mrs. Lincoln
+leaning out of the box, with ashy cheeks and lips, with involuntary cry,
+pointing to the retreating figure, 'He has killed the President!'
+
+"And still a moment's strange, incredulous suspense--and then the
+deluge!--then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty--the sound,
+somewhere back, of a horse's hoofs clattering with speed--the people
+burst through chairs and railings, and break them up--that noise adds
+to the queerness of the scene--there is inextricable confusion and
+terror--women faint--quite feeble persons fall, and are trampled
+on--many cries of agony are heard--the broad stage suddenly fills
+to suffocation with a dense and motley crowd, like some horrible
+carnival--the audience rush generally upon it--at least the strong
+men do--the actors and actresses are there in their play costumes
+and painted faces, with mortal fright showing through the
+rouge--some trembling, some in tears--the screams and calls, confused
+talk--redoubled, trebled--two or three manage to pass up water from the
+stage to the President's box, others try to clamber up, etc., etc.
+
+"In the midst of all this the soldiers of the President's Guard,
+with others, suddenly drawn to the scene, burst in--some two hundred
+altogether--they storm the house, through all the tiers, especially the
+upper ones--inflamed with fury, literally charging the audience with
+fixed bayonets, muskets and pistols, shouting, 'Clear out! clear out!'
+
+"Such a wild scene, or a suggestion of it, rather, inside the playhouse
+that night!
+
+"Outside, too, in the atmosphere of shock and craze, crowds of people
+filled with frenzy, ready to seize any outlet for it, came near
+committing murder several times on innocent individuals.
+
+"One such case was particularly exciting. The infuriated crowd, through
+some chance, got started against one man, either for words he uttered,
+or perhaps without any cause at all, and were proceeding to hang him
+at once to a neighboring lamp-post, when he was rescued by a few heroic
+policemen, who placed him in their midst and fought their way slowly and
+amid great peril toward the station-house.
+
+"It was a fitting episode of the whole affair. The crowd rushing
+and eddying to and fro, the night, the yells, the pale faces, many
+frightened people trying in vain to extricate themselves, the attacked
+man, not yet freed from the jaws of death, looking like a corpse; the
+silent, resolute half-dozen policemen, with no weapons but their little
+clubs, yet stern and steady through all those eddying swarms, made,
+indeed, a fitting side scene to the grand tragedy of the murder. They
+gained the station-house with the protected man, whom they placed in
+security for the night, and discharged in the morning.
+
+"And in the midst of that night pandemonium of senseless hate,
+infuriated soldiers, the audience and the crowd--the stage, and all
+its actors and actresses, its paint pots, spangles, gas-light--the
+life-blood from those veins, the best and sweetest of the land, drips
+slowly down, and death's ooze already begins its little bubbles on the
+lips.
+
+"Such, hurriedly sketched, were the accompaniments of the death of
+President Lincoln. So suddenly, and in murder and horror unsurpassed, he
+was taken from us. But his death was painless."
+
+The assassin's bullet did not produce instant death, but the President
+never again became conscious. He was carried to a house opposite the
+theatre, where he died the next morning. In the meantime the authorities
+had become aware of the wide-reaching conspiracy, and the capital was in
+a state of terror.
+
+On the night of the President's assassination, Mr. Seward, Secretary
+of State, was attacked while in bed with a broken arm, by Booth's
+fellow-conspirators, and badly wounded.
+
+The conspirators had also planned to take the lives of Vice-President
+Johnson and Secretary Stanton. Booth had called on Vice-President
+Johnson the day before, and, not finding him in, left a card.
+
+Secretary Stanton acted with his usual promptness and courage. During
+the period of excitement he acted as President, and directed the plans
+for the capture of Booth.
+
+Among other things, he issued the following reward:
+
+REWARD OFFERED BY SECRETARY STANTON. War Department, Washington, April
+20, 1865. Major-General John A. Dix, New York:
+
+The murderer of our late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is still at
+large. Fifty thousand dollars reward will be paid by this Department
+for his apprehension, in addition to any reward offered by municipal
+authorities or State Executives.
+
+Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the apprehension
+of G. W. Atzerodt, sometimes called "Port Tobacco," one of Booth's
+accomplices. Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the
+apprehension of David C. Herold, another of Booth's accomplices.
+
+A liberal reward will be paid for any information that shall conduce to
+the arrest of either the above-named criminals or their accomplices.
+
+All persons harboring or secreting the said persons, or either of them,
+or aiding or assisting their concealment or escape, will be treated
+as accomplices in the murder of the President and the attempted
+assassination of the Secretary of State, and shall be subject to trial
+before a military commission, and the punishment of death.
+
+Let the stain of innocent blood be removed from the land by the arrest
+and punishment of the murderers.
+
+All good citizens are exhorted to aid public justice on this occasion.
+Every man should consider his own conscience charged with this solemn
+duty, and rest neither night nor day until it be accomplished.
+
+EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
+
+
+
+
+BOOTH FOUND IN A BARN.
+
+Booth, accompanied by David C. Herold, a fellow-conspirator, finally
+made his way into Maryland, where eleven days after the assassination
+the two were discovered in a barn on Garrett's farm near Port Royal on
+the Rappahannock. The barn was surrounded by a squad of cavalrymen, who
+called upon the assassins to surrender. Herold gave himself up and was
+roundly cursed and abused by Booth, who declared that he would never be
+taken alive.
+
+The cavalrymen then set fire to the barn and as the flames leaped up the
+figure of the assassin could be plainly seen, although the wall of fire
+prevented him from seeing the soldiers. Colonel Conger saw him standing
+upright upon a crutch with a carbine in his hands.
+
+When the fire first blazed up Booth crept on his hands and knees to the
+spot, evidently for the purpose of shooting the man who had applied the
+torch, but the blaze prevented him from seeing anyone. Then it seemed
+as if he were preparing to extinguish the flames, but seeing the
+impossibility of this he started toward the door with his carbine held
+ready for action.
+
+His eyes shone with the light of fever, but he was pale as death and
+his general appearance was haggard and unkempt. He had shaved off his
+mustache and his hair was closely cropped. Both he and Herold wore the
+uniforms of Confederate soldiers.
+
+
+
+
+BOOTH SHOT BY "BOSTON" CORBETT.
+
+The last orders given to the squad pursuing Booth were: "Don't shoot
+Booth, but take him alive." Just as Booth started to the door of the
+barn this order was disobeyed by a sergeant named Boston Corbett, who
+fired through a crevice and shot Booth in the neck. The wounded man was
+carried out of the barn and died four hours afterward on the grass where
+they had laid him. Before he died he whispered to Lieutenant Baker,
+"Tell mother I died for my country; I thought I did for the best." What
+became of Booth's body has always been and probably always will be a
+mystery. Many different stories have been told concerning his final
+resting place, but all that is known positively is that the body was
+first taken to Washington and a post-mortem examination of it held on
+the Monitor Montauk. On the night of April 27th it was turned over to
+two men who took it in a rowboat and disposed of it secretly. How they
+disposed of it none but themselves know and they have never told.
+
+
+
+
+FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS.
+
+The conspiracy to assassinate the President involved altogether
+twenty-five people. Among the number captured and tried were David
+C. Herold, G. W. Atzerodt, Louis Payne, Edward Spangler, Michael
+O'Loughlin, Samuel Arnold, Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd, a
+physician, who set Booth's leg, which was sprained by his fall from
+the stage box. Of these Herold, Atzerodt, Payne and Mrs. Surratt were
+hanged. Dr. Mudd was deported to the Dry Tortugas. While there an
+epidemic of yellow fever broke out and he rendered such good service
+that he was granted a pardon and died a number of years ago in Maryland.
+
+John Surratt, the son of the woman who was hanged, made his escape to
+Italy, where he became one of the Papal guards in the Vatican at Rome.
+His presence there was discovered by Archbishop Hughes, and, although
+there were no extradition laws to cover his case, the Italian Government
+gave him up to the United States authorities.
+
+He had two trials. At the first the jury disagreed; the long delay
+before his second trial allowed him to escape by pleading the statute
+of limitation. Spangler and O'Loughlin were sent to the Dry Tortugas and
+served their time.
+
+Ford, the owner of the theatre in which the President was assassinated,
+was a Southern sympathizer, and when he attempted to re-open his theatre
+after the great national tragedy, Secretary Stanton refused to allow
+it. The Government afterward bought the theatre and turned it into a
+National museum.
+
+President Lincoln was buried at Springfield, and on the day of his
+funeral there was universal grief.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY WARD BEECHER'S EULOGY.
+
+No final words of that great life can be more fitly spoken than the
+eulogy pronounced by Henry Ward Beecher:
+
+"And now the martyr is moving in triumphal march, mightier than when
+alive. The nation rises up at every stage of his coming. Cities and
+States are his pall-bearers, and the cannon speaks the hours with solemn
+progression. Dead, dead, dead, he yet speaketh.
+
+"Is Washington dead? Is Hampden dead? Is any man that was ever fit to
+live dead? Disenthralled of flesh, risen to the unobstructed sphere
+where passion never comes, he begins his illimitable work. His life is
+now grafted upon the infinite, and will be fruitful as no earthly life
+can be.
+
+"Pass on, thou that hast overcome. Ye people, behold the martyr whose
+blood, as so many articulate words, pleads for fidelity, for law, for
+liberty."
+
+
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FAMILY.
+
+Abraham Lincoln was married on November 4, 1842, to Miss Mary Todd, four
+sons being the issue of the union.
+
+Robert Todd, born August 1, 1843, removed to Chicago after his father's
+death, practiced law, and became wealthy; in 1881 he was appointed
+Secretary of War by President Garfield, and served through President
+Arthur's term; was made Minister to England in 1889, and served four
+years; became counsel for the Pullman Palace Car Company, and succeeded
+to the presidency of that corporation upon the death of George M.
+Pullman.
+
+Edward Baker, born March 10, 1846, died in infancy.
+
+William Wallace, born December 21, 1850, died in the White House in
+February, 1862.
+
+Thomas (known as "Tad"), born April 4, 1853, died in 1871.
+
+Mrs. Lincoln died in her sixty-fourth year at the home of her sister,
+Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards, at Springfield, Illinois, in 1882. She was the
+daughter of Robert S. Todd, of Kentucky. Her great-uncle, John Todd, and
+her grandfather, Levi Todd, accompanied General George Rogers Clark to
+Illinois, and were present at the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes.
+In December, 1778, John Todd was appointed by Patrick Henry, Governor
+of Virginia, to be lieutenant of the County of Illinois, then a part of
+Virginia. Colonel John Todd was one of the original proprietors of the
+town of Lexington, Kentucky. While encamped on the site of the present
+city, he heard of the opening battle of the Revolution, and named his
+infant settlement in its honor.
+
+Mrs. Lincoln was a proud, ambitious woman, well-educated, speaking
+French fluently, and familiar with the ways of the best society in
+Lexington, Kentucky, where she was born December 13, 1818. She was a
+pupil of Madame Mantelli, whose celebrated seminary in Lexington was
+directly opposite the residence of Henry Clay. The conversation at the
+seminary was carried on entirely in French.
+
+She visited Springfield, Illinois, in 1837, remained three months and
+then returned to her native State. In 1839 she made Springfield her
+permanent home. She lived with her eldest sister, Elizabeth, wife of
+Ninian W. Edwards, Lincoln's colleague in the Legislature, and it was
+not strange she and Lincoln should meet. Stephen A. Douglas was also
+a friend of the Edwards family, and a suitor for her hand, but she
+rejected him to accept the future President. She was one of the belles
+of the town.
+
+She is thus described at the time she made her home in
+Springfield--1839:
+
+"She was of the average height, weighing about a hundred and thirty
+pounds. She was rather compactly built, had a well rounded face, rich
+dark-brown hair, and bluish-gray eyes. In her bearing she was proud,
+but handsome and vivacious; she was a good conversationalist, using with
+equal fluency the French and English languages.
+
+"When she used a pen, its point was sure to be sharp, and she wrote with
+wit and ability. She not only had a quick intellect but an intuitive
+judgment of men and their motives. Ordinarily she was affable and even
+charming in her manners; but when offended or antagonized she could be
+very bitter and sarcastic.
+
+"In her figure and physical proportions, in education, bearing,
+temperament, history--in everything she was the exact reverse of
+Lincoln."
+
+That Mrs. Lincoln was very proud of her husband there is no doubt; and
+it is probable that she married him largely from motives of ambition.
+She knew Lincoln better than he knew himself; she instinctively felt
+that he would occupy a proud position some day, and it is a matter of
+record that she told Ward Lamon, her husband's law partner, that "Mr.
+Lincoln will yet be President of the United States."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln was decidedly pro-slavery in her views, but this never
+disturbed Lincoln. In various ways they were unlike. Her fearless,
+witty, and austere nature had nothing in common with the calm,
+imperturbable, and simple ways of her thoughtful and absent-minded
+husband. She was bright and sparkling in conversation, and fit to grace
+any drawing-room. She well knew that to marry Lincoln meant not a life
+of luxury and ease, for Lincoln was not a man to accumulate wealth; but
+in him she saw position in society, prominence in the world, and the
+grandest social distinction. By that means her ambition was certainly
+satisfied, for nineteen years after her marriage she was "the first lady
+of the land," and the mistress of the White House.
+
+After his marriage, by dint of untiring efforts and the recognition of
+influential friends, the couple managed through rare frugality to move
+along.
+
+In Lincoln's struggles, both in the law and for political advancement,
+his wife shared his sacrifices. She was a plucky little woman, and in
+fact endowed with a more restless ambition than he. She was gifted with
+a rare insight into the motives that actuate mankind, and there is no
+doubt that much of Lincoln's success was in a measure attributable to
+her acuteness and the stimulus of her influence.
+
+His election to Congress within four years after their marriage afforded
+her extreme gratification. She loved power and prominence, and was
+inordinately proud of her tall and ungainly husband. She saw in him
+bright prospects ahead, and his every move was watched by her with the
+closest interest. If to other persons he seemed homely, to her he was
+the embodiment of noble manhood, and each succeeding day impressed upon
+her the wisdom of her choice of Lincoln over Douglas--if in reality she
+ever seriously accepted the latter's attentions.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln may not be as handsome a figure," she said one day in
+Lincoln's law office during her husband's absence, when the conversation
+turned on Douglas, "but the people are perhaps not aware that his heart
+is as large as his arms are long."
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD.
+
+The remains of Abraham Lincoln rest beneath a magnificent monument in
+Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Ill. Before they were deposited in
+their final resting place they were moved many times.
+
+On May 4, 1865, all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln was deposited
+in the receiving vault at the cemetery, until a tomb could be built. In
+1876 thieves made an unsuccessful attempt to steal the remains. From
+the tomb the body of the martyred President was removed later to the
+monument.
+
+A flight of iron steps, commencing about fifty yards east of the vault,
+ascends in a curved line to the monument, an elevation of more than
+fifty feet.
+
+Excavation for this monument commenced September 9, 1869. It is built
+of granite, from quarries at Biddeford, Maine. The rough ashlers were
+shipped to Quincy, Massachusetts, where they were dressed and numbered,
+thence shipped to Springfield. It is 721 feet from east to west, 119
+1/2 feet from north to south, and 100 feet high. The total cost is about
+$230,000 to May 1, 1885. All the statuary is orange-colored bronze. The
+whole monument was designed by Larkin G. Mead; the statuary was modeled
+in plaster by him in Florence, Italy, and cast by the Ames Manufacturing
+Company, of Chicopee, Massachusetts. A statue of Lincoln and Coat of
+Arms were first placed on the monument; the statue was unveiled and the
+monument dedicated October 15, 1874. Infantry and Naval Groups were put
+on in September, 1877, an Artillery Group, April 13, 1882, and a Cavalry
+Group, March 13, 1883.
+
+The principal front of the monument is on the south side, the statue of
+Lincoln being on that side of the obelisk, over Memorial Hall. On the
+east side are three tablets, upon which are the letters U. S. A. To the
+right of that, and beginning with Virginia, we find the abbreviations of
+the original thirteen States. Next comes Vermont, the first state
+admitted after the Union was perfected, the States following in the
+order they were admitted, ending with Nebraska on the east, thus forming
+the cordon of thirty-seven States composing the United States of America
+when the monument was erected. The new States admitted since the
+monument was built have been added.
+
+The statue of Lincoln is just above the Coat of Arms of the United
+States. The grand climax is indicated by President Lincoln, with his
+left hand holding out as a golden scepter the emancipation Proclamation,
+while in his right he holds the pen with which he has just written it.
+The right hand is resting on another badge of authority, the American
+flag, thrown over the fasces. At the foot of the fasces lies a wreath of
+laurel, with which to crown the President as the victor over slavery and
+rebellion.
+
+On March 10, 1900, President Lincoln's body was removed to a temporary
+vault to permit of alterations to the monument. The shaft was made
+twenty feet higher, and other changes were made costing $100,000.
+
+April 24, 1901. the body was again transferred to the monument without
+public ceremony.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, by
+Alexander K. McClure
+
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Colonel
+Alexander K. McClure
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+Lincoln's Yarns and Stories
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+by Colonel Alexander K. McClure
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Colonel
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+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
+
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S YARNS AND STORIES
+
+A Complete Collection of the Funny and
+Witty Anecdotes that made Abraham Lincoln
+Famous as America's Greatest Story Teller
+
+With Introduction and Anecdotes
+
+By Colonel Alexander K. McClure
+
+Profusely Illustrated
+
+THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY
+
+CHICAGO & PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the Great Story Telling President, whose
+Emancipation Proclamation freed more than four million slaves,
+was a keen politician, profound statesman, shrewd diplomatist, a
+thorough judge of men and possessed of an intuitive knowledge of
+affairs. He was the first Chief Executive to die at the hands of
+an assassin. Without school education he rose to power by sheer
+merit and will-power. Born in a Kentucky log cabin in 1809, his
+surroundings being squalid, his chances for advancement were
+apparently hopeless. President Lincoln died April 15th, 1865,
+having been shot by J. Wilkes Booth the night before.
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+Dean Swift said that the man who makes two blades of grass grow
+where one grew before serves well of his kind. Considering how
+much grass there is in the world and comparatively how little
+fun, we think that a still more deserving person is the man who
+makes many laughs grow where none grew before.
+
+Sometimes it happens that the biggest crop of laugh is produced
+by a man who ranks among the greatest and wisest. Such a man was
+Abraham Lincoln whose wholesome fun mixed with true philosophy
+made thousands laugh and think at the same time. He was a firm
+believer in the saying, "Laugh and the world laughs with you."
+
+Whenever Abraham Lincoln wanted to make a strong point he usually
+began by saying, "Now, that reminds me of a story." And when he
+had told a story every one saw the point and was put into a good
+humor.
+
+The ancients had Aesop and his fables. The moderns had Abraham
+Lincoln and his stories.
+
+Aesop's Fables have been printed in book form in almost every
+language and millions have read them with pleasure and profit.
+Lincoln's stories were scattered in the recollections of
+thousands of people in various parts of the country. The
+historians who wrote histories of Lincoln's life remembered only
+a few of them, but the most of Lincoln's stories and the best of
+them remained unwritten. More than five years ago the author of
+this book conceived the idea of collecting all the yarns and
+stories, the droll sayings, and witty and humorous anecdotes of
+Abraham Lincoln into one large book, and this volume is the
+result of that idea.
+
+Before Lincoln was ever heard of as a lawyer or politician, he
+was famous as a story teller. As a politician, he always had a
+story to fit the other side; as a lawyer, he won many cases by
+telling the jury a story which showed them the justice of his
+side better than any argument could have done.
+
+While nearly all of Lincoln's stories have a humorous side, they
+also contain a moral, which every good story should have.
+
+They contain lessons that could be taught so well in no other
+way. Every one of them is a sermon. Lincoln, like the Man of
+Galilee, spoke to the people in parables.
+
+Nothing that can be written about Lincoln can show his character
+in such a true light as the yarns and stories he was so fond of
+telling, and at which he would laugh as heartily as anyone.
+
+For a man whose life was so full of great responsibilities,
+Lincoln had many hours of laughter when the humorous, fun-loving
+side of his great nature asserted itself.
+
+Every person to keep healthy ought to have one good hearty laugh
+every day. Lincoln did, and the author hopes that the stories at
+which he laughed will continue to furnish laughter to all who
+appreciate good humor, with a moral point and spiced with that
+true philosophy bred in those who live close to nature and to the
+people around them.
+
+In producing this new Lincoln book, the publishers have followed
+an entirely new and novel method of illustrating it. The old
+shop-worn pictures that are to be seen in every "History of
+Lincoln," and in every other book written about him, such as "A
+Flatboat on the Sangamon River," "State Capitol at Springfield,"
+"Old LogCabin," etc., have all been left out and in place of them
+the best special artists that could be employed have supplied
+original drawings illustrating the "point" of Lincoln's stories.
+
+These illustrations are not copies of other pictures, but are
+original drawings made from the author's original text expressly
+for this book.
+
+In these high-class outline pictures the artists have caught the
+true spirit of Lincoln's humor, and while showing the laughable
+side of many incidents in his career, they are true to life in
+the scenes and characters they portray.
+
+In addition to these new and original pictures, the book contains
+many rare and valuable photograph portraits, together with
+biographies, of the famous men of Lincoln's day, whose lives
+formed a part of his own life history.
+
+No Lincoln book heretofore published has ever been so profusely,
+so artistically and expensively illustrated.
+
+The parables, yarns, stories, anecdotes and sayings of the
+"Immortal Abe" deserve a place beside Aesop's Fables, Bunyan's
+Pilgrim's Progress and all other books that have added to the
+happiness and wisdom of mankind.
+
+Lincoln's stories are like Lincoln himself. The more we know of
+them the better we like them.
+
+BY COLONEL ALEXANDER K. McCLURE.
+
+
+
+While Lincoln would have been great among the greatest of the
+land as a statesman and politician if like Washington, Jefferson
+and Jackson, he had never told a humorous story, his sense of
+humor was the most fascinating feature of his personal qualities.
+
+He was the most exquisite humorist I have ever known in my life.
+His humor was always spontaneous, and that gave it a zest and
+elegance that the professional humorist never attains.
+
+As a rule, the men who have become conspicuous in the country as
+humorists have excelled in nothing else. S. S. Cox, Proctor
+Knott, John P. Hale and others were humorists in Congress. When
+they arose to speak if they failed to be humorous they utterly
+failed, and they rarely strove to be anything but humorous. Such
+men often fail, for the professional humorist, however gifted,
+cannot always be at his best, and when not at his best he is
+grievously disappointing.
+
+I remember Corwin, of Ohio, who was a great statesman as well as
+a great humorist, but whose humor predominated in his public
+speeches in Senate and House, warning a number of the younger
+Senators and Representatives on a social occasion when he had
+returned to Congress in his old age, against seeking to acquire
+the reputation of humorists. He said it was the mistake of his
+life. He loved it as did his hearers, but the temptation to be
+humorous was always uppermost, and while his speech on the
+Mexican War was the greatest ever delivered in the Senate,
+excepting Webster's reply to Hayne, he regretted that he was more
+known as a humorist than as a statesman.
+
+His first great achievement in the House was delivered in 1840 in
+reply to General Crary, of Michigan, who had attacked General
+Harrison's military career. Corwin's reply in defense of Harrison
+is universally accepted as the most brilliant combination of
+humor and invective ever delivered in that body. The venerable
+John Quincy Adams a day or two after Corwin's speech, referred to
+Crary as "the late General Crary," and the justice of the remark
+from the "Old Man Eloquent" was accepted by all. Mr. Lincoln
+differed from the celebrated humorists of the country in the
+important fact that his humor was unstudied. He was not in any
+sense a professional humorist, but I have never in all my
+intercourse with public men, known one who was so apt in humorous
+illustration us Mr. Lincoln, and I have known him many times to
+silence controversy by a humorous story with pointed application
+to the issue.
+
+His face was the saddest in repose that I have ever seen among
+accomplished and intellectual men, and his sympathies for the
+people, for the untold thousands who were suffering bereavement
+from the war, often made him speak with his heart upon his
+sleeve, about the sorrows which shadowed the homes of the land
+and for which his heart was freely bleeding.
+
+I have many times seen him discussing in the most serious and
+heartfelt manner the sorrows and bereavements of the country, and
+when it would seem as though the tension was so strained that the
+brittle cord of life must break, his face would suddenly brighten
+like the sun escaping from behind the cloud to throw its
+effulgence upon the earth, and he would tell an appropriate
+story, and much as his stories were enjoyed by his hearers none
+enjoyed them more than Mr. Lincoln himself.
+
+I have often known him within the space of a few minutes to be
+transformed from the saddest face I have ever looked upon to one
+of the brightest and most mirthful. It was well known that he had
+his great fountain of humor as a safety valve; as an escape and
+entire relief from the fearful exactions his endless duties put
+upon him. In the gravest consultations of the cabinet where he
+was usually a listener rather than a speaker, he would often end
+dispute by telling a story and none misunderstood it; and often
+when he was pressed to give expression on particular subjects,
+and his always abundant caution was baffled, he many times ended
+the interview by a story that needed no elaboration.
+
+I recall an interview with Mr. Lincoln at the White House in the
+spring of 1865, just before Lee retreated from Petersburg. It was
+well understood that the military power of the Confederacy was
+broken, and that the question of reconstruction would soon be
+upon us.
+
+Colonel Forney and I had called upon the President simply to pay
+our respects, and while pleasantly chatting with him General
+Benjamin F. Butler entered. Forney was a great enthusiast, and
+had intense hatred of the Southern leaders who had hindered his
+advancement when Buchanan was elected President, and he was
+bubbling over with resentment against them. He introduced the
+subject to the President of the treatment to be awarded to the
+leaders of the rebellion when its powers should be confessedly
+broken, and he was earnest in demanding that Davis and other
+conspicuous leaders of the Confederacy should be tried, condemned
+and executed as traitors.
+
+General Butler joined Colonel Forney in demanding that treason
+must be made odious by the execution of those who had wantonly
+plunged the country into civil war. Lincoln heard them patiently,
+as he usually heard all, and none could tell, however carefully
+they scanned his countenance what impression the appeal made upon
+him.
+
+I said to General Butler that, as a lawyer pre-eminent in his
+profession, he must know that the leaders of a government that
+had beleaguered our capital for four years, and was openly
+recognized as a belligerent power not only by our government but
+by all the leading governments of the world, could not be held to
+answer to the law for the crime of treason.
+
+Butler was vehement in declaring that the rebellious leaders must
+be tried and executed. Lincoln listened to the discussion for
+half an hour or more and finally ended it by telling the story of
+a common drunkard out in Illinois who had been induced by his
+friends time and again to join the temperance society, but had
+always broken away. He was finally gathered up again and given
+notice that if he violated his pledge once more they would
+abandon him as an utterly hopeless vagrant. He made an earnest
+struggle to maintain his promise, and finally he called for
+lemonade and said to the man who was preparing it: "Couldn't you
+put just a drop of the cratur in unbeknownst to me?"
+
+After telling the story Lincoln simply added: "If these men could
+get away from the country unbeknownst to us, it might save a
+world of trouble." All understood precisely what Lincoln meant,
+although he had given expression in the most cautious manner
+possible and the controversy was ended.
+
+Lincoln differed from professional humorists in the fact that he
+never knew when he was going to be humorous. It bubbled up on the
+most unexpected occasions, and often unsettled the most carefully
+studied arguments. I have many times been with him when he gave
+no sign of humor, and those who saw him under such conditions
+would naturally suppose that he was incapable of a humorous
+expression. At other times he would effervesce with humor and
+always of the most exquisite and impressive nature. His humor was
+never strained; his stories never stale, and even if old, the
+application he made of them gave them the freshness of
+originality.
+
+I recall sitting beside him in the White House one day when a
+message was brought to him telling of the capture of several
+brigadier-generals and a number of horses somewhere out in
+Virginia. He read the dispatch and then in an apparently
+soliloquizing mood, said: "Sorry for the horses; I can make
+brigadier-generals."
+
+There are many who believe that Mr. Lincoln loved to tell obscene
+or profane stories, but they do great injustice to one of the
+purest and best men I have ever known. His humor must be judged
+by the environment that aided in its creation.
+
+As a prominent lawyer who traveled the circuit in Illinois, he
+was much in the company of his fellow lawyers, who spent their
+evenings in the rude taverns of what was then almost frontier
+life. The Western people thus thrown together with but limited
+sources of culture and enjoyment, logically cultivated the story
+teller, and Lincoln proved to be the most accomplished in that
+line of all the members of the Illinois bar. They had no private
+rooms for study, and the evenings were always spent in the common
+barroom of the tavern, where Western wit, often vulgar or
+profane, was freely indulged in, and the best of them at times
+told stories which were somewhat "broad;" but even while thus
+indulging in humor that would grate harshly upon severely refined
+hearers, they despised the vulgarian; none despised vulgarity
+more than Lincoln.
+
+I have heard him tell at one time or another almost or quite all
+of the stories he told during his Presidential term, and there
+were very few of them which might not have been repeated in a
+parlor and none descended to obscene, vulgar or profane
+expressions. I have never known a man of purer instincts than
+Abraham Lincoln, and his appreciation of all that was beautiful
+and good was of the highest order.
+
+It was fortunate for Mr. Lincoln that he frequently sought relief
+from the fearfully oppressive duties which bore so heavily upon
+him. He had immediately about him a circle of men with whom he
+could be "at home" in the White House any evening as he was with
+his old time friends on the Illinois circuit.
+
+David Davis was one upon whom he most relied as an adviser, and
+Leonard Swett was probably one of his closest friends, while Ward
+Lamon, whom he made Marshal of the District of Columbia to have
+him by his side, was one with whom he felt entirely "at home."
+Davis was of a more sober order but loved Lincoln's humor,
+although utterly incapable of a humorous expression himself.
+Swett was ready with Lincoln to give and take in storyland, as
+was Lamon, and either of them, and sometimes all of them, often
+dropped in upon Lincoln and gave him an hour's diversion from his
+exacting cares. They knew that he needed it and they sought him
+for the purpose of diverting him from what they feared was an
+excessive strain.
+
+His devotion to Lamon was beautiful. I well remember at
+Harrisburg on the night of February 22, 1861, when at a dinner
+given by Governor Curtin to Mr. Lincoln, then on his way to
+Washington, we decided, against the protest of Lincoln, that he
+must change his route to Washington and make the memorable
+midnight journey to the capital. It was thought to be best that
+but one man should accompany him, and he was asked to choose.
+There were present of his suite Colonel Sumner, afterwards one of
+the heroic generals of the war, Norman B. Judd, who was chairman
+of the Republican State Committee of Illinois, Colonel Lamon and
+others, and he promptly chose Colonel Lamon, who alone
+accompanied him on his journey from Harrisburg to Philadelphia
+and thence to Washington.
+
+Before leaving the room Governor Curtin asked Colonel Lamon
+whether he was armed, and he answered by exhibiting a brace of
+fine pistols, a huge bowie knife, a black jack, and a pair of
+brass knuckles. Curtin answered: "You'll do," and they were
+started on their journey after all the telegraph wires had been
+cut. We awaited through what seemed almost an endless night,
+until the east was purpled with the coming of another day, when
+Colonel Scott, who had managed the whole scheme, reunited the
+wires and soon received from Colonel Lamon this dispatch: "Plums
+delivered nuts safely," which gave us the intensely gratifying
+information that Lincoln had arrived in Washington.
+
+Of all the Presidents of the United States, and indeed of all the
+great statesmen who have made their indelible impress upon the
+policy of the Republic, Abraham Lincoln stands out single and
+alone in his individual qualities. He had little experience in
+statesmanship when he was called to the Presidency. He had only a
+few years of service in the State Legislature of Illinois, and a
+single term in Congress ending twelve years before he became
+President, but he had to grapple with the gravest problems ever
+presented to the statesmanship of the nation for solution, and he
+met each and all of them in turn with the most consistent
+mastery, and settled them so successfully that all have stood
+unquestioned until the present time, and are certain to endure
+while the Republic lives.
+
+In this he surprised not only his own cabinet and the leaders of
+his party who had little confidence in him when he first became
+President, but equally surprised the country and the world.
+
+He was patient, tireless and usually silent when great conflicts
+raged about him to solve the appalling problems which were
+presented at various stages of the war for determination, and
+when he reached his conclusion he was inexorable. The wrangles of
+faction and the jostling of ambition were compelled to bow when
+Lincoln had determined upon his line of duty.
+
+He was much more than a statesman; he was one of the most
+sagacious politicians I have ever known, although he was entirely
+unschooled in the machinery by which political results are
+achieved. His judgment of men was next to unerring, and when
+results were to be attained he knew the men who should be
+assigned to the task, and he rarely made a mistake.
+
+I remember one occasion when he summoned Colonel Forney and
+myself to confer on some political problem, he opened the
+conversation by saying: "You know that I never was much of a
+conniver; I don't know the methods of political management, and I
+can only trust to the wisdom of leaders to accomplish what is
+needed."
+
+Lincoln's public acts are familiar to every schoolboy of the
+nation, but his personal attributes, which are so strangely
+distinguished from the attributes of other great men, are now the
+most interesting study of young and old throughout our land, and
+I can conceive of no more acceptable presentation to the public
+than a compilation of anecdotes and incidents pertaining to the
+life of the greatest of all our Presidents.
+
+<A.K. McClure>
+
+
+
+LINCOLN'S NAME AROUSES AN AUDIENCE,
+BY DR. NEWMAN HALL, of London.
+
+When I have had to address a fagged and listless audience, I have
+found that nothing was so certain to arouse them as to introduce
+the name of Abraham Lincoln.
+
+REVERE WASHINGTON AND LOVE LINCOLN,
+REV. DR. THEODORE L. CUYLER.
+
+No other name has such electric power on every true heart, from
+Maine to Mexico, as the name of Lincoln. If Washington is the
+most revered, Lincoln is the best loved man that ever trod this
+continent.
+
+
+GREATEST CHARACTER SINCE CHRIST
+BY JOHN HAY, Former Private Secretary to President Lincoln, and
+Later Secretary of State in President McKinley's Cabinet.
+
+As, in spite of some rudeness, republicanism is the sole hope of
+a sick world, so Lincoln, with all his foibles, is the greatest
+character since Christ.
+
+
+STORIES INFORM THE COMMON PEOPLE,
+BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, United States Senator from New York.
+
+Mr. Lincoln said to me once: "They say I tell a great many
+stories; I reckon I do, but I have found in the course of a long
+experience that common people, take them as they run, are more
+easily informed through the medium of a broad illustration than
+in any other way, and as to what the hypercritical few may think,
+I don't care."
+
+HUMOR A PASSPORT TO THE HEART
+BY GEO. S. BOUTWELL, Former Secretary of the United States
+Treasury.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's wit and mirth will give him a passport to the
+thoughts and hearts of millions who would take no interest in the
+sterner and more practical parts of his character.
+
+
+DROLL, ORIGINAL AND APPROPRIATE.
+BY ELIHU B. WASHBURNE, Former United States Minister to France.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's anecdotes were all so droll, so original, so
+appropriate and so illustrative of passing incidents, that one
+never wearied.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S HUMOR A SPARKLING SPRING,
+BY DAVID R. LOCKE (PETROLEUM V. NASBY), Lincoln's Favorite
+Humorist.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's flow of humor was a sparkling spring, gushing out
+of a rock--the flashing water had a somber background which made
+it all the brighter.
+
+
+LIKE AESOP'S FABLES,
+BY HUGH McCULLOCH, Former Secretary of the United States
+Treasury.
+
+Many of Mr. Lincoln's stories were as apt and instructive as the
+best of Aesop's Fables.
+
+
+FULL OF FUN,
+BY GENERAL JAMES B. FRY, Former Adjutant-General United States
+Army.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was a humorist so full of fun that he could not keep
+it all in.
+
+
+INEXHAUSTIBLE FUND OF STORIES,
+BY LAWRENCE WELDON, Judge United States Court of Claims.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's resources as a story-teller were inexhaustible, and
+no condition could arise in a case beyond his capacity to furnish
+an illustration with an appropriate anecdote.
+
+
+CHAMPION STORY-TELLER,
+BY BEN. PERLEY POORE, Former Editor of The Congressional Record.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was recognized as the champion story-teller of the
+Capitol.
+
+
+
+LINCOLN CHRONOLOGY.
+
+1806--Marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, June 12th,
+Washington County, Kentucky.
+1809--Born February 12th, Hardin (now La Rue County), Kentucky.
+1816--Family Removed to Perry County, Indiana.
+1818--Death of Abraham's Mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln.
+1819--Second Marriage Thomas Lincoln; Married Sally Bush
+Johnston, December 2nd, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
+1830--Lincoln Family Removed to Illinois, Locating in Macon
+County.
+1831--Abraham Located at New Salem.
+1832--Abraham a Captain in the Black Hawk War.
+1833--Appointed Postmaster at New Salem.
+1834--Abraham as a Surveyor. First Election to the Legislature.
+1835--Love Romance with Anne Rutledge.
+1836--Second Election to the Legislature.
+1837--Licensed to Practice Law.
+1838--Third Election to the Legislature.
+1840--Presidential Elector on Harrison Ticket.
+Fourth Election to the Legislature.
+1842--Married November 4th, to Mary Todd. "Duel" with General
+Shields.
+1843--Birth of Robert Todd Lincoln, August 1st.
+1846--Elected to Congress. Birth of Edward Baker Lincoln, March
+l0th.
+1848--Delegate to the Philadelphia National Convention.
+1850--Birth of William Wallace Lincoln, December 2nd.
+1853--Birth of Thomas Lincoln, April 4th.
+1856--Assists in Formation Republican Party.
+1858--Joint Debater with Stephen A. Douglas. Defeated for the
+United States Senate.
+1860--Nominated and Elected to the Presidency.
+1861--Inaugurated as Prtsident, March 4th. 1863-Issued
+Emancipation Proclamation. 1864-Re-elected to the Presidency.
+1865--Assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth, April 14th. Died April
+15th. Remains Interred at Springfield, Illinois, May 4th.
+
+
+LINCOLN AND McCLURE.
+
+(From Harper's Weekly, April 13, 1901.)
+
+Colonel Alexander K. McClure, the editorial director of the
+Philadelphia Times, which he founded in 1875, began his forceful
+career as a tanner's apprentice in the mountains of Pennsylvania
+threescore years ago. He tanned hides all day, and read exchanges
+nights in the neighboring weekly newspaper office. The learned
+tanner's boy also became the aptest Inner in the county, and the
+editor testified his admiration for young McClure's attainments
+by sending him to edit a new weekly paper which the exigencies of
+politics called into being in an adjoining county.
+
+The lad was over six feet high, had the thews of Ajax and the
+voice of Boanerges, and knew enough about shoe-leather not to be
+afraid of any man that stood in it. He made his paper a success,
+went into politics, and made that a success, studied law with
+William McLellan, and made that a success, and actually went into
+the army--and made that a success, by an interesting accident
+which brought him into close personal relations with Abraham
+Lincoln, whom he had helped to nominate, serving as chairman of
+the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania through the
+campaign.
+
+In 1862 the government needed troops badly, and in each
+Pennsylvania county Republicans and Democrats were appointed to
+assist in the enrollment, under the State laws. McClure, working
+day and night at Harrisburg, saw conscripts coming in at the rate
+of a thousand a day, only to fret in idleness against the army
+red-tape which held them there instead of sending a regiment a
+day to the front, as McClure demanded should be done. The
+military officer continued to dispatch two companies a
+day--leaving the mass of the conscripts to be fed by the
+contractors.
+
+McClure went to Washington and said to the President, "You must
+send a mustering offcer to Harrisburg who will do as I say; I
+can't stay there any longer under existing conditions."
+
+Lincoln sent into another room for Adjutant-General Thomas.
+"General," said he, "what is the highest rank of military officer
+at Harrisburg?" "Captain, sir," said Thomas. "Bring me a
+commission for an Assistant Adjutant-General of the United States
+Army," said Lincoln.
+
+So Adjutant-General McClure was mustered in, and after that a
+regiment a day of boys in blue left Harrisburg for the front.
+Colonel McClure is one of the group of great Celt-American
+editors, which included Medill, McCullagh and McLean.
+
+
+
+"ABE" LINCOLN'S YARNS AND STORIES.
+
+
+LINCOLN ASKED TO BE SHOT.
+
+Lincoln was, naturally enough, much surprised one day, when a man
+of rather forbidding countenance drew a revolver and thrust the
+weapon almost into his face. In such circumstances "Abe" at once
+concluded that any attempt at debate or argument was a waste of
+time and words.
+
+"What seems to be the matter?" inquired Lincoln with all the
+calmness and selfpossession he could muster.
+
+"Well," replied the stranger, who did not appear at all excited,
+"some years ago I swore an oath that if I ever came across an
+uglier man than myself I'd shoot him on the spot."
+
+A feeling of relief evidently took possession of Lincoln at this
+rejoinder, as the expression upon his countenance lost all
+suggestion of anxiety.
+
+"Shoot me," he said to the stranger; "for if I am an uglier man
+than you I don't want to live."
+
+
+TIME LOST DIDN'T COUNT.
+
+Thurlow Weed, the veteran journalist and politician, once related
+how, when he was opposing the claims of Montgomery Blair, who
+aspired to a Cabinet appointment, that Mr. Lincoln inquired of
+Mr. Weed whom he would recommend, "Henry Winter Davis," was the
+response.
+
+"David Davis, I see, has been posting you up on this question,"
+retorted Lincoln. "He has Davis on the brain. I think Maryland
+must be a good State to move from."
+
+The President then told a story of a witness in court in a
+neighboring county, who, on being asked his age, replied,
+"Sixty." Being satisfied he was much older the question was
+repeated, and on receiving the same answer the court admonished
+the witness, saying, "The court knows you to be much older than
+sixty."
+
+"Oh, I understand now," was the rejoinder, "you're thinking of
+those ten years I spent on the eastern share of Maryland; that
+was so much time lost, and didn't count."
+
+Blair was made Postmaster-General.
+
+
+NO VICES, NO VIRTUES.
+
+Lincoln always took great pleasure in relating this yarn:
+
+Riding at one time in a stage with an old Kentuckian who was
+returning from Missouri, Lincoln excited the old gentleman's
+surprise by refusing to accept either of tobacco or French
+brandy.
+
+When they separated that afternoon--the Kentuckian to take
+another stage bound for Louisville--he shook hands warmly with
+Lincoln, and said, good-humoredly:
+
+"See here, stranger, you're a clever but strange companion. I may
+never see you again, and I don't want to offend you, but I want
+to say this: My experience has taught me that a man who has no
+vices has d--d few virtues. Good-day."
+
+
+LINCOLN'S DUES.
+
+Miss Todd (afterwards Mrs. Lincoln) had a keen sense of the
+ridiculous, and wrote several articles in the Springfield (Ill.)
+"Journal" reflecting severefy upon General James Shields (who won
+fame in the Mexican and Civil Wars, and was United States Senator
+from three states), then Auditor of State.
+
+Lincoln assumed the authorship, and was challenged by Shields to
+meet him on the "field of honor." Meanwhile Miss Todd increased
+Shields' ire by writing another letter to the paper, in which she
+said: "I hear the way of these fire-eaters is to give the
+challenged party the choice of weapons, which being the case,
+I'll tell you in confidence that I never fight with anything but
+broom-sticks, or hot water, or a shovelful of coals, the former
+of which, being somewhat like a shillalah, may not be
+objectionable to him."
+
+Lincoln accepted the challenge, and selected broadswords as the
+weapons. Judge Herndon (Lincoln's law partner) gives the closing
+of this affair as follows
+
+"The laws of Illinois prohibited dueling, and Lincoln demanded
+that the meeting should be outside the state. Shields undoubtedly
+knew that Lincoln was opposed to fighting a duel--that his moral
+sense would revolt at the thought, and that he would not be
+likely to break the law by fighting in the state. Possibly he
+thought Lincoln would make a humble apology. Shields was brave,
+but foolish, and would not listen to overtures for explanation.
+It was arranged that the meeting should be in Missouri, opposite
+Alton. "They proceeded to the place selected, but friends
+interfered, and there was no duel. There is little doubt that the
+man who had swung a beetle and driven iron wedges into gnarled
+hickory logs could have cleft the skull of his antagonist, but he
+had no such intention. He repeatedly said to the friends of
+Shields that in writing the first article he had no thought of
+anything personal. The Auditor's vanity had been sorely wounded
+by the second letter, in regard to which Lincoln could not make
+any explanation except that he had had no hand in writing it. The
+affair set all Springfield to laughing at Shields."
+
+
+"DONE WITH THE BIBLE."
+
+Lincoln never told a better story than this:
+
+A country meeting-house, that was used once a month, was quite a
+distance from any other house.
+
+The preacher, an old-line Baptist, was dressed in coarse linen
+pantaloons, and shirt of the same material. The pants,
+manufactured after the old fashion, with baggy legs, and a flap
+in the front, were made to attach to his frame without the aid of
+suspenders.
+
+A single button held his shirt in position, and that was at the
+collar. He rose up in the pulpit, and with a loud voice announced
+his text thus: "I am the Christ whom I shall represent to-day."
+
+About this time a little blue lizard ran up his roomy pantaloons.
+The old preacher, not wishing to interrupt the steady flow of his
+sermon, slapped away on his leg, expecting to arrest the
+intruder, but his efforts were unavailing, and the little fellow
+kept on ascending higher and higher.
+
+Continuing the sermon, the preacher loosened the central button
+which graced the waistband of his pantaloons, and with a kick off
+came that easyfitting garment.
+
+But, meanwhile, Mr. Lizard had passed the equatorial line of the
+waistband, and was calmly exploring that part of the preacher's
+anatomy which lay underneath the back of his shirt.
+
+Things were now growing interesting, but the sermon was still
+grinding on. The next movement on the preacher's part was for the
+collar button, and with one sweep of his arm off came the tow
+linen shirt.
+
+The congregation sat for an instant as if dazed; at length one
+old lady in the rear part of the room rose up, and, glancing at
+the excited object in the pulpit, shouted at the top of her
+voice: "If you represent Christ, then I'm done with the Bible."
+
+
+HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE.
+
+Once, when Lincoln was pleading a case, the opposing lawyer had
+all the advantage of the law; the weather was warm, and his
+opponent, as was admissible in frontier courts, pulled off his
+coat and vest as he grew warm in the argument.
+
+At that time, shirts with buttons behind were unusual. Lincoln
+took in the situation at once. Knowing the prejudices of the
+primitive people against pretension of all sorts, or any
+affectation of superior social rank, arising, he said: "Gentlemen
+of the jury, having justice on my side, I don't think you will be
+at all influenced by the gentleman's pretended knowledge of the
+law, when you see he does not even know which side of his shirt
+should be in front." There was a general laugh, and Lincoln's
+case was won.
+
+
+A MISCHIEVOUS OX.
+
+President Lincoln once told the following story of Colonel W.,
+who had been elected to the Legislature, and had also been judge
+of the County Court. His elevation, however, had made him
+somewhat pompous, and he became very fond of using big words. On
+his farm he had a very large and mischievous ox, called "Big
+Brindle," which very frequently broke down his neighbors' fences,
+and committed other depredations, much to the Colonel's
+annoyance.
+
+One morning after breakfast, in the presence of Lincoln, who had
+stayed with him over night, and who was on his way to town, he
+called his overseer and said to him:
+
+"Mr. Allen, I desire you to impound 'Big Brindle,' in order that
+I may hear no animadversions on his eternal depredations,"
+
+Allen bowed and walked off, sorely puzzled to know what the
+Colonel wanted him to do. After Colonel W. left for town, he went
+to his wife and asked her what the Colonel meant by telling him
+to impound the ox.
+
+"Why, he meant to tell you to put him in a pen," said she.
+
+Allen left to perform the feat, for it was no inconsiderable one,
+as the animal was wild and vicious, but, after a great deal of
+trouble and vexation, succeeded.
+
+"Well," said he, wiping the perspiration from his brow and
+soliloquizing, "this is impounding, is it? Now, I am dead sure
+that the Colonel will ask me if I impounded 'Big Brindle,' and
+I'll bet I puzzle him as he did me."
+
+The next day the Colonel gave a dinner party, and as he was not
+aristrocratic, Allen, the overseer, sat down with the company.
+After the second or third glass was discussed, the Colonel turned
+to the overseer and said
+
+"Eh, Mr. Allen, did you impound 'Big Brindle,' sir?"
+
+Allen straightened himself, and looking around at the company,
+replied:
+
+"Yes, I did, sir; but 'Old Brindle' transcended the impannel of
+the impound, and scatterlophisticated all over the equanimity of
+the forest."
+
+The company burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, while the
+Colonel's face reddened with discomfiture.
+
+"What do you mean by that, sir?" demanded the Colonel.
+
+"Why, I mean, Colonel," replied Allen, "that 'Old Brindle,' being
+prognosticated with an idea of the cholera, ripped and teared,
+snorted and pawed dirt, jumped the fence, tuck to the woods, and
+would not be impounded nohow."
+
+This was too much; the company roared again, the Colonel being
+forced to join in the laughter, and in the midst of the jollity
+Allen left the table, saying to himself as he went, "I reckon the
+Colonel won't ask me to impound any more oxen."
+
+
+THE PRESIDENTIAL "CHIN-FLY."
+
+Some of Mr. Lincoln's intimate friends once called his attention
+to a certain member of his Cabinet who was quietly working to
+secure a nomination for the Presidency, although knowing that Mr.
+Lincoln was to be a candidate for re-election. His friends
+insisted that the Cabinet officer ought to be made to give up his
+Presidential aspirations or be removed from office. The situation
+reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story:
+
+"My brother and I," he said, "were once plowing corn, I driving
+the horse and he holding the plow. The horse was lazy, but on one
+occasion he rushed across the field so that I, with my long legs,
+could scarcely keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the
+furrow, I found an enormous chin-fly fastened upon him, and
+knocked him off. My brother asked me what I did that for. I told
+him I didn't want the old horse bitten in that way. 'Why,' said
+my brother, 'that's all that made him go.' Now," said Mr.
+Lincoln, "if Mr.-- has a Presidential chin-fly biting him, I'm
+not going to knock him off, if it will only make his department
+go."
+
+
+'SQUIRE BAGLY'S PRECEDENT.
+
+Mr. T. W. S. Kidd, of Springfield, says that he once heard a
+lawyer opposed to Lincoln trying to convince a jury that
+precedent was superior to law, and that custom made things legal
+in all cases. When Lincoln arose to answer him he told the jury
+he would argue his case in the same way.
+
+"Old 'Squire Bagly, from Menard, came into my office and said,
+'Lincoln, I want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what's been
+elected justice of the peace a right to issue a marriage
+license?'
+I told him he had not; when the old 'squire threw himself back in
+his chair very indignantly, and said, 'Lincoln, I thought you was
+a lawyer. Now Bob Thomas and me had a bet on this thing, and we
+agreed to let you decide; but if this is your opinion I don't
+want it, for I know a thunderin' sight better, for I have been
+'squire now for eight years and have done it all the time.'"
+
+
+HE'D NEED HIS GUN.
+
+When the President, early in the War, was anxious about the
+defenses of Washington, he told a story illustrating his feelings
+in the case. General Scott, then Commander-in-Chief of the United
+States Army, had but 1,500 men, two guns and an old sloop of war,
+the latter anchored in the Potomac, with which to protect the
+National Capital, and the President was uneasy.
+
+To one of his queries as to the safety of Washington, General
+Scott had replied, "It has been ordained, Mr. President, that the
+city shall not be captured by the Confederates."
+
+"But we ought to have more men and guns here," was the Chief
+Executive's answer. "The Confederates are not such fools as to
+let a good chance to capture Washington go by, and even if it has
+been ordained that the city is safe, I'd feel easier if it were
+better protected. All this reminds me of the old trapper out in
+the West who had been assured by some 'city folks' who had hired
+him as a guide that all matters regarding life and death were
+prearranged.
+
+"'It is ordained,' said one of the party to the old trapper,
+'that you are to die at a certain time, and no one can kill you
+before that time. If you met a thousand Indians, and your death
+had not been ordained for that day, you would certainly escape.'
+
+"'I don't exactly understand this "ordained" business,' was the
+trapper's reply. 'I don't care to run no risks. I always have my
+gun with me, so that if I come across some reds I can feel sure
+that I won't cross the Jordan 'thout taking some of 'em with me.
+Now, for instance, if I met an Indian in the woods; he drew a
+bead on me--sayin', too, that he wasn't more'n ten feet away--an'
+I didn't have nothing to protect myself; say it was as bad as
+that, the redskin bein' dead ready to kill me; now, even if it
+had been ordained that the Indian (sayin' he was a good shot),
+was to die that very minute, an' I wasn't, what would I do 'thout
+my gun?'
+
+"There you are," the President remarked; "even if it has been
+ordained that the city of Washington will never be taken by the
+Southerners, what would we do in case they made an attack upon
+the place, without men and heavy guns?"
+
+
+KEPT UP THE ARGUMENT.
+
+Judge T. Lyle Dickey of Illinois related that when the excitement
+over the Kansas Nebraska bill first broke out, he was with
+Lincoln
+and several friends attending court. One evening several persons,
+including himself and Lincoln, were discussing the slavery
+question. Judge Dickey contended that slavery was an institution
+which the Constitution recognized, and which could not be
+disturbed. Lincoln argued that ultimately slavery must become
+extinct. "After awhile," said Judge Dickey, "we went upstairs to
+bed. There were two beds in our room, and I remember that Lincoln
+sat up in his night shirt on the edge of the bed arguing the
+point with me. At last we went to sleep. Early in the morning I
+woke up and there was Lincoln half sitting up in bed. 'Dickey,'
+said he, 'I tell you this nation cannot exist half slave and half
+free.' 'Oh, Lincoln,' said I, 'go to sleep."'
+
+
+EQUINE INGRATITUDE.
+
+President Lincoln, while eager that the United States troops
+should be supplied with the most modern and serviceable weapons,
+often took occasion to put his foot down upon the mania for
+experimenting with which some of his generals were afflicted.
+While engaged in these experiments much valuable time was wasted,
+the enemy was left to do as he thought best, no battles were
+fought, and opportunities for winning victories allowed to pass.
+
+The President was an exceedingly practical man, and when an
+invention, idea or discovery was submitted to him, his first step
+was to ascertain how any or all of them could be applied in a way
+to be of benefit to the army. As to experimenting with
+"contrivances" which, to his mind, could never be put to
+practical use, he had little patience.
+
+"Some of these generals," said he, "experiment so long and so
+much with newfangled, fancy notions that when they are finally
+brought to a head they are useless. Either the time to use them
+has gone by, or the machine, when put in operation, kills more
+than it cures.
+
+"One of these generals, who has a scheme for 'condensing'
+rations, is willing to swear his life away that his idea, when
+carried to perfection, will reduce the cost of feeding the Union
+troops to almost nothing, while the soldiers themselves will get
+so fat that they'll 'bust out' of their uniforms. Of course,
+uniforms cost nothing, and real fat men are more active and
+vigorous than lean, skinny ones, but that is getting away from my
+story.
+
+"There was once an Irishman--a cabman--who had a notion that he
+could induce his horse to live entirely on shavings. The latter
+he could get for nothing, while corn and oats were pretty
+high-priced. So he daily lessened the amount of food to the
+horse, substituting shavings for the corn and oats abstracted, so
+that the horse wouldn't know his rations were being cut down.
+
+"However, just as he had achieved success in his experiment, and
+the horse had been taught to live without other food than
+shavings, the ungrateful animal 'up and died,' and he had to buy
+another.
+
+"So far as this general referred to is concerned, I'm afraid the
+soldiers will all be dead at the time when his experiment is
+demonstrated as thoroughly successful."
+
+
+'TWAS "MOVING DAY."
+
+Speed, who was a prosperous young merchant of Springfield,
+reports that Lincoln's personal effects consisted of a pair of
+saddle-bags, containing two or three lawbooks, and a few pieces
+of clothing. Riding on a borrowed horse, he thus made his
+appearance in Springfield. When he discovered that a single
+bedstead would cost seventeen dollars he said, "It is probably
+cheap enough, but I have not enough money to pay for it." When
+Speed offered to trust him, he said: "If I fail here as a lawyer,
+I will probably never pay you at all." Then Speed offered to
+share large double bed with him.
+
+"Where is your room?" Lincoln asked.
+
+"Upstairs," said Speed, pointing from the store leading to his
+room.
+
+Without saying a word, he took his saddle-bags on his arm, went
+upstairs, set them down on the floor, came down again, and with a
+face beaming with pleasure and smiles, exclaimed: "Well, Speed,
+I'm moved."
+
+
+"ABE'S" HAIR NEEDED COMBING.
+
+"By the way," remarked President Lincoln one day to Colonel
+Cannon, a close personal friend, "I can tell you a good story
+about my hair. When I was nominated at Chicago, an enterprising
+fellow thought that a great many people would like to see how
+'Abe' Lincoln looked, and, as I had not long before sat for a
+photograph, the fellow, having seen it, rushed over and bought
+the negative.
+
+"He at once got no end of wood-cuts, and so active was their
+circulation they were soon selling in all parts of the country.
+
+"Soon after they reached Springfield, I heard a boy crying them
+for sale on the streets. 'Here's your likeness of "Abe" Lincoln!'
+he shouted. 'Buy one; price only two shillings! Will look a great
+deal better when he gets his hair combed!"'
+
+
+WOULD "TAKE TO THE WOODS."
+
+Secretary of State Seward was bothered considerably regarding the
+complication into which Spain had involved the United States
+government in connection with San Domingo, and related his
+troubles to the President. Negotiations were not proceeding
+satisfactorily, and things were mixed generally. We wished to
+conciliate Spain, while the negroes had appealed against Spanish
+oppression.
+
+The President did not, to all appearances, look at the matter
+seriously, but, instead of treating the situation as a grave one,
+remarked that Seward's dilemma reminded him of an interview
+between two negroes in Tennessee.
+
+One was a preacher, who, with the crude and strange notions of
+his ignorant race, was endeavoring to admonish and enlighten his
+brother African of the importance of religion and the danger of
+the future.
+
+"Dar are," said Josh, the preacher, "two roads befo' you, Joe; be
+ca'ful which ob dese you take. Narrow am de way dat leads
+straight to destruction; but broad am de way dat leads right to
+damnation."
+
+Joe opened his eyes with affright, and under the spell of the
+awful danger before him, exclaimed, "Josh, take which road you
+please; I shall go troo de woods."
+
+"I am not willing," concluded the President, "to assume any new
+troubles or responsibilities at this time, and shall therefore
+avoid going to the one place with Spain, or with the negro to the
+other, but shall 'take to the woods.' We will maintain an honest
+and strict neutrality."
+
+
+LINCOLN CARRIED HER TRUNK.
+
+"My first strong impression of Mr. Lincoln," says a lady of
+Springfield, "was made by one of his kind deeds. I was going with
+a little friend for my first trip alone on the railroad cars. It
+was an epoch of my life. I had planned for it and dreamed of it
+for weeks. The day I was to go came, but as the hour of the train
+approached, the hackman, through some neglect, failed to call for
+my trunk. As the minutes went on, I realized, in a panic of
+grief, that I should miss the train. I was standing by the gate,
+my hat and gloves on, sobbing as if my heart would break, when
+Mr. Lincoln came by.
+
+"'Why, what's the matter?' he asked, and I poured out all my
+story.
+
+"'How big's the trunk? There's still time, if it isn't too big.'
+And he pushed through the gate and up to the door. My mother and
+I took him up to my room, where my little old-fashioned trunk
+stood, locked and tied. 'Oh, ho,' he cried, 'wipe your eyes and
+come on quick.' And before I knew what he was going to do, he had
+shouldered the trunk, was down stairs, and striding out of the
+yard. Down the street he went fast as his long legs could carry
+him, I trotting behind, drying my tears as I went. We reached the
+station in time. Mr. Lincoln put me on the train, kissed me
+good-bye, and told me to have a good time. It was just like him."
+
+
+BOAT HAD TO STOP.
+
+Lincoln never failed to take part in all political campaigns in
+Illinois, as his reputation as a speaker caused his services to
+be in great demand. As was natural, he was often the target at
+which many of the "Smart Alecks" of that period shot their feeble
+bolts, but Lincoln was so ready with his answers that few of them
+cared to engage him a second time.
+
+In one campaign Lincoln was frequently annoyed by a young man who
+entertained the idea that he was a born orator. He had a loud
+voice, was full of language, and so conceited that he could not
+understand why the people did not recognize and appreciate his
+abilities.
+
+This callow politician delighted in interrupting public speakers,
+and at last Lincoln determined to squelch him. One night while
+addressing a large meeting at Springfield, the fellow became so
+offensive that "Abe" dropped the threads of his speech and turned
+his attention to the tormentor.
+
+"I don't object," said Lincoln, "to being interrupted with
+sensible questions, but I must say that my boisterous friend does
+not always make inquiries which properly come under that head. He
+says he is afflicted with headaches, at which I don't wonder, as
+it is a well-known fact that nature abhors a vacuum, and takes
+her own way of demonstrating it.
+
+"This noisy friend reminds me of a certain steamboat that used to
+run on the Illinois river. It was an energetic boat, was always
+busy. When they built it, however, they made one serious mistake,
+this error being in the relative sizes of the boiler and the
+whistle. The latter was usually busy, too, and people were aware
+that it was in existence.
+
+"This particular boiler to which I have reference was a six-foot
+one, and did all that was required of it in the way of pushing
+the boat along; but as the builders of the vessel had made the
+whistle a six-foot one, the consequence was that every time the
+whistle blew the boat had to stop."
+
+
+MCCLELLAN'S "SPECIAL TALENT."
+
+President Lincoln one day remarked to a number of personal
+friends who had called upon him at the White House:
+
+"General McClellan's tardiness and unwillingness to fight the
+enemy or follow up advantages gained, reminds me of a man back in
+Ilinois who knew a few law phrases but whose lawyer lacked
+aggressiveness. The man finally lost all patience and springing
+to his feet vociferated, 'Why don't you go at him with a fi. fa.,
+a demurrer, a capias, a surrebutter, or a ne exeat, or something;
+or a nundam pactum or a non est?'
+
+"I wish McClellan would go at the enemy with something--I don't
+care what. General McClellan is a pleasant and scholarly
+gentleman. He is an admirable engineer, but he seems to have a
+special talent for a stationary engine."
+
+
+HOW "JAKE" GOT AWAY.
+
+One of the last, if not the very last story told by President
+Lincoln, was to one of his Cabinet who came to see him, to ask if
+it would be proper to permit "Jake" Thompson to slip through
+Maine in disguise and embark for Portland.
+
+The President, as usual, was disposed to be merciful, and to
+permit the arch-rebel to pass unmolested, but Secretary Stanton
+urged that he should be arrested as a traitor.
+
+"By permitting him to escape the penalties of treason," persisted
+the War Secretary, "you sanction it."
+
+"Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, "let me tell you a story. There was
+an Irish soldier here last summer, who wanted something to drink
+stronger than water, and stopped at a drug-shop, where he espied
+a soda-fountain. 'Mr. Doctor,' said he, 'give me, plase, a glass
+of soda-wather, an' if yez can put in a few drops of whiskey
+unbeknown to any one, I'll be obleeged.' Now, continued Mr.
+Lincoln, "if 'Jake' Thompson is permitted to go through Maine
+unbeknown to any one, what's the harm? So don't have him
+arrested."
+
+MORE LIGHT AND LESS NOISE.
+
+The President was bothered to death by those persons who
+boisterously demanded that the War be pushed vigorously; also,
+those who shouted their advice and opinions into his weary ears,
+but who never suggested anything practical. These fellows were
+not in the army, nor did they ever take any interest, in a
+personal way, in military matters, except when engaged in dodging
+drafts.
+
+"That reminds me," remarked Mr. Lincoln one day, "of a farmer who
+lost his way on the Western frontier. Night came on, and the
+embarrassments of his position were increased by a furious
+tempest which suddenly burst upon him. To add to his discomfort,
+his horse had given out, leaving him exposed to all the dangers
+of the pitiless storm.
+
+"The peals of thunder were terrific, the frequent flashes of
+lightning affording the only guide on the road as he resolutely
+trudged onward, leading his jaded steed. The earth seemed fairly
+to tremble beneath him in the war of elements. One bolt threw him
+suddenly upon his knees.
+
+"Our traveler was not a prayerful man, but finding himself
+involuntarily brought to an attitude of devotion, he addressed
+himself to the Throne of Grace in the following prayer for his
+deliverance
+
+"'O God! hear my prayer this time, for Thou knowest it is not
+often that I call upon Thee. And, O Lord! if it is all the same
+to Thee, give us a little more light and a little less noise.'
+
+"I wish," the President said, sadly, "there was a stronger
+disposition manifested on the part of our civilian warriors to
+unite in suppressing the rebellion, and a little less noise as to
+how and by whom the chief executive office shall be
+administered."
+
+
+ONE BULLET AND A HATFUL.
+
+Lincoln made the best of everything, and if he couldn't get what
+he wanted he took what he could get. In matters of policy, while
+President he acted according to this rule. He would take perilous
+chances, even when the result was, to the minds of his friends,
+not worth the risk he had run.
+
+One day at a meeting of the Cabinet, it being at the time when it
+seemed as though war with England and France could not be
+avoided, Secretary of State Seward and Secretary of War Stanton
+warmly advocated that the United States maintain an attitude, the
+result of which would have been a declaration of hostilities by
+the European Powers mentioned.
+
+"Why take any more chances than are absolutely necessary?" asked
+the President.
+
+"We must maintain our honor at any cost," insisted Secretary
+Seward.
+
+"We would be branded as cowards before the entire world,"
+Secretary Stanton said.
+
+"But why run the greater risk when we can take a smaller one?"
+queried the President calmly. "The less risk we run the better
+for us. That reminds me of a story I heard a day or two ago, the
+hero of which was on the firing line during a recent battle,
+where the bullets were flying thick.
+
+"Finally his courage gave way entirely, and throwing down his
+gun,
+he ran for dear life.
+
+"As he was flying along at top speed he came across an officer
+who drew his revolver and shouted, 'Go back to your regiment at
+once or I will shoot you !'
+
+"'Shoot and be hanged,' the racer exclaimed. 'What's one bullet
+to a whole hatful?'"
+
+
+LINCOLN'S STORY TO PEACE COMMISSIONERS.
+
+Among the reminiscences of Lincoln left by Editor Henry J.
+Raymond, is the following:
+
+Among the stories told by Lincoln, which is freshest in my mind,
+one which he related to me shortly after its occurrence, belongs
+to the history of the famous interview on board the River Queen,
+at Hampton Roads, between himself and Secretary Seward and the
+rebel Peace Commissioners. It was reported at the time that the
+President told a "little story" on that occasion, and the inquiry
+went around among the newspapers, "What was it?"
+
+The New York Herald published what purported to be a version of
+it, but the "point" was entirely lost, and it attracted no
+attention. Being in Washington a few days subsequent to the
+interview with the Commissioners (my previous sojourn there
+having terminated about the first of last August), I asked Mr.
+Lincoln one day if it was true that he told Stephens, Hunter and
+Campbell a story.
+
+"Why, yes," he replied, manifesting some surprise, "but has it
+leaked out? I was in hopes nothing would be said about it, lest
+some over-sensitive people should imagine there was a degree of
+levity in the intercourse between us." He then went on to relate
+the circumstances which called it out.
+
+"You see," said he, "we had reached and were discussing the
+slavery question. Mr. Hunter said, substantially, that the
+slaves, always accustomed to an overseer, and to work upon
+compulsion, suddenly freed, as they would be if the South should
+consent to peace on the basis of the 'Emancipation Proclamation,'
+would precipitate not only themselves, but the entire Southern
+society, into irremediable ruin. No work would be done, nothing
+would be cultivated, and both blacks and whites would starve!"
+
+Said the President: "I waited for Seward to answer that argument,
+but as he was silent, I at length said: 'Mr. Hunter, you ought to
+know a great deal better about this argument than I, for you have
+always lived under the slave system. I can only say, in reply to
+your statement of the case, that it reminds me of a man out in
+Illinois, by the name of Case, who undertook, a few years ago, to
+raise a very large herd of hogs. It was a great trouble to feed
+them, and how to get around this was a puzzle to him. At length
+he hit on the plan of planting an immense field of potatoes, and,
+when they were sufficiently grown, he turned the whole herd into
+the field, and let them have full swing, thus saving not only the
+labor of feeding the hogs, but also that of digging the potatoes.
+Charmed with his sagacity, he stood one day leaning against the
+fence, counting his hogs, when a neighbor came along.
+
+"'Well, well,' said he, 'Mr. Case, this is all very fine. Your
+hogs are doing very well just now, but you know out here in
+Illinois the frost comes early, and the ground freezes for a foot
+deep. Then what you going to do?'
+
+"This was a view of the matter which Mr. Case had not taken into
+account. Butchering time for hogs was 'way on in December or
+January! He scratched his head, and at length stammered: 'Well,
+it may come pretty hard on their snouts, but I don't see but that
+it will be "root, hog, or die."'"
+
+
+"ABE" GOT THE WORST OF IT.
+
+When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Illinois, he and a certain
+Judge once got to bantering one another about trading horses; and
+it was agreed that the next morning at nine o'clock they should
+make a trade, the horses to be unseen up to that hour, and no
+backing out, under a forfeiture of $25. At the hour appointed,
+the Judge came up, leading the sorriest-looking specimen of a
+horse ever seen in those parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln was
+seen approaching with a wooden saw-horse upon his shoulders.
+
+Great were the shouts and laughter of the crowd, and both were
+greatly increased when Lincoln, on surveying the Judge's animal,
+set down his saw-horse, and exclaimed:
+
+"Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it
+in a horse trade."
+
+
+IT DEPENDED UPON HIS CONDITION.
+
+The President had made arrangements to visit New York, and was
+told that President Garrett, of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
+would be glad to furnish a special train.
+
+"I don't doubt it a bit," remarked the President, "for I know Mr.
+Garrett, and like him very well, and if I believed--which I
+don't, by any means--all the things some people say about his
+'secesh' principles, he might say to you as was said by the
+Superintendent of a certain railroad to a son of one my
+predecessors in office. Some two years after the death of
+President Harrison, the son of his successor in this office
+wanted to take his father on an excursion somewhere or other, and
+went to the Superintendent's office to order a special train.
+
+"This Superintendent was a Whig of the most uncompromising sort,
+who hated a Democrat more than all other things on the earth, and
+promptly refused the young man's request, his language being to
+the effect that this particular railroad was not running special
+trains for the accommodation of Presidents of the United States
+just at that season.
+
+"The son of the President was much surprised and exceedingly
+annoyed. 'Why,' he said, 'you have run special Presidential
+trains, and I know it. Didn't you furnish a special train for the
+funeral of President Harrison?'
+
+"'Certainly we did,' calmly replied the Superintendent, with no
+relaxation of his features, 'and if you will only bring your
+father here in the same shape as General Harrison was, you shall
+have the best train on the road."'
+
+When the laughter had subsided, the President said: "I shall take
+pleasure in accepting Mr. Garrett's offer, as I have no doubts
+whatever as to his loyalty to the United States government or his
+respect for the occupant of the Presidential office."
+
+
+"GOT DOWN TO THE RAISINS."
+
+A. B. Chandler, chief of the telegraph office at the War
+Department, occupied three rooms, one of which was called "the
+President's room," so much of his time did Mr. Lincoln spend
+there. Here he would read over the telegrams received for the
+several heads of departments. Three copies of all messages
+received were made--one for the President, one for the War
+Department records and one for Secretary Stanton.
+
+Mr. Chandler told a story as to the manner in which the President
+read the despatches:
+
+"President Lincoln's copies were kept in what we called the
+'President's drawer' of the 'cipher desk.' He would come in at
+any time of the night or day, and go at once to this drawer, and
+take out a file of telegrams, and begin at the top to read them.
+His position in running over these telegrams was sometimes very
+curious.
+
+"He had a habit of sitting frequently on the edge of his chair,
+with his right knee dragged down to the floor. I remember a
+curious expression of his when he got to the bottom of the new
+telegrams and began on those that he had read before. It was,
+'Well, I guess I have got down to the raisins.'
+
+"The first two or three times he said this he made no
+explanation, and I did not ask one. But one day, after he had
+made the remark, he looked up under his eyebrows at me with a
+funny twinkle in his eyes, and said: 'I used to know a little
+girl out West who sometimes was inclined to eat too much. One day
+she ate a good many more raisins than she ought to, and followed
+them up with a quantity of other goodies. They made her very
+sick. After a time the raisins began to come.
+
+"She gasped and looked at her mother and said: 'Well, I will be
+better now I guess, for I have got down to the raisins.'"
+
+
+"HONEST ABE" SWALLOWS HIS ENEMIES.
+
+"'Honest Abe' Taking Them on the Half-Shell" was one of the
+cartoons published in 1860 by one of the illustrated periodicals.
+As may be seen, it represents Lincoln in a "Political Oyster
+House," preparing to swallow two of his Democratic opponents for
+the Presidency--Douglas and Breckinridge. He performed the feat
+at the November election. The Democratic party was hopelessly
+split in 1860 The Northern wing nominated Stephen A. Douglas, of
+Illinois, as their candidate, the Southern wing naming John C.
+Breckinridge, of Kentucky; the Constitutional Unionists (the old
+American of Know-Nothing party) placed John Bell, of Tennessee,
+in the field, and against these was put Abraham Lincoln, who
+received the support of the Abolitionists.
+
+Lincoln made short work of his antagonists when the election came
+around. He received a large majority in the Electoral College,
+while nearly every Northern State voted majorities for him at the
+polls. Douglas had but twelve votes in the Electoral College,
+while Bell had thirty-nine. The votes of the Southern States,
+then preparing to secede, were, for the most part, thrown for
+Breckinridge. The popular vote was: Lincoln, 1,857,610; Douglas,
+1,365,976; Breckinridge, 847,953; Bell, 590,631; total vote,
+4,662,170. In the Electoral College Lincoln received 180;
+Douglas, 12; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Lincoln's majority over
+all, 57.
+
+
+SAVING HIS WIND.
+
+Judge H. W. Beckwith of Danville, Ill., said that soon after the
+Ottawa debate between Lincoln and Douglas he passed the Chenery
+House, then the principal hotel in Springfield. The lobby was
+crowded with partisan leaders from various sections of the state,
+and Mr. Lincoln, from his greater height, was seen above the
+surging mass that clung about him like a swarm of bees to their
+ruler. The day was warm, and at the first chance he broke away
+and came out for a little fresh air, wiping the sweat from his
+face.
+
+"As he passed the door he saw me," said Judge Beckwith, "and,
+taking my hand, inquired for the health and views of his 'friends
+over in Vermillion county.' He was assured they were wide awake,
+and further told that they looked forward to the debate between
+him and Senator Douglas with deep concern. From the shadow that
+went quickly over his face, the pained look that came to give way
+quickly to a blaze of eyes and quiver of lips, I felt that Mr.
+Lincoln had gone beneath my mere words and caught my inner and
+current fears as to the result. And then, in a forgiving, jocular
+way peculiar to him, he said: 'Sit down; I have a moment to
+spare, and will tell you a story.' Having been on his feet for
+some time, he sat on the end of the stone step leading into the
+hotel door, while I stood closely fronting him.
+
+" You have,' he continued, 'seen two men about to fight?'
+
+"'Yes, many times.'
+
+"'Well, one of them brags about what he means to do. He jumps
+high in the air, cracking his heels together, smites his fists,
+and wastes his wreath trying to scare somebody. You see the other
+fellow, he says not a word,'--here Mr. Lincoln's voice and manner
+changed to great earnestness, and repeating--'you see the other
+man says not a word. His arms are at his sides, his fists are
+closely doubled up, his head is drawn to the shoulder, and his
+teeth are set firm together. He is saving his wind for the fight,
+and as sure as it comes off he will win it, or die a-trying.'"
+
+
+RIGHT FOR, ONCE, ANYHOW.
+
+Where men bred in courts, accustomed to the world, or versed in
+diplomacy, would use some subterfuge, or would make a polite
+speech, or give a shrug of the shoulders, as the means of getting
+out of an embarrassing position, Lincoln raised a laugh by some
+bold west-country anecdote, and moved off in the cloud of
+merriment produced by the joke. When Attorney-General Bates was
+remonstrating apparently against the appointment of some
+indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial importance, the
+President interposed with: "Come now, Bates, he's not half as bad
+as you think. Besides that, I must tell you, he did me a good
+turn long ago. When I took to the law, I was going to court one
+morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before me, and
+I had no horse.
+
+"The judge overtook me in his carriage.
+
+"'Hallo, Lincoln! are you not going to the court-house? Come in
+and I will give you a seat!'
+
+"Well, I got in, and the Judge went on reading his papers.
+Presently the carriage struck a stump on one side of the road,
+then it hopped off to the other. I looked out, and I saw the
+driver was jerking from side to side in his seat, so I says
+
+"'Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a little too much
+this morning.'
+
+"'Well, I declare, Lincoln,' said he, 'I should not much wonder
+if you were right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times
+since starting.'
+
+"So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted, 'Why, you
+infernal scoundrel, you are drunk!'
+
+"Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great
+gravity, the coachman said:
+
+"'Begorra! that's the first rightful decision that you have
+given for the last twelvemonth.'"
+
+While the company were laughing, the President beat a quiet
+retreat from the neighborhood.
+
+
+"PITY THE POOR ORPHAN."
+
+After the War was well on, and several battles had been fought,
+a lady from Alexandria asked the President for an order to
+release a certain church which had been taken for a Federal
+hospital. The President said he could do nothing, as the post
+surgeon at Alexandria was immovable, and then asked the lady why
+she did not donate money to build a hospital.
+
+"We have been very much embarrassed by the war," she replied,
+"and our estates are much hampered."
+
+"You are not ruined?" asked the President.
+
+"No, sir, but we do not feel that we should give up anything we
+have left."
+
+The President, after some reflection, then said: "There are more
+battles yet to be fought, and I think God would prefer that your
+church be devoted to the care and alleviation of the sufferings
+of our poor fellows. So, madam, you will excuse me. I can do
+nothing for you."
+
+Afterward, in speaking of this incident, President Lincoln said
+that the lady, as a representative of her class in Alexandria,
+reminded him of the story of the young man who had an aged father
+and mother owning considerable property. The young man being an
+only son, and believing that the old people had outlived their
+usefulness, assassinated them both. He was accused, tried and
+convicted of the murder. When the judge came to pass sentence
+upon him, and called upon him to give any reason he might have
+why the sentence of death should not be passed upon him, he with
+great promptness replied that he hoped the court would be lenient
+upon him because he was a poor orphan!
+
+"BAP." McNABB'S BOOSTER.
+
+It is true that Lincoln did not drink, never swore, was a
+stranger to smoking and lived a moral life generally, but he did
+like horse-racing and chicken fighting. New Salem, Illinois,
+where Lincoln was "clerking," was known the neighborhood around
+as a "fast" town, and the average young man made no very
+desperate resistance when tempted to join in the drinking and
+gambling bouts.
+
+"Bap." McNabb was famous for his ability in both the raising and
+the purchase of roosters of prime fighting quality, and when his
+birds fought the attendance was large. It was because of the
+"flunking" of one of "Bap.'s" roosters that Lincoln was enabled
+to make a point when criticising McClellan's unreadiness and lack
+of energy.
+
+One night there was a fight on the schedule, one of "Bap."
+McNabb's birds being a contestant. "Bap." brought a little red
+rooster, whose fighting qualities had been well advertised for
+days in advance, and much interest was manifested in the outcome.
+As the result of these contests was generally a quarrel, in which
+each man, charging foul play, seized his victim, they chose
+Lincoln umpire, relying not only on his fairness but his ability
+to enforce his decisions. Judge Herndon, in his "Abraham
+Lincoln," says of this notable event:
+
+"I cannot improve on the description furnished me in February,
+1865, by one who was present.
+
+"They formed a ring, and the time having arrived, Lincoln, with
+one hand on each hip and in a squatting position, cried, 'Ready.'
+Into the ring they toss their fowls, 'Bap.'s' red rooster along
+with the rest. But no sooner had the little beauty discovered
+what was to be done than he dropped his tail and ran.
+
+"The crowd cheered, while 'Bap.,' in disappointment, picked him
+up and started away, losing his quarter (entrance fee) and
+carrying home his dishonored fowl. Once arrived at the latter
+place he threw his pet down with a feeling of indignation and
+chagrin.
+
+"The little fellow, out of sight of all rivals, mounted a
+woodpile and proudly flirting out his feathers, crowed with all
+his might. 'Bap.' looked on in disgust.
+
+"'Yes, you little cuss,' he exclaimed, irreverently, 'you're
+great on dress parade, but not worth a darn in a fight."'
+
+It is said, according to Judge Herndon, that Lincoln considered
+McClellan as "great on dress parade," but not so much in a fight.
+
+
+A LOW-DOWN TRICK.
+
+When Lincoln was a candidate of the Know Nothings for the State
+Legislature, the party was over-confident, and the Democrats
+pursued a stillhunt. Lincoln was defeated. He compared the
+situation to one of the camp-followers of General Taylor's army,
+who had secured a barrel of cider, erected a tent, and commenced
+selling it to the thirsty soldiers at twenty-five cents a drink,
+but he had sold but little before another sharp one set up a tent
+at his back, and tapped the barrel so as to flow on his side, and
+peddled out No. 1 cider at five cents a drink, of course, getting
+the latter's entire trade on the borrowed capital.
+
+"The Democrats," said Mr. Lincoln, "had played Knownothing on a
+cheaper scale than had the real devotees of Sam, and had raked
+down his pile with his own cider!"
+
+
+END FOR END.
+
+Judge H. W. Beckwith, of Danville, Ill., in his "Personal
+Recollections of Lincoln," tells a story which is a good example
+of Lincoln's way of condensing the law and the facts of an issue
+in a story: "A man, by vile words, first provoked and then made a
+bodily attack upon another. The latter, in defending himself,
+gave the other much the worst of the encounter. The aggressor, to
+get even, had the one who thrashed him tried in our Circuit Court
+on a charge of an assault and battery. Mr. Lincoln defended, and
+told the jury that his client was in the fix of a man who, in
+going along the highway with a pitchfork on his shoulder, was
+attacked by a fierce dog that ran out at him from a farmer's
+dooryard. In parrying off the brute with the fork, its prongs
+stuck into the brute and killed him.
+
+"'What made you kill my dog?' said the farmer.
+
+"'What made him try to bite me?'
+
+"'But why did you not go at him with the other end of the
+pitchfork?'
+
+"'Why did he not come after me with his other end?'
+
+"At this Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his long arms an imaginary
+dog, and pushed its tail end toward the jury. This was the
+defensive plea of 'son assault demesne'--loosely, that 'the other
+fellow brought on the fight,'--quickly told, and in a way the
+dullest mind would grasp and retain."
+
+
+LET SIX SKUNKS GO.
+
+The President had decided to select a new War Minister, and the
+Leading Republican Senators thought the occasion was opportune to
+change the whole seven Cabinet ministers. They, therefore,
+earnestly advised him to make a clean sweep, and select seven new
+men, and so restore the waning confidence of the country.
+
+The President listened with patient courtesy, and when the
+Senators had concluded, he said, with a characteristic gleam of
+humor in his eye:
+
+"Gentlemen, your request for a change of the whole Cabinet
+because I have made one change reminds me of a story I once heard
+in Illinois, of a farmer who was much troubled by skunks. His
+wife insisted on his trying to get rid of them.
+
+"He loaded his shotgun one moonlight night and awaited
+developments. After some time the wife heard the shotgun go off,
+and in a few minutes the farmer entered the house.
+
+"'What luck have you?' asked she.
+
+"'I hid myself behind the wood-pile,' said the old man, 'with
+the shotgun pointed towards the hen roost, and before long there
+appeared not one skunk, but seven. I took aim, blazed away,
+killed one, and he raised such a fearful smell that I concluded
+it was best to let the other six go."'
+
+The Senators laughed and retired.
+
+
+HOW HE GOT BLACKSTONE.
+
+The following story was told by Mr. Lincoln to Mr. A. J. Conant,
+the artist, who painted his portrait in Springfield in 1860:
+
+"One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of
+my store with a wagon which contained his family and household
+plunder. He asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he
+had no room in his wagon, and which he said contained nothing of
+special value. I did not want it, but to oblige him I bought it,
+and paid him, I think, half a dollar for it. Without further
+examination, I put it away in the store and forgot all about it.
+Some time after, in overhauling things, I came upon the barrel,
+and, emptying it upon the floor to see what it contained, I found
+at the bottom of the rubbish a complete edition of Blackstone's
+Commentaries. I began to read those famous works, and I had
+plenty of time; for during the long summer days, when the farmers
+were busy with their crops, my customers were few and far
+between. The more I read"--this he said with unusual
+emphasis--"the more intensely interested I became. Never in my
+whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. I read until I
+devoured them."
+
+
+A JOB FOR THE NEW CABINETMAKER.
+
+This cartoon, labeled "A Job for the New Cabinetmaker," was
+printed in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" on February 2d,
+1861, a month and two days before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated
+President of the United States. The Southern states had seceded
+from the Union, the Confederacy was established, with Jefferson
+Davis as its President, the Union had been split in two, and the
+task Lincoln had before him was to glue the two parts of the
+Republic together. In his famous speech, delivered a short time
+before his nomination for the Presidency by the Republican
+National Convention at Chicago, in 1860, Lincoln had said: "A
+house divided against itself cannot stand; this nation cannot
+exist half slave and half free." After his inauguration as
+President, Mr. Lincoln went to work to glue the two pieces
+together, and after four years of bloody war, and at immense
+cost, the job was finished; the house of the Great American
+Republic was no longer divided; the severed sections--the North
+and the South--were cemented tightly; the slaves were freed,
+peace was firmly established, and the Union of states was glued
+together so well that the nation is stronger now than ever
+before. Lincoln was just the man for that job, and the work he
+did will last for all time. "The New Cabinetmaker" knew his
+business thoroughly, and finished his task of glueing in a
+workmanlike manner. At the very moment of its completion, five
+days after the surrender of Lee to Grant at Appomattox, the
+Martyr President fell at the hands of the assassin, J. Wilkes
+Booth.
+
+
+"I CAN STAND IT IF THEY CAN."
+
+United States Senator Benjamin Wade, of Ohio, Henry Winter Davis,
+of Maryland, and Wendell Phillips were strongly opposed to
+President Lincoln's re-election, and Wade and Davis issued a
+manifesto. Phillips made several warm speeches against Lincoln
+and his policy.
+
+When asked if he had read the manifesto or any of Phillips'
+speeches, the President replied:
+
+"I have not seen them, nor do I care to see them. I have seen
+enough to satisfy me that I am a failure, not only in the opinion
+of the people in rebellion, but of many distinguished politicians
+of my own party. But time will show whether I am right or they
+are right, and I am content to abide its decision.
+
+"I have enough to look after without giving much of my time to
+the consideration of the subject of who shall be my successor in
+office. The position is not an easy one; and the occupant,
+whoever he may be, for the next four years, will have little
+leisure to pluck a thorn or plant a rose in his own pathway."
+
+It was urged that this opposition must be embarrassing to his
+Administration, as well as damaging to the party. He replied:
+"Yes, that is true; but our friends, Wade, Davis, Phillips, and
+others are hard to please. I am not capable of doing so. I cannot
+please them without wantonly violating not only my oath, but the
+most vital principles upon which our government was founded.
+
+"As to those who, like Wade and the rest, see fit to depreciate
+my policy and cavil at my official acts, I shall not complain of
+them. I accord them the utmost freedom of speech and liberty of
+the press, but shall not change the policy I have adopted in the
+full belief that I am right.
+
+"I feel on this subject as an old Illinois farmer once expressed
+himself while eating cheese. He was interrupted in the midst of
+his repast by the entrance of his son, who exclaimed, 'Hold on,
+dad! there's skippers in that cheese you're eating!'
+
+"'Never mind, Tom,' said he, as he kept on munching his cheese,
+'if they can stand it I can.'"
+
+
+LINCOLN MISTAKEN FOR ONCE.
+
+President Lincoln was compelled to acknowledge that he made at
+least one mistake in "sizing up" men. One day a very dignified
+man called at the White House, and Lincoln's heart fell when his
+visitor approached. The latter was portly, his face was full of
+apparent anxiety, and Lincoln was willing to wager a year's
+salary that he represented some Society for the Easy and Speedy
+Repression of Rebellions.
+
+The caller talked fluently, but at no time did he give advice or
+suggest a way to put down the Confederacy. He was full of humor,
+told a clever story or two, and was entirely self-possessed.
+
+At length the President inquired, "You are a clergyman, are you
+not, sir?"
+
+"Not by a jug full," returned the stranger heartily.
+
+Grasping him by the hand Lincoln shook it until the visitor
+squirmed. "You must lunch with us. I am glad to see you. I was
+afraid you were a preacher."
+
+"I went to the Chicago Convention," the caller said, "as a friend
+of Mr. Seward. I have watched you narrowly ever since your
+inauguration, and I called merely to pay my respects. What I want
+to say is this: I think you are doing everything for the good of
+the country that is in the power of man to do. You are on the
+right track. As one of your constituents I now say to you, do in
+future as you d-- please, and I will support you!"
+
+This was spoken with tremendous effect.
+
+"Why," said Mr. Lincoln in great astonishment, "I took you to be
+a preacher. I thought you had come here to tell me how to take
+Richmond," and he again grasped the hand of his strange visitor.
+
+Accurate and penetrating as Mr. Lincoln's judgment was concerning
+men, for once he had been wholly mistaken. The scene was comical
+in the extreme. The two men stood gazing at each other. A smile
+broke from the lips of the solemn wag and rippled over the wide
+expanse of his homely face like sunlight overspreading a
+continent, and Mr. Lincoln was convulsed with laughter.
+
+He stayed to lunch.
+
+
+FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW.
+
+President Lincoln, while entertaining a few friends, is said to
+have related the following anecdote of a man who knew too much:
+
+During the administration of President Jackson there was a
+singular young gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in
+Washington.
+
+His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a
+neighbor of the President, on which account the old hero had a
+kind feeling for him, and always got him out of difficulties with
+some of the higher officials, to whom his singular interference
+was distasteful.
+
+Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the
+General Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to
+Major H., a high official, in answer to an application made by an
+old gentleman in Virginia or Pennsylvania, for the establishment
+of a new postoffice.
+
+The writer of the letter said the application could not be
+granted, in consequence of the applicant's "proximity" to another
+office.
+
+When the letter came into G.'s hand to copy, being a great
+stickler for plainness, he altered "proximity" to "nearness to."
+
+Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+
+"Why," replied G., "because I don't think the man would
+understand what you mean by proximity."
+
+"Well," said Major H., "try him; put in the 'proximity' again."
+
+In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which
+he very indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty
+in the second war for independence, and he should like to have
+the name of the scoundrel who brought the charge of proximity or
+anything else wrong against him.
+
+"There," said G., "did I not say so?"
+
+G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the
+Postmaster-General, said to him: "I don't want you any longer;
+you know too much."
+
+Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+
+This time G.'s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very
+busy writing, when a stranger called in and asked him where the
+Patent Office was.
+
+"I don't know," said G.
+
+"Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?" said the
+stranger.
+
+"No," said G.
+
+"Nor the President's house?"
+
+"No."
+
+ The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+
+"No," replied G.
+
+"Do you live in Washington, sir."
+
+"Yes, sir," said G.
+
+"Good Lord! and don't you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+President's House and Capitol are?"
+
+"Stranger," said G., "I was turned out of the postoffice for
+knowing too much. I don't mean to offend in that way again.
+
+"I am paid for keeping this book.
+
+"I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything
+more you may take my head."
+
+"Good morning," said the stranger.
+
+
+HE LOVED A GOOD STORY.
+
+Judge Breese, of the Supreme bench, one of the most distinguished
+of American jurists, and a man of great personal dignity, was
+about to open court at Springfield, when Lincoln called out in
+his hearty way: "Hold on, Breese! Don't open court yet! Here's
+Bob Blackwell just going to tell a story!" The judge passed on
+without replying, evidently regarding it as beneath the dignity
+of the Supreme Court to delay proceedings for the sake of a
+story.
+
+
+HEELS RAN AWAY WITH THEM.
+
+In an argument against the opposite political party at one time
+during a campaign, Lincoln said: "My opponent uses a figurative
+expression to the effect that 'the Democrats are vulnerable in
+the heel, but they are sound in the heart and head.' The first
+branch of the figure--that is the Democrats are vulnerable in the
+heel--I admit is not merely figuratively but literally true. Who
+that looks but for a moment at their hundreds of officials
+scampering away with the public money to Texas, to Europe, and to
+every spot of the earth where a villain may hope to find refuge
+from justice, can at all doubt that they are most distressingly
+affected in their heels with a species of running itch?
+
+"It seems that this malady of their heels operates on the
+sound-headed and honest-hearted creatures very much as the cork
+leg in the comic song did on its owner, which, when he once got
+started on it, the more he tried to stop it, the more it would
+run away.
+
+"At the hazard of wearing this point threadbare, I will relate an
+anecdote the situation calls to my mind, which seems to be too
+strikingly in point to be omitted. A witty Irish soldier, who was
+always boasting of his bravery when no danger was near, but who
+invariably retreated without orders at the first charge of the
+engagement, being asked by his captain why he did so, replied,
+'Captain, I have as brave a heart as Julius Caesar ever had, but
+somehow or other, whenever danger approaches, my cowardly legs
+will run away with it.'
+
+"So with the opposite party--they take the public money into
+their hands for the most laudable purpose that wise heads and
+honest hearts can dictate; but before they can possibly get it
+out again, their rascally, vulnerable heels will run away with
+them."
+
+
+WANTED TO BURN HIM DOWN TO THE STUMP.
+
+Preston King once introduced A. J. Bleeker to the President, and
+the latter, being an applicant for office, was about to hand Mr.
+Lincoln his vouchers, when he was asked to read them. Bleeker had
+not read very far when the President disconcerted him by the
+exclamation, "Stop a minute! You remind me exactly of the man who
+killed the dog; in fact, you are just like him."
+
+"In what respect?" asked Bleeker, not feeling he had received a
+compliment.
+
+"Well," replied the President, "this man had made up his mind to
+kill his dog, an ugly brute, and proceeded to knock out his
+brains with a club. He continued striking the dog after the
+latter was dead until a friend protested, exclaiming, 'You
+needn't strike him any more; the dog is dead; you killed him at
+the first blow.'
+
+"'Oh, yes,' said he, 'I know that; but I believe in punishment
+after death.' So, I see, you do."
+
+Bleeker acknowledged it was possible to overdo a good thing, and
+then came back at the President with an anecdote of a good priest
+who converted an Indian from heathenism to Christianity; the only
+difficulty he had with him was to get him to pray for his
+enemies. "This Indian had been taught to overcome and destroy all
+his friends he didn't like," said Bleeker, "but the priest told
+him that while that might be the Indian method, it was not the
+doctrine of Christianity or the Bible. 'Saint Paul distinctly
+says,' the priest told him, 'If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if
+he thirst, give him drink.'
+
+"The Indian shook his head at this, but when the priest added,
+'For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head,' Poor
+Lo was overcome with emotion, fell on his knees, and with
+outstretched hands and uplifted eyes invoked all sorts of
+blessings on the heads of all his enemies, supplicating for
+pleasant hunting-grounds, a large supply of squaws, lots of
+papooses, and all other Indian comforts.
+
+"Finally the good priest interrupted him (as you did me, Mr.
+President), exclaiming, 'Stop, my son! You have discharged your
+Christian duty, and have done more than enough.'
+
+"'Oh, no, father,' replied the Indian; 'let me pray! I want to
+burn him down to the stump! "
+
+
+HAD A "KICK" COMING.
+
+During the war, one of the Northern Governors, who was able,
+earnest and untiring in aiding the administration, but always
+complaining, sent dispatch after dispatch to the War Office,
+protesting against the methods used in raising troops. After
+reading all his papers, the President said, in a cheerful and
+reassuring tone to the Adjutant-General:
+
+"Never mind, never mind; those dispatches don't mean anything.
+Just go right ahead. The Governor is like a boy I once saw at a
+launching. When everything was ready, they picked out a boy and
+sent him under the ship to knock away the trigger and let her go.
+
+"At the critical moment everything depended on the boy. He had to
+do the job well by a direct, vigorous blow, and then lie flat and
+keep still while the boat slid over him.
+
+"The boy did everything right, but he yelled as if he were being
+murdered from the time he got under the keel until he got out. I
+thought the hide was all scraped off his back, but he wasn't hurt
+at all.
+
+"The master of the yard told me that this boy was always chosen
+for that job; that he did his work well; that he never had been
+hurt, but that he always squealed in that way.
+
+"That's just the way with Governor --. Make up your mind that he
+is not hurt, and that he is doing the work right, and pay no
+attention to his squealing. He only wants to make you understand
+how hard his task is, and that he is on hand performing it."
+
+
+THE CASE OF BETSY ANN DOUGHERTY.
+
+Many requests and petitions made to Mr. Lincoln when he was
+President were ludicrous and trifling, but he always entered into
+them with that humor-loving spirit that was such a relief from
+the grave duties of his great office.
+
+Once a party of Southerners called on him in behalf of one Betsy
+Ann Dougherty. The spokesman, who was an ex-Governor, said:
+
+"Mr. President, Betsy Ann Dougherty is a good woman. She lived in
+my county and did my washing for a long time. Her husband went
+off and joined the rebel army, and I wish you would give her a
+protection paper." The solemnity of this appeal struck Mr.
+Lincoln as uncommonly ridiculous.
+
+The two men looked at each other--the Governor desperately
+earnest, and the President masking his humor behind the gravest
+exterior. At last Mr. Lincoln asked, with inimitable gravity,
+"Was Betsy Ann a good washerwoman?" "Oh, yes, sir, she was,
+indeed."
+
+"Was your Betsy Ann an obliging woman?" "Yes, she was certainly
+very kind," responded the Governor, soberly. "Could she do other
+things than wash?" continued Mr. Lincoln with the same portentous
+gravity.
+
+"Oh, yes; she was very kind--very."
+
+"Where is Betsy Ann?"
+
+"She is now in New York, and wants to come back to Missouri, but
+she is afraid of banishment."
+
+"Is anybody meddling with her?"
+
+"No; but she is afraid to come back unless you will give her a
+protection paper."
+
+Thereupon Mr. Lincoln wrote on a visiting card the following:
+
+"Let Betsy Ann Dougherty alone as long as she behaves herself.
+
+"A. LINCOLN."
+
+He handed this card to her advocate, saying, "Give this to Betsy
+Ann."
+
+"But, Mr. President, couldn't you write a few words to the
+officers that would insure her protection?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Lincoln, "officers have no time now to read
+letters. Tell Betsy Ann to put a string in this card and hang it
+around her neck. When the officers see this, they will keep their
+hands off your Betsy Ann."
+
+
+HAD TO WEAR A WOODEN SWORD.
+
+Captain "Abe" Lincoln and his company (in the Black Hawk War)
+were without any sort of military knowledge, and both were forced
+to acquire such knowledge by attempts at drilling. Which was the
+more awkward, the "squad" or the commander, it would have been
+difficult to decide.
+
+In one of Lincoln's earliest military problems was involved the
+process of getting his company "endwise" through a gate. Finally
+he shouted, "This company is dismissed for two minutes, when it
+will fall in again on the other side of the gate!"
+
+Lincoln was one of the first of his company to be arraigned for
+unmilitary conduct. Contrary to the rules he fired a gun "within
+the limits," and had his sword taken from him. The next
+infringement of rules was by some of the men, who stole a
+quantity of liquor, drank it, and became unfit for duty,
+straggling out of the ranks the next day, and not getting
+together again until late at night.
+
+For allowing this lawlessness the captain was condemned to wear a
+wooden sword for two days. These were merely interesting but
+trivial incidents of the campaign. Lincoln was from the very
+first popular with his men, although one of them told him to "go
+to the devil."
+
+
+"ABE" STIRRING THE "BLACK" COALS.
+
+Under the caption, "The American Difficulty," "Punch" printed on
+May 11th, 1861, the cartoon reproduced here. The following text
+was placed beneath the illustration: PRESIDENT ABE: "What a nice
+White House this would be, if it were not for the blacks!" It was
+the idea in England, and, in fact, in all the countries on the
+European continent, that the War of the Rebellion was fought to
+secure the freedom of the negro slaves. Such was not the case.
+The freedom of the slaves was one of the necessary consequences
+of the Civil War, but not the cause of that bloody four years'
+conflict. The War was the result of the secession of the states
+of the South from the Union, and President "Abe's" main aim was
+to compel the seceding states to resume their places in the
+Federal Union of states.
+
+The blacks did not bother President "Abe" in the least as he knew
+he would be enabled to give them their freedom when the proper
+time came. He had the project of freeing them in his mind long
+before he issued his Emancipation Proclamation, the delay in
+promulgating that document being due to the fact that he did not
+wish to estrange the hundreds of thousands of patriots of the
+border states who were fighting for the preservation of the
+Union, and not for the freedom of the negro slaves. President
+"Abe" had patience, and everything came out all right in the end.
+
+
+GETTING RID OF AN ELEPHANT.
+
+Charles A. Dana, who was Assistant Secretary of War under Mr.
+Stanton, relates the following: A certain Thompson had been
+giving the government considerable trouble. Dana received
+information that Thompson was about to escape to Liverpool.
+
+Calling upon Stanton, Dana was referred to Mr. Lincoln.
+
+"The President was at the White House, business hours were over,
+Lincoln was washing his hands. 'Hallo, Dana,' said he, as I
+opened the door, 'what is it now?' 'Well, sir,' I said, 'here is
+the Provost Marshal of Portland, who reports that Jacob Thompson
+is to be in town to-night, and inquires what orders we have to
+give.' 'What does Stanton say?' he asked. 'Arrest him,' I
+replied. 'Well,' he continued, drawling his words, 'I rather
+guess not. When you have an elephant on your hands, and he wants
+to run away, better let him run.'"
+
+
+GROTESQUE, YET FRIGHTFUL.
+
+The nearest Lincoln ever came to a fight was when he was in the
+vicinity of the skirmish at Kellogg's Grove, in the Black Hawk
+War. The rangers arrived at the spot after the engagement and
+helped bury the five men who were killed.
+
+Lincoln told Noah Brooks, one of his biographers, that he
+"remembered just how those men looked as we rode up the little
+hill where their camp was. The red light of the morning sun was
+streaming upon them as they lay, heads toward us, on the ground.
+And every man had a round, red spot on the top of his head about
+as big as a dollar, where the redskins had taken his scalp. It
+was frightful, but it was grotesque; and the red sunlight seemed
+to paint everything all over."
+
+Lincoln paused, as if recalling the vivid picture, and added,
+somewhat irrelevantly, "I remember that one man had on buckskin
+breeches."
+
+
+"ABE" WAS NO DUDE.
+
+Always indifferent in matters of dress, Lincoln cut but small
+figure in social circles, even in the earliest days of Illinois.
+His trousers were too short, his hat too small, and, as a rule,
+the buttons on the back of his coat were nearer his shoulder
+blades than his waist.
+
+No man was richer than his fellows, and there was no aristocracy;
+the women wore linsey-woolsey of home manufacture, and dyed them
+in accordance with the tastes of the wearers; calico was rarely
+seen, and a woman wearing a dress of that material was the envy
+of her sisters.
+
+There being no shoemakers the women wore moccasins, and the men
+made their own boots. A hunting shirt, leggins made of skins,
+buckskin breeches, dyed green, constituted an apparel no maiden
+could withstand.
+
+
+CHARACTERISTIC OF LINCOLN.
+
+One man who knew Lincoln at New Salem, says the first time he saw
+him he was lying on a trundle-bed covered with books and papers
+and rocking a cradle with his foot.
+
+The whole scene was entirely characteristic--Lincoln reading and
+studying, and at the same time helping his landlady by quieting
+her child.
+
+A gentleman who knew Mr. Lincoln well in early manhood says:
+"Lincoln at this period had nothing but plenty of friends."
+
+After the customary hand-shaking on one occasion in the White
+House at Washington several gentlemen came forward and asked the
+President for his autograph. One of them gave his name as
+"Cruikshank." "That reminds me," said Mr. Lincoln, "of what I
+used to be called when a young man--'Long-shanks!'"
+
+
+"PLOUGH ALL 'ROUND HIM."
+
+Governor Blank went to the War Department one day in a towering
+rage:
+
+"I suppose you found it necessary to make large concessions to
+him, as he returned from you perfectly satisfied," suggested a
+friend.
+
+"Oh, no," the President replied, "I did not concede anything. You
+have heard how that Illinois farmer got rid of a big log that was
+too big to haul out, too knotty to split, and too wet and soggy
+to burn.
+
+"'Well, now,' said he, in response to the inquiries of his
+neighbors one Sunday, as to how he got rid of it, 'well, now,
+boys, if you won't divulge the secret, I'll tell you how I got
+rid of it--I ploughed around it.'
+
+"Now," remarked Lincoln, in conclusion, "don't tell anybody, but
+that's the way I got rid of Governor Blank. I ploughed all round
+him, but it took me three mortal hours to do it, and I was afraid
+every minute he'd see what I was at."
+
+
+"I'VE LOST MY APPLE."
+
+During a public "reception," a farmer from one of the border
+counties of Virginia told the President that the Union soldiers,
+in passing his farm, had helped themselves not only to hay, but
+his horse, and he hoped the President would urge the proper
+officer to consider his claim immediately.
+
+Mr. Lincoln said that this reminded him of an old acquaintance of
+his, "Jack" Chase, a lumberman on the Illinois, a steady, sober
+man, and the best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick to
+take the logs over the rapids; but he was skilful with a raft,
+and always kept her straight in the channel. Finally a steamer
+was put on, and "Jack" was made captain of her. He always used to
+take the wheel, going through the rapids. One day when the boat
+was plunging and wallowing along the boiling current, and
+"Jack's" utmost vigilance was being exercised to keep her in the
+narrow channel, a boy pulled his coat-tail and hailed him with:
+
+"Say, Mister Captain! I wish you would just stop your boat a
+minute--I've lost my apple overboard!"
+
+
+LOST HIS CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER.
+
+Mr. Lincoln prepared his first inaugural address in a room over a
+store in Springfield. His only reference works were Henry Clay's
+great compromise speech of 1850, Andrew Jackson's Proclamation
+against Nullification, Webster's great reply to Hayne, and a copy
+of the Constitution.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, to be inugurated, the
+inaugural address was placed in a special satchel and guarded
+with special care. At Harrisburg the satchel was given in charge
+of Robert T. Lincoln, who accompanied his father. Before the
+train started from Harrisburg the precious satchel was missing.
+Robert thought he had given it to a waiter at the hotel, but a
+long search failed to reveal the missing satchel with its
+precious document. Lincoln was annoyed, angry, and finally in
+despair. He felt certain that the address was lost beyond
+recovery, and, as it only lacked ten days until the inauguration,
+he had no time to prepare another. He had not even preserved the
+notes from which the original copy had been written.
+
+Mr. Lincoln went to Ward Lamon, his former law partner, then one
+of his bodyguards, and informed him of the loss in the following
+words:
+
+"Lamon, I guess I have lost my certificate of moral character,
+written by myself. Bob has lost my gripsack containing my
+inaugural address." Of course, the misfortune reminded him of a
+story.
+
+"I feel," said Mr. Lincoln, "a good deal as the old member of the
+Methodist Church did when he lost his wife at the camp meeting,
+and went up to an old elder of the church and asked him if he
+could tell him whereabouts in h--l his wife was. In fact, I am in
+a worse fix than my Methodist friend, for if it were only a wife
+that were missing, mine would be sure to bob up somewhere."
+
+The clerk at the hotel told Mr. Lincoln that he would probably
+find his missing satchel in the baggage-room. Arriving there, Mr.
+Lincoln saw a satchel which he thought was his, and it was passed
+out to him. His key fitted the lock, but alas! when it was opened
+the satchel contained only a soiled shirt, some paper collars, a
+pack of cards and a bottle of whisky. A few minutes later the
+satchel containing the inaugural address was found among the pile
+of baggage.
+
+The recovery of the address also reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story,
+which is thus narrated by Ward Lamon in his "Recollections of
+Abraham Lincoln"
+
+The loss of the address and the search for it was the subject of
+a great deal of amusement. Mr. Lincoln said many funny things in
+connection with the incident. One of them was that he knew a
+fellow once who had saved up fifteen hundred dollars, and had
+placed it in a private banking establishment. The bank soon
+failed, and he afterward received ten per cent of his investment.
+He then took his one hundred and fifty dollars and deposited it
+in a savings bank, where he was sure it would be safe. In a short
+time this bank also failed, and he received at the final
+settlement ten per cent on the amount deposited. When the fifteen
+dollars was paid over to him, he held it in his hand and looked
+at it thoughtfully; then he said, "Now, darn you, I have got you
+reduced to a portable shape, so I'll put you in my pocket."
+Suiting the action to the word, Mr. Lincoln took his address from
+the bag and carefully placed it in the inside pocket of his vest,
+but held on to the satchel with as much interest as if it still
+contained his "certificate of moral character."
+
+
+NOTE PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT.
+
+The great English funny paper, London "Punch," printed this
+cartoon on September 27th, 1862. It is intended to convey the
+idea that Lincoln, having asserted that the war would be over in
+ninety days, had not redeemed his word: The text under the
+Cartoon in Punch was:
+
+MR. SOUTH TO MR. NORTH: "Your 'ninety-day' promissory note isn't
+taken up yet, sirree!"
+
+The tone of the cartoon is decidedly unfriendly. The North
+finally took up the note, but the South had to pay it. "Punch"
+was not pleased with the result, but "Mr. North" did not care
+particularly what this periodical thought about it. The United
+States, since then, has been prepared to take up all of its
+obligations when due, but it must be acknowledged that at the
+time this cartoon was published the outlook was rather dark and
+gloomy. Lincoln did not despair, however; but although business
+was in rather bad shape for a time, the financial skies finally
+cleared, business was resumed at the old stand, and Uncle Sam's
+credit is now as good, or better, than other nations' cash in
+hand.
+
+
+DOG WAS A "LEETLE BIT AHEAD."
+
+Lincoln could not sympathize with those Union generals who were
+prone to indulge in high-sounding promises, but whose
+performances did not by any means come up to their predictions as
+to what they would do if they ever met the enemy face to face. He
+said one day, just after one of these braggarts had been soundly
+thrashed by the Confederates:
+
+"These fellows remind me of the fellow who owned a dog which, so
+he said, just hungered and thirsted to combat and eat up wolves.
+It was a difficult matter, so the owner declared, to keep that
+dog from devoting the entire twenty-four hours of each day to the
+destruction of his enemies. He just 'hankered' to get at them.
+
+"One day a party of this dog-owner's friends thought to have some
+sport. These friends heartily disliked wolves, and were anxious
+to see the dog eat up a few thousand. So they organized a hunting
+party and invited the dog-owner and the dog to go with them. They
+desired to be personally present when the wolf-killing was in
+progress.
+
+"It was noticed that the dog-owner was not over-enthusiastic in
+the matter; he pleaded a 'business engagement,' but as he was the
+most notorious and torpid of the town loafers, and wouldn't have
+recognized a 'business engagement' had he met it face to face,
+his excuse was treated with contempt. Therefore he had to go.
+
+"The dog, however, was glad enough to go, and so the party
+started out. Wolves were in plenty, and soon a pack was
+discovered, but when the 'wolf-hound' saw the ferocious animals
+he lost heart, and, putting his tail between his legs, endeavored
+to slink away. At last--after many trials--he was enticed into
+the small growth of underbrush where the wolves had secreted
+themselves, and yelps of terror betrayed the fact that the battle
+was on.
+
+"Away flew the wolves, the dog among them, the hunting party
+following on horseback. The wolves seemed frightened, and the dog
+was restored to public favor. It really looked as if he had the
+savage creatures on the run, as he was fighting heroically when
+last sighted.
+
+"Wolves and dog soon disappeared, and it was not until the party
+arrived at a distant farmhouse that news of the combatants was
+gleaned.
+
+'Have you seen anything of a wolf-dog and a pack of wolves around
+here?' was the question anxiously put to the male occupant of the
+house, who stood idly leaning upon the gate.
+
+"'Yep,' was the short answer.
+
+"'How were they going?'
+
+"'Purty fast.'
+
+"'What was their position when you saw them?'
+
+"'Well,' replied the farmer, in a most exasperatingly deliberate
+way, 'the dog was a leetle bit ahead.'
+
+"Now, gentlemen," concluded the President, "that's the position
+in which you'll find most of these bragging generals when they
+get into a fight with the enemy. That's why I don't like military
+orators."
+
+
+"ABE'S" FIGHT WITH NEGROES.
+
+When Lincoln was nineteen years of age, he went to work for a Mr.
+Gentry, and, in company with Gentry's son, took a flatboat load
+of provisions to New Orleans. At a plantation six miles below
+Baton Rouge, while the boat was tied up to the shore in the dead
+hours of the night, and Abe and Allen were fast asleep in the
+bed, they were startled by footsteps on board. They knew
+instantly that it was a gang of negroes come to rob and perhaps
+murder them. Allen, thinking to frighten the negroes, called out,
+"Bring guns, Lincoln, and shoot them!" Abe came without the guns,
+but fell among the negroes with a huge bludgeon and belabored
+them most cruelly, following them onto the bank. They rushed back
+to their boat and hastily put out into the stream. It is said
+that Lincoln received a scar in this tussle which he carried with
+him to his grave. It was on this trip that he saw the workings of
+slavery for the first time. The sight of New Orleans was like a
+wonderful panorama to his eyes, for never before had he seen
+wealth, beauty, fashion and culture. He returned home with new
+and larger ideas and stronger opinions of right and justice.
+
+
+NOISE LIKE A TURNIP.
+
+"Every man has his own peculiar and particular way of getting at
+and doing things," said President Lincoln one day, "and he is
+often criticised because that way is not the one adopted by
+others. The great idea is to accomplish what you set out to do.
+When a man is successful in whatever he attempts, he has many
+imitators, and the methods used are not so closely scrutinized,
+although no man who is of good intent will resort to mean,
+underhanded, scurvy tricks.
+
+"That reminds me of a fellow out in Illinois, who had better luck
+in getting prairie chickens than any one in the neighborhood. He
+had a rusty old gun no other man dared to handle; he never seemed
+to exert himself, being listless and indifferent when out after
+game, but he always brought home all the chickens he could carry,
+while some of the others, with their finely trained dogs and
+latest improved fowling-pieces, came home alone.
+
+"'How is it, Jake?' inquired one sportsman, who, although a good
+shot, and knew something about hunting, was often unfortunate,
+'that you never come home without a lot of birds?'
+
+"Jake grinned, half closed his eyes, and replied: 'Oh, I don't
+know that there's anything queer about it. I jes' go ahead an'
+git 'em.'
+
+"'Yes, I know you do; but how do you do it?'
+
+"'You'll tell.'
+
+"'Honest, Jake, I won't say a word. Hope to drop dead this
+minute.'
+
+"'Never say nothing, if I tell you?'
+
+"'Cross my heart three times.'
+
+"This reassured Jake, who put his mouth close to the ear of his
+eager questioner, and said, in a whisper:
+
+"'All you got to do is jes' to hide in a fence corner an' make a
+noise like a turnip. That'll bring the chickens every time.'"
+
+
+WARDING OFF GOD'S VENGEANCE.
+
+When Lincoln was a candidate for re-election to the Illinois
+Legislature in 1836, a meeting was advertised to be held in the
+court-house in Springfield, at which candidates of opposing
+parties were to speak. This gave men of spirit and capacity a
+fine opportunity to show the stuff of which they were made.
+
+George Forquer was one of the most prominent citizens; he had
+been a Whig, but became a Democrat--possibly for the reason that
+by means of the change he secured the position of Government land
+register, from President Andrew Jackson. He had the largest and
+finest house in the city, and there was a new and striking
+appendage to it, called a lightning-rod! The meeting was very
+large. Seven Whig and seven Democratic candidates spoke.
+
+Lincoln closed the discussion. A Kentuckian (Joshua F. Speed),
+who had heard Henry Clay and other distinguished Kentucky
+orators, stood near Lincoln, and stated afterward that he "never
+heard a more effective speaker; . . . the crowd seemed to be
+swayed by him as he pleased." What occurred during the closing
+portion of this meeting must be given in full, from Judge
+Arnold's book:
+
+"Forquer, although not a candidate, asked to be heard for the
+Democrats, in reply to Lincoln. He was a good speaker, and well
+known throughout the county. His special task that day was to
+attack and ridicule the young countryman from Salem.
+
+"Turning to Lincoln, who stood within a few feet of him, he said:
+'This young man must be taken down, and I am truly sorry that the
+task devolves upon me.' He then proceeded, in a very overbearing
+way, and with an assumption of great superiority, to attack
+Lincoln and his speech. He was fluent and ready with the rough
+sarcasm of the stump, and he went on to ridicule the person,
+dress and arguments of Lincoln with so much success that
+Lincoln's friends feared that he would be embarrassed and
+overthrown."
+
+The Clary's Grove boys were present, and were restrained with
+difficulty from "getting up a fight" in behalf of their favorite
+(Lincoln), they and all his friends feeling that the attack was
+ungenerous and unmanly.)
+
+"Lincoln, however, stood calm, but his flashing eye and pale
+cheek indicated his indignation. As soon as Forquer had closed he
+took the stand, and first answered his opponent's arguments fully
+and triumphantly. So impressive were his words and manner that a
+hearer (Joshua F. Speed) believes that he can remember to this
+day and repeat some of the expressions.
+
+"Among other things he said: 'The gentleman commenced his speech
+by saying that "this young man," alluding to me, "must be taken
+down." I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and the
+trades of a politician, but,' said he, pointing to Forquer, 'live
+long or die young, I would rather die now than, like the
+gentleman, change my politics, and with the change receive an
+office worth $3,000 a year, and then,' continued he, 'feel
+obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house, to protect a
+guilty conscience from an offended God!'"
+
+
+JEFF DAVIS AND CHARLES THE FIRST.
+
+Jefferson Davis insisted on being recognized by his official
+title as commander or President in the regular negotiation with
+the Government. This Mr. Lincoln would not consent to.
+
+Mr. Hunter thereupon referred to the correspondence between King
+Charles the First and his Parliament as a precedent for a
+negotiation between a constitutional ruler and rebels. Mr.
+Lincoln's face then wore that indescribable expression which
+generally preceded his hardest hits, and he remarked: "Upon
+questions of history, I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for he is
+posted in such things, and I don't profess to be; but my only
+distinct recollection of the matter is, that Charles lost his
+head."
+
+
+LOVED SOLDIERS' HUMOR.
+
+Lincoln loved anything that savored of wit or humor among the
+soldiers. He used to relate two stories to show, he said, that
+neither death nor danger could quench the grim humor of the
+American soldier:
+
+"A soldier of the Army of the Potomac was being carried to the
+rear of battle with both legs shot off, who, seeing a pie-woman,
+called out, 'Say, old lady, are them pies sewed or pegged?'
+
+"And there was another one of the soldiers at the battle of
+Chancellorsville, whose regiment, waiting to be called into the
+fight, was taking coffee. The hero of the story put to his lips a
+crockery mug which he had carried with care through several
+campaigns. A stray bullet, just missing the tinker's head, dashed
+the mug into fragments and left only the handle on his finger.
+Turning his head in that direction, he scowled, 'Johnny, you
+can't do that again!'"
+
+
+BAD TIME FOR A BARBECUE.
+
+Captain T. W. S. Kidd of Springfield was the crier of the court
+in the days when Mr. Lincoln used to ride the circuit.
+
+"I was younger than he," says Captain Kidd, "but he had a sort of
+admiration for me, and never failed to get me into his stories. I
+was a story-teller myself in those days, and he used to laugh
+very heartily at some of the stories I told him.
+
+"Now and then he got me into a good deal of trouble. I was a
+Democrat, and was in politics more or less. A good many of our
+Democratic voters at that time were Irishmen. They came to
+Illinois in the days of the old canal, and did their honest share
+in making that piece of internal improvement an accomplished
+fact.
+
+"One time Mr. Lincoln told the story of one of those important
+young fellows--not an Irishman--who lived in every town, and have
+the cares of state on their shoulders. This young fellow met an
+Irishman on the street, and called to him, officiously: 'Oh,
+Mike, I'm awful glad I met you. We've got to do something to wake
+up the boys. The campaign is coming on, and we've got to get out
+voters. We've just had a meeting up here, and we're going to have
+the biggest barbecue that ever was heard of in Illinois. We are
+going to roast two whole oxen, and we're going to have Douglas
+and Governor Cass and some one from Kentucky, and all the big
+Democratic guns, and we're going to have a great big time.'
+
+"'By dad, that's good!' says the Irishman. 'The byes need
+stirrin' up.'
+
+"'Yes, and you're on one of the committees, and you want to
+hustle around and get them waked up, Mike.'
+
+"'When is the barbecue to be?' asked Mike.
+
+"'Friday, two weeks.'
+
+"'Friday, is it? Well, I'll make a nice committeeman, settin'
+the barbecue on a day with half of the Dimocratic party of
+Sangamon county can't ate a bite of mate. Go on wid ye.'
+
+"Lincoln told that story in one of his political speeches, and
+when the laugh was over he said: 'Now, gentlemen, I know that
+story is true, for Tom Kidd told it to me.' And then the
+Democrats would make trouble for me for a week afterward, and I'd
+have to explain."
+
+
+HE'D SEE IT AGAIN.
+
+About two years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency
+he went to Bloomington, Illinois, to try a case of some
+importance. His opponent--who afterward reached a high place in
+his profession--was a young man of ability, sensible but
+sensitive, and one to whom the loss of a case was a great blow.
+He therefore studied hard and made much preparation.
+
+This particular case was submitted to the jury late at night,
+and, although anticipating a favorable verdict, the young
+attorney spent a sleepless night in anxiety. Early next morning
+he learned, to his great chagrin, that he had lost the case.
+
+Lincoln met him at the court-house some time after the jury had
+come in, and asked him what had become of his case.
+
+With lugubrious countenance and in a melancholy tone the young
+man replied, "It's gone to hell."
+
+"Oh, well," replied Lincoln, "then you will see it again."
+
+
+CALL ANOTHER WITNESS.
+
+When arguing a case in court, Mr. Lincoln never used a word which
+the dullest juryman could not understand. Rarely, if ever, did a
+Latin term creep into his arguments. A lawyer, quoting a legal
+maxim one day in court, turned to Lincoln, and said: "That is so,
+is it not, Mr. Lincoln?"
+
+"If that's Latin." Lincoln replied, "you had better call another
+witness."
+
+
+A CONTEST WITH LITTLE "TAD."
+
+Mr. Carpenter, the artist, relates the following incident: "Some
+photographers came up to the White House to make some
+stereoscopic studies for me of the President's office. They
+requested a dark closet in which to develop the pictures, and,
+without a thought that I was infringing upon anybody's rights, I
+took them to an unoccupied room of which little 'Tad' had taken
+possession a few days before, and, with the aid of a couple of
+servants, had fitted up a miniature theater, with stage,
+curtains, orchestra, stalls, parquette and all. Knowing that the
+use required would interfere with none of his arrangements, I led
+the way to this apartment.
+
+"Everything went on well, and one or two pictures had been taken,
+when suddenly there was an uproar. The operator came back to the
+office and said that 'Tad' had taken great offense at the
+occupation of his room without his consent, and had locked the
+door, refusing all admission.
+
+"The chemicals had been taken inside, and there was no way of
+getting at them, he having carried off the key. In the midst of
+this conversation 'Tad' burst in, in a fearful passion. He laid
+all the blame upon me--said that I had no right to use his room,
+and the men should not go in even to get their things. He had
+locked the door and they should not go there again--'they had no
+business in his room!'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln was sitting for a photograph, and was still in the
+chair. He said, very mildly, 'Tad, go and unlock the door.' Tad
+went off muttering into his mother's room, refusing to obey. I
+followed him into the passage, but no coaxing would pacify him.
+Upon my return to the President, I found him still patiently in
+the chair, from which he had not risen. He said: 'Has not the boy
+opened the door?' I replied that we could do nothing with him--he
+had gone off in a great pet. Mr. Lincoln's lips came together
+firmly, and then, suddenly rising, he strode across the passage
+with the air of one bent on punishment, and disappeared in the
+domestic apartments. Directly he returned with the key to the
+theater, which he unlocked himself.
+
+"'Tad,' said he, half apologetically, 'is a peculiar child. He
+was violently excited when I went to him. I said, "Tad, do you
+know that you are making your father a great deal of trouble?" He
+burst into tears, instantly giving me up the key.'"
+
+
+REMINDED HIM OF "A LITTLE STORY."
+
+When Lincoln's attention was called to the fact that, at one time
+in his boyhood, he had spelled the name of the Deity with a small
+"g," he replied:
+
+"That reminds me of a little story. It came about that a lot of
+Confederate mail was captured by the Union forces, and, while it
+was not exactly the proper thing to do, some of our soldiers
+opened several letters written by the Southerners at the front to
+their people at home.
+
+"In one of these missives the writer, in a postscript, jotted
+down this assertion
+
+"'We'll lick the Yanks termorrer, if goddlemity (God Almighty)
+spares our lives.'
+
+"That fellow was in earnest, too, as the letter was written the
+day before the second battle of Manassas."
+
+
+"FETCHED SEVERAL SHORT ONES."
+
+"The first time I ever remember seeing 'Abe' Lincoln," is the
+testimony of one of his neighbors, "was when I was a small boy
+and had gone with my father to attend some kind of an election.
+One of the neighbors, James Larkins, was there.
+
+"Larkins was a great hand to brag on anything he owned. This time
+it was his horse. He stepped up before 'Abe,' who was in a crowd,
+and commenced talking to him, boasting all the while of his
+animal.
+
+"'I have got the best horse in the country,' he shouted to his
+young listener. 'I ran him nine miles in exactly three minutes,
+and he never fetched a long breath.'
+
+"'I presume,' said 'Abe,' rather dryly, 'he fetched a good many
+short ones, though.'"
+
+
+LINCOLN LUGS THE OLD MAN.
+
+On May 3rd, 1862, "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" printed
+this cartoon, over the title of "Sandbag Lincoln and the Old Man
+of the Sea, Secretary of the Navy Welles." It was intended to
+demonstrate that the head of the Navy Department was incompetent
+to manage the affairs of the Navy; also that the Navy was not
+doing as good work as it might.
+
+When this cartoon was published, the United States Navy had
+cleared and had under control the Mississippi River as far south
+as Memphis; had blockaded all the cotton ports of the South; had
+assisted in the reduction of a number of Confederate forts; had
+aided Grant at Fort Donelson and the battle of Shiloh; the
+Monitor had whipped the ironclad terror, Merrimac (the
+Confederates called her the Virginia); Admiral Farragut's fleet
+had compelled the surrender of the city of New Orleans, the great
+forts which had defended it, and the Federal Government obtained
+control of the lower Mississippi.
+
+"The Old Man of the Sea" was therefore, not a drag or a weight
+upon President Lincoln, and the Navy was not so far behind in
+making a good record as the picture would have the people of the
+world believe. It was not long after the Monitor's victory that
+the United States Navy was the finest that ever plowed the seas.
+The building of the Monitor also revolutionized naval warfare.
+
+
+McCLELLAN WAS "INTRENCHING."
+
+About a week after the Chicago Convention, a gentleman from New
+York called upon the President, in company with the Assistant
+Secretary of War, Mr. Dana.
+
+In the course of conversation, the gentleman said: "What do you
+think, Mr. President, is the reason General McClellan does not
+reply to the letter from the Chicago Convention?"
+
+"Oh!" replied Mr. Lincoln, with a characteristic twinkle of the
+eye, "he is intrenching!"
+
+
+MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT, ANYWAY.
+
+>From the day of his nomination by the Chicago convention, gifts
+poured in upon Lincoln. Many of these came in the form of wearing
+apparel. Mr. George Lincoln, of Brooklyn, who brought to
+Springfield, in January, 1861, a handsome silk hat to the
+President-elect, the gift of a New York hatter, told some friends
+that in receiving the hat Lincoln laughed heartily over the gifts
+of clothing, and remarked to Mrs. Lincoln: "Well, wife, if
+nothing else comes out of this scrape, we are going to have some
+new clothes, are we not?"
+
+
+VICIOUS OXEN HAVE SHORT HORNS.
+
+In speaking of the many mean and petty acts of certain members of
+Congress, the President, while talking on the subject one day
+with friends, said:
+
+"I have great sympathy for these men, because of their temper and
+their weakness; but I am thankful that the good Lord has given to
+the vicious ox short horns, for if their physical courage were
+equal to their vicious disposition, some of us in this neck of
+the woods would get hurt."
+
+
+LINCOLN'S NAME FOR "WEEPING WATER."
+
+"I was speaking one time to Mr. Lincoln," said Governor Saunders,
+of Nebraska, of a little Nebraskan settlement on the Weeping
+Water, a stream in our State."
+
+"'Weeping Water!' said he.
+
+"Then with a twinkle in his eye, he continued.
+
+"'I suppose the Indians out there call Minneboohoo, don't they?
+They ought to, if Laughing Water is Minnehaha in their
+language.'"
+
+
+PETER CARTWRIGHT'S DESCRIPTION OF LINCOLN.
+
+Peter Cartwright, the famous and eccentric old Methodist
+preacher, who used to ride a church circuit, as Mr. Lincoln and
+others did the court circuit, did not like Lincoln very well,
+probably because Mr. Lincoln was not a member of his flock, and
+once defeated the preacher for Congress. This was Cartwright's
+description of Lincoln: "This Lincoln is a man six feet four
+inches tall, but so angular that if you should drop a plummet
+from the center of his head it would cut him three times before
+it touched his feet."
+
+
+NO DEATHS IN HIS HOUSE.
+
+A gentleman was relating to the President how a friend of his had
+been driven away from New Orleans as a Unionist, and how, on his
+expulsion, when he asked to see the writ by which he was
+expelled, the deputation which called on him told him the
+Government would do nothing illegal, and so they had issued no
+illegal writs, and simply meant to make him go of his own free
+will.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "that reminds me of a hotel-keeper down
+at St. Louis, who boasted that he never had a death in his hotel,
+for whenever a guest was dying in his house he carried him out to
+die in the gutter."
+
+
+PAINTED HIS PRINCIPLES.
+
+The day following the adjournment of the Baltimore Convention, at
+which President Lincoln was renominated, various political
+organizations called to pay their respects to the President.
+While the Philadelphia delegation was being presented, the
+chairman of that body, in introducing one of the members, said:
+
+"Mr. President, this is Mr. S., of the second district of our
+State,--a most active and earnest friend of yours and the cause.
+He has, among other things, been good enough to paint, and
+present to our league rooms, a most beautiful portrait of
+yourself."
+
+President Lincoln took the gentleman's hand in his, and shaking
+it cordially said, with a merry voice, "I presume, sir, in
+painting your beautiful portrait, you took your idea of me from
+my principles and not from my person."
+
+
+DIGNIFYING THE STATUTE.
+
+Lincoln was married--he balked at the first date set for the
+ceremony and did not show up at all--November 4, 1842, under most
+happy auspices. The officiating clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Dresser,
+used the Episcopal church service for marriage. Lincoln placed
+the ring upon the bride's finger, and said, "With this ring I now
+thee wed, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow."
+
+Judge Thomas C. Browne, who was present, exclaimed, "Good
+gracious, Lincoln! the statute fixes all that!"
+
+"Oh, well," drawled Lincoln, "I just thought I'd add a little
+dignity to the statute."
+
+
+LINCOLN CAMPAIGN MOTTOES.
+
+The joint debates between Lincoln and Douglas were attended by
+crowds of people, and the arrival of both at the places of
+speaking were in the nature of a triumphal procession. In these
+processions there were many banners bearing catchphrases and
+mottoes expressing the sentiment of the people on the candidates
+and the issues.
+
+The following were some of the mottoes on the Lincoln banners:
+
+[Westward the star of empire takes its way;
+The girls link on to Lincoln, their mothers were for Clay.]
+
+[Abe, the Giant-Killer.]
+
+[Edgar County for the Tall Sucker.]
+
+[Free Territories and Free Men,
+  Free Pulpits and Free Preachers,
+Free Press and a Free Pen,
+  Free Schools and Free Teachers.]
+
+
+GIVING AWAY THE CASE.
+
+Between the first election and inauguration of Mr. Lincoln the
+disunion sentiment grew rapidly in the South, and President
+Buchanan's failure to stop the open acts of secession grieved Mr.
+Lincoln sorely. Mr. Lincoln had a long talk with his friend,
+Judge Gillespie, over the state of affairs. One incident of the
+conversation is thus narrated by the Judge:
+
+"When I retired, it was the master of the house and chosen ruler
+of the country who saw me to my room. 'Joe,' he said, as he was
+about to leave me, 'I am reminded and I suppose you will never
+forget that trial down in Montgomery county, where the lawyer
+associated with you gave away the whole case in his opening
+speech. I saw you signaling to him, but you couldn't stop him.
+
+"'Now, that's just the way with me and Buchanan. He is giving
+away the case, and I have nothing to say, and can't stop him.
+Good-night.'"
+
+
+POSING WITH A BROOMSTICK.
+
+Mr. Leonard Volk, the artist, relates that, being in Springfield
+when Lincoln's nomination for President was announced, he called
+upon Mr. Lincoln, whom he found looking smiling and happy. "I
+exclaimed, 'I am the first man from Chicago, I believe, who has
+had the honor of congratulating you on your nomination for
+President.' Then those two great hands took both of mine with a
+grasp never to be forgotten, and while shaking, I said, 'Now that
+you will doubtless be the next President of the United States, I
+want to make a statue of you, and shall try my best to do you
+justice.'
+
+"Said he, 'I don't doubt it, for I have come to the conclusion
+that you are an honest man,' and with that greeting, I thought my
+hands in a fair way of being crushed.
+
+"On the Sunday following, by agreement, I called to make a cast
+of Mr. Lincoln's hands. I asked him to hold something in his
+hands, and told him a stick would do. Thereupon he went to the
+woodshed, and I heard the saw go, and he soon returned to the
+dining-room, whittling off the end of a piece of broom handle. I
+remarked to him that he need not whittle off the edges. 'Oh,
+well,' said he, 'I thought I would like to have it nice.'"
+
+
+"BOTH LENGTH AND BREADTH."
+
+During Lincoln's first and only term in Congress--he was elected
+in 1846--he formed quite a cordial friendship with Stephen A.
+Douglas, a member of the United States Senate from Illinois, and
+the beaten one in the contest as to who should secure the hand of
+Miss Mary Todd. Lincoln was the winner; Douglas afterwards beat
+him for the United States Senate, but Lincoln went to the White
+House.
+
+During all of the time that they were rivals in love and in
+politics they remained the best of friends personally. They were
+always glad to see each other, and were frequently together. The
+disparity in their size was always the more noticeable upon such
+occasions, and they well deserved their nicknames of "Long Abe"
+and the "Little Giant." Lincoln was the tallest man in the
+National House of Representatives, and Douglas the shortest (and
+perhaps broadest) man the Senate, and when they appeared on the
+streets together much merriment was created. Lincoln, when joked
+about the matter, replied, in a very serious tone, "Yes, that's
+about the length and breadth of it."
+
+
+"ABE" RECITES A SONG.
+
+Lincoln couldn't sing, and he also lacked the faculty of musical
+adaptation. He had a liking for certain ballads and songs, and
+while he memorized and recited their lines, someone else did the
+singing. Lincoln often recited for the delectation of his
+friends, the following, the authorship of which is unknown:
+
+The first factional fight in old Ireland, they say,
+Was all on account of St. Patrick's birthday;
+It was somewhere about midnight without any doubt,
+And certain it is, it made a great rout.
+
+On the eighth day of March, as some people say,
+St. Patrick at midnight he first saw the day;
+While others assert 'twas the ninth he was born--
+'Twas all a mistake--between midnight and morn.
+
+Some blamed the baby, some blamed the clock;
+Some blamed the doctor, some the crowing cock.
+With all these close questions sure no one could know,
+Whether the babe was too fast or the clock was too slow.
+
+Some fought for the eighth, for the ninth some would die;
+He who wouldn't see right would have a black eye.
+At length these two factions so positive grew,
+They each had a birthday, and Pat he had two.
+
+Till Father Mulcahay who showed them their sins,
+He said none could have two birthdays but as twins.
+"Now boys, don't be fighting for the eight or the nine;
+Don't quarrel so always, now why not combine."
+
+Combine eight with nine. It is the mark;
+Let that be the birthday. Amen! said the clerk.
+So all got blind drunk, which completed their bliss,
+And they've kept up the practice from that day to this.
+
+
+"MANAGE TO KEEP HOUSE."
+
+Senator John Sherman, of Ohio, introduced his brother, William T.
+Sherman (then a civilian) to President Lincoln in March, 1861.
+Sherman had offered his services, but, as in the case of Grant,
+they had been refused.
+
+After the Senator had transacted his business with the President,
+he said: "Mr. President, this is my brother, Colonel Sherman, who
+is just up from Louisiana; he may give you some information you
+want."
+
+To this Lincoln replied, as reported by Senator Sherman himself:
+"Ah! How are they getting along down there?"
+
+Sherman answered: "They think they are getting along swimmingly;
+they are prepared for war."
+
+To which Lincoln responded: "Oh, well, I guess we'll manage to
+keep the house."
+
+"Tecump," whose temper was not the mildest, broke out on "Brother
+John" as soon as they were out of the White House, cursed the
+politicians roundly, and wound up with, "You have got things in a
+h--l of a fix, and you may get out as best you can."
+
+Sherman was one of the very few generals who gave Lincoln little
+or no worry.
+
+
+GRANT "TUMBLED" RIGHT AWAY.
+
+General Grant told this story about Lincoln some years after the
+War:
+
+"Just after receiving my commission as lieutenant-general the
+President called me aside to speak to me privately. After a brief
+reference to the military situation, he said he thought he could
+illustrate what he wanted to say by a story. Said he:
+
+"'At one time there was a great war among the animals, and one
+side had great difficulty in getting a commander who had
+sufficient confidence in himself. Finally they found a monkey by
+the name of Jocko, who said he thought he could command their
+army if his tail could be made a little longer. So they got more
+tail and spliced it on to his caudal appendage.
+
+"'He looked at it admiringly, and then said he thought he ought
+to have still more tail. This was added, and again he called for
+more. The splicing process was repeated many times until they had
+coiled Jocko's tail around the room, filling all the space.
+
+"'Still he called for more tail, and, there being no other place
+to coil it, they began wrapping it around his shoulders. He
+continued his call for more, and they kept on winding the
+additional tail around him until its weight broke him down.'
+
+"I saw the point, and, rising from my chair, replied, 'Mr.
+President, I will not call for any more assistance unless I find
+it impossible to do with what I already have.'"
+
+
+"DON'T KILL HIM WITH YOUR FIST."
+
+Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln's
+time in Washington, was a powerful man; his strength was
+phenomenal, and a blow from his fist was like unto that coming
+from the business end of a sledge.
+
+Lamon tells this story, the hero of which is not mentioned by
+name, but in all probability his identity can be guessed:
+
+"On one occasion, when the fears of the loyal element of the city
+(Washington) were excited to fever-heat, a free fight near the
+old National Theatre occurred about eleven o'clock one night. An
+officer, in passing the place, observed what was going on, and
+seeing the great number of persons engaged, he felt it to be his
+duty to command the peace.
+
+"The imperative tone of his voice stopped the fighting for a
+moment, but the leader, a great bully, roughly pushed back the
+officer and told him to go away or he would whip him. The officer
+again advanced and said, 'I arrest you,' attempting to place his
+hand on the man's shoulder, when the bully struck a fearful blow
+at the officer's face.
+
+"This was parried, and instantly followed by a blow from the fist
+of the officer, striking the fellow under the chin and knocking
+him senseless. Blood issued from his mouth, nose and ears. It was
+believed that the man's neck was broken. A surgeon was called,
+who pronounced the case a critical one, and the wounded man was
+hurried away on a litter to the hospital.
+
+"There the physicians said there was concussion of the brain, and
+that the man would die. All the medical skill that the officer
+could procure was employed in the hope of saving the life of the
+man. His conscience smote him for having, as he believed, taken
+the life of a fellow-creature, and he was inconsolable.
+
+"Being on terms of intimacy with the President, about two o'clock
+that night the officer went to the White House, woke up Mr.
+Lincoln, and requested him to come into his office, where he told
+him his story. Mr. Lincoln listened with great interest until the
+narrative was completed, and then asked a few questions, after
+which he remarked:
+
+"'I am sorry you had to kill the man, but these are times of
+war, and a great many men deserve killing. This one, according to
+your story, is one of them; so give yourself no uneasiness about
+the matter. I will stand by you.'
+
+"'That is not why I came to you. I knew I did my duty, and had
+no fears of your disapproval of what I did,' replied the officer;
+and then he added: 'Why I came to you was, I felt great grief
+over the unfortunate affair, and I wanted to talk to you about
+it.'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln then said, with a smile, placing his hand on the
+officer' shoulder: 'You go home now and get some sleep; but let
+me give you this piece of advice--hereafter, when you have
+occasion to strike a man, don't hit him with your fist; strike
+him with a club, a crowbar, or with something that won't kill
+him.'"
+
+
+COULD BE ARBITRARY.
+
+Lincoln could be arbitrary when occasion required. This is the
+letter he wrote to one of the Department heads:
+
+"You must make a job of it, and provide a place for the bearer
+of this, Elias Wampole. Make a job of it with the collector and
+have it done. You can do it for me, and you must."
+
+There was no delay in taking action in this matter. Mr. Wampole,
+or "Eli," as he was thereafter known, "got there."
+
+
+A GENERAL BUSTIFICATION.
+
+Many amusing stories are told of President Lincoln and his
+gloves. At about the time of his third reception he had on a
+tight-fitting pair of white kids, which he had with difficulty
+got on. He saw approaching in the distance an old Illinois friend
+named Simpson, whom he welcomed with a genuine Sangamon county
+(Illeenoy) shake, which resulted in bursting his white kid glove,
+with an audible sound. Then, raising his brawny hand up before
+him, looking at it with an indescribable expression, he said,
+while the whole procession was checked, witnessing this scene:
+
+"Well, my old friend, this is a general bustification. You and I
+were never intended to wear these things. If they were stronger
+they might do well enough to keep out the cold, but they are a
+failure to shake hands with between old friends like us. Stand
+aside, Captain, and I'll see you shortly."
+
+Simpson stood aside, and after the unwelcome ceremony was
+terminated he rejoined his old Illinois friend in familiar
+intercourse.
+
+
+MAKING QUARTERMASTERS.
+
+H. C. Whitney wrote in 1866: "I was in Washington in the Indian
+service for a few days before August, 1861, and I merely said to
+President Lincoln one day: 'Everything is drifting into the war,
+and I guess you will have to put me in the army.'
+
+"The President looked up from his work and said, good-humoredly:
+
+'I'm making generals now; in a few days I will be making
+quartermasters, and then I'll fix you.'"
+
+
+NO POSTMASTERS IN HIS POCKET.
+
+In the "Diary of a Public Man" appears this jocose anecdote:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln walked into the corridor with us; and, as he bade us
+good-by and thanked Blank for what he had told him, he again
+brightened up for a moment and asked him in an abrupt kind of
+way, laying his hand as he spoke with a queer but not uncivil
+familiarity on his shoulder, 'You haven't such a thing as a
+postmaster in your pocket, have you?'
+
+Blank stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in
+alarm, as if he suspected a sudden attack of insanity; then Mr.
+Lincoln went on:
+
+'You see it seems to me kind of unnatural that you shouldn't have
+at least a postmaster in your pocket. Everybody I've seen for
+days past has had foreign ministers and collectors, and all
+kinds, and I thought you couldn't have got in here without having
+at least a postmaster get into your pocket!'"
+
+
+HE "SKEWED" THE LINE.
+
+When a surveyor, Mr. Lincoln first platted the town of
+Petersburg, Ill. Some twenty or thirty years afterward the
+property-owners along one of the outlying streets had trouble in
+fixing their boundaries. They consulted the official plat and got
+no relief. A committee was sent to Springfield to consult the
+distinguished surveyor, but he failed to recall anything that
+would give them aid, and could only refer them to the record. The
+dispute therefore went into the courts. While the trial was
+pending, an old Irishman named McGuire, who had worked for some
+farmer during the summer, returned to town for the winter. The
+case being mentioned in his presence, he promptly said: "I can
+tell you all about it. I helped carry the chain when Abe Lincoln
+laid out this town. Over there where they are quarreling about
+the lines, when he was locating the street, he straightened up
+from his instrument and said: 'If I run that street right
+through, it will cut three or four feet off the end of --'s
+house. It's all he's got in the world and he never could get
+another. I reckon it won't hurt anything out here if I skew the
+line a little and miss him."'
+
+The line was "skewed," and hence the trouble, and more testimony
+furnished as to Lincoln's abounding kindness of heart, that would
+not willingly harm any human being.
+
+
+"WHEREAS," HE STOLE NOTHING.
+
+One of the most celebrated courts-martial during the War was that
+of Franklin W. Smith and his brother, charged with defrauding the
+government. These men bore a high character for integrity. At
+this time, however, courts-martial were seldom invoked for any
+other purpose than to convict the accused, and the Smiths shared
+the usual fate of persons whose cases were submitted to such
+arbitrament. They were kept in prison, their papers seized, their
+business destroyed, and their reputations ruined, all of which
+was followed by a conviction.
+
+The finding of the court was submitted to the President, who,
+after a careful investigation, disapproved the judgment, and
+wrote the following endorsement upon the papers:
+
+"Whereas, Franklin W. Smith had transactions with the Navy
+Department to the amount of a millon and a quarter of dollars;
+and:
+
+"Whereas, he had a chance to steal at least a quarter of a
+million and was only charged with stealing twenty-two hundred
+dollars, and the question now is about his stealing one hundred,
+I don't believe he stole anything at all.
+
+"Therefore, the record and the findings are disapproved, declared
+null and void, and the defendants are fully discharged."
+
+
+NOT LIKE THE POPE'S BULL.
+
+President Lincoln, after listening to the arguments and appeals
+of a committee which called upon him at the White House not long
+before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, said:
+
+"I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will see
+must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the
+comet."
+
+
+COULD HE TELL?
+
+A "high" private of the One Hundred and Fortieth Infantry
+Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, wounded at Chancellorsville,
+was taken to Washington. One day, as he was becoming
+convalescent, a whisper ran down the long row of cots that the
+President was in the building and would soon pass by. Instantly
+every boy in blue who was able arose, stood erect, hands to the
+side, ready to salute his Commanderin-Chief.
+
+The Pennsylvanian stood six feet seven inches in his stockings.
+Lincoln was six feet four. As the President approached this giant
+towering above him, he stopped in amazement, and casting his eyes
+from head to foot and from foot to head, as if contemplating the
+immense distance from one extremity to the other, he stood for a
+moment speechless.
+
+At length, extending his hand, he exclaimed, "Hello, comrade, do
+you know when your feet get cold?"
+
+
+DARNED UNCOMFORTABLE SITTING.
+
+"Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" of March 2nd, 1861, two
+days previous to the inauguration of President-elect Lincoln,
+contained the caricature reproduced here. It was intended to
+convey the idea that the National Administration would thereafter
+depend upon the support of bayonets to uphold it, and the text
+underneath the picture ran as follows:
+
+OLD ABE: "Oh, it's all well enough to say that I must support the
+dignity of my high office by force--but it's darned uncomfortable
+sitting, I can tell yer."
+
+This journal was not entirely friendly to the new Chief
+Magistrate, but it could not see into the future. Many of the
+leading publications of the East, among them some of those which
+condemned slavery and were opposed to secession, did not believe
+Lincoln was the man for the emergency, but instead of doing what
+they could do to help him along, they attacked him most
+viciously. No man, save Washington, was more brutally lied about
+than Lincoln, but he bore all the slurs and thrusts, not to
+mention the open, cruel antagonism of those who should have been
+his warmest friends, with a fortitude and patience few men have
+ever shown. He was on the right road, and awaited the time when
+his course should receive the approval it merited.
+
+
+"WHAT'S-HIS-NAME" GOT THERE.
+
+General James B. Fry told a good one on Secretary of War Stanton,
+who was worsted in a contention with the President. Several
+brigadier-generals were to be selected, and Lincoln maintained
+that "something must be done in the interest of the Dutch." Many
+complaints had come from prominent men, born in the Fatherland,
+but who were fighting for the Union.
+
+"Now, I want Schimmelpfennig given one of those brigadierships."
+
+Stanton was stubborn and headstrong, as usual, but his manner and
+tone indicated that the President would have his own way in the
+end. However, he was not to be beaten without having made a
+fight.
+
+"But, Mr. President," insisted the Iron War Secretary, "it may be
+that this Mr. Schim--what's-his-name--has no recommendations
+showing his fitness. Perhaps he can't speak English."
+
+"That doesn't matter a bit, Stanton," retorted Lincoln, "he may
+be deaf and dumb for all I know, but whatever language he speaks,
+if any, we can furnish troops who will understand what he says.
+That name of his will make up for any differences in religion,
+politics or understanding, and I'll take the risk of his coming
+out all right."
+
+Then, slamming his great hand upon the Secretary's desk, he said,
+"Schim-mel-fen-nig must be appointed."
+
+And he was, there and then.
+
+
+A REALLY GREAT GENERAL.
+
+"Do you know General A--?" queried the President one day to a
+friend who had "dropped in" at the White House.
+
+"Certainly; but you are not wasting any time thinking about him,
+are you?" was the rejoinder.
+
+"You wrong him," responded the President, "he is a really great
+man, a philosopher."
+
+"How do you make that out? He isn't worth the powder and ball
+necessary to kill him so I have heard military men say," the
+friend remarked.
+
+"He is a mighty thinker," the President returned, "because he has
+mastered that ancient and wise admonition, 'Know thyself;' he has
+formed an intimate acquaintance with himself, knows as well for
+what he is fitted and unfitted as any man living. Without doubt
+he is a remarkable man. This War has not produced another like
+him."
+
+"How is it you are so highly pleased with General A-- all at
+once?"
+
+"For the reason," replied Mr. Lincoln, with a merry twinkle of
+the eye, "greatly to my relief, and to the interests of the
+country, he has resigned. The country should express its
+gratitude in some substantial way."
+
+
+"SHRUNK UP NORTH."
+
+There was no member of the Cabinet from the South when
+Attorney-General Bates handed in his resignation, and President
+Lincoln had a great deal of trouble in making a selection.
+Finally Titian F. Coffey consented to fill the vacant place for a
+time, and did so until the appointment of Mr. Speed.
+
+In conversation with Mr. Coffey the President quaintly remarked:
+
+"My Cabinet has shrunk up North, and I must find a Southern man.
+I suppose if the twelve Apostles were to be chosen nowadays, the
+shrieks of locality would have to be heeded."
+
+
+LINCOLN ADOPTED THE SUGGESTION.
+
+It is not generally known that President Lincoln adopted a
+suggestion made by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase in
+regard to the Emancipation Proclamation, and incorporated it in
+that famous document.
+
+After the President had read it to the members of the Cabinet he
+asked if he had omitted anything which should be added or
+inserted to strengthen it. It will be remembered that the closing
+paragraph of the Proclamation reads in this way:
+
+"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice
+warranted by the Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment
+of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God!" President
+Lincoln's draft of the paper ended with the word "mankind," and
+the words, "and the gracious favor of Almighty God," were those
+suggested by Secretary Chase.
+
+
+SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.
+
+It was the President's overweening desire to accommodate all
+persons who came to him soliciting favors, but the opportunity
+was never offered until an untimely and unthinking disease, which
+possessed many of the characteristics of one of the most dreaded
+maladies, confined him to his bed at the White House.
+
+The rumor spread that the President was afflicted with this
+disease, while the truth was that it was merely a very mild
+attack of varioloid. The office-seekers didn't know the facts,
+and for once the Executive Mansion was clear of them.
+
+One day, a man from the West, who didn't read the papers, but
+wanted the postoffice in his town, called at the White House. The
+President, being then practically a well man, saw him. The caller
+was engaged in a voluble endeavor to put his capabilities in the
+most favorable light, when the President interrupted him with the
+remark that he would be compelled to make the interview short, as
+his doctor was due.
+
+"Why, Mr. President, are you sick?" queried the visitor.
+
+"Oh, nothing much," replied Mr. Lincoln, "but the physician says
+he fears the worst."
+
+"What worst, may I ask?"
+
+"Smallpox," was the answer; "but you needn't be scared. I'm only
+in the first stages now."
+
+The visitor grabbed his hat, sprang from his chair, and without a
+word bolted for the door.
+
+"Don't be in a hurry," said the President placidly; "sit down and
+talk awhile."
+
+"Thank you, sir; I'll call again," shouted the Westerner, as he
+disappeared through the opening in the wall.
+
+"Now, that's the way with people," the President said, when
+relating the story afterward. "When I can't give them what they
+want, they're dissatisfied, and say harsh things about me; but
+when I've something to give to everybody they scamper off."
+
+
+TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS.
+
+An applicant for a sutlership in the army relates this story: "In
+the winter of 1864, after serving three years in the Union Army,
+and being honorably discharged, I made application for the post
+sutlership at Point Lookout. My father being interested, we made
+application to Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War. We obtained an
+audience, and were ushered into the presence of the most pompous
+man I ever met. As I entered he waved his hand for me to stop at
+a given distance from him, and then put these questions, viz.:
+
+"'Did you serve three years in the army?'
+
+"'I did, sir.'
+
+"'Were you honorably discharged?'
+
+"'I was, sir.'
+
+"'Let me see your discharge.'
+
+"I gave it to him. He looked it over, then said:
+
+'Were you ever wounded?' I told him yes, at the battle of
+Williamsburg, May 5, 1861.
+
+"He then said: 'I think we can give this position to a soldier
+who has lost an arm or leg, he being more deserving; and he then
+said I looked hearty and healthy enough to serve three years
+more. He would not give me a chance to argue my case.
+
+The audience was at an end. He waved his hand to me. I was then
+dismissed from the august presence of the Honorable Secretary of
+War. "My father was waiting for me in the hallway, who saw by my
+countenance that I was not successful. I said to my father:
+
+"'Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us more
+satisfaction.'
+
+"He said it would do me no good, but we went over. Mr. Lincoln's
+reception room was full of ladies and gentlemen when we entered.
+
+"My turn soon came. Lincoln turned to my father and said
+
+"'Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possible with
+your business, as it is growing late.'
+
+"My father then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him.
+Lincoln then said:
+
+"'Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your business as quickly as
+possible.'
+
+"There was but one chair by Lincoln, so he motioned my father to
+sit, while I stood. My father stated the business to him as
+stated above. He then said:
+
+"'Have you seen Mr. Stanton?'
+
+"We told him yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then
+said:
+
+"'Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stanton's business; I cannot interfere
+with him; he attends to all these matters and I am sorry I cannot
+help you.'
+
+"He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to revive our
+spirits. He succeeded well with my father, who was a Lincoln man,
+and who was a staunch Republican.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln then said:
+
+"'Now, gentlemen, I will tell you, what it is; I have thousands
+of applications like this every day, but we cannot satisfy all
+for this reason, that these positions are like office
+seekers--there are too many pigs for the teats.'
+
+"The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed their
+handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But the joke of
+'Old Abe' put us all in a good humor. We then left the presence
+of the greatest and most just man who ever lived to fill the
+Presidential chair.'"
+
+
+GREELEY CARRIES LINCOLN TO THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
+
+No sooner was Abraham Lincoln made the candidate for the
+Presidency of the Republican Party, in 1860, than the opposition
+began to lampoon and caricature him. In the cartoon here
+reproduced, which is given the title of:
+
+"The Republican Party Going to the Right House," Lincoln is
+represented as entering the Lunatic Asylum, riding on a rail,
+carried by Horace Greeley, the great Abolitionist; Lincoln,
+followed by his "fellow-cranks," is assuring the latter that the
+millennium is "going to begin," and that all requests will be
+granted.
+
+Lincoln's followers are depicted as those men and women composing
+the "free love" element; those who want religion abolished;
+negroes, who want it understood that the white man has no rights
+his black brother is bound to respect; women suffragists, who
+demand that men be made subject to female authority; tramps, who
+insist upon free lodging-houses; criminals, who demand the right
+to steal from all they meet; and toughs, who want the police
+forces abolished, so that "the b'hoys" can "run wid de masheen,"
+and have "a muss" whenever they feel like it, without
+interference by the authorities.
+
+
+THE LAST TIME HE SAW DOUGLAS.
+
+Speaking of his last meeting with Judge Douglas, Mr. Lincoln
+said: "One day Douglas came rushing in and said he had just got a
+telegraph dispatch from some friends in Illinois urging him to
+come out and help set things right in Egypt, and that he would
+go, or stay in Washington, just where I thought he could do the
+most good.
+
+"I told him to do as he chose, but that probably he could do best
+in Illinois. Upon that he shook hands with me, and hurried away
+to catch the next train. I never saw him again."
+
+
+HURT HIS LEGS LESS.
+
+Lincoln was one of the attorneys in a case of considerable
+importance, court being held in a very small and dilapidated
+schoolhouse out in the country; Lincoln was compelled to stoop
+very much in order to enter the door, and the seats were so low
+that he doubled up his legs like a jackknife.
+
+Lincoln was obliged to sit upon a school bench, and just in front
+of him was another, making the distance between him and the seat
+in front of him very narrow and uncomfortable.
+
+His position was almost unbearable, and in order to carry out his
+preference which he secured as often as possible, and that was
+"to sit as near to the jury as convenient," he took advantage of
+his discomfort and finally said to the Judge on the "bench":
+
+"Your Honor, with your permission, I'll sit up nearer to the
+gentlemen of the jury, for it hurts my legs less to rub my calves
+against the bench than it does to skin my shins."
+
+
+A LITTLE SHY OR GRAMMAR.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln had prepared his brief letter accepting the
+Presidential nomination he took it to Dr. Newton Bateman, the
+State Superintendent of Education.
+
+"Mr. Schoolmaster," he said, "here is my letter of acceptance. I
+am not very strong on grammar and I wish you to see if it is all
+right. I wouldn't like to have any mistakes in it.".
+
+The doctor took the letter and after reading it, said:
+
+"There is only one change I should suggest, Mr. Lincoln, you have
+written 'It shall be my care to not violate or disregard it in
+any part,' you should have written 'not to violate.' Never split
+an infinitive, is the rule."
+
+Mr. Lincoln took the manuscript, regarding it a moment with a
+puzzled air, "So you think I better put those two little fellows
+end to end, do you?" he said as he made the change.
+
+
+HIS FIRST SATIRICAL WRITING.
+
+Reuben and Charles Grigsby were married in Spencer county,
+Indiana, on the same day to Elizabeth Ray and Matilda Hawkins,
+respectively. They met the next day at the home of Reuben
+Grigsby, Sr., and held a double infare, to which most of the
+county was invited, with the exception of the Lincolns. This
+Abraham duly resented, and it resulted in his first attempt at
+satirical writing, which he called "The Chronicles of Reuben."
+
+The manuscript was lost, and not recovered until 1865, when a
+house belonging to one of the Grigsbys was torn down. In the loft
+a boy found a roll of musty old papers, and was intently reading
+them, when he was asked what he was doing.
+
+"Reading a portion of the Scriptures that haven't been revealed
+yet," was the response. This was Lincoln's "Chronicles," which is
+herewith given
+
+"THE CHRONICLES OF REUBEN."
+
+"Now, there was a man whose name was Reuben, and the same was
+very great in substance, in horses and cattle and swine, and a
+very great household.
+
+"It came to pass when the sons of Reuben grew up that they were
+desirous of taking to themselves wives, and, being too well known
+as to honor in their own country, they took a journey into a far
+country and there procured for themselves wives.
+
+"It came to pass also that when they were about to make the
+return home they sent a messenger before them to bear the tidings
+to their parents.
+
+"These, inquiring of the messenger what time their sons and wives
+would come, made a great feast and called all their kinsmen and
+neighbors in, and made great preparation.
+
+"When the time drew nigh, they sent out two men to meet the
+grooms and their brides, with a trumpet to welcome them, and to
+accompany them.
+
+"When they came near unto the house of Reuben, the father, the
+messenger came before them and gave a shout, and the whole
+multitude ran out with shouts of joy and music, playing on all
+kinds of instruments.
+
+"Some were playing on harps, some on viols, and some blowing on
+rams' horns.
+
+"Some also were casting dust and ashes toward Heaven, and chief
+among them all was Josiah, blowing his bugle and making sounds so
+great the neighboring hills and valleys echoed with the
+resounding acclamation.
+
+"When they had played and their harps had sounded till the grooms
+and brides approached the gates, Reuben, the father, met them and
+welcomed them to his house.
+
+"The wedding feast being now ready, they were all invited to sit
+down and eat, placing the bridegrooms and their brides at each
+end of the table.
+
+"Waiters were then appointed to serve and wait on the guests.
+When all had eaten and were full and merry, they went out again
+and played and sung till night.
+
+"And when they had made an end of feasting and rejoicing the
+multitude dispersed, each going to his own home.
+
+"The family then took seats with their waiters to converse while
+preparations were being made in two upper chambers for the brides
+and grooms.
+
+"This being done, the waiters took the two brides upstairs,
+placing one in a room at the right hand of the stairs and the
+other on the left.
+
+"The waiters came down, and Nancy, the mother, then gave
+directions to the waiters of the bridegrooms, and they took them
+upstairs, but placed them in the wrong rooms.
+
+"The waiters then all came downstairs.
+
+"But the mother, being fearful of a mistake, made inquiry of the
+waiters, and learning the true facts, took the light and sprang
+upstairs.
+
+"It came to pass she ran to one of the rooms and exclaimed, 'O
+Lord, Reuben, you are with the wrong wife.'
+
+"The young men, both alarmed at this, ran out with such violence
+against each other, they came near knocking each other down.
+
+"The tumult gave evidence to those below that the mistake was
+certain.
+
+"At last they all came down and had a long conversation about who
+made the mistake, but it could not be decided.
+
+"So ended the chapter."
+
+The original manuscript of "The Chronicles of Reuben" was last in
+the possession of Redmond Grigsby, of Rockport, Indiana. A
+newspaper which had obtained a copy of the "Chronicles," sent a
+reporter to interview Elizabeth Grigsby, or Aunt Betsy, as she
+was called, and asked her about the famous manuscript and the
+mistake made at the double wedding.
+
+"Yes, they did have a joke on us," said Aunt Betsy. "They said my
+man got into the wrong room and Charles got into my room. But it
+wasn't so. Lincoln just wrote that for mischief. Abe and my man
+often laughed about that.
+
+
+LIKELY TO DO IT.
+
+An officer, having had some trouble with General Sherman, being
+very angry, presented himself before Mr. Lincoln, who was
+visiting the camp, and said, "Mr. President, I have a cause of
+grievance. This morning I went to General Sherman and he
+threatened to shoot me."
+
+"Threatened to shoot you?" asked Mr. Lincoln. "Well, (in a stage
+whisper) if I were you I would keep away from him; if he
+threatens to shoot, I would not trust him, for I believe he would
+do it."
+
+
+"THE ENEMY ARE 'OURN'"
+
+Early in the Presidential campaign of 1864, President Lincoln
+said one night to a late caller at the White House:
+
+"We have met the enemy and they are 'ourn!' I think the cabal of
+obstructionists 'am busted.' I feel certain that, if I live, I am
+going to be re-elected. Whether I deserve to be or not, it is not
+for me to say; but on the score even of remunerative chances for
+speculative service, I now am inspired with the hope that our
+disturbed country further requires the valuable services of your
+humble servant. 'Jordan has been a hard road to travel,' but I
+feel now that, notwithstanding the enemies I have made and the
+faults I have committed, I'll be dumped on the right side of that
+stream.
+
+"I hope, however, that I may never have another four years of
+such anxiety, tribulation and abuse. My only ambition is and has
+been to put down the rebellion and restore peace, after which I
+want to resign my office, go abroad, take some rest, study
+foreign governments, see something of foreign life, and in my old
+age die in peace with all of the good of God's creatures."
+
+
+"AND--HERE I AM!"
+
+An old acquaintance of the President visited him in Washington.
+Lincoln desired to give him a place. Thus encouraged, the
+visitor, who was an honest man, but wholly inexperienced in
+public affairs or business, asked for a high office,
+Superintendent of the Mint.
+
+The President was aghast, and said: "Good gracious! Why didn't he
+ask to be Secretary of the Treasury, and have done with it?"
+
+Afterward, he said: "Well, now, I never thought Mr.-- had
+anything more than average ability, when we were young men
+together. But, then, I suppose he thought the same thing about
+me, and--here I am!"
+
+
+SAFE AS LONG AS THEY WERE GOOD.
+
+At the celebrated Peace Conference, whereat there was much
+"pow-wow" and no result, President Lincoln, in response to
+certain remarks by the Confederate commissioners, commented with
+some severity upon the conduct of the Confederate leaders, saying
+they had plainly forfeited all right to immunity from punishment
+for their treason.
+
+Being positive and unequivocal in stating his views concerning
+individual treason, his words were of ominous import. There was a
+pause, during which Commissioner Hunter regarded the speaker with
+a steady, searching look. At length, carefully measuring his
+words, Mr. Hunter said:
+
+"Then, Mr. President, if we understand you correctly, you think
+that we of the Confederacy have committed treason; are traitors
+to your Government; have forfeited our rights, and are proper
+subjects for the hangman. Is not that about what your words
+imply?"
+
+"Yes," replied President Lincoln, "you have stated the
+proposition better than I did. That is about the size of it!"
+
+Another pause, and a painful one succeeded, and then Hunter, with
+a pleasant smile remarked:
+
+"Well, Mr. Lincoln, we have about concluded that we shall not be
+hanged as long as you are President--if we behave ourselves."
+
+And Hunter meant what he said.
+
+
+"SMELT NO ROYALTY IN OUR CARRIAGE."
+
+On one occasion, in going to meet an appointment in the southern
+part of the Sucker State--that section of Illinois called
+Egypt--Lincoln, with other friends, was traveling in the
+"caboose" of a freight train, when the freight was switched off
+the main track to allow a special train to pass.
+
+Lincoln's more aristocratic rival (Stephen A. Douglas) was being
+conveyed to the same town in this special. The passing train was
+decorated with banners and flags, and carried a band of music,
+which was playing "Hail to the Chief."
+
+As the train whistled past, Lincoln broke out in a fit of
+laughter, and said: "Boys, the gentleman in that car evidently
+smelt no royalty in our carriage."
+
+
+HELL A MILE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
+
+Ward Lamon told this story of President Lincoln, whom he found
+one day in a particularly gloomy frame of mind. Lamon said:
+
+"The President remarked, as I came in, 'I fear I have made
+Senator Wade, of Ohio, my enemy for life.'
+
+"'How?' I asked.
+
+"'Well,' continued the President, 'Wade was here just now urging
+me to dismiss Grant, and, in response to something he said, I
+remarked, "Senator, that reminds me of a story.'"
+
+"'What did Wade say?' I inquired of the President.
+
+"'He said, in a petulant way,' the President responded, '"It is
+with you, sir, all story, story! You are the father of every
+military blunder that has been made during the war. You are on
+your road to hell, sir, with this government, by your obstinacy,
+and you are not a mile off this minute."'
+
+"'What did you say then?'
+
+" I good-naturedly said to him,' the President replied,
+'"Senator, that is just about from here to the Capitol, is it
+not?" He was very angry, grabbed up his hat and cane, and went
+away.'"
+
+
+HIS "GLASS HACK"
+
+President Lincoln had not been in the White House very long
+before Mrs. Lincoln became seized with the idea that a fine new
+barouche was about the proper thing for "the first lady in the
+land." The President did not care particularly about it one way
+or the other, and told his wife to order whatever she wanted.
+
+Lincoln forgot all about the new vehicle, and was overcome with
+astonishment one afternoon when, having acceded to Mrs. Lincoln's
+desire to go driving, he found a beautiful barouche standing in
+front of the door of the White House.
+
+His wife watched him with an amused smile, but the only remark he
+made was, "Well, Mary, that's about the slickest 'glass hack' in
+town, isn't it?"
+
+
+LEAVE HIM KICKING.
+
+Lincoln, in the days of his youth, was often unfaithful to his
+Quaker traditions. On the day of election in 1840, word came to
+him that one Radford, a Democratic contractor, had taken
+possession of one of the polling places with his workmen, and was
+preventing the Whigs from voting. Lincoln started off at a gait
+which showed his interest in the matter in hand.
+
+He went up to Radford and persuaded him to leave the polls,
+remarking at the same time: "Radford, you'll spoil and blow, if
+you live much longer."
+
+Radford's prudence prevented an actual collision, which, it is
+said, Lincoln regretted. He told his friend Speed he wanted
+Radford to show fight so that he might "knock him down and leave
+him kicking."
+
+
+"WHO COMMENCED THIS FUSS?"
+
+President Lincoln was at all times an advocate of peace, provided
+it could be obtained honorably and with credit to the United
+States. As to the cause of the Civil War, which side of Mason and
+Dixon's line was responsible for it, who fired the first shots,
+who were the aggressors, etc., Lincoln did not seem to bother
+about; he wanted to preserve the Union, above all things.
+Slavery, he was assured, was dead, but he thought the former
+slaveholders should be recompensed.
+
+To illustrate his feelings in the matter he told this story:
+
+"Some of the supporters of the Union cause are opposed to
+accommodate or yield to the South in any manner or way because
+the Confederates began the war; were determined to take their
+States out of the Union, and, consequently, should be held
+responsible to the last stage for whatever may come in the
+future. Now this reminds me of a good story I heard once, when I
+lived in Illinois.
+
+"A vicious bull in a pasture took after everybody who tried to
+cross the lot, and one day a neighbor of the owner was the
+victim. This man was a speedy fellow and got to a friendly tree
+ahead of the bull, but not in time to climb the tree. So he led
+the enraged animal a merry race around the tree, finally
+succeeding in seizing the bull by the tail.
+
+"The bull, being at a disadvantage, not able to either catch the
+man or release his tail, was mad enough to eat nails; he dug up
+the earth with his feet, scattered gravel all around, bellowed
+until you could hear him for two miles or more, and at length
+broke into a dead run, the man hanging onto his tail all the
+time.
+
+"While the bull, much out of temper, was legging it to the best
+of his ability, his tormentor, still clinging to the tail, asked,
+'Darn you, who commenced this fuss?'
+
+"It's our duty to settle this fuss at the earliest possible
+moment, no matter who commenced it. That's my idea of it."
+
+
+"ABE'S" LITTLE JOKE.
+
+When General W. T. Sherman, November 12th, 1864, severed all
+communication with the North and started for Savannah with his
+magnificent army of sixty thousand men, there was much anxiety
+for a month as to his whereabouts. President Lincoln, in response
+to an inquiry, said: "I know what hole Sherman went in at, but I
+don't know what hole he'll come out at."
+
+Colonel McClure had been in consultation with the President one
+day, about two weeks after Sherman's disappearance, and in this
+connection related this incident
+
+"I was leaving the room, and just as I reached the door the
+President turned around, and, with a merry twinkling of the eye,
+inquired, 'McClure, wouldn't you like to hear something from
+Sherman?'
+
+"The inquiry electrified me at the instant, as it seemed to imply
+that Lincoln had some information on the subject. I immediately
+answered, 'Yes, most of all, I should like to hear from Sherman.'
+
+"To this President Lincoln answered, with a hearty laugh: 'Well,
+I'll be hanged if I wouldn't myself.'"
+
+
+WHAT SUMMER THOUGHT.
+
+Although himself a most polished, even a fastidious, gentleman,
+Senator Sumner never allowed Lincoln's homely ways to hide his
+great qualities. He gave him a respect and esteem at the start
+which others accorded only after experience. The Senator was most
+tactful, too, in his dealings with Mrs. Lincoln, and soon had a
+firm footing in the household. That he was proud of this, perhaps
+a little boastful, there is no doubt.
+
+Lincoln himself appreciated this. "Sumner thinks he runs me," he
+said, with an amused twinkle, one day.
+
+
+A USELESS DOG.
+
+When Hood's army had been scattered into fragments, President
+Lincoln, elated by the defeat of what had so long been a menacing
+force on the borders of Tennessee was reminded by its collapse of
+the fate of a savage dog belonging to one of his neighbors in the
+frontier settlements in which he lived in his youth. "The dog,"
+he said, "was the terror of the neighborhood, and its owner, a
+churlish and quarrelsome fellow, took pleasure in the brute's
+forcible attitude.
+
+"Finally, all other means having failed to subdue the creature, a
+man loaded a lump of meat with a charge of powder, to which was
+attached a slow fuse; this was dropped where the dreaded dog
+would find it, and the animal gulped down the tempting bait.
+
+"There was a dull rumbling, a muffled explosion, and fragments of
+the dog were seen flying in every direction. The grieved owner,
+picking up the shattered remains of his cruel favorite, said: 'He
+was a good dog, but as a dog, his days of usefulness are over.'
+Hood's army was a good army," said Lincoln, by way of comment,
+"and we were all afraid of it, but as an army, its usefulness is
+gone."
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE "INFLUENCE" STORY.
+
+Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington, called one day
+on General Halleck, then Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces,
+and, presuming upon a familiar acquaintance in California a few
+years since, solicited a pass outside of our lines to see a
+brother in Virginia, not thinking that he would meet with a
+refusal, as both his brother and himself were good Union men.
+
+"We have been deceived too often," said General Halleck, "and I
+regret I can't grant it."
+
+Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of
+with the same result. Finally, he obtained an interview with Mr.
+Lincoln, and stated his case.
+
+"Have you applied to General Halleck?" inquired the President.
+
+"Yes, and met with a flat refusal," said Judge B.
+
+"Then you must see Stanton," continued the President.
+
+"I have, and with the same result," was the reply.
+
+"Well, then," said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, "I can do nothing;
+for you must know that I have very little influence with this
+Administration, although I hope to have more with the next."
+
+
+FELT SORRY FOR BOTH.
+
+Many ladies attended the famous debates between Lincoln and
+Douglas, and they were the most unprejudiced listeners. "I can
+recall only one fact of the debates," says Mrs. William Crotty,
+of Seneca, Illinois, "that I felt so sorry for Lincoln while
+Douglas was speaking, and then to my surprise I felt so sorry for
+Douglas when Lincoln replied."
+
+The disinterested to whom it was an intellectual game, felt the
+power and charm of both men.
+
+
+WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
+
+"What made the deepest impression upon you?" inquired a friend
+one day, "when you stood in the presence of the Falls of Niagara,
+the greatest of natural wonders?"
+
+"The thing that struck me most forcibly when I saw the Falls,"
+Lincoln responded, with characteristic deliberation, "was, where
+in the world did all that water come from?"
+
+
+"LONG ABE" FOUR YEARS LONGER.
+
+The second election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency of the
+United States was the reward of his courage and genius bestowed
+upon him by the people of the Union States. General George B.
+McClellan was his opponent in 1864 upon the platform that "the
+War is a failure," and carried but three States--New Jersey,
+Delaware and Kentucky. The States which did not think the War was
+a failure were those in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, all
+the Western commonwealths, West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana,
+Arkansas and the new State of Nevada, admitted into the Union on
+October 31st. President Lincoln's popular majority over
+McClellan, who never did much toward making the War a success,
+was more than four hundred thousand. Underneath the cartoon
+reproduced here, from "Harper's Weekly" of November 26th, 1864,
+were the words, "Long Abraham Lincoln a Little Longer."
+
+But the beloved President's time upon earth was not to be much
+longer, as he was assassinated just one month and ten days after
+his second inauguration. Indeed, the words, "a little longer,"
+printed below the cartoon, were strangely prophetic, although not
+intended to be such.
+
+The people of the United States had learned to love "Long Abe,"
+their affection being of a purely personal nature, in the main.
+No other Chief Executive was regarded as so sincerely the friend
+of the great mass of the inhabitants of the Republic as Lincoln.
+He was, in truth, one of "the common people," having been born
+among them, and lived as one of them.
+
+Lincoln's great height made him an easy subject for the
+cartoonist, and they used it in his favor as well as against him.
+
+
+"ALL SICKER'N YOUR MAN."
+
+A Commissioner to the Hawaiian Islands was to be appointed, and
+eight applicants had filed their papers, when a delegation from
+the South appeared at the White House on behalf of a ninth. Not
+only was their man fit--so the delegation urged--but was also in
+bad health, and a residence in that balmy climate would be of
+great benefit to him.
+
+The President was rather impatient that day, and before the
+members of the delegation had fairly started in, suddenly closed
+the interview with this remark:
+
+"Gentlemen, I am sorry to say that there are eight other
+applicants for that place, and they are all 'sicker'n' your man."
+
+
+EASIER TO EMPTY THE POTOMAC.
+
+An officer of low volunteer rank persisted in telling and
+re-telling his troubles to the President on a summer afternoon
+when Lincoln was tired and careworn.
+
+After listening patiently, he finally turned upon the man, and,
+looking wearily out upon the broad Potomac in the distance, said
+in a peremptory tone that ended the interview:
+
+"Now, my man, go away, go away. I cannot meddle in your case. I
+could as easily bail out the Potomac River with a teaspoon as
+attend to all the details of the army."
+
+
+HE WANTED A STEADY HAND.
+
+When the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln by
+Secretary Seward, for the President's signature, Mr. Lincoln took
+a pen, dipped it in the ink, moved his hand to the place for the
+signature, held it a moment, then removed his hand and dropped
+the pen. After a little hesitation, he again took up the pen and
+went through the same movement as before. Mr. Lincoln then turned
+to Mr. Seward and said:
+
+"I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning, and
+my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into
+history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If
+my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who examine
+the document hereafter will say, 'He hesitated.'"
+
+He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and slowly,
+firmly wrote "Abraham Lincoln," with which the whole world is now
+familiar.
+
+He then looked up, smiled, and said, "That will do."
+
+
+LINCOLN SAW STANTON ABOUT IT.
+
+Mr. Lovejoy, heading a committee of Western men, discussed an
+important scheme with the President, and the gentlemen were then
+directed to explain it to Secretary of War Stanton.
+
+Upon presenting themselves to the Secretary, and showing the
+President's order, the Secretary said: "Did Lincoln give you an
+order of that kind?"
+
+"He did, sir."
+
+"Then he is a d--d fool," said the angry Secretary.
+
+"Do you mean to say that the President is a d--d fool?" asked
+Lovejoy, in amazement.
+
+"Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that."
+
+The bewildered Illinoisan betook himself at once to the President
+and related the result of the conference.
+
+"Did Stanton say I was a d--d fool?" asked Lincoln at the close
+of the recital.
+
+"He did, sir, and repeated it."
+
+After a moment's pause, and looking up, the President said: "If
+Stanton said I was a d--d fool, then I must be one, for he is
+nearly always right, and generally says what he means. I will
+slip over and see him."
+
+
+MRS. LINCOLN'S SURPRISE.
+
+A good story is told of how Mrs. Lincoln made a little surprise
+for her husband.
+
+In the early days it was customary for lawyers to go from one
+county to another on horseback, a journey which often required
+several weeks. On returning from one of these trips, late one
+night, Mr. Lincoln dismounted from his horse at the familiar
+corner and then turned to go into the house, but stopped; a
+perfectly unknown structure was before him. Surprised, and
+thinking there must be some mistake, he went across the way and
+knocked at a neighbor's door. The family had retired, and so
+called out:
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"Abe Lincoln," was the reply. "I am looking for my house. I
+thought it was across the way, but when I went away a few weeks
+ago there was only a one-story house there and now there is a
+two-story house in its place. I think I must be lost."
+
+The neighbors then explained that Mrs. Lincoln had added another
+story during his absence. And Mr. Lincoln laughed and went to his
+remodeled house.
+
+
+MENACE TO THE GOVERNMENT.
+
+The persistence of office-seekers nearly drove President Lincoln
+wild. They slipped in through the half-opened doors of the
+Executive Mansion; they dogged his steps if he walked; they edged
+their way through the crowds and thrust their papers in his hands
+when he rode; and, taking it all in all, they well-nigh worried
+him to death.
+
+He once said that if the Government passed through the Rebellion
+without dismemberment there was the strongest danger of its
+falling a prey to the rapacity of the office-seeking class.
+
+"This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live
+without work, will finally test the strength of our
+institutions," were the words he used.
+
+
+TROOPS COULDN'T FLY OVER IT.
+
+On April 20th a delegation from Baltimore appeared at the White
+House and begged the President that troops for Washington be sent
+around and not through Baltimore.
+
+President Lincoln replied, laughingly: "If I grant this
+concession, you will be back tomorrow asking that no troops be
+marched 'around' it."
+
+The President was right. That afternoon, and again on Sunday and
+Monday, committees sought him, protesting that Maryland soil
+should not be "polluted" by the feet of soldiers marching against
+the South.
+
+The President had but one reply: "We must have troops, and as
+they can neither crawl under Maryland nor fly over it, they must
+come across it."
+
+
+PAT WAS "FORNINST THE GOVERNMENT."
+
+The Governor-General of Canada, with some of his principal
+officers, visited President Lincoln in the summer of 1864.
+
+They had been very troublesome in harboring blockade runners, and
+they were said to have carried on a large trade from their ports
+with the Confederates. Lincoln treated his guests with great
+courtesy.
+
+After a pleasant interview, the Governor, alluding to the coming
+Presidential election said, jokingly, but with a grain of
+sarcasm: "I understand Mr. President, that everybody votes in
+this country. If we remain until November, can we vote?"
+
+"You remind me, replied the President, "of a countryman of yours,
+a green emigrant from Ireland. Pat arrived on election day, and
+perhaps was as eager a your Excellency to vote, and to vote
+early, and late and often.
+
+"So, upon landing at Castle Garden, he hastened to the nearest
+voting place, and as he approached, the judge who received the
+ballots inquired, 'Who do you want to vote for? On which side are
+you?' Poor Pat was embarrassed; he did not know who were the
+candidates. He stopped, scratched his head, then, with the
+readiness of his countrymen, he said:
+
+"'I am forninst the Government, anyhow. Tell me, if your Honor
+plase: which is the rebellion side, and I'll tell you haw I want
+to vote. In ould Ireland, I was always on the rebellion side,
+and, by Saint Patrick, I'll do that same in America.' Your
+Excellency," said Mr. Lincoln, "would, I should think, not be at
+all at a loss on which side to vote!"
+
+
+"CAN'T SPARE THIS MAN."
+
+One night, about eleven o'clock, Colonel A. K. McClure, whose
+intimacy with President Lincoln was so great that he could obtain
+admittance to the Executive Mansion at any and all hours, called
+at the White House to urge Mr. Lincoln to remove General Grant
+from command.
+
+After listening patiently for a long time, the President,
+gathering himself up in his chair, said, with the utmost
+earnestness:
+
+"I can't spare this man; he fights!"
+
+In relating the particulars of this interview, Colonel McClure
+said:
+
+"That was all he said, but I knew that it was enough, and that
+Grant was safe in Lincoln's hands against his countless hosts of
+enemies. The only man in all the nation who had the power to save
+Grant was Lincoln, and he had decided to do it. He was not
+influenced by any personal partiality for Grant, for they had
+never met.
+
+"It was not until after the battle of Shiloh, fought on the 6th
+and 7th of April, 1862, that Lincoln was placed in a position to
+exercise a controlling influence in shaping the destiny of Grant.
+The first reports from the Shiloh battle-field created profound
+alarm throughout the entire country, and the wildest
+exaggerations were spread in a floodtide of vituperation against
+Grant.
+
+"The few of to-day who can recall the inflamed condition of
+public sentiment against Grant caused by the disastrous first
+day's battle at Shiloh will remember that he was denounced as
+incompetent for his command by the public journals of all parties
+in the North, and with almost entire unanimity by Senators and
+Congressmen, regardless of political affinities.
+
+"I appealed to Lincoln for his own sake to remove Grant at once,
+and in giving my reasons for it I simply voiced the admittedly
+overwhelming protest from the loyal people of the land against
+Grant's continuance in command.
+
+"I did not forget that Lincoln was the one man who never allowed
+himself to appear as wantonly defying public sentiment. It seemed
+to me impossible for him to save Grant without taking a crushing
+load of condemnation upon himself; but Lincoln was wiser than all
+those around him, and he not only saved Grant, but he saved him
+by such well-concerted effort that he soon won popular applause
+from those who were most violent in demanding Grant's dismissal."
+
+
+HIS TEETH CHATTERED.
+
+During the Lincoln-Douglas joint debates of 1858, the latter
+accused Lincoln of having, when in Congress, voted against the
+appropriation for supplies to be sent the United States soldiers
+in Mexico. In reply, Lincoln said: "This is a perversion of the
+facts. I was opposed to the policy of the administration in
+declaring war against Mexico; but when war was declared I never
+failed to vote for the support of any proposition looking to the
+comfort of our poor fellows who were maintaining the dignity of
+our flag in a war that I thought unnecessary and unjust."
+
+He gradually became more and more excited; his voice thrilled and
+his whole frame shook. Sitting on the stand was O. B. Ficklin,
+who had served in Congress with Lincoln in 1847. Lincoln reached
+back, took Ficklin by the coat-collar, back of his neck, and in
+no gentle manner lifted him from his seat as if he had been a
+kitten, and roared: "Fellow-citizens, here is Ficklin, who was at
+that time in Congress with me, and he knows it is a lie."
+
+He shook Ficklin until his teeth chattered. Fearing he would
+shake Ficklin's head off, Ward Lamon grasped Lincoln's hand and
+broke his grip.
+
+After the speaking was over, Ficklin, who had warm personal
+friendship with him, said: "Lincoln, you nearly shook all the
+Democracy out of me to-day."
+
+
+"AARON GOT HIS COMMISSION."
+
+President Lincoln was censured for appointing one that had
+zealously opposed his second term.
+
+He replied: "Well, I suppose Judge E., having been disappointed
+before, did behave pretty ugly, but that wouldn't make him any
+less fit for the place; and I think I have Scriptural authority
+for appointing him.
+
+"You remember when the Lord was on Mount Sinai getting out a
+commission for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the
+mountain making a false god for the people to worship. Yet Aaron
+got his commission, you know."
+
+
+LINCOLN AND THE MINISTERS.
+
+At the time of Lincoln's nomination, at Chicago, Mr. Newton
+Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of
+Illinois, occupied a room adjoining and opening into the
+Executive Chamber at Springfield. Frequently this door was open
+during Mr. Lincoln's receptions, and throughout the seven months
+or more of his occupation he saw him nearly every day. Often,
+when Mr. Lincoln was tired, he closed the door against all
+intruders, and called Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk.
+On one of these occasions, Mr. Lincoln took up a book containing
+canvass of the city of Springfield, in which he lived, showing
+the candidate for whom each citizen had declared it his intention
+to vote in the approaching election. Mr.Lincoln's friends had,
+doubtless at his own request, placed the result of the canvass in
+his hands. This was towards the close of October, and only a few
+days before election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat by his side,
+having previously locked all the doors, he said:
+
+"Let us look over this book; I wish particularly to see how the
+ministers if Springfield are going to vote." The leaves were
+turned, one by one, and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln
+frequently asked if this one and that one was not a minister, 
+or an elder, or a member of such and such a church, and sadly 
+expressed his surprise on receiving an affirmative answer.
+In that manner he went through the book, and then he closed it,
+and sat silently for some minutes regarding a memorandum in
+pencil which lay before him. At length he turned to Mr. Bateman,
+with a face full of sadness, and said:
+
+"Here are twenty-three ministers of different denominations, and
+all of them are against me but three, and here are a great many
+prominent members of churches, a very large majority are against
+me. Mr. Bateman, I am not a Christian--God knows I would be one
+--but I have carefully read the Bible, and I do not so understand
+this book," and he drew forth a pocket New Testament.
+
+"These men well know," he continued, "that I am for freedom in
+the Territories, freedom everywhere, as free as the Constitution
+and the laws will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery.
+They know this, and yet, with this book in their hands, in the
+light of which human bondage cannot live a moment, they are going
+to vote against me; I do not understand it at all."
+
+Here Mr. Lincoln paused--paused for long minutes, his features
+surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked up and down the
+reception-room in the effort to retain or regain his
+self-possession. Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling
+voice and cheeks wet with tears:
+
+"I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery.
+I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He
+has a place and work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am
+ready. I am nothing, but Truth is everything. I know I am right,
+because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and
+Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against
+itself cannot stand; and Christ and Reason say the same, and they
+will find it so.
+
+"Douglas doesn't care whether slavery is voted up or down, but
+God cares, and humanity cares, and I care; and with God's help I
+shall not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come, and I
+shall be vindicated; and these men will find they have not read
+their Bible right."
+
+Much of this was uttered as if he were speaking to himself, and
+with a sad, earnest solemnity of manner impossible to be
+described. After a pause he resumed:
+
+"Doesn't it seem strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of
+this contest? No revelation could make it plainer to me that
+slavery or the Government must be destroyed. The future would be
+something awful, as I look at it, but for this rock on which I
+stand" (alluding to the Testament which he still held in his
+hand), "especially with the knowledge of how these ministers are
+going to vote. It seems as if God had borne with this thing
+(slavery) until the teachers of religion have come to defend it
+from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character and
+sanction; and now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of
+wrath will be poured out."
+
+Everything he said was of a peculiarly deep, tender, and
+religious tone, and all was tinged with a touching melancholy. He
+repeatedly referred to his conviction that the day of wrath was
+at hand, and that he was to be an actor in the terrible struggle
+which would issue in the overthrow of slavery, although he might
+not live to see the end.
+
+After further reference to a belief in the Divine Providence and
+the fact of God in history, the conversation turned upon prayer.
+He freely stated his belief in the duty, privilege, and efficacy
+of prayer, and intimated, in no unmistakable terms, that he had
+sought in that way Divine guidance and favor. The effect of this
+conversation upon the mind of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman
+whom Mr. Lincoln profoundly respected, was to convince him that
+Mr. Lincoln had, in a quiet way, found a path to the Christian
+standpoint--that he had found God, and rested on the eternal
+truth of God. As the two men were about to separate, Mr. Bateman
+remarked:
+
+"I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much
+upon this class of subjects; certainly your friends generally are
+ignorant of the sentiments you have expressed to me."
+
+He replied quickly: "I know they are, but I think more on these
+subjects than upon all others, and I have done so for years; and
+I am willing you should know it."
+
+
+HARDTACK BETTER THAN GENERALS.
+
+Secretary of War Stanton told the President the following story,
+which greatly amused the latter, as he was especially fond of a
+joke at the expense of some high military or civil dignitary.
+
+Stanton had little or no sense of humor.
+
+When Secretary Stanton was making a trip up the Broad River in
+North Carolina, in a tugboat, a Federal picket yelled out, "What
+have you got on board of that tug?"
+
+The severe and dignified answer was, "The Secretaty of War and
+Major-General Foster."
+
+Instantly the picket roared back, "We've got Major-Generals
+enough up here. Why don't you bring us up some hardtack?"
+
+
+GOT THE PREACHER.
+
+A story told by a Cabinet member tended to show how accurately
+Lincoln could calculate political results in advance--a faculty
+which remained with him all his life.
+
+"A friend, who was a Democrat, had come to him early in the
+canvass and told him he wanted to see him elected, but did not
+like to vote against his party; still he would vote for him, if
+the contest was to be so close that every vote was needed.
+
+"A short time before the election Lincoln said to him: 'I have
+got the preacher, and I don't want your vote.'"
+
+
+BIG JOKE ON HALLECK.
+
+When General Halleck was Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces,
+with headquarters at Washington, President Lincoln unconsciously
+played a big practical joke upon that dignified officer. The
+President had spent the night at the Soldiers' Home, and the next
+morning asked Captain Derickson, commanding the company of
+Pennsylvania soldiers, which was the Presidential guard at the
+White House and the Home--wherever the President happened to be
+--to go to town with him.
+
+Captain Derickson told the story in a most entertaining way:
+
+"When we entered the city, Mr. Lincoln said he would call at
+General Halleck's headquarters and get what news had been
+received from the army during the night. I informed him that
+General Cullum, chief aid to General Halleck, was raised in
+Meadville, and that I knew him when I was a boy.
+
+"He replied, 'Then we must see both the gentlemen.' When the
+carriage stopped, he requested me to remain seated, and said he
+would bring the gentlemen down to see me, the office being on the
+second floor. In a short time the President came down, followed
+by the other gentlemen. When he introduced them to me, General
+Cullum recognized and seemed pleased to see me.
+
+"In General Halleck I thought I discovered a kind of quizzical
+look, as much as to say, 'Isn't this rather a big joke to ask the
+Commander-in-Chief of the army down to the street to be
+introduced to a country captain?'"
+
+
+STORIES BETTER THAN DOCTORS.
+
+A gentleman, visiting a hospital at Washington, heard an occupant
+of one of the beds laughing and talking about the President, who
+had been there a short time before and gladdened the wounded with
+some of his stories. The soldier seemed in such good spirits that
+the gentleman inquired:
+
+"You must be very slightly wounded?"
+
+"Yes," replied the brave fellow, "very slightly--I have only lost
+one leg, and I'd be glad enough to lose the other, if I could
+hear some more of 'Old Abe's' stories."
+
+
+SHORT, BUT EXCITING.
+
+William B. Wilson, employed in the telegraph office at the War
+Department, ran over to the White House one day to summon Mr.
+Lincoln. He described the trip back to the War Department in this
+manner:
+
+"Calling one of his two younger boys to join him, we then started
+from the White House, between stately trees, along a gravel path
+which led to the rear of the old War Department building. It was
+a warm day, and Mr. Lincoln wore as part of his costume a faded
+gray linen duster which hung loosely around his long gaunt frame;
+his kindly eye was beaming with good nature, and his
+ever-thoughtful brow was unruffled.
+
+"We had barely reached the gravel walk before he stooped over,
+picked up a round smooth pebble, and shooting it off his thumb,
+challenged us to a game of 'followings,' which we accepted. Each
+in turn tried to hit the outlying stone, which was being
+constantly projected onward by the President. The game was short,
+but exciting; the cheerfulness of childhood, the ambition of
+young manhood, and the gravity of the statesman were all injected
+into it.
+
+"The game was not won until the steps of the War Department were
+reached. Every inch of progression was toughly contested, and
+when the President was declared victor, it was only by a hand
+span. He appeared to be as much pleased as if he had won a
+battle."
+
+
+MR. BULL DIDN'T GET HIS COTTON.
+
+Because of the blockade, by the Union fleets, of the Southern
+cotton ports, England was deprived of her supply of cotton, and
+scores of thousands of British operatives were thrown out of
+employment by the closing of the cotton mills at Manchester and
+other cities in Great Britain. England (John Bull) felt so badly
+about this that the British wanted to go to war on account of it,
+but when the United States eagle ruffled up its wings the English
+thought over the business and concluded not to fight.
+
+"Harper's Weekly" of May 16th, 1863, contained the cartoon we
+reproduce, which shows John Bull as manifesting much anxiety
+regarding the cotton he had bought from the Southern planters,
+but which the latter could not deliver. Beneath the cartoon is
+this bit of dialogue between John Bull and President Lincoln: MR.
+BULL (confiding creature): "Hi want my cotton, bought at fi'pence
+a pound."
+
+MR. LINCOLN: "Don't know anything about it, my dear sir. Your
+friends, the rebels, are burning all the cotton they can find,
+and I confiscate the rest. Good-morning, John!"
+
+As President Lincoln has a big fifteen-inch gun at his side, the
+black muzzle of which is pressed tightly against Mr. Bull's
+waistcoat, the President, to all appearances, has the best of the
+argument "by a long shot." Anyhow, Mr. Bull had nothing more to
+say, but gave the cotton matter up as a bad piece of business,
+and pocketed the loss.
+
+
+STICK TO AMERICAN PRINCIPLES.
+
+President Lincoln's first conclusion (that Mason and Slidell
+should be released) was the real ground on which the
+Administration submitted. "We must stick to American principles
+concerning the rights of neutrals." It was to many, as Secretary
+of the Treasury Chase declared it was to him, "gall and
+wormwood." James Russell Lowell's verse expressed best the
+popular feeling:
+
+We give the critters back, John,
+Cos Abram thought 'twas right;
+It warn't your bullyin' clack, John,
+Provokin' us to fight.
+
+The decision raised Mr. Lincoln immeasurably in the view of
+thoughtful men, especially in England.
+
+
+USED "RUDE TACT."
+
+General John C. Fremont, with headquarters at St. Louis,
+astonished the country by issuing a proclamation declaring, among
+other things, that the property, real and personal, of all the
+persons in the State of Missouri who should take up arms against
+the United States, or who should be directly proved to have taken
+an active part with its enemies in the field, would be
+confiscated to public use and their slaves, if they had any,
+declared freemen.
+
+The President was dismayed; he modified that part of the
+proclamation referring to slaves, and finally replaced Fremont
+with General Hunter.
+
+Mrs. Fremont (daughter of Senator T. H. Benton), her husband's
+real chief of staff, flew to Washington and sought Mr. Lincoln.
+It was midnight, but the President gave her an audience. Without
+waiting for an explanation, she violently charged him with
+sending an enemy to Missouri to look into Fremont's case, and
+threatening that if Fremont desired to he could set up a
+government for himself.
+
+"I had to exercise all the rude tact I have to avoid quarreling
+with her," said Mr. Lincoln afterwards.
+
+
+"ABE" ON A WOODPILE.
+
+Lincoln's attempt to make a lawyer of himself under adverse and
+unpromising circumstances--he was a bare-footed farm-hand
+--excited comment. And it was not to be wondered. One old man,
+who
+was yet alive as late as 1901, had often employed Lincoln to do
+farm work for him, and was surprised to find him one day sitting
+barefoot on the summit of a woodpile and attentively reading a
+book.
+
+"This being an unusual thing for farm-hands in that early day to
+do," said the old man, when relating the story, "I asked him what
+he was reading.
+
+"'I'm not reading,' he answered. 'I'm studying.'
+
+"'Studying what?' I inquired.
+
+"'Law, sir,' was the emphatic response.
+
+"It was really too much for me, as I looked at him sitting there
+proud as Cicero. 'Great God Almighty!' I exclaimed, and passed
+on." Lincoln merely laughed and resumed his "studies."
+
+
+TAKING DOWN A DANDY.
+
+In a political campaign, Lincoln once replied to Colonel Richard
+Taylor, a self-conceited, dandified man, who wore a gold chain
+and ruffled shirt. His party at that time was posing as the
+hard-working bone and sinew of the land, while the Whigs were
+stigmatized as aristocrats, ruffled-shirt gentry. Taylor making a
+sweeping gesture, his overcoat became torn open, displaying his
+finery. Lincoln in reply said, laying his hand on his jeans-clad
+breast:
+
+"Here is your aristocrat, one of your silk-stocking gentry, at
+your service." Then, spreading out his hands, bronzed and gaunt
+with toil: "Here is your rag-basin with lily-white hands. Yes, I
+suppose, according to my friend Taylor, I am a bloated
+aristocrat."
+
+
+WHEN OLD ABE GOT MAD.
+
+Soon after hostilities broke out between the North and South,
+Congress appointed a Committee on the Conduct of the War. This
+committee beset Mr. Lincoln and urged all sorts of measures. Its
+members were aggressive and patriotic, and one thing they
+determined upon was that the Army of the Potomac should move. But
+it was not until March that they became convinced that anything
+would be done.
+
+One day early in that month, Senator Chandler, of Michigan, a
+member of the committee, met George W. Julian. He was in high
+glee. "'Old' Abe is mad," said Julian, "and the War will now go
+on."
+
+
+WANTED TO "BORROW" THE ARMY.
+
+During one of the periods when things were at a standstill, the
+Washington authorities, being unable to force General McClellan
+to assume an aggressive attitude, President Lincoln went to the
+general's headquarters to have a talk with him, but for some
+reason he was unable to get an audience.
+
+Mr. Lincoln returned to the White House much disturbed at his
+failure to see the commander of the Union forces, and immediately
+sent for two general officers, to have a consultation. On their
+arrival, he told them he must have some one to talk to about the
+situation, and as he had failed to see General McClellan, he
+wished their views as to the possibility or probability of
+commencing active operations with the Army of the Potomac.
+
+"Something's got to be done," said the President, emphatically,
+"and done right away, or the bottom will fall out of the whole
+thing. Now, if McClellan doesn't want to use the army for awhile,
+I'd like to borrow it from him and see if I can't do something or
+other with it.
+
+"If McClellan can't fish, he ought at least to be cutting bait at
+a time like this."
+
+
+YOUNG "SUCKER" VISITORS.
+
+After Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency, the Executive
+Chamber, a large, fine room in the State House at Springfield,
+was set apart for him, where he met the public until after his
+election.
+
+As illustrative of the nature of many of his calls, the following
+incident was related by Mr. Holland, an eye-witness: "Mr. Lincoln
+being in conversation with a gentleman one day, two raw,
+plainly-dressed young 'Suckers' entered the room, and bashfully
+lingered near the door. As soon as he observed them, and saw
+their embarrassment, he rose and walked to them, saying: 'How do
+you do, my good fellows? What can I do for you? Will you sit
+down?' The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of the two,
+declined to sit, and explained the object of the call thus: He
+had had a talk about the relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his
+companion, and had asserted his belief that they were of exactly
+the same height. He had come in to verify his judgment. Mr.
+Lincoln smiled, went and got his cane, and, placing the end of it
+upon the wall, said" 'Here, young man, come under here.' "The
+young man came under the cane as Mr. Lincoln held it, and when it
+was perfectly adjusted to his height, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+"'Now, come out, and hold the cane.'
+
+"This he did, while Mr. Lincoln stood under. Rubbing his head
+back and forth to see that it worked easily under the
+measurement, he stepped out, and declared to the sagacious fellow
+who was curiously looking on, that he had guessed with remarkable
+accuracy--that he and the young man were exactly the same height.
+Then he shook hands with them and sent them on their way. Mr.
+Lincoln would just as soon have thought of cutting off his right
+hand as he would have thought of turning those boys away with the
+impression that they had in any way insulted his dignity.
+
+
+"AND YOU DON'T WEAR HOOPSKIRTS."
+
+An Ohio Senator had an appointment with President Lincoln at six
+o'clock, and as he entered the vestibule of the White House his
+attention was attracted toward a poorly clad young woman, who was
+violently sobbing. He asked her the cause of her distress. She
+said she had been ordered away by the servants, after vainly
+waiting many hours to see the President about her only brother,
+who had been condemned to death. Her story was this:
+
+She and her brother were foreigners, and orphans. They had been
+in this country several years. Her brother enlisted in the army,
+but, through bad influences, was induced to desert. He was
+captured, tried and sentenced to be shot--the old story.
+
+The poor girl had obtained the signatures of some persons who had
+formerly known him, to a petition for a pardon, and alone had
+come to Washington to lay the case before the President. Thronged
+as the waiting-rooms always were, she had passed the long hours
+of two days trying in vain to get an audience, and had at length
+been ordered away.
+
+The gentleman's feelings were touched. He said to her that he had
+come to see the President, but did not know as he should succeed.
+He told her, however, to follow him upstairs, and he would see
+what could be done for her.
+
+Just before reaching the door, Mr. Lincoln came out, and, meeting
+his friend, said good-humoredly, "Are you not ahead of time?" The
+gentleman showed him his watch, with the hand upon the hour of
+six.
+
+"Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, "I have been so busy to-day that I
+have not had time to get a lunch. Go in and sit down; I will be
+back directly."
+
+The gentleman made the young woman accompany him into the office,
+and when they were seated, said to her: "Now, my good girl, I
+want you to muster all the courage you have in the world. When
+the President comes back, he will sit down in that armchair. I
+shall get up to speak to him, and as I do so you must force
+yourself between us, and insist upon his examination of your
+papers, telling him it is a case of life and death, and admits of
+no delay." These instructions were carried out to the letter. Mr.
+Lincoln was at first somewhat surprised at the apparent
+forwardness of the young woman, but observing her distressed
+appearance, he ceased conversation with his friend, and commenced
+an examination of the document she had placed in his hands.
+
+Glancing from it to the face of the petitioner, whose tears had
+broken forth afresh, he studied its expression for a moment, and
+then his eye fell upon her scanty but neat dress. Instantly his
+face lighted up.
+
+"My poor girl," said he, "you have come here with no Governor, or
+Senator, or member of Congress to plead your cause. You seem
+honest and truthful; and you don't wear hoopskirts--and I will be
+whipped but I will pardon your brother." And he did.
+
+
+LIEUTENANT TAD LINCOLN'S SENTINELS.
+
+President Lincoln's favorite son, Tad, having been sportively
+commissioned a lieutenant in the United States Army by Secretary
+Stanton, procured several muskets and drilled the men-servants of
+the house in the manual of arms without attracting the attention
+of his father. And one night, to his consternation, he put them
+all on duty, and relieved the regular sentries, who, seeing the
+lad in full uniform, or perhaps appreciating the joke, gladly
+went to their quarters. His brother objected; but Tad insisted
+upon his rights as an officer. The President laughed but declined
+to interfere, but when the lad had lost his little authority in
+his boyish sleep, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of
+the United States went down and personally discharged the
+sentries his son had put on the post.
+
+
+DOUGLAS HELD LINCOLN'S HAT.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln delivered his first inaugural he was introduced
+by his friend, United States Senator E. D. Baker, of Oregon. He
+carried a cane and a little roll--the manuscript of his inaugural
+address. There was moment's pause after the introduction, as he
+vainly looked for a spot where he might place his high silk hat.
+
+Stephen A. Douglas, the political antagonist of his whole public
+life, the man who had pressed him hardest in the campaign of
+1860, was seated just behind him. Douglas stepped forward
+quickly, and took the hat which Mr. Lincoln held helplessly in
+his hand.
+
+"If I can't be President," Douglas whispered smilingly to Mrs.
+Brown, a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln and a member of the President's
+party, "I at least can hold his hat."
+
+
+THE DEAD MAN SPOKE.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once said in a speech: "Fellow-citizens, my friend,
+Mr. Douglas, made the startling announcement to-day that the
+Whigs are all dead.
+
+"If that be so, fellow-citizens, you will now experience the
+novelty of hearing a speech from a dead man; and I suppose you
+might properly say, in the language of the old hymn
+
+"'Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound.'"
+
+
+MILITARY SNAILS NOT SPEEDY.
+
+President Lincoln--as he himself put it in conversation one day
+with a friend--"fairly ached" for his generals to "get down to
+business." These slow generals he termed "snails."
+
+Grant, Sherman and Sheridan were his favorites, for they were
+aggressive. They did not wait for the enemy to attack. Too many
+of the others were "lingerers," as Lincoln called them. They were
+magnificent in defense, and stubborn and brave, but their names
+figured too much on the "waiting list."
+
+The greatest fault Lincoln found with so many of the commanders
+on the Union side was their unwillingness to move until
+everything was exactly to their liking.
+
+Lincoln could not understand why these leaders of Northern armies
+hesitated.
+
+
+OUTRAN THE JACK-RABBIT.
+
+When the Union forces were routed in the first battle of Bull
+Run, there were many civilians present, who had gone out from
+Washington to witness the battle. Among the number were several
+Congressmen. One of these was a tall, long-legged fellow, who
+wore a long-tailed coat and a high plug hat. When the retreat
+began, this Congressman was in the lead of the entire crowd
+fleeing toward Washington. He outran all the rest, and was the
+first man to arrive in the city. No person ever made such good
+use of long legs as this Congressman. His immense stride carried
+him yards at every bound. He went over ditches and gullies at a
+single leap, and cleared a six-foot fence with a foot to spare.
+As he went over the fence his plug hat blew off, but he did not
+pause. With his long coat-tails flying in the wind, he continued
+straight ahead for Washington.
+
+Many of those behind him were scared almost to death, but the
+flying Congressman was such a comical figure that they had to
+laugh in spite of their terror.
+
+Mr. Lincoln enjoyed the description of how this Congressman led
+the race from Bull's Run, and laughed at it heartily.
+
+"I never knew but one fellow who could run like that," he said,
+"and he was a young man out in Illinois. He had been sparking a
+girl, much against the wishes of her father. In fact, the old
+man took such a dislike to him that he threatened to shoot him if
+he ever ought him around his premises again.
+
+"One evening the young man learned that the girl's father had
+gone to the city, and he ventured out to the house. He was
+sitting in the parlor, with his arm around Betsy's waist, when he
+suddenly spied the old man coming around the corner of the house
+with a shotgun. Leaping through a window into the garden, he
+started down a path at the top of his speed. He was a long-legged
+fellow, and could run like greased lightning. Just then a
+jack-rabbit jumped up in the path in front of him. In about two
+leaps he overtook the rabbit. Giving it a kick that sent it high
+in the air, he exclaimed: 'Git out of the road, gosh dern you,
+and let somebody run that knows how.'
+
+"I reckon," said Mr. Lincoln, "that the long-legged Congressman,
+when he saw the rebel muskets, must have felt a good deal like
+that young fellow did when he saw the old man's shot-gun."
+
+"FOOLING" THE PEOPLE.
+
+Lincoln was a strong believer in the virtue of dealing honestly
+with the people.
+
+"If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens," he
+said to a caller at the White House, "you can never regain their
+respect and esteem.
+
+"It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time;
+you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't
+fool all of the people all the time."
+
+
+"ABE, YOU CAN'T PLAY THAT ON ME."
+
+The night President-elect Lincoln arrived at Washington, one man
+was observed watching Lincoln very closely as he walked out of
+the railroad station. Standing a little to one side, the man
+looked very sharply at Lincoln, and, as the latter passed, seized
+hold of his hand, and said in a loud tone of voice, "Abe, you
+can't play that on me!"
+
+Ward Lamon and the others with Lincoln were instantly alarmed,
+and would have struck the stranger had not Lincoln hastily said,
+"Don't strike him! It is Washburne. Don't you know him?"
+
+Mr. Seward had given Congressman Washburne a hint of the time the
+train would arrive, and he had the right to be at the station
+when the train steamed in, but his indiscreet manner of loudly
+addressing the President-elect might have led to serious
+consequences to the latter.
+
+
+HIS "BROAD" STORIES.
+
+Mrs. Rose Linder Wilkinson, who often accompanied her father,
+Judge Linder, in the days when he rode circuit with Mr. Lincoln,
+tells the following story:
+
+"At night, as a rule, the lawyers spent awhile in the parlor, and
+permitted the women who happened to be along to sit with them.
+But after half an hour or so we would notice it was time for us
+to leave them. I remember traveling the circuit one season when
+the young wife of one of the lawyers was with him. The place was
+so crowded that she and I were made to sleep together. When the
+time came for banishing us from the parlor, we went up to our
+room and sat there till bed-time, listening to the roars that
+followed each ether swiftly while those lawyers down-stairs told
+stoties and laughed till the rafters rang.
+
+"In the morning Mr. Lincoln said to me: 'Rose, did we disturb
+your sleep last night?' I answered, 'No, I had no sleep'--which
+was not entirely true but the retort amused him. Then the young
+lawyer's wife complained to him that we were not fairly used. We
+came along with them, young women, and when they were having the
+best time we were sent away like children to go to bed in the
+dark.
+
+"'But, Madame,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'you would not enjoy the
+things we laugh at.' And then he entered into a discussion on
+what have been termed his 'broad' stories. He deplored the fact
+that men seemed to remember them longer and with less effort than
+any others.
+
+"My father said: 'But, Lincoln, I don't remember the "broad" part
+of your stories so much as I do the moral that is in them,' and
+it was a thing in which they were all agreed."
+
+
+SORRY FOR THE HORSES.
+
+When President Lincoln heard of the Confederate raid at Fairfax,
+in which a brigadier-general and a number of valuable horses were
+captured, he gravely observed:
+
+"Well, I am sorry for the horses."
+
+"Sorry for the horses, Mr. President!" exclaimed the Secretary of
+War, raising his spectacles and throwing himself back in his
+chair in astonishment.
+
+"Yes," replied Mr., Lincoln, "I can make a brigadier-general in
+five minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten
+horses."
+
+
+MILD REBUKE TO A DOCTOR.
+
+Dr. Jerome Walker, of Brooklyn, told how Mr. Lincoln once
+administered to him a mild rebuke. The doctor was showing Mr.
+Lincoln through the hospital at City Point.
+
+"Finally, after visiting the wards occupied by our invalid and
+convalescing soldiers," said Dr. Walker, "we came to three wards
+occupied by sick and wounded Southern prisoners. With a feeling
+of patriotic duty, I said: 'Mr. President, you won't want to go
+in there; they are only rebels.'
+
+"I will never forget how he stopped and gently laid his large
+hand upon my shoulder and quietly answered, 'You mean
+Confederates!' And I have meant Confederates ever since.
+
+"There was nothing left for me to do after the President's remark
+but to go with him through these three wards; and I could not see
+but that he was just as kind, his hand-shakings just as hearty,
+his interest just as real for the welfare of the men, as when he
+was among our own soldiers."
+
+
+COLD MOLASSES WAS SWIFTER.
+
+"Old Pap," as the soldiers called General George H. Thomas, was
+aggravatingly slow at a time when the President wanted him to
+"get a move on"; in fact, the gallant "Rock of Chickamauga" was
+evidently entered in a snail-race.
+
+"Some of my generals are so slow," regretfully remarked Lincoln
+one day, "that molasses in the coldest days of winter is a race
+horse compared to them.
+
+"They're brave enough, but somehow or other they get fastened in
+a fence corner, and can't figure their way out."
+
+
+LINCOLN CALLS MEDILL A COWARD.
+
+Joseph Medill, for many years editor of the Chicago Tribune, not
+long before his death, told the following story regarding the
+"talking to" President Lincoln gave himself and two other Chicago
+gentlemen who went to Washington to see about reducing Chicago's
+quota of troops after the call for extra men was made by the
+President in 1864:
+
+"In 1864, when the call for extra troops came, Chicago revolted.
+She had already sent 22,000 troops up to that time, and was
+drained. When the call came there were no young men to go, and no
+aliens except what were bought. The citizens held a mass meeting
+and appointed three persons, of whom I was one, to go to
+Washington and ask Stanton to give Cook County a new enrollment.
+"On reaching Washington, we went to Stanton with our statement.
+He refused entirely to give us the desired aid. Then we went to
+Lincoln. 'I cannot do it,' he said, 'but I will go with you to
+the War Department, and Stanton and I will hear both sides.'
+
+"So we all went over to the War Department together. Stanton and
+General Frye were there, and they, of course, contended that the
+quota should not be changed. The argument went on for some time,
+and was finally referred to Lincoln, who had been sitting
+silently listening.
+
+"I shall never forget how he suddenly lifted his head and turned
+on us a black and frowning face.
+
+"'Gentlemen,' he said, in a voice full of bitterness, 'after
+Boston, Chicago has been the chief instrument in bringing war on
+this country. The Northwest has opposed the South as New England
+has opposed the South. It is you who are largely responsible for
+making blood flow as it has.
+
+"'You called for war until we had it. You called for
+Emancipation, and I have given it to you. Whatever you have
+asked, you have had. Now you come here begging to be let off from
+the call for men, which I have made to carry out the war which
+you demanded. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I have a
+right to expect better things of you.
+
+"'Go home and raise your six thousand extra men. And you,
+Medill, you are acting like a coward. You and your Tribune have
+had more influence than any paper in the Northwest in making this
+war. You can influence great masses, and yet you cry to be spared
+at a moment when your cause is suffering. Go home and send us
+those men!'
+
+"I couldn't say anything. It was the first time I ever was
+whipped, and I didn't have an answer. We all got up and went out,
+and when the door closed one of my colleagues said:
+
+"'Well, gentlemen, the old man is right. We ought to be ashamed
+of ourselves. Let us never say anything about this, but go home
+and raise the men.'
+
+"And we did--six thousand men--making twenty-eight thousand in
+the War from a city of one hundred and fifty-six thousand. But
+there might have been crape on every door, almost, in Chicago,
+for every family had lost a son or a husband. I lost two
+brothers. It was hard for the mothers."
+
+
+THEY DIDN'T BUILD IT.
+
+In 1862 a delegation of New York millionaires waited upon
+President Lincoln to request that he furnish a gunboat for the
+protection of New York harbor.
+
+Mr. Lincoln, after listening patiently, said: "Gentlemen, the
+credit of the Government is at a very low ebb; greenbacks are not
+worth more than forty or fifty cents on the dollar; it is
+impossible for me, in the present condition of things, to furnish
+you a gunboat, and, in this condition of things, if I was worth
+half as much as you, gentlemen, are represented to be, and as
+badly frightened as you seem to be, I would build a gunboat and
+give it to the Government."
+
+
+STANTON'S ABUSE OF LINCOLN.
+
+President Lincoln's sense of duty to the country, together with
+his keen judgment of men, often led to the appointment of persons
+unfriendly to him. Some of these appointees were, as well, not
+loyal to the National Government, for that matter.
+
+Regarding Secretary of War Stanton's attitude toward Lincoln,
+Colonel A. K. McClure, who was very close to President Lincoln,
+said:
+
+"After Stanton's retirement from the Buchanan Cabinet when
+Lincoln was inaugurated, he maintained the closest confidential
+relations with Buchanan, and wrote him many letters expressing
+the utmost contempt for Lincoln, the Cabinet, the Republican
+Congress, and the general policy of the Administration.
+
+"These letters speak freely of the 'painful imbecility of
+Lincoln,' of the 'venality and corruption' which ran riot in the
+government, and expressed the belief that no better condition of
+things was possible 'until Jeff Davis turns out the whole
+concern.'
+
+"He was firmly impressed for some weeks after the battle of Bull
+Run that the government was utterly overthrown, as he repeatedly
+refers to the coming of Davis into the National Capital.
+
+"In one letter he says that 'in less than thirty days Davis will
+be in possession of Washington;' and it is an open secret that
+Stanton advised the revolutionary overthrow of the Lincoln
+government, to be replaced by General McClellan as military
+dictator. These letters, bad as they are, are not the worst
+letters written by Stanton to Buchanan. Some of them were so
+violent in their expressions against Lincoln and the
+administration that they have been charitably withheld from the
+public, but they remain in the possession of the surviving
+relatives of President Buchanan.
+
+"Of course, Lincoln had no knowledge of the bitterness exhibited
+by Stanton to himself personally and to his administration, but
+if he had known the worst that Stanton ever said or wrote about
+him, I doubt not that he would have called him to the Cabinet in
+January, 1862. The disasters the army suffered made Lincoln
+forgetful of everything but the single duty of suppressing the
+rebellion.
+
+"Lincoln was not long in discovering that in his new Secretary of
+War he had an invaluable but most troublesome Cabinet officer,
+but he saw only the great and good offices that Stanton was
+performing for the imperilled Republic.
+
+"Confidence was restored in financial circles by the appointment
+of Stanton, and his name as War Minister did more to strengthen
+the faith of the people in the government credit than would have
+been probable from the appointment of any other man of that day.
+
+"He was a terror to all the hordes of jobbers and speculators and
+camp-followers whose appetites had been whetted by a great war,
+and he enforced the strictest discipline throughout our armies.
+
+"He was seldom capable of being civil to any officer away from
+the army on leave of absence unless he had been summoned by the
+government for conference or special duty, and he issued the
+strictest orders from time to time to drive the throng of
+military idlers from the capital and keep them at their posts. He
+was stern to savagery in his enforcement of military law. The
+wearied sentinel who slept at his post found no mercy in the
+heart of Stanton, and many times did Lincoln's humanity overrule
+his fiery minister.
+
+"Any neglect of military duty was sure of the swiftest
+punishment, and seldom did he make even just allowance for
+inevitable military disaster. He had profound, unfaltering faith
+in the Union cause, and, above all, he had unfaltering faith in
+himself.
+
+"He believed that he was in all things except in name
+Commander-in-Chief of the armies and the navy of the nation, and
+it was with unconcealed reluctance that he at times deferred to
+the authority of the President."
+
+
+THE NEGRO AND THE CROCODILE.
+
+In one of his political speeches, Judge Douglas made use of the
+following figure of speech: "As between the crocodile and the
+negro, I take the side of the negro; but as between the negro and
+the white man--I would go for the white man every time."
+
+Lincoln, at home, noted that; and afterwards, when he had
+occasion to refer to the remark, he said: "I believe that this is
+a sort of proposition in proportion, which may be stated thus:
+'As the negro is to the white man, so is the crocodile to the
+negro; and as the negro may rightfully treat the crocodile as a
+beast or reptile, so the white man may rightfully treat the negro
+as a beast or reptile.'"
+
+
+LINCOLN WAS READY TO FIGHT.
+
+On one occasion, Colonel Baker was speaking in a court-house,
+which had been a storehouse, and, on making some remarks that
+were offensive to certain political rowdies in the crowd, they
+cried: "Take him off the stand!"
+
+Immediate confusion followed, and there was an attempt to carry
+the demand into execution. Directly over the speaker's head was
+an old skylight, at which it appeared Mr. Lincoln had been
+listening to the speech. In an instant, Mr. Lincoln's feet came
+through the skylight, followed by his tall and sinewy frame, and
+he was standing by Colonel Baker's side. He raised his hand and
+the assembly subsided into silence. "Gentlemen," said Mr.
+Lincoln, "let us not disgrace the age and country in which we
+live. This is a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed. Mr.
+Baker has a right to speak, and ought to be permitted to do so. I
+am here to protect him, and no man shall take him from this stand
+if I can prevent it." The suddenness of his appearance, his
+perfect calmness and fairness, and the knowledge that he would do
+what he had promised to do, quieted all disturbance, and the
+speaker concluded his remarks without difficulty.
+
+
+IT WAS UP-HILL WORK.
+
+Two young men called on the President from Springfield, Illinois.
+Lincoln shook hands with them, and asked about the crops, the
+weather, etc.
+
+Finally one of the young men said, "Mother is not well, and she
+sent me up to inquire of you how the suit about the Wells
+property is getting on."
+
+Lincoln, in the same even tone with which he had asked the
+question, said: "Give my best wishes and respects to your mother,
+and tell her I have so many outside matters to attend to now that
+I have put that case, and others, in the hands of a lawyer friend
+of mine, and if you will call on him (giving name and address) he
+will give you the information you want."
+
+After they had gone, a friend, who was present, said: "Mr.
+Lincoln, you did not seem to know the young men?"
+
+He laughed and replied: "No, I had never seen them before, and I
+had to beat around the bush until I found who they were. It was
+up-hill work, but I topped it at last."
+
+
+LEE'S SLIM ANIMAL.
+
+President Lincoln wrote to General Hooker on June 5, 1863,
+warning Hooker not to run any risk of being entangled on the
+Rappahannock "like an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to
+be torn by dogs, front and rear, without a fair chance to give
+one way or kick the other." On the l0th he warned Hooker not to
+go south of the Rappahannock upon Lee's moving north of it. "I
+think Lee's army and not Richmond is your true objective power.
+If he comes toward the upper Potomac, follow on his flank, and on
+the inside track, shortening your lines while he lengthens his.
+Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. If he stay where he is,
+fret him, and fret him."
+
+On the 14th again he says: "So far as we can make out here, the
+enemy have Milroy surrounded at Winchester, and Tyler at
+Martinsburg. If they could hold out for a few days, could you
+help them? If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg, and the
+tail of it on the flank road between Fredericksburg and
+Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim somewhere; could
+you not break him?"
+
+
+"MRS. NORTH AND HER ATTORNEY."
+
+In the issue of London "Punch" of September 24th, 1864, President
+Lincoln is pictured as sitting at a table in his law office,
+while in a chair to his tight is a client, Mrs. North. The latter
+is a fine client for any attorney to have on his list, being
+wealthy and liberal, but as the lady is giving her counsel, who
+has represented her in a legal way for four years, notice that
+she proposes to put her legal business in the hands of another
+lawyer, the dejected look upon the face of Attorney Lincoln is
+easily accounted for. "Punch" puts these words in the lady's
+mouth:
+
+MRS. NORTH: "You see, Mr. Lincoln, we have failed utterly in our
+course of action; I want peace, and so, if you cannot effect an
+amicable arrangement, I must put the case into other hands."
+
+In this cartoon, "Punch" merely reflected the idea, or sentiment,
+current in England in 1864, that the North was much dissatisfied
+with the War policy of President Lincoln; and would surely elect
+General McClellan to succeed the Westerner in the White House. At
+the election McClellan carried but one Northern State--New
+Jersey, where he was born--President Lincoln sweeping the country
+like a prairie fire.
+
+"Punch" had evidently been deceived by some bold, bad man, who
+wanted a little spending money, and sold the prediction to the
+funny journal with a certificate of character attached, written
+by--possibly--a member of the Horse Marines. "Punch," was very
+much disgusted to find that its credulity and faith in mankind
+had been so imposed upon, especially when the election returns
+showed that "the-War-is-a-failure" candidate ran so slowly that
+Lincoln passed him as easily as though the Democratic nominee was
+tied to a post.
+
+
+SATISFACTION TO THE SOUL.
+
+In the far-away days when "Abe" went to school in Indiana, they
+had exercises, exhibitions and speaking-meetings in the
+schoolhouse or the church, and "Abe" was the "star." His father
+was a Democrat, and at that time "Abe" agreed with his parent. He
+would frequently make political and other speeches to the boys
+and explain tangled questions.
+
+Booneville was the county seat of Warrick county, situated about
+fifteen miles from Gentryville. Thither "Abe" walked to be
+present at the sittings of the court, and listened attentively to
+the trials and the speeches of the lawyers.
+
+One of the trials was that of a murderer. He was defended by Mr.
+John Breckinridge, and at the conclusion of his speech "Abe" was
+so enthusiastic that he ventured to compliment him. Breckinridge
+looked at the shabby boy, thanked him, and passed on his way.
+
+Many years afterwards, in 1862, Breckinridge called on the
+President, and he was told, "It was the best speech that I, up to
+that time, had ever heard. If I could, as I then thought, make as
+good a speech as that, my soul would be satisfied."
+
+
+WITHDREW THE COLT.
+
+Mr. Alcott, of Elgin, Ill., tells of seeing Mr. Lincoln coming
+away from church unusually early one Sunday morning. "The sermon
+could not have been more than half way through," says Mr. Alcott.
+"'Tad' was slung across his left arm like a pair of saddlebags,
+and Mr. Lincoln was striding along with long, deliberate steps
+toward his home. On one of the street corners he encountered a
+group of his fellow-townsmen. Mr. Lincoln anticipated the
+question which was about to be put by the group, and, taking his
+figure of speech from practices with which they were only too
+familiar, said: 'Gentlemen, I entered this colt, but he kicked
+around so I had to withdraw him."'
+
+
+"TAD" GOT HIS DOLLAR.
+
+No matter who was with the President, or how intently absorbed,
+his little son "Tad" was always welcome. He almost always
+accompanied his father.
+
+Once, on the way to Fortress Monroe, he became very troublesome.
+The President was much engaged in conversation with the party who
+accompanied him, and he at length said:
+
+"'Tad,' if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any more
+until we get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you a dollar."
+
+The hope of reward was effectual for awhile in securing silence,
+but, boylike, "Tad" soon forgot his promise, and was as noisy as
+ever. Upon reaching their destination, however, he said, very
+promptly: "Father, I want my dollar." Mr. Lincoln looked at him
+half-reproachfully for an instant, and then, taking from his
+pocketbook a dollar note, he said "Well, my son, at any rate, I
+will keep my part of the bargain."
+
+
+TELLS AN EDITOR ABOUT NASBY.
+
+Henry J. Raymond, the famous New York editor, thus tells of Mr.
+Lincoln's fondness for the Nasby letters:
+
+"It has been well said by a profound critic of Shakespeare, and
+it occurs to me as very appropriate in this connection, that the
+spirit which held the woe of Lear and the tragedy of "Hamlet"
+would have broken had it not also had the humor of the "Merry
+Wives of Windsor" and the merriment of the "Midsummer Night's
+Dream."
+
+"This is as true of Mr. Lincoln as it was of Shakespeare. The
+capacity to tell and enjoy a good anecdote no doubt prolonged his
+life.
+
+"The Saturday evening before he left Washington to go to the
+front, just previous to the capture of Richmond, I was with him
+from seven o'clock till nearly twelve. It had been one of his
+most trying days. The pressure of office-seekers was greater at
+this juncture than I ever knew it to be, and he was almost worn
+out.
+
+"Among the callers that evening was a party composed of two
+Senators, a Representative, an ex-Lieutenant-Governor of a
+Western State, and several private citizens. They had business of
+great importance, involving the necessity of the President's
+examination of voluminous documents. Pushing everything aside,
+he said to one of the party:
+
+"'Have you seen the Nasby papers?'
+
+"'No, I have not,' was the reply; 'who is Nasby?'
+
+"'There is a chap out in Ohio,' returned the President, 'who has
+been writing a series of letters in the newspapers over the
+signature of Petroleum V. Nasby. Some one sent me a pamphlet
+collection of them the other day. I am going to write to
+"Petroleum" to come down here, and I intend to tell him if he
+will communicate his talent to me, I will swap places with him!'
+
+"Thereupon he arose, went to a drawer in his desk, and, taking
+out the 'Letters,' sat down and read one to the company, finding
+in their enjoyment of it the temporary excitement and relief
+which another man would have found in a glass of wine. The
+instant he had ceased, the book was thrown aside, his countenance
+relapsed into its habitual serious expression, and the business
+was entered upon with the utmost earnestness."
+
+
+LONG AND SHORT OF IT.
+
+On the occasion of a serenade, the President was called for by
+the crowd assembled. He appeared at a window with his wife (who
+was somewhat below the medium height), and made the following
+"brief remarks":
+
+"Here I am, and here is Mrs. Lincoln. That's the long and the
+short of it."
+
+
+MORE PEGS THAN HOLES.
+
+Some gentlemen were once finding fault with the President because
+certain generals were not given commands.
+
+"The fact is," replied President Lincoln, "I have got more pegs
+than I have holes to put them in."
+
+
+"WEBSTER COULDN'T HAVE DONE MORE."
+
+Lincoln "got even" with the Illinois Central Railroad Company, in
+1855, in a most substantial way, at the same time secured sweet
+revenge for an insult, unwarranted in every way, put upon him by
+one of the officials of that corporation.
+
+Lincoln and Herndon defended the Illinois Central Railroad in an
+action brought by McLean County, Illinois, in August, 1853, to
+recover taxes alleged to be due the county from the road. The
+Legislature had granted the road immunity from taxation, and this
+was a case intended to test the constitutionality of the law. The
+road sent a retainer fee of $250.
+
+In the lower court the case was decided in favor of the railroad.
+An appeal to the Supreme Court followed, was argued twice, and
+finally decided in favor of the road. This last decision was
+rendered some time in 1855. Lincoln then went to Chicago and
+presented the bill for legal services. Lincoln and Herndon only
+asked for $2,000 more.
+
+The official to whom he was referred, after looking at the bill,
+expressed great surprise.
+
+"Why, sir," he exclaimed, "this is as much as Daniel Webster
+himself would have charged. We cannot allow such a claim."
+
+"Why not?" asked Lincoln.
+
+"We could have hired first-class lawyers at that figure," was the
+response.
+
+"We won the case, didn't we?" queried Lincoln.
+
+"Certainly," replied the official.
+
+"Daniel Webster, then," retorted Lincoln in no amiable tone,
+"couldn't have done more," and "Abe" walked out of the official's
+office.
+
+Lincoln withdrew the bill, and started for home. On the way he
+stopped at Bloomington, where he met Grant Goodrich, Archibald
+Williams, Norman B. Judd, O. H. Browning, and other attorneys,
+who, on learning of his modest charge for the valuable services
+rendered the railroad, induced him to increase the demand to
+$5,000, and to bring suit for that sum.
+
+This was done at once. On the trial six lawyers certified that
+the bill was reasonable, and judgment for that sum went by
+default; the judgment was promptly paid, and, of course, his
+partner, Herndon, got "your half Billy," without delay.
+
+
+LINCOLN MET CLAY.
+
+When a member of Congress, Lincoln went to Lexington, Kentucky,
+to hear Henry Clay speak. The Westerner, a Kentuckian by birth,
+and destined to reach the great goal Clay had so often sought,
+wanted to meet the "Millboy of the Slashes." The address was a
+tame affair, as was the personal greeting when Lincoln made
+himself known. Clay was courteous, but cold. He may never have
+heard of the man, then in his presence, who was to secure,
+without solicitation, the prize which he for many years had
+unsuccessfully sought. Lincoln was disenchanted; his ideal was
+shattered. One reason why Clay had not realized his ambition had
+become apparent.
+
+Clay was cool and dignified; Lincoln was cordial and hearty.
+Clay's hand was bloodless and frosty, with no vigorous grip in
+it; Lincoln's was warm, and its clasp was expressive of
+kindliness and sympathy.
+
+
+REMINDED "ABE" OF A LITTLE JOKE.
+
+President Lincoln had a little joke at the expense of General
+George B. McClellan, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency
+in opposition to the Westerner in 1864. McClellan was nominated
+by the Democratic National Convention, which assembled at
+Chicago, but after he had been named, and also during the
+campaign, the military candidate was characteristically slow in
+coming to the front.
+
+President Lincoln had his eye upon every move made by General
+McClellan during the campaign, and when reference was made one
+day, in his presence, to the deliberation and caution of the New
+Jerseyite, Mr. Lincoln remarked, with a twinkle in his eye,
+"Perhaps he is intrenching."
+
+The cartoon we reproduce appeared in "Harper's Weekly," September
+17th, 1864, and shows General McClellan, with his little spade in
+hand, being subjected to the scrutiny of the President--the man
+who gave McClellan, when the latter was Commander-in-Chief of the
+Union forces, every opportunity in the world to distinguish
+himself. There is a smile on the face of "Honest Abe," which
+shows conclusively that he does not regard his political opponent
+as likely to prove formidable in any way. President Lincoln
+"sized up" McClellan in 1861-2, and knew, to a fraction, how much
+of a man he was, what he could do, and how he went about doing
+it. McClellan was no politician, while the President was the
+shrewdest of political diplomats.
+
+
+HIS DIGNITY SAVED HIM.
+
+When Washington had become an armed camp, and full of soldiers,
+President Lincoln and his Cabinet officers drove daily to one or
+another of these camps. Very often his outing for the day was
+attending some ceremony incident to camp life: a military
+funeral, a camp wedding, a review, a flag-raising. He did not
+often make speeches. "I have made a great many poor speeches," he
+said one day, in excusing himself, "and I now feel relieved that
+my dignity does not permit me to be a public speaker."
+
+
+THE MAN HE WAS LOOKNG FOR
+
+Judge Kelly, of Pennsylvania, who was one of the committee to
+advise Lincoln of his nomination, and who was himself a great
+many feet high, had been eyeing Lincoln's lofty form with a
+mixture of admiration and possibly jealousy.
+
+This had not escaped Lincoln, and as he shook hands with the
+judge he inquired, "What is your height?"
+
+"Six feet three. What is yours, Mr. Lincoln?"
+
+"Six feet four."
+
+"Then," said the judge, "Pennsylvania bows to Illinois. My dear
+man, for years my heart has been aching for a President that I
+could look up to, and I've at last found him."
+
+
+HIS CABINET CHANCES POOR.
+
+Mr. Jeriah Bonham, in describing a visit he paid Lincoln at his
+room in the State House at Springfield, where he found him quite
+alone, except that two of his children, one of whom was "Tad,"
+were with him.
+
+"The door was open.
+
+"We walked in and were at once recognized and seated--the two
+boys
+still continuing their play about the room. "Tad" was spinning
+his top; and Lincoln, as we entered, had just finished adjusting
+the string for him so as to give the top the greatest degree of
+force. He remarked that he was having a little fun with the
+boys."
+
+At another time, at Lincoln's residence, "Tad" came into the
+room, and, putting his hand to his mouth, and his mouth to his
+father's ear, said, in a boy's whisper: "Ma says come to supper."
+
+All heard the announcement; and Lincoln, perceiving this, said:
+"You have heard, gentlemen, the announcement concerning the
+interesting state of things in the dining-room. It will never do
+for me, if elected, to make this young man a member of my
+Cabinet, for it is plain he cannot be trusted with secrets of
+state."
+
+THE GENERAL WAS "HEADED IN"
+
+A Union general, operating with his command in West Virginia,
+allowed himself and his men to be trapped, and it was feared his
+force would be captured by the Confederates. The President heard
+the report read by the operator, as it came over the wire, and
+remarked:
+
+"Once there was a man out West who was 'heading' a barrel, as
+they used to call it. He worked like a good fellow in driving
+down the hoops, but just about the time he thought he had the job
+done, the head would fall in. Then he had to do the work all over
+again.
+
+"All at once a bright idea entered his brain, and he wondered how
+it was he hadn't figured it out before. His boy, a bright, smart
+lad, was standing by,very much interested in the business, and,
+lifting the young one up, he put him inside the barrel, telling
+him to hold the head in its proper place, while he pounded down
+the hoops on the sides. This worked like a charm, and he soon had
+the 'heading' done.
+
+"Then he realized that his boy was inside the barrel, and how to
+get him out he couldn't for his life figure out. General Blank is
+now inside the barrel, 'headed in,' and the job now is to get him
+out."
+
+
+SUGAR-COATED.
+
+Government Printer Defrees, when one of the President's messages
+was being printed, was a good deal disturbed by the use of the
+term "sugar-coated," and finally went to Mr. Lincoln about it.
+
+Their relations to each other being of the most intimate
+character, he told the President frankly that he ought to
+remember that a message to Congress was a different affair from a
+speech at a mass meeting in Illinois; that the messages became a
+part of history, and should be written accordingly.
+
+"What is the matter now?" inquired the President.
+
+"Why," said Defrees, "you have used an undignified expression in
+the message"; and, reading the paragraph aloud, he added, "I
+would alter the structure of that, if I were you."
+
+"Defrees," replied the President, "that word expresses exactly my
+idea, and I am not going to change it. The time will never come
+in this country when people won't know exactly what
+'sugar-coated' means."
+
+
+COULD MAKE "RABBIT-TRACKS."
+
+When a grocery clerk at New Salem, the annual election came
+around. A Mr. Graham was clerk, but his assistant was absent, and
+it was necessary to find a man to fill his place. Lincoln, a
+"tall young man," had already concentrated on himself the
+attention of the people of the town, and Graham easily discovered
+him. Asking him if he could write, "Abe" modestly replied, "I can
+make a few rabbit-tracks." His rabbit-tracks proving to be
+legible and even graceful, he was employed.
+
+The voters soon discovered that the new assistant clerk was
+honest and fair, and performed his duties satisfactorily, and
+when, the work done, he began to "entertain them with stories,"
+they found that their town had made a valuable personal and
+social acquisition.
+
+
+LINCOLN PROTECTED CURRENCY ISSUES.
+
+Marshal Ward Lamon was in President Lincoln's office in the White
+House one day, and casually asked the President if he knew how
+the currency of the country was made. Greenbacks were then under
+full headway of circulation, these bits of paper being the
+representatives of United State money.
+
+"Our currency," was the President's answer, "is made, as the
+lawyers would put it, in their legal way, in the following
+manner, to-wit: The official engraver strikes off the sheets,
+passes them over to the Register of the Currency, who, after
+placing his earmarks upon them, signs the same; the Register
+turns them over to old Father Spinner, who proceeds to embellish
+them with his wonderful signature at the bottom; Father Spinner
+sends them to Secretary of the Treasury Chase, and he, as a final
+act in the matter, issues them to the public as money--and may
+the good Lord help any fellow that doesn't take all he can
+honestly get of them!"
+
+Taking from his pocket a $5 greenback, with a twinkle in his eye,
+the President then said: "Look at Spinner's signature! Was there
+ever anything like it on earth? Yet it is unmistakable; no one
+will ever be able to counterfeit it!"
+
+Lamon then goes on to say:
+
+"'But,' I said, 'you certainly don't suppose that Spinner
+actually wrote his name on that bill, do you?'
+
+"'Certainly, I do; why not?' queried Mr. Lincoln.
+
+"I then asked, 'How much of this currency have we afloat?'
+
+"He remained thoughtful for a moment, and then stated the amount.
+
+"I continued: 'How many times do you think a man can write a
+signature like Spinner's in the course of twenty-four hours?'
+
+"The beam of hilarity left the countenance of the President at
+once. He put the greenback into his vest pocket, and walked the
+floor; after awhile he stopped, heaved a long breath and said:
+'This thing frightens me!' He then rang for a messenger and told
+him to ask the Secretary of the Treasury to please come over to
+see him.
+
+"Mr. Chase soon put in an appearance; President Lincoln stated
+the cause of his alarm, and asked Mr. Chase to explain in detail
+the operations, methods, system of checks, etc., in his office,
+and a lengthy discussion followed, President Lincoln contending
+there were not sufficient safeguards afforded in any degree in
+the money-making department, and Secretary Chase insisting that
+every protection was afforded he could devise."
+
+Afterward the President called the attention of Congress to this
+important question, and devices were adopted whereby a check was
+put upon the issue of greenbacks that no spurious ones ever came
+out of the Treasury Department, at least. Counterfeiters were
+busy, though, but this was not the fault of the Treasury.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S APOLOGY TO GRANT.
+
+"General Grant is a copious worker and fighter," President
+Lincoln wrote to General Burnside in July, 1863, "but a meagre
+writer or telegrapher."
+
+Grant never wrote a report until the battle was over.
+
+President Lincoln wrote a letter to General Grant on July 13th,
+1863, which indicated the strength of the hold the successful
+fighter had upon the man in the White House.
+
+It ran as follows:
+
+"I do not remember that you and I ever met personally.
+
+"I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost
+inestimable service you have done the country.
+
+"I write to say a word further.
+
+"When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you
+should do what you finally did--march the troops across the neck,
+run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I
+never had any faith, except a general hope, that you knew better
+than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could
+succeed.
+
+"When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and
+vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General
+Banks; and when you turned northward, east of Big Black, I feared
+it was a mistake.
+
+"I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were
+right and I was wrong."
+
+
+LINCOLN SAID "BY JING."
+
+
+Lincoln never used profanity, except when he quoted it to
+illustrate a point in a story. His favorite expressions when he
+spoke with emphasis were "By dear!" and "By jing!"
+
+Just preceding the Civil War he sent Ward Lamon on a ticklish
+mission to South Carolina.
+
+When the proposed trip was mentioned to Secretary Seward, he
+opposed it, saying, "Mr. President, I fear you are sending Lamon
+to his grave. I am afraid they will kill him in Charleston, where
+the people are excited and desperate. We can't spare Lamon, and
+we shall feel badly if anything happens to him."
+
+Mr. Lincoln said in reply: "I have known Lamon to be in many a
+close place, and he has never, been in one that he didn't get out
+of, somehow. By jing! I'll risk him. Go ahead, Lamon, and God
+bless you! If you can't bring back any good news, bring a
+palmetto." Lamon brought back a palmetto branch, but no promise
+of peace.
+
+
+IT TICKLED THE LITTLE WOMAN.
+
+Lincoln had been in the telegraph office at Springfield during
+the casting of the first and second ballots in the Republican
+National Convention at Chicago, and then left and went over to
+the office of the State Journal, where he was sitting conversing
+with friends while the third ballot was being taken.
+
+In a few moments came across the wires the announcement of the
+result. The superintendent of the telegraph company wrote on a
+scrap of paper: "Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated on the third
+ballot," and a boy ran with the message to Lincoln.
+
+He looked at it in silence, amid the shouts of those around him;
+then rising and putting it in his pocket, he said quietly:
+"There's a little woman down at our house would like to hear
+this; I'll go down and tell her."
+
+
+"SHALL ALL FALL TOGETHER."
+
+After Lincoln had finished that celebrated speech in "Egypt" (as
+a section of Southern Illinois was formerly designated), in the
+course of which he seized Congressman Ficklin by the coat collar
+and shook him fiercely, he apologized. In return, Ficklin said
+Lincoln had "nearly shaken the Democracy out of him." To this
+Lincoln replied:
+
+"That reminds me of what Paul said to Agrippa, which, in language
+and substance, was about this: 'I would to God that such
+Democracy as you folks here in Egypt have were not only almost,
+but altogether, shaken out of, not only you, but all that heard
+me this day, and that you would all join in assisting in shaking
+off the shackles of the bondmen by all legitimate means, so that
+this country may be made free as the good Lord intended it.'"
+
+Said Ficklin in rejoinder: "Lincoln, I remember of reading
+somewhere in the same book from which you get your Agrippa story,
+that Paul, whom you seem to desire to personate, admonished all
+servants (slaves) to be obedient to them that are their masters
+according to the flesh, in fear and trembling.
+
+"It would seem that neither our Savior nor Paul saw the iniquity
+of slavery as you and your party do. But you must not think that
+where you fail by argument to convince an old friend like myself
+and win him over to your heterodox abolition opinions, you are
+justified in resorting to violence such as you practiced on me
+to-day.
+
+"Why, I never had such a shaking up in the whole course of my
+life. Recollect that that good old book that you quote from
+somewhere says in effect this: 'Woe be unto him who goeth to
+Egypt for help, for he shall fall. The holpen shall fall, and
+they shall all fall together.'"
+
+
+DEAD DOG NO CURE.
+
+Lincoln's quarrel with Shields was his last personal encounter.
+In later years it became his duty to give an official reprimand
+to a young officer who had been court-martialed for a quarrel
+with one of his associates. The reprimand is probably the
+gentlest on record:
+
+"Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself
+can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford
+to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his
+temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which
+you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones,
+though clearly your own.
+
+"Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in
+contesting for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the
+bite."
+
+
+"THOROUGH" IS A GOOD WORD.
+
+Some one came to the President with a story about a plot to
+accomplish some mischief in the Government. Lincoln listened to
+what was a very superficial and ill-formed story, and then said:
+"There is one thing that I have learned, and that you have not.
+It is only one word--'thorough.'"
+
+Then, bringing his hand down on the table with a thump to
+emphasize his meaning, he added, "thorough!"
+
+
+THE CABINET WAS A-SETTIN'.
+
+Being in Washington one day, the Rev. Robert Collyer thought he'd
+take a look around. In passing through the grounds surrounding
+the White House, he cast a glance toward the Presidential
+residence, and was astonished to see three pairs of feet resting
+on the ledge of an open window in one of the apartments of the
+second story. The divine paused for a moment, calmly surveyed the
+unique spectacle, and then resumed his walk toward the War
+Department.
+
+Seeing a laborer at work not far from the Executive Mansion, Mr.
+Collyer asked him what it all meant. To whom did the feet belong,
+and, particularly, the mammoth ones? "You old fool," answered the
+workman, "that's the Cabinet, which is a-settin', an' them thar
+big feet belongs to 'Old Abe.'"
+
+
+A BULLET THROUGH HIS HAT.
+
+A soldier tells the following story of an attempt upon the life
+of
+Mr. Lincoln "One night I was doing sentinel duty at the entrance
+to the Soldiers' Home. This was about the middle of August, 1864.
+About eleven o'clock I heard a rifle shot, in the direction of
+the city, and shortly afterwards I heard approaching hoof-beats.
+In two or three minutes a horse came dashing up. I recognized the
+belated President. The President was bareheaded. The President
+simply thought that his horse had taken fright at the discharge
+of the firearms.
+
+"On going back to the place where the shot had been heard, we
+found the President's hat. It was a plain silk hat, and upon
+examination we discovered a bullet hole through the crown.
+
+"The next day, upon receiving the hat, the President remarked
+that it was made by some foolish marksman, and was not intended
+for him; but added that he wished nothing said about the matter.
+
+"The President said, philosophically: 'I long ago made up my mind
+that if anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. Besides, in this
+case, it seems to me, the man who would succeed me would be just
+as objectionable to my enemies--if I have any.'
+
+"One dark night, as he was going out with a friend, he took along
+a heavy cane, remarking, good-naturedly: 'Mother (Mrs. Lincoln)
+has got a notion into her head that I shall be assassinated, and
+to please her I take a cane when I go over to the War Department
+at night--when I don't forget it.'"
+
+
+NO KIND TO GET TO HEAVEN ON.
+
+Two ladies from Tennessee called at the White House one day and
+begged Mr. Lincoln to release their husbands, who were rebel
+prisoners at Johnson's Island. One of the fair petitioners urged
+as a reason for the liberation of her husband that he was a very
+religious man, and rang the changes on this pious plea.
+
+"Madam," said Mr. Lincoln, "you say your husband is a religious
+man. Perhaps I am not a good judge of such matters, but in my
+opinion the religion that makes men rebel and fight against their
+government is not the genuine article; nor is the religion the
+right sort which reconciles them to the idea of eating their
+bread in the sweat of other men's faces. It is not the kind to
+get to heaven on."
+
+Later, however, the order of release was made, President Lincoln
+remarking, with impressive solemnity, that he would expect the
+ladies to subdue the rebellious spirit of their husbands, and to
+that end he thought it would be well to reform their religion.
+"True patriotism," said he, "is better than the wrong kind of
+piety."
+
+
+THE ONLY REAL PEACEMAKER.
+
+During the Presidential campaign of 1864 much ill-feeling was
+displayed by the opposition to President Lincoln. The Democratic
+managers issued posters of large dimensions, picturing the
+Washington Administration as one determined to rule or ruin the
+country, while the only salvation for the United States was the
+election of McClellan.
+
+We reproduce one of these 1864 campaign posters on this page, the
+title of which is, "The True Issue; or 'That's What's the
+Matter.'"
+
+The dominant idea or purpose of the cartoon-poster was to
+demonstrate McClellan's availability. Lincoln, the Abolitionist,
+and Davis, the Secessionist, are pictured as bigots of the worst
+sort, who were determined that peace should not be restored to
+the distracted country, except upon the lines laid down by them.
+McClellan, the patriotic peacemaker, is shown as the man who
+believed in the preservation of the Union above all things--a man
+who had no fads nor vagaries.
+
+This peacemaker, McClellan, standing upon "the War-is-a-failure"
+platform, is portrayed as a military chieftain, who would stand
+no nonsense; who would compel Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Davis to cease
+their quarreling; who would order the soldiers on both sides to
+quit their blood-letting and send the combatants back to the
+farm, workshop and counting-house; and the man whose election
+would restore order out of chaos, and make everything bright and
+lovely.
+
+
+THE APPLE WOMAN'S PASS.
+
+One day when President Lincoln was receiving callers a buxom
+Irish woman came into the office, and, standing before the
+President, with her hands on her hips, said:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln, can't I sell apples on the railroad?"
+
+President Lincoln replied: "Certainly, madam, you can sell all
+you wish."
+
+"But," she said, "you must give me a pass, or the soldiers will
+not let me."
+
+President Lincoln then wrote a few lines and gave them to her.
+
+"Thank you, sir; God bless you!" she exclaimed as she departed
+joyfully.
+
+
+SPLIT RAILS BY THE YARD.
+
+It was in the spring of 1830 that "Abe" Lincoln, "wearing a jean
+jacket, shrunken buckskin trousers, a coonskin cap, and driving
+an ox-team," became a citizen of Illinois. He was physically and
+mentally equipped for pioneer work. His first desire was to
+obtain a new and decent suit of clothes, but, as he had no money,
+he was glad to arrange with Nancy Miller to make him a pair of
+trousers, he to split four hundred fence rails for each yard of
+cloth--fourteen hundred rails in all. "Abe" got the clothes after
+awhile.
+
+It was three miles from his father's cabin to her wood-lot, where
+he made the forest ring with the sound of his ax. "Abe" had
+helped his father plow fifteen acres of land, and split enough
+rails to fence it, and he then helped to plow fifty acres for
+another settler.
+
+
+THE QUESTION OF LEGS.
+
+Whenever the people of Lincoln's neighborhood engaged in dispute;
+whenever a bet was to be decided; when they differed on points of
+religion or politics; when they wanted to get out of trouble, or
+desired advice regarding anything on the earth, below it, above
+it, or under the sea, they went to "Abe."
+
+Two fellows, after a hot dispute lasting some hours, over the
+problem as to how long a man's legs should be in proportion to
+the size of his body, stamped into Lincoln's office one day and
+put the question to him.
+
+Lincoln listened gravely to the arguments advanced by both
+contestants, spent some time in "reflecting" upon the matter, and
+then, turning around in his chair and facing the disputants,
+delivered his opinion with all the gravity of a judge sentencing
+a fellow-being to death.
+
+"This question has been a source of controversy," he said, slowly
+and deliberately, "for untold ages, and it is about time it
+should be definitely decided. It has led to bloodshed in the
+past, and there is no reason to suppose it will not lead to the
+same in the future.
+
+"After much thought and consideration, not to mention mental
+worry and anxiety, it is my opinion, all side issues being swept
+aside, that a man's lower limbs, in order to preserve harmony of
+proportion, should be at least long enough to reach from his body
+to the ground."
+
+
+TOO MANY WIDOWS ALREADY.
+
+A Union officer in conversation one day told this story:
+
+"The first week I was with my command there were twenty-four
+deserters sentenced by court-martial to be shot, and the warrants
+for their execution were sent to the President to be signed. He
+refused.
+
+"I went to Washington and had an interview. I said:
+
+"'Mr. President, unless these men are made an example of, the
+army itself is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty to the
+many.'
+
+"He replied: 'Mr. General, there are already too many weeping
+widows in the United States. For God's sake, don't ask me to add
+to the number, for I won't do it.'"
+
+
+GOD NEEDED THAT CHURCH.
+
+In the early stages of the war, after several battles had been
+fought, Union troops seized a church in Alexandria, Va., and used
+it as a hospital.
+
+A prominent lady of the congregation went to Washington to see
+Mr. Lincoln and try to get an order for its release.
+
+"Have you applied to the surgeon in charge at Alexandria?"
+inquired Mr. Lincoln.
+
+"Yes, sir" but I can do nothing with him," was the reply.
+
+"Well, madam," said Mr. Lincoln, "that is an end of it, then. We
+put him there to attend to just such business, and it is
+reasonable to suppose that he knows better what should be done
+under the circumstances than I do."
+
+The lady's face showed her keen disappointment. In order to learn
+her sentiment, Mr. Lincoln asked:
+
+"How much would you be willing to subscribe toward building a
+hospital there?"
+
+She said that the war had depreciated Southern property so much
+that she could afford to give but little.
+
+"This war is not over yet," said Mr. Lincoln, "and there will
+likely be another fight very soon. That church may be very useful
+in which to house our wounded soldiers. It is my candid opinion
+that God needs that church for our wounded fellows; so, madam, I
+can do nothing for you."
+
+
+THE MAN DOWN SOUTH.
+
+An amusing instance of the President's preoccupation of mind
+occurred at one of his levees, when he was shaking hands with a
+host of visitors passing him in a continuous stream.
+
+An intimate acquaintance received the usual conventional
+hand-shake and salutation, but perceiving that he was not
+recognized, kept his ground instead of moving on, and spoke
+again, when the President, roused to a dim consciousness that
+something unusual had happened, perceived who stood before him,
+and, seizing his friend's hand, shook it again heartily, saying:
+
+"How do you do? How do you do? Excuse me for not noticing you. I
+was thinking of a man down South."
+
+"The man down South" was General W. T. Sherman, then on his march
+to the sea.
+
+
+COULDN'T LET GO THE HOG.
+
+When Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania described the terrible
+butchery at the battle of Fredericksburg, Mr. Lincoln was almost
+broken-hearted.
+
+The Governor regretted that his description had so sadly affected
+the President. He remarked: "I would give all I possess to know
+how to rescue you from this terrible war." Then Mr. Lincoln's
+wonderful recuperative powers asserted themselves and this
+marvelous man was himself.
+
+Lincoln's whole aspect suddenly changed, and he relieved his mind
+by telling a story.
+
+"This reminds me, Governor," he said, "of an old farmer out in
+Illinois that I used to know.
+
+"He took it into his head to go into hog-raising. He sent out to
+Europe and imported the finest breed of hogs he could buy.
+
+"The prize hog was put in a pen, and the farmer's two mischievous
+boys, James and John, were told to be sure not to let it out. But
+James, the worst of the two, let the brute out the next day. The
+hog went straight for the boys, and drove John up a tree, then
+the hog went for the seat of James' trousers, and the only way
+the boy could save himself was by holding on to the hog's tail.
+
+"The hog would not give up his hunt, nor the boy his hold! After
+they had made a good many circles around the tree, the boy's
+courage began to give out, and he shouted to his brother, 'I say,
+John, come down, quick, and help me let go this hog!'
+
+"Now, Governor, that is exactly my case. I wish some one would
+come and help me to let the hog go."
+
+
+THE CABINET LINCOLN WANTED.
+
+Judge Joseph Gillespie, of Chicago, was a firm friend of Mr.
+Lincoln, and went to Springfield to see him shortly before his
+departure for the inauguration.
+
+"It was," said judge Gillespie, "Lincoln's Gethsemane. He feared
+he was not the man for the great position and the great events
+which confronted him. Untried in national affairs, unversed in
+international diplomacy, unacquainted with the men who were
+foremost in the politics of the nation, he groaned when he saw
+the inevitable War of the Rebellion coming on. It was in humility
+of spirit that he told me he believed that the American people
+had made a mistake in selecting him.
+
+"In the course of our conversation he told me if he could select
+his cabinet from the old bar that had traveled the circuit with
+him in the early days, he believed he could avoid war or settle
+it without a battle, even after the fact of secession.
+
+"'But, Mr. Lincoln,' said I, 'those old lawyers are all
+Democrats.'
+
+"'I know it,' was his reply. 'But I would rather have Democrats
+whom I know than Republicans I don't know.'"
+
+
+READY FOR "BUTCHER-DAY."
+
+Leonard Swett told this eminently characteristic story:
+
+"I remember one day being in his room when Lincoln was sitting at
+his table with a large pile of papers before him, and after a
+pleasant talk he turned quite abruptly and said: 'Get out of the
+way, Swett; to-morrow is butcher-day, and I must go through these
+papers and see if I cannot find some excuse to let these poor
+fellows off.'
+
+"The pile of papers he had were the records of courts-martial of
+men who on the following day were to be shot."
+
+
+"THE BAD BIRD AND THE MUDSILL."
+
+It took quite a long time, as well as the lives of thousands of
+men, to say nothing of the cost in money, to take Richmond, the
+Capital City of the Confederacy. In this cartoon, taken from
+"Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper," of February 21, 1863,
+Jeff Davis is sitting upon the Secession eggs in the "Richmond"
+nest, smiling down upon President Lincoln, who is up to his waist
+in the Mud of Difficulties.
+
+The President finally waded through the morass, in which he had
+become immersed, got to the tree, climbed its trunk, reached the
+limb, upon which the "bad bird" had built its nest, threw the
+mother out, destroyed the eggs of Secession and then took the
+nest away with him, leaving the "bad bird" without any home at
+all.
+
+The "bad bird" had its laugh first, but the last laugh belonged
+to the "mudsill," as the cartoonist was pleased to call the
+President of the United States. It is true that the President got
+his clothes and hat all covered with mud, but as the job was a
+dirty one, as well as one that had to be done, the President
+didn't care. He was able to get another suit of clothes, as well
+as another hat, but the "bad bird" couldn't, and didn't, get
+another nest.
+
+The laugh was on the "bad bird" after all.
+
+
+GAVE THE SOLDIER HIS FISH.
+
+Once, when asked what he remembered about the war with Great
+Britain, Lincoln replied: "Nothing but this: I had been fishing
+one day and caught a little fish, which I was taking home. I met
+a soldier in the road, and, having been always told at home that
+we must be good to the soldiers, I gave him my fish."
+
+This must have been about 1814, when "Abe" was five years of age.
+
+
+A PECULIAR LAWYER.
+
+Lincoln was once associate counsel for a defendant in a murder
+case. He listened to the testimony given by witness after witness
+against his client, until his honest heart could stand it no
+longer; then, turning to his associate, he said: "The man is
+guilty; you defend him--I can't," and when his associate secured
+a verdict of acquittal, Lincoln refused to share the fee to the
+extent of one cent.
+
+Lincoln would never advise clients to enter into unwise or unjust
+lawsuits, always preferring to refuse a retainer rather than be a
+party to a case which did not commend itself to his sense of
+justice.
+
+
+IF THEY'D ONLY "SKIP."
+
+General Creswell called at the White House to see the President
+the day of the latter's assassination. An old friend, serving in
+the Confederate ranks, had been captured by the Union troops and
+sent to prison. He had drawn an affidavit setting forth what he
+knew about the man, particularly mentioning extenuating
+circumstances.
+
+Creswell found the President very happy. He was greeted with:
+"Creswell, old fellow, everything is bright this morning. The War
+is over. It has been a tough time, but we have lived it out,--or
+some of us have," and he dropped his voice a little on the last
+clause of the sentence. "But it is over; we are going to have
+good times now, and a united country."
+
+General Creswell told his story, read his affidavit, and said, "I
+know the man has acted like a fool, but he is my friend, and a
+good fellow; let him out; give him to me, and I will be
+responsible that he won't have anything more to do with the
+rebs."
+
+"Creswell," replied Mr. Lincoln, "you make me think of a lot of
+young folks who once started out Maying. To reach their
+destination, they had to cross a shallow stream, and did so by
+means of an old flatboat. When the time came to return, they
+found to their dismay that the old scow had disappeared. They
+were in sore trouble, and thought over all manner of devices for
+getting over the water, but without avail.
+
+"After a time, one of the boys proposed that each fellow should
+pick up the girl he liked best and wade over with her. The
+masterly proposition was carried out, until all that were left
+upon the island was a little short chap and a great, long,
+gothic-built, elderly lady.
+
+"Now, Creswell, you are trying to leave me in the same
+predicament. You fellows are all getting your own friends out of
+this scrape; and you will succeed in carrying off one after
+another, until nobody but Jeff Davis and myself will be left on
+the island, and then I won't know what to do. How should I feel?
+How should I look, lugging him over?
+
+"I guess the way to avoid such an embarrassing situation is to
+let them all out at once."
+
+He made a somewhat similar illustration at an informal Cabinet
+meeting, at which the disposition of Jefferson Davis and other
+prominent Confederates was discussed. Each member of the Cabinet
+gave his opinion; most of them were for hanging the traitors, or
+for some severe punishment. President Lincoln said nothing.
+
+Finally, Joshua F. Speed, his old and confidential friend, who
+had been invited to the meeting, said, "I have heard the opinion
+of your Ministers, and would like to hear yours."
+
+"Well, Josh," replied President Lincoln, "when I was a boy in
+Indiana, I went to a neighbor's house one morning and found a boy
+of my own size holding a coon by a string. I asked him what he
+had and what he was doing.
+
+"He says, 'It's a coon. Dad cotched six last night, and killed
+all but this poor little cuss. Dad told me to hold him until he
+came back, and I'm afraid he's going to kill this one too; and
+oh, "Abe," I do wish he would get away!'
+
+"'Well, why don't you let him loose?'
+
+"'That wouldn't be right; and if I let him go, Dad would give me
+h--. But if he got away himself, it would be all right.'
+
+"Now," said the President, "if Jeff Davis and those other fellows
+will only get away, it will be all right. But if we should catch
+them, and I should let them go, 'Dad would give me h--!'"
+
+
+FATHER OF THE "GREENBACK."
+
+Don Piatt, a noted journalist of Washington, told the story of
+the first proposition to President Lincoln to issue
+interest-bearing notes as currency, as follows:
+
+"Amasa Walker, a distinguished financier of New England,
+suggested that notes issued directly from the Government to the
+people, as currency, should bear interest. This for the purpose,
+not only of making the notes popular, but for the purpose of
+preventing inflation, by inducing people to hoard the notes as an
+investment when the demands of trade would fail to call them into
+circulation as a currency.
+
+"This idea struck David Taylor, of Ohio, with such force that he
+sought Mr. Lincoln and urged him to put the project into
+immediate execution. The President listened patiently, and at the
+end said, 'That is a good idea, Taylor, but you must go to Chase.
+He is running that end of the machine, and has time to consider
+your proposition.'
+
+"Taylor sought the Secretary of the Treasury, and laid before him
+Amasa Walker's plan. Secretary Chase heard him through in a cold,
+unpleasant manner, and then said: 'That is all very well, Mr.
+Taylor; but there is one little obstacle in the way that makes
+the plan impracticable, and that is the Constitution.'
+
+"Saying this, he turned to his desk, as if dismissing both Mr.
+Taylor and his proposition at the same moment.
+
+"The poor enthusiast felt rebuked and humiliated. He returned to
+the President, however, and reported his defeat. Mr. Lincoln
+looked at the would-be financier with the expression at times so
+peculiar to his homely face, that left one in doubt whether he
+was jesting or in earnest. 'Taylor!' he exclaimed, 'go back to
+Chase and tell him not to bother himself about the Constitution.
+Say that I have that sacred instrument here at the White House,
+and I am guarding it with great care.'
+
+"Taylor demurred to this, on the ground that Secretary Chase
+showed by his manner that he knew all about it, and didn't wish
+to be bored by any suggestion.
+
+"'We'll see about that,' said the President, and taking a card
+from the table, he wrote upon it
+
+"'The Secretary of the Treasury will please consider Mr.
+Taylor's proposition. We must have money, and I think this a
+good way to get it.
+
+"'A. LINCOLN.'"
+
+
+MAJOR ANDERSON'S BAD MEMORY.
+
+Among the men whom Captain Lincoln met in the Black Hawk campaign
+were Lieutenant-Colonel Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant Jefferson
+Davis, President of the Confederacy, and Lieutenant Robert
+Anderson, all of the United States Army.
+
+Judge Arnold, in his "Life of Abraham Lincoln," relates that
+Lincoln and Anderson did not meet again until some time in 1861.
+After Anderson had evacuated Fort Sumter, on visiting Washington,
+he called at the White House to pay his respects to the
+President. Lincoln expressed his thanks to Anderson for his
+conduct at Fort Sumter, and then said:
+
+"Major, do you remember of ever meeting me before?"
+
+"No, Mr. President, I have no recollection of ever having had
+that pleasure."
+
+"My memory is better than yours," said Lincoln; "you mustered me
+into the service of the United States in 1832, at Dixon's Ferry,
+in the Black Hawk war."
+
+
+NO VANDERBILT.
+
+In February, 1860, not long before his nomination for the
+Presidency, Lincoln made several speeches in Eastern cities.
+To an Illinois acquaintance, whom he met at the Astor House, 
+in New York, he said: "I have the cottage at Springfield, 
+and about three thousand dollars in money. If they make me 
+Vice-President with Seward, as some say they will, I hope 
+I shall be able to increase it to twenty thousand, and that
+is as much as any man ought to want."
+
+
+SQUASHED A BRUTAL LIE.
+
+In September, 1864, a New York paper printed the following brutal
+story:
+
+"A few days after the battle of Antietam, the President was
+driving over the field in an ambulance, accompanied by Marshal
+Lamon, General McClellan and another officer. Heavy details of
+men were engaged in the task of burying the dead. The ambulance
+had just reached the neighborhood of the old stone bridge, where
+the dead were piled highest, when Mr. Lincoln, suddenly slapping
+Marshal Lamon on the knee, exclaimed: 'Come, Lamon, give us that
+song about "Picayune Butler"; McClellan has never heard it.'
+
+"'Not now, if you please,' said General McClellan, with a
+shudder; 'I would prefer to hear it some other place and time.'"
+
+President Lincoln refused to pay any attention to the story,
+would not read the comments made upon it by the newspapers, and
+would permit neither denial nor explanation to be made. The
+National election was coming on, and the President's friends
+appealed to him to settle the matter for once and all. Marshal
+Lamon was particularly insistent, but the President merely said:
+
+"Let the thing alone. If I have not established character enough
+to give the lie to this charge, I can only say that I am mistaken
+in my own estimate of myself. In politics, every man must skin
+his own skunk. These fellows are welcome to the hide of this one.
+Its body has already given forth its unsavory odor."
+
+But Lamon would not "let the thing alone." He submitted to
+Lincoln a draft of what he conceived to be a suitable
+explanation, after reading which the President said:
+
+"Lamon, your 'explanation' is entirely too belligerent in tone
+for so grave a matter. There is a heap of 'cussedness' mixed up
+with your usual amiability, and you are at times too fond of a
+fight. If I were you, I would simply state the facts as they
+were. I would give the statement as you have here, without the
+pepper and salt. Let me try my hand at it."
+
+The President then took up a pen and wrote the following, which
+was copied and sent out as Marshal Lamon's refutation of the
+shameless slander:
+
+"The President has known me intimately for nearly twenty years,
+and has often heard me sing little ditties. The battle of
+Antietam was fought on the 17th day of September, 1862. On the
+first day of October, just two weeks after the battle, the
+President, with some others, including myself, started from
+Washington to visit the Army, reaching Harper's Ferry at noon of
+that day.
+
+"In a short while General McClellan came from his headquarters
+near the battleground, joined the President, and with him
+reviewed the troops at Bolivar Heights that afternoon, and at
+night returned to his headquarters, leaving the President at
+Harper's Ferry.
+
+"On the morning of the second, the President, with General
+Sumner, reviewed the troops respectively at Loudon Heights and
+Maryland Heights, and at about noon started to General
+McClellan's headquarters, reaching there only in time to see very
+little before night.
+
+"On the morning of the third all started on a review of the Third
+Corps and the cavalry, in the vicinity of the Antietam
+battle-ground. After getting through with General Burnside's
+corps, at the suggestion of General McClellan, he and the
+President left their horses to be led, and went into an ambulance
+to go to General Fitz John Porter's corps, which was two or three
+miles distant.
+
+"I am not sure whether the President and General McClellan were
+in the same ambulance, or in different ones; but myself and some
+others were in the same with the President. On the way, and on no
+part of the battleground, and on what suggestions I do not
+remember, the President asked me to sing the little sad song that
+follows ("Twenty Years Ago, Tom"), which he had often heard me
+sing, and had always seemed to like very much.
+
+"After it was over, some one of the party (I do not think it was
+the President) asked me to sing something else; and I sang two or
+three little comic things, of which 'Picayune Butler' was one.
+Porter's corps was reached and reviewed; then the battle-ground
+was passed over, and the most noted parts examined; then, in
+succession, the cavalry and Franklin's corps were reviewed, and
+the President and party returned to General McClellan's
+headquarters at the end of a very hard, hot and dusty day's work.
+
+"Next day (the 4th), the President and General McClellan visited
+such of the wounded as still remained in the vicinity, including
+the now lamented General Richardson; then proceeded to and
+examined the South-Mountain battle-ground, at which point they
+parted, General McClellan returning to his camp, and the
+President returning to Washington, seeing, on the way, General
+Hartsoff, who lay wounded at Frederick Town.
+
+"This is the whole story of the singing and its surroundings.
+Neither General McClellan nor any one else made any objections to
+the singing; the place was not on the battle-field; the time was
+sixteen days after the battle; no dead body was seen during the
+whole time the President was absent from Washington, nor even a
+grave that had not been rained on since the time it was made."
+
+
+"ONE WAR AT A TIME."
+
+Nothing in Lincoln's entire career better illustrated the
+surprising resources of his mind than his manner of dealing with
+"The Trent Affair." The readiness and ability with which he met
+this perilous emergency, in a field entirely new to his
+experience, was worthy the most accomplished diplomat and
+statesman. Admirable, also, was his cool courage and 
+self-reliance in following a course radically opposed to the
+prevailing sentiment throughout the country and in Congress, and
+contrary to the advice of his own Cabinet.
+
+Secretary of the Navy Welles hastened to approve officially the
+act of Captain Wilkes in apprehending the Confederate
+Commissioners Mason and Slidell, Secretary Stanton publicly
+applauded, and even Secretary of State Seward, whose long public
+career had made him especially conservative, stated that he was
+opposed to any concession or surrender of Mason and Slidell.
+
+But Lincoln, with great sagacity, simply said, "One war at a
+time."
+
+
+PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LAST PUBLIC ADDRESS.
+
+The President made his last public address on the evening of
+April 11th, 1865, to a gathering at the White House. Said he
+
+"We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart.
+
+"The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of
+the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy
+peace, whose joyous expression cannot be restrained.
+
+"In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow
+must not be forgotten.
+
+"Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing
+be overlooked; their honors must not be parceled out with others.
+
+"I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of
+transmitting the good news to you; but no part of the honor, for
+plan or execution, is mine.
+
+"To General Grant, his skillful officers and brave men, all
+belongs."
+
+
+NO OTHERS LIKE THEM.
+
+One day an old lady from the country called on President Lincoln,
+her tanned face peering up to his through a pair of spectacles.
+Her errand was to present Mr. Lincoln a pair of stockings of her
+own make a yard long. Kind tears came to his eyes as she spoke to
+him, and then, holding the stockings one in each hand, dangling
+wide apart for general inspection, he assured her that he should
+take them with him to Washington, where (and here his eyes
+twinkled) he was sure he should not be able to find any like
+them.
+
+Quite a number of well-known men were in the room with the
+President when the old lady made her presentation. Among them was
+George S. Boutwell, who afterwards became Secretary of the
+Treasury.
+
+The amusement of the company was not at all diminished by Mr.
+Boutwell's remark, that the lady had evidently made a very
+correct estimate of Mr. Lincoln's latitude and longitude.
+
+
+CASH WAS AT HAND.
+
+Lincoln was appointed postmaster at New Salem by President
+Jackson. The office was given him because everybody liked him,
+and because he was the only man willing to take it who could make
+out the returns. Lincoln was pleased, because it gave him a
+chance to read every newspaper taken in the vicinity. He had
+never been able to get half the newspapers he wanted before.
+
+Years after the postoffice had been discontinued and Lincoln had
+become a practicing lawyer at Springfield, an agent of the
+Postoffice Department entered his office and inquired if Abraham
+Lincoln was within. Lincoln responded to his name, and was
+informed that the agent had called to collect the balance due the
+Department since the discontinuance of the New Salem office.
+
+A shade of perplexity passed over Lincoln's face, which did not
+escape the notice of friends present. One of them said at once:
+
+"Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help you."
+
+He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled out from a pile
+of books a little old trunk, and, returning to the table, asked
+the agent how much the amount of his debt was.
+
+The sum was named, and then Lincoln opened the trunk, pulled out
+a little package of coin wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted out
+the exact sum, amounting to more than seventeen dollars.
+
+After the agent had left the room, he remarked quietly that he
+had never used any man's money but his own. Although this sum had
+been in his hands during all those years, he had never regarded
+it as available, even for any temporary use of his own.
+
+
+WELCOMED THE LITTLE GIRLS.
+
+At a Saturday afternoon reception at the White House, many
+persons noticed three little girls, poorly dressed, the children
+of some mechanic or laboring man, who had followed the visitors
+into the White House to gratify their curiosity. They passed
+around from room to room, and were hastening through the
+reception-room, with some trepidation, when the President called
+to them:
+
+"Little girls, are you going to pass me without shaking hands?"
+
+Then he bent his tall, awkward form down, and shook each little
+girl warmly by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was
+spellbound by the incident, so simple in itself.
+
+
+"DON'T SWAP HORSES"
+
+Uncle Sam was pretty well satisfied with his horse, "Old Abe,"
+and, as shown at the Presidential election of 1864, made up his
+mind to keep him, and not "swap" the tried and true animal for a
+strange one. "Harper's Weekly" of November 12th, 1864, had a
+cartoon which illustrated how the people of the United States
+felt about the matter better than anything published at the time.
+We reproduce it on this page. Beneath the picture was this text:
+
+JOHN BULL: "Why don't you ride the other horse a bit? He's the
+best animal." (Pointing to McClellan in the bushes at the rear.)
+
+BROTHER JONATHAN: "Well, that may be; but the fact is, OLD ABE is
+just where I can put my finger on him; and as for the other
+--though they say he's some when out in the scrub yonder--I never
+know where to find him."
+
+
+MOST VALUABLE POLITICAL ATTRIBUTE.
+
+"One time I remember I asked Mr. Lincoln what attribute he
+considered most valuable to the successful politician," said
+Captain T. W. S. Kidd, of Springfield.
+
+"He laid his hand on my shoulder and said, very earnestly:
+
+"'To be able to raise a cause which shall produce an effect, and
+then fight the effect.'
+
+"The more you think about it, the more profound does it become."
+
+
+"ABE" RESENTED THE INSULT.
+
+A cashiered officer, seeking to be restored through the power of
+the executive, became insolent, because the President, who
+believed the man guilty, would not accede to his repeated
+requests, at last said, "Well, Mr. President, I see you are fully
+determined not to do me justice!"
+
+This was too aggravating even for Mr. Lincoln; rising he suddenly
+seized the disgraced officer by the coat collar, and marched him
+forcibly to the door, saying as he ejected him into the passage:
+
+"Sir, I give you fair warning never to show your face in this
+room again. I can bear censure, but not insult. I never wish to
+see your face again."
+
+
+ONE MAN ISN'T MISSED.
+
+Salmon P. Chase, when Secretary of the Treasury, had a
+disagreement with other members of the Cabinet, and resigned.
+
+The President was urged not to accept it, as "Secretary Chase is
+to-day a national necessity," his advisers said.
+
+"How mistaken you are!" Lincoln quietly observed. "Yet it is not
+strange; I used to have similar notions. No! If we should all be
+turned out to-morrow, and could come back here in a week, we
+should find our places filled by a lot of fellows doing just as
+well as we did, and in many instances better.
+
+"Now, this reminds me of what the Irishman said. His verdict was
+that 'in this country one man is as good as another; and, for the
+matter of that, very often a great deal better.' No; this
+Government does not depend upon the life of any man."
+
+
+"STRETCHED THE FACTS."
+
+George B. Lincoln, a prominent merchant of Brooklyn, was
+traveling through the West in 1855-56, and found himself one
+night in a town on the Illinois River, by the name of Naples. The
+only tavern of the place had evidently been constructed with
+reference to business on a small scale. Poor as the prospect
+seemed, Mr. Lincoln had no alternative but to put up at the
+place.
+
+The supper-room was also used as a lodging-room. Mr. Lincoln told
+his host that he thought he would "go to bed."
+
+"Bed!" echoed the landlord. "There is no bed for you in this
+house unless you sleep with that man yonder. He has the only one
+we have to spare."
+
+"Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, "the gentleman has possession, and
+perhaps would not like a bed-fellow."
+
+Upon this a grizzly head appeared out of the pillows, and said:
+
+"What is your name?"
+
+"They call me Lincoln at home," was the reply.
+
+"Lincoln!" repeated the stranger; "any connection of our Illinois
+Abraham?"
+
+"No," replied Mr. Lincoln. "I fear not."
+
+"Well," said the old gentleman, "I will let any man by the name
+of 'Lincoln' sleep with me, just for the sake of the name. You
+have heard of Abe?" he inquired.
+
+"Oh, yes, very often," replied Mr. Lincoln. "No man could travel
+far in this State without hearing of him, and I would be very
+glad to claim connection if I could do so honestly."
+
+"Well," said the old gentleman, "my name is Simmons. 'Abe' and I
+used to live and work together when young men. Many a job of
+woodcutting and rail-splitting have I done up with him. Abe
+Lincoln was the likeliest boy in God's world. He would work all
+day as hard as any of us and study by firelight in the loghouse
+half the night; and in this way he made himself a thorough,
+practical surveyor. Once, during those days, I was in the upper
+part of the State, and I met General Ewing, whom President
+Jackson had sent to the Northwest to make surveys. I told him
+about Abe Lincoln, what a student he was, and that I wanted he
+should give him a job. He looked over his memorandum, and,
+holding out a paper, said:
+
+"'There is County must be surveyed; if your friend can do the
+work properly, I shall be glad to have him undertake it--the
+compensation will be six hundred dollars.'
+
+"Pleased as I could be, I hastened to Abe, after I got home, with
+an account of what I had secured for him. He was sitting before
+the fire in the log-cabin when I told him; and what do you think
+was his answer? When I finished, he looked up very quietly, and
+said:
+
+"'Mr. Simmons, I thank you very sincerely for your kindness, but
+I don't think I will undertake the job.'
+
+"'In the name of wonder,' said I, 'why? Six hundred does not
+grow upon every bush out here in Illinois.'
+
+"'I know that,' said Abe, 'and I need the money bad enough,
+Simmons, as you know; but I have never been under obligation to a
+Democratic Administration, and I never intend to be so long as I
+can get my living another way. General Ewing must find another
+man to do his work.'"
+
+A friend related this story to the President one day, and asked
+him if it were true.
+
+"Pollard Simmons!" said Lincoln. "Well do I remember him. It is
+correct about our working together, but the old man must have
+stretched the facts somewhat about the survey of the county. I
+think I should have been very glad of the job at the time, no
+matter what Administration was in power."
+
+
+IT LENGTHENED THE WAR.
+
+President Lincoln said, long before the National political
+campaign of 1864 had opened:
+
+"If the unworthy ambition of politicians and the jealousy that
+exists in the army could be repressed, and all unite in a common
+aim and a common endeavor, the rebellion would soon be crushed."
+
+
+HIS THEORY OF THE REBELLION.
+
+The President once explained to a friend the theory of the
+Rebellion by the aid of the maps before him.
+
+Running his long fore-finger down the map, he stopped at
+Virginia.
+
+"We must drive them away from here" (Manassas Gap), he said, "and
+clear them out of this part of the State so that they cannot
+threaten us here (Washington) and get into Maryland.
+
+"We must keep up a good and thorough blockade of their ports. We
+must march an army into East Tennessee and liberate the Union
+sentiment there. Finally we must rely on the people growing tired
+and saying to their leaders, 'We have had enough of this thing,
+we will bear it no longer.'"
+
+Such was President Lincoln's plan for headingoff the Rebellion in
+the summer of 1861. How it enlarged as the War progressed, from a
+call for seventy thousand volunteers to one for five hundred
+thousand men and $500,000,000 is a matter of well-known history.
+
+
+RAN AWAY WHEN VICTORIOUS.
+
+Three or four days after the battle of Bull Run, some gentlemen
+who had been on the field called upon the President.
+
+He inquired very minutely regarding all the circumstances of the
+affair, and, after listening with the utmost attention, said,
+with a touch of humor: "So it is your notion that we whipped the
+rebels and then ran away from them!"
+
+
+WANTED STANTON SPANKED.
+
+Old Dennis Hanks was sent to Washington at one time by persons
+interested in securing the release from jail of several men
+accused of being copperheads. It was thought Old Dennis might
+have some influence with the President.
+
+The latter heard Dennis' story and then said: "I will send for
+Mr. Stanton. It is his business."
+
+Secretary Stanton came into the room, stormed up and down, and
+said the men ought to be punished more than they were. Mr.
+Lincoln sat quietly in his chair and waited for the tempest to
+subside, and then quietly said to Stanton he would like to have
+the papers next day.
+
+When he had gone, Dennis said:
+
+"'Abe,' if I was as big and as ugly as you are, I would take him
+over my knee and spank him."
+
+The President replied: "No, Stanton is an able and valuable man
+for this Nation, and I am glad to bear his anger for the service
+he can give the Nation."
+
+
+STANTON WAS OUT OF TOWN.
+
+The quaint remark of the President to an applicant, "My dear sir,
+I have not much influence with the Administration," was one of
+Lincoln's little jokes.
+
+Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, once replied to an order from the
+President to give a colonel a commission in place of the
+resigning brigadier:
+
+"I shan't do it, sir! I shan't do it! It isn't the way to do it,
+sir, and I shan't do it. I don't propose to argue the question
+with you, sir."
+
+A few days after, the friend of the applicant who had presented
+the order to Secretary Stanton called upon the President and
+related his reception. A look of vexation came over the face of
+the President, and he seemed unwilling to talk of it, and desired
+the friend to see him another day. He did so, when he gave his
+visitor a positive order for the promotion. The latter told him
+he would not speak to Secretary Stanton again until he
+apologized.
+
+"Oh," said the President, "Stanton has gone to Fortress Monroe,
+and Dana is acting. He will attend to it for you."
+
+This he said with a manner of relief, as if it was a piece of
+good luck to find a man there who would obey his orders.
+
+The nomination was sent to the Senate and confirmed.
+
+
+IDENTIFIED THE COLORED MAN.
+
+Many applications reached Lincoln as he passed to and from the
+White House and the War Department. One day as he crossed the
+park
+he was stopped by a negro, who told him a pitiful story. The
+President wrote him out a check, which read. "Pay to colored man
+with one leg five dollars."
+
+
+OFFICE SEEKERS WORSE THAN WAR.
+
+When the Republican party came into power, Washington swarmed
+with office-seekers. They overran the White House and gave the
+President great annoyance. The incongruity of a man in his
+position, and with the very life of the country at stake, pausing
+to appoint postmasters, struck Mr. Lincoln forcibly. "What is
+the matter, Mr. Lincoln," said a friend one day, when he saw him
+looking particularly grave and dispirited. "Has anything gone
+wrong at the front?" "No," said the President, with a tired
+smile. "It isn't the war; it's the postoffice at Brownsville,
+Missouri."
+
+
+HE "SET 'EM UP."
+
+Immediately after Mr. Lincoln's nomination for President at the
+Chicago Convention, a committee, of which Governor Morgan, of New
+York, was chairman, visited him in Springfield, Ill., where he
+was officially informed of his nomination.
+
+After this ceremony had passed, Mr. Lincoln remarked to the
+company that as a fit ending to an interview so important and
+interesting as that which had just taken place, he supposed good
+manners would require that he should treat the committee with
+something to drink; and opening the door that led into the rear,
+he called out, "Mary! Mary!" A girl responded to the call, to
+whom Mr. Lincoln spoke a few words in an undertone, and, closing
+the door, returned again and talked with his guests. In a few
+minutes the maid entered, bearing a large waiter, containing
+several glass tumblers, and a large pitcher, and placed them upon
+the center-table. Mr. Lincoln arose, and, gravely addressing the
+company, said: "Gentlemen, we must pledge our mutual health in
+the most healthy beverage that God has given to man--it is the
+only beverage I have ever used or allowed my family to use, and I
+cannot conscientiously depart from it on the present occasion. It
+is pure Adam's ale from the spring." And, taking the tumbler, he
+touched it to his lips, and pledged them his highest respects in
+a cup of cold water. Of course, all his guests admired his
+consistency, and joined in his example.
+
+
+WASN'T STANTON'S SAY.
+
+A few days before the President's death, Secretary Stanton
+tendered his resignation as Secretary of War. He accompanied the
+act with a most heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lincoln's constant
+friendship and faithful devotion to the country, saying, also,
+that he, as Secretary, had accepted the position to hold it only
+until the war should end, and that now he felt his work was done,
+and his duty was to resign.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's words, and,
+tearing in pieces the paper containing the resignation, and
+throwing his arms about the Secretary, he said:
+
+"Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public
+servant, and it is not for you to say when you will no longer be
+needed here."
+
+Several friends of both parties were present on the occasion, and
+there was not a dry eye that witnessed the scene.
+
+
+"JEFFY" THREW UP THE SPONGE.
+
+When the War was fairly on, many people were astonished to find
+that "Old Abe" was a fighter from "way back." No one was the
+victim of greater amazement than Jefferson Davis, President of
+the Confederate States of America. Davis found out that "Abe" was
+not only a hard hitter, but had staying qualities of a high
+order. It was a fight to a "finish" with "Abe," no compromises
+being accepted. Over the title, "North and South," the issue of
+"Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" of December 24th, 1864,
+contained the cartoon, see reproduce on this page. Underneath the
+picture were the lines:
+
+"Now, Jeffy, when you think you have had enough of this, say so,
+and I'll leave off." (See President's message.) In his message to
+Congress, December 6th,
+
+President Lincoln said: "No attempt at negotiation with the
+insurgent leader could result in any good. He would accept of
+nothing short of the severance of the Union."
+
+Therefore, Father Abraham, getting "Jeffy's" head "in chancery,"
+proceeded to change the appearance and size of the secessionist's
+countenance, much to the grief and discomfort of the Southerner.
+It was Lincoln's idea to re-establish the Union, and he carried
+out his purpose to the very letter. But he didn't "leave off"
+until "Jeffy" cried "enough."
+
+
+DIDN'T KNOW GRANT'S PREFERENCE.
+
+In October, 1864, President Lincoln, while he knew his
+re-election to the White House was in no sense doubtful, knew
+that if he lost New York and with it Pennsylvania on the home
+vote, the moral effect of his triumph would be broken and his
+power to prosecute the war and make peace would be greatly
+impaired. Colonel A. K. McClure was with Lincoln a good deal of
+the time previous to the November election, and tells this story:
+
+"His usually sad face was deeply shadowed with sorrow when I told
+him that I saw no reasonable prospect of carrying Pennsylvania on
+the home vote, although we had about held our own in the
+hand-to-hand conflict through which we were passing.
+
+"'Well, what is to be done?' was Lincoln's inquiry, after the
+whole situation had been presented to him. I answered that the
+solution of the problem was a very simple and easy one--that
+Grant was idle in front of Petersburg; that Sheridan had won all
+possible victories in the Valley; and that if five thousand
+Pennsylvania soldiers could be furloughed home from each army,
+the election could be carried without doubt.
+
+"Lincoln's face' brightened instantly at the suggestion, and I
+saw that he was quite ready to execute it. I said to him: 'Of
+course, you can trust want to make the suggestion to him to
+furlough five thousand Pennsylvania troops for two weeks?'
+
+"'To my surprise, Lincoln made no answer, and the bright face of
+a few moments before was instantly shadowed again. I was much
+disconcerted, as I supposed that Grant was the one man to whom
+Lincoln could turn with absolute confidence as his friend. I then
+said, with some earnestness: 'Surely, Mr. President, you can
+trust Grant with a confidential suggestion to furlough
+Pennsylvania troops?'
+
+"Lincoln remained silent and evidently distressed at the
+proposition I was pressing upon him. After a few moments, and
+speaking with emphasis, I said: 'It can't be possible that Grant
+is not your friend; he can't be such an ingrate?'
+
+"Lincoln hesitated for some time, and then answered in these
+words: 'Well, McClure, I have no reason to believe that Grant
+prefers my election to that of McClellan.'
+
+"I believe Lincoln was mistaken in his distrust of Grant."
+
+
+JUSTICE vs. NUMBERS.
+
+Lincoln was constantly bothered by members of delegations of
+"goody-goodies," who knew all about running the War, but had no
+inside information as to what was going on. Yet, they poured out
+their advice in streams, until the President was heartily sick of
+the whole business, and wished the War would find some way to
+kill off these nuisances.
+
+"How many men have the Confederates now in the field?" asked one
+of these bores one day.
+
+"About one million two hundred thousand," replied the President.
+
+"Oh, my! Not so many as that, surely, Mr. Lincoln."
+
+"They have fully twelve hundred thousand, no doubt of it. You
+see, all of our generals when they get whipped say the enemy
+outnumbers them from three or five to one, and I must believe
+them. We have four hundred thousand men in the field, and three
+times four make twelve,--don't you see it? It is as plain to be
+seen as the nose on a man's face; and at the rate things are now
+going, with the great amount of speculation and the small crop of
+fighting, it will take a long time to overcome twelve hundred
+thousand rebels in arms.
+
+"If they can get subsistence they have everything else, except a
+just cause. Yet it is said that 'thrice is he armed that hath his
+quarrel just.' I am willing, however, to risk our advantage of
+thrice in justice against their thrice in numbers."
+
+
+NO FALSE PRIDE IN LINCOLN.
+
+General McClellan had little or no conception of the greatness of
+Abraham Lincoln. As time went on, he began to show plainly his
+contempt of the President, frequently allowing him to wait in the
+ante-room of his house while he transacted business with others.
+This discourtesy was so open that McClellan's staff noticed it,
+and newspaper correspondents commented on it. The President was
+too keen not to see the situation, but he was strong enough to
+ignore it. It was a battle he wanted from McClellan, not
+deference.
+
+"I will hold McClellan's horse, if he will only bring us
+success," he said one day.
+
+
+EXTRA MEMBER OF THE CABINET.
+
+G. H. Giddings was selected as the bearer of a message from the
+President to Governor Sam Houston, of Texas. A conflict had
+arisen there between the Southern party and the Governor, Sam
+Houston, and on March 18 the latter had been deposed. When Mr.
+Lincoln heard of this, he decided to try to get a message to the
+Governor, offering United States support if he would put himself
+at the head of the Union party of the State.
+
+Mr. Giddings thus told of his interview with the President:
+
+"He said to me that the message was of such importance that,
+before handing it to me, he would read it to me. Before beginning
+to read he said, 'This is a confidential and secret message. No
+one besides my Cabinet and myself knows anything about it, and we
+are all sworn to secrecy. I am going to swear you in as one of my
+Cabinet.'
+
+"And then he said to me in a jocular way, 'Hold up your right
+hand,' which I did.
+
+"'Now,' said he, consider yourself a member of my Cabinet."'
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN WAS ABUSED.
+
+With the possible exception of President Washington, whose
+political opponents did not hesitate to rob the vocabulary of
+vulgarity and wickedness whenever they desired to vilify the
+Chief Magistrate, Lincoln was the most and "best" abused man who
+ever held office in the United States. During the first half of
+his initial term there was no epithet which was not applied to
+him.
+
+One newspaper in New York habitually characterized him as "that
+hideous baboon at the other end of the avenue," and declared that
+"Barnum should buy and exhibit him as a zoological curiosity."
+
+Although the President did not, to all appearances, exhibit
+annoyance because of the various diatribes printed and spoken,
+yet the fact is that his life was so cruelly embittered by these
+and other expressions quite as virulent, that he often declared
+to those most intimate with him, "I would rather be dead than, as
+President, thus abused in the house of my friends."
+
+
+HOW "FIGHTING JOE" WAS APPOINTED.
+
+General "Joe" Hooker, the fourth commander of the noble but
+unfortunate Army of the Potomac, was appointed to that position
+by President Lincoln in January, 1863. General Scott, for some
+reason, disliked Hooker and would not appoint him. Hooker, after
+some months of discouraging waiting, decided to return to
+California, and called to pay his respects to President Lincoln.
+He was introduced as Captain Hooker, and to the surprise of the
+President began the following speech:
+
+"Mr. President, my friend makes a mistake. I am not Captain
+Hooker, but was once Lieutenant-Colonel Hooker of the regular
+army. I was lately a farmer in California, but since the
+Rebellion broke out I have been trying to get into service, but I
+find I am not wanted.
+
+"I am about to return home; but before going, I was anxious to
+pay my respects to you, and express my wishes for your personal
+welfare and success in quelling this Rebellion. And I want to say
+to you a word more.
+
+"I was at Bull Run the other day, Mr. President, and it is no
+vanity in me to say, I am a darned sight better general than you
+had on the field."
+
+This was said, not in the tone of a braggart, but of a man who
+knew what he was talking about. Hooker did not return to
+California, but in a few weeks Captain Hooker received from the
+President a commission as Brigadier-General Hooker.
+
+
+KEPT HIS COURAGE UP.
+
+The President, like old King Saul, when his term was about to
+expire, was in a quandary concerning a further lease of the
+Presidential office. He consulted again the "prophetess" of
+Georgetown, immortalized by his patronage.
+
+She retired to an inner chamber, and, after raising and
+consulting more than a dozen of distinguished spirits from Hades,
+she returned to the reception-parlor, where the chief magistrate
+awaited her, and declared that General Grant would capture
+Richmond, and that "Honest Old Abe" would be next President.
+
+She, however, as the report goes, told him to beware of Chase.
+
+
+A FORTUNE-TELLER'S PREDICTION.
+
+Lincoln had been born and reared among people who were believers
+in premonitions and supernatural appearances all his life, and he
+once declared to his friends that he was "from boyhood
+superstitious."
+
+He at one time said to Judge Arnold that "the near approach of
+the important events of his life were indicated by a presentiment
+or a strange dream, or in some other mysterious way it was
+impressed upon him that something important was to occur." This
+was earlier than 1850.
+
+It is said that on his second visit to New Orleans, Lincoln and
+his companion, John Hanks, visited an old fortune-teller--a
+voodoo negress. Tradition says that "during the interview she
+became very much excited, and after various predictions,
+exclaimed: 'You will be President, and all the negroes will be
+free.'"
+
+That the old voodoo negress should have foretold that the visitor
+would be President is not at all incredible. She doubtless told
+this to many aspiring lads, but Lincoln, so it is avowed took the
+prophecy seriously.
+
+
+TOO MUCH POWDER.
+
+So great was Lincoln's anxiety for the success of the Union arms
+that he considered no labor on his part too arduous, and spent
+much of his time in looking after even the small details.
+
+Admiral Dahlgren was sent for one morning by the President, who
+said "Well, captain, here's a letter about some new powder."
+
+After reading the letter he showed the sample of powder, and
+remarked that he had burned some of it, and did not believe it
+was a good article--here was too much residuum.
+
+"I will show you," he said; and getting a small piece of paper,
+placed thereupon some of the powder, then went to the fire and
+with the tongs picked up a coal, which he blew, clapped it on the
+powder, and after the resulting explosion, added, "You see there
+is too much left there."
+
+
+SLEEP STANDING UP.
+
+McClellan was a thorn in Lincoln's side--"always up in the air,"
+as the President put it--and yet he hesitated to remove him. "The
+Young Napoleon" was a good organizer, but no fighter. Lincoln
+sent him everything necessary in the way of men, ammunition,
+artillery and equipments, but he was forever unready.
+
+Instead of making a forward movement at the time expected, he
+would notify the President that he must have more men. These were
+given him as rapidly as possible, and then would come a demand
+for more horses, more this and that, usually winding up with a
+demand for still "more men."
+
+Lincoln bore it all in patience for a long time, but one day,
+when he had received another request for more men, he made a
+vigorous protest.
+
+"If I gave McClellan all the men he asks for," said the
+President, "they couldn't find room to lie down. They'd have to
+sleep standing up."
+
+
+SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT ANOTHER BATTLE.
+
+General Meade, after the great victory at Gettysburg, was again
+face to face with General Lee shortly afterwards at Williamsport,
+and even the former's warmest friends agree that he might have
+won in another battle, but he took no action. He was not a
+"pushing" man like Grant. It was this negligence on the part of
+Meade that lost him the rank of Lieutenant-General, conferred
+upon General Sheridan.
+
+A friend of Meade's, speaking to President Lincoln and intimating
+that Meade should have, after that battle, been made
+Commander-in-Chief of the Union Armies, received this reply from
+Lincoln:
+
+"Now, don't misunderstand me about General Meade. I am profoundly
+grateful down to the bottom of my boots for what he did at
+Gettysburg, but I think that if I had been General Meade I would
+have fought another battle."
+
+
+LINCOLN UPBRAIDED LAMON.
+
+In one of his reminiscences of Lincoln, Ward Lamon tells how
+keenly the President-elect always regretted the "sneaking in act"
+when he made the celebrated "midnight ride," which he took under
+protest, and landed him in Washington known to but a few. Lamon
+says:
+
+"The President was convinced that he committed a grave mistake in
+listening to the solicitations of a 'professional spy' and of
+friends too easily alarmed, and frequently upbraided me for
+having aided him to degrade himself at the very moment in all his
+life when his behavior should have exhibited the utmost dignity
+and composure.
+
+"Neither he nor the country generally then understood the true
+facts concerning the dangers to his life. It is now an
+acknowledged fact that there never was a moment from the day he
+crossed the Maryland line, up to the time of his assassination,
+that he was not in danger of death by violence, and that his life
+was spared until the night of the 14th of April, 1865, only
+through the ceaseless and watchful care of the guards thrown
+around him."
+
+
+MARKED OUT A FEW WORDS.
+
+President Lincoln was calm and unmoved when England and France
+were blustering and threatening war. At Lincoln's instance
+Secretary of State Seward notified the English Cabinet and the
+French Emperor that as ours was merely a family quarrel of a
+strictly private and confidential nature, there was no call for
+meddling; also that they would have a war on their hands in a
+very few minutes if they didn't keep their hands off.
+
+Many of Seward's notes were couched in decidedly peppery terms,
+some expressions being so tart that President Lincoln ran his pen
+through them.
+
+
+LINCOLN SILENCES SEWARD.
+
+General Farnsworth told the writer nearly twenty years ago that,
+being in the War Office one day, Secretary Stanton told him that
+at the last Cabinet meeting he had learned a lesson he should
+never forget, and thought he had obtained an insight into Mr.
+Lincoln's wonderful power over the masses. The Secretary said a
+Cabinet meeting was called to consider our relations with England
+in regard to the Mason-Slidell affair. One after another of the
+Cabinet presented his views, and Mr. Seward read an elaborate
+diplomatic dispatch, which he had prepared.
+
+Finally Mr. Lincoln read what he termed "a few brief remarks upon
+the subject," and asked the opinions of his auditors. They
+unanimously agreed that our side of the question needed no more
+argument than was contained in the President's "few brief
+remarks."
+
+Mr. Seward said he would be glad to adopt the remarks, and,
+giving them more of the phraseology usual in diplomatic circles,
+send them to Lord Palmerston, the British premier.
+
+"Then," said Secretary Stanton, "came the demonstration. The
+President, half wheeling in his seat, threw one leg over the
+chair-arm, and, holding the letter in his hand, said, 'Seward, do
+you suppose Palmerston will understand our position from that
+letter, just as it is?'
+
+"'Certainly, Mr. President.'
+
+"'Do you suppcse the London Times will?'
+
+"'Certainly.'
+
+"'Do you suppose the average Englishman of affairs will?'
+
+"'Certainly; it cannot be mistaken in England.'
+
+"'Do you suppose that a hackman out on his box (pointing to the
+street) will understand it?'
+
+"'Very readily, Mr. President.'
+
+"'Very well, Seward, I guess we'll let her slide just as she
+is.'
+
+"And the letter did 'slide,' and settled the whole business in a
+manner that was effective."
+
+
+BROUGHT THE HUSBAND UP.
+
+One morning President Lincoln asked Major Eckert, on duty at the
+White House, "Who is that woman crying out in the hall? What is
+the matter with her?"
+
+Eckert said it was a woman who had come a long distance expecting
+to go down to the army to see her husband. An order had gone out
+a short time before to allow no women in the army, except in
+special cases.
+
+Mr. Lincoln sat moodily for a moment after hearing this story,
+and suddenly looking up, said, "Let's send her down. You write
+the order, Major."
+
+Major Eckert hesitated a moment, and replied, "Would it not be
+better for Colonel Hardie to write the order?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Lincoln, "that is better; let Hardie write it."
+
+The major went out, and soon returned, saying, "Mr. President,
+would it not be better in this case to let the woman's husband
+come to Washington?"
+
+Mr. Lincoln's face lighted up with pleasure. "Yes, yes," was the
+President's answer in a relieved tone; "that's the best way;
+bring him up."
+
+The order was written, and the man was sent to Washington.
+
+
+NO WAR WITHOUT BLOOD-LETTING.
+
+"You can't carry on war without blood-letting," said Lincoln one
+day.
+
+The President, although almost feminine in his kind-heartedness,
+knew not only this, but also that large bodies of soldiers in
+camp were at the mercy of diseases of every sort, the result
+being a heavy casualty list.
+
+Of the (estimated) half-million men of the Union armies who gave
+up their lives in the War of the Rebellion--1861-65--fullY
+seventy-five per cent died of disease. The soldiers killed upon
+the field of battle constituted a comparatively small proportion
+of the casualties.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S TWO DIFFICULTIES.
+
+London "Punch" caricatured President Lincoln in every possible
+way, holding him and the Union cause up to the ridicule of the
+world so far as it could. On August 23rd, 1862, its cartoon
+entitled "Lincoln's Two Difficulties" had the text underneath:
+LINCOLN: "What? No money! No men!" "Punch" desired to create the
+impression that the Washington Government was in a bad way,
+lacking both money and men for the purpose of putting down the
+Rebellion; that the United States Treasury was bankrupt, and the
+people of the North so devoid of patriotism that they would not
+send men for the army to assist in destroying the Confederacy.
+The truth is, that when this cartoon was printed the North had
+five hundred thousand men in the field, and, before the War
+closed, had provided fully two million and a half troops. The
+report of the Secretary of the Treasury which showed the
+financial affairs and situation of the United States up to July,
+1862. The receipts of the National Government for the year ending
+June 30th, 1862, were $10,000,000 in excess of the expenditures,
+although the War was costing the country $2,000,000 per day; the
+credit of the United States was good, and business matters were
+in a satisfactory state. The Navy, by August 23rd, 1862, had
+received eighteen thousand additional men, and was in fine shape;
+the people of the North stood ready to supply anything the
+Government needed, so that, all things taken together,the "Punch"
+cartoon was not exactly true, as the facts and figures abundantly
+proved.
+
+
+WHITE ELEPHANT ON HIS HANDS.
+
+An old and intimate friend from Springfield called on President
+Lincoln and found him much depressed.
+
+The President was reclining on a sofa, but rising suddenly he
+said to his friend:
+
+"You know better than any man living that from my boyhood up my
+ambition was to be President. I am President of one part of this
+divided country at least; but look at me! Oh, I wish I had never
+been born!
+
+"I've a white elephant on my hands--one hard to manage. With a
+fire in my front and rear to contend with, the jealousies of the
+military commanders, and not receiving that cordial co-operative
+support from Congress that could reasonably be expected with an
+active and formidable enemy in the field threatening the very
+life-blood of the Government, my position is anything but a bed
+of roses."
+
+
+WHEN LINCOLN AND GRANT CLASHED.
+
+Ward Lamon, one of President Lincoln's law partners, and his most
+intimate friend in Washington, has this to relate:
+
+"I am not aware that there was ever a serious discord or
+misunderstanding between Mr. Lincoln and General Grant, except on
+a single occasion. From the commencement of the struggle,
+Lincoln's policy was to break the backbone of the Confederacy by
+depriving it of its principal means of subsistence.
+
+"Cotton was its vital aliment; deprive it of this, and the
+rebellion must necessarily collapse. The Hon. Elihu B. Washburne
+from the outset was opposed to any contraband traffic with the
+Confederates.
+
+"Lincoln had given permits and passes through the lines to two
+persons--Mr. Joseph Mattox of Maryland and General Singleton of
+Illinois--to enable them to bring cotton and other Southern
+products from Virginia. Washburne heard of it, called immediately
+on Mr. Lincoln, and, after remonstrating with him on the
+impropriety of such a demarche, threatened to have General Grant
+countermand the permits if they were not revoked.
+
+"Naturally, both became excited. Lincoln declared that he did not
+believe General Grant would take upon himself the responsibility
+of such an act. 'I will show you, sir; I will show you whether
+Grant will do it or not,' responded Mr. Washburne, as he abruptly
+withdrew.
+
+"By the next boat, subsequent to this interview, the Congressman
+left Washington for the headquarters of General Grant. He
+returned shortly afterward to the city, and so likewise did
+Mattox and Singleton. Grant had countermanded the permits.
+
+"Under all the circumstances, it was, naturally, a source of
+exultation to Mr. Washburne and his friends, and of corresponding
+surprise and mortification to the President. The latter, however,
+said nothing further than this:
+
+"'I wonder when General Grant changed his mind on this subject?
+He was the first man, after the commencement of this War, to
+grant a permit for the passage of cotton through the lines, and
+that to his own father.'
+
+"The President, however, never showed any resentment toward
+General Grant.
+
+"In referring afterwards to the subject, the President said: 'It
+made me feel my insignificance keenly at the moment; but if my
+friends Washburne, Henry Wilson and others derive pleasure from
+so unworthy a victory over me, I leave them to its full
+enjoyment.'
+
+"This ripple on the otherwise unruffled current of their
+intercourse did not disturb the personal relations between
+Lincoln and Grant; but there was little cordiality between the
+President and Messrs. Washburne and Wilson afterwards."
+
+
+WON JAMES GORDON BENNETT'S SUPPORT.
+
+The story as to how President Lincoln won the support of James
+Gordon Bennett, Sr., founder of the New York Herald, is a most
+interesting one. It was one of Lincoln's shrewdest political
+acts, and was brought about by the tender, in an autograph
+letter, of the French Mission to Bennett.
+
+The New York Times was the only paper in the metropolis which
+supported him heartily, and President Lincoln knew how important
+it was to have the support of the Herald. He therefore, according
+to the way Colonel McClure tells it, carefully studied how to
+bring its editor into close touch with himself.
+
+The outlook for Lincoln's re-election was not promising. Bennett
+had strongly advocated the nomination of General McClellan by the
+Democrats, and that was ominous of hostility to Lincoln; and when
+McClellan was nominated he was accepted on all sides as a most
+formidable candidate.
+
+It was in this emergency that Lincoln's political sagacity served
+him sufficiently to win the Herald to his cause, and it was done
+by the confidential tender of the French Mission. Bennett did not
+break over to Lincoln at once, but he went by gradual approaches.
+
+His first step was to declare in favor of an entirely new
+candidate, which was an utter impossibility. He opened a "leader"
+in the Herald on the subject in this way: "Lincoln has proved a
+failure; McClellan has proved a failure; Fremont has proved a
+failure; let us have a new candidate."
+
+Lincoln, McClellan and Fremont were then all in the field as
+nominated candidates, and the Fremont defection was a serious
+threat to Lincoln. Of course, neither Lincoln nor McClellan
+declined, and the Herald, failing to get the new man it knew to
+be an impossibility, squarely advocated Lincoln's re-election.
+
+Without consulting any one, and without any public announcement:
+whatever, Lincoln wrote to Bennett, asking him to accept the
+mission to France. The offer was declined. Bennett valued the
+offer very much more than the office, and from that day until the
+day of the President's death he was one of Lincoln's most
+appreciative friends and hearty supporters on his own independent
+line.
+
+
+STOOD BY THE "SILENT MAN."
+
+Once, in reply to a delegation, which visited the White House,
+the members of which were unusually vociferous in their demands
+that the Silent Man (as General Grant was called) should be
+relieved from duty, the President remarked:
+
+"What I want and what the people want is generals who will fight
+battles and win victories.
+
+"Grant has done this, and I propose to stand by him."
+
+This declaration found its way into the newspapers, and Lincoln
+was upheld by the people of the North, who, also, wanted
+"generals
+who will fight battles and win victories."
+
+
+A VERY BRAINY NUBBIN.
+
+President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward met Alexander H.
+Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, on February 2nd,
+1865, on the River Queen, at Fortress Monroe. Stephens was
+enveloped in overcoats and shawls, and had the appearance of a
+fair-sized man. He began to take off one wrapping after another,
+until the small, shriveled old man stood before them.
+
+Lincoln quietly said to Seward: "This is the largest shucking for
+so small a nubbin that I ever saw."
+
+President Lincoln had a friendly conference, but presented his
+ultimatum that the one and only condition of peace was that
+Confederates "must cease their resistance."
+
+
+SENT TO HIS "FRIENDS."
+
+During the Civil War, Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, had shown
+himself, in the National House of Representatives and elsewhere,
+one of the bitterest and most outspoken of all the men of that
+class which insisted that "the war was a failure." He declared
+that it was the design of "those in power to establish a
+despotism," and that they had "no intention of restoring the
+Union." He denounced the conscription which had been ordered, and
+declared that men who submitted to be drafted into the army were
+"unworthy to be called free men." He spoke of the President as
+"King Lincoln."
+
+Such utterances at this time, when the Government was exerting
+itself to the utmost to recruit the armies, were dangerous, and
+Vallandigham was arrested, tried by court-martial at Cincinnati,
+and sentenced to be placed in confinement during the war,
+
+General Burnside, in command at Cincinnati, approved the
+sentence, and ordered that he be sent to Fort Warren, in Boston
+Harbor; but the President ordered that he be sent "beyond our
+lines into those of his friends." He was therefore escorted to
+the Confederate lines in Tennessee, thence going to Richmond. He
+did not meet with a very cordial reception there, and finally
+sought refuge in Canada.
+
+Vallandigham died in a most peculiar way some years after the
+close of the War, and it was thought by many that his death was
+the result of premeditation upon his part.
+
+
+GO DOWN WITH COLORS FLYING.
+
+In August, 1864, the President called for five hundred thousand
+more men. The country was much depressed. The Confederates had,
+in comparatively small force, only a short time before, been to
+the very gates of Washington, and returned almost unharmed.
+
+The Presidential election was impending. Many thought another
+call for men at such a time would insure, if not destroy, Mr.
+Lincoln's chances for re-election. A friend said as much to him
+one day, after the President had told him of his purpose to make
+such a call.
+
+"As to my re-election," replied Mr. Lincoln, "it matters not. We
+must have the men. If I go down, I intend to go, like the
+Cumberland, with my colors flying!"
+
+
+ALL WERE TRAGEDIES.
+
+The cartoon reproduced below was published in "Harper's Weekly"
+on January 31st, 1863, the explanatory text, underneath, reading
+in this way:
+
+MANAGER LINCOLN: "Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to say that the
+tragedy entitled 'The Army of the Potomac' has been withdrawn on
+account of quarrels among the leading performers, and I have
+substituted three new and striking farces, or burlesques, one,
+entitled 'The Repulse of Vicksburg,' by the well-known favorite,
+E. M. Stanton, Esq., and the others, 'The Loss of the Harriet
+Lane,' and 'The Exploits of the Alabama'--a very sweet thing in
+farces, I assure you--by the veteran composer, Gideon Welles.
+(Unbounded applause by the Copperheads)."
+
+In July, after this cartoon appeared, the Army of the Potomac
+defeated Lee at Gettysburg, and sounded the death-knell of the
+Confederacy; General Hooker, with his corps from this Army opened
+the Tennessee River, thus affording some relief to the Union
+troops in Chattanooga; Hooker's men also captured Lookout
+Mountain, and assisted in taking Missionary Ridge.
+
+General Grant converted the farce "The Repulse of Vicksburg" into
+a tragedy for the Copperheads, taking that stronghold on July
+4th, and Captain Winslow, with the Union man-of-war Kearsarge,
+meeting the Confederate privateer Alabama, off the coast of
+France, near Cherbourg, fought the famous ship to a finish and
+sunk her. Thus the tragedy of "The Army of the Potomac" was given
+after all, and Playwright Stanton and Composer Welles were
+vindicated, their compositions having been received by the public
+with great favor.
+
+
+"HE'S THE BEST OF US."
+
+Secretary of State Seward did not appreciate President Lincoln's
+ability until he had been associated with him for quite a time,
+but he was awakened to a full realization of the greatness of the
+Chief Executive "all of a sudden."
+
+Having submitted "Some Thoughts for the President's
+Consideration"--a lengthy paper intended as an outline of the
+policy, both domestic and foreign, the Administration should
+pursue--he was not more surprised at the magnanimity and kindness
+of President Lincoln's reply than the thorough mastery of the
+subject displayed by the President.
+
+A few months later, when the Secretary had begun to understand
+Mr. Lincoln, he was quick and generous to acknowledge his power.
+
+"Executive force and vigor are rare qualities," he wrote to Mrs.
+Seward. "The President is the best of us."
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN "COMPOSED."
+
+Superintendent Chandler, of the Telegraph Office in the War
+Department, once told how President Lincoln wrote telegrams. Said
+he:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. His method
+of composition was slow and laborious. It was evident that he
+thought out what he was going to say before he touched his pen to
+the paper. He would sit looking out of the window, his left elbow
+on the table, his hand scratching his temple, his lips moving,
+and frequently he spoke the sentence aloud or in a half whisper.
+
+"After he was satisfied that he had the proper expression, he
+would write it out. If one examines the originals of Mr.
+Lincoln's telegrams and letters, he will find very few erasures
+and very little interlining. This was because he had them
+definitely in his mind before writing them.
+
+"In this he was the exact opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with
+feverish haste, often scratching out words, and interlining
+frequently. Sometimes he would seize a sheet which he had filled,
+and impatiently tear it into pieces."
+
+
+HAMLIN MIGHT DO IT.
+
+Several United States Senators urged President Lincoln to muster
+Southern slaves into the Union Army. Lincoln replied:
+
+"Gentlemen, I have put thousands of muskets into the hands of
+loyal citizens of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Western North
+Carolina. They have said they could defend themselves, if they
+had guns. I have given them the guns. Now, these men do not
+believe in mustering-in the negro. If I do it, these thousands of
+muskets will be turned against us. We should lose more than we
+should gain."
+
+Being still further urged, President Lincoln gave them this
+answer:
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "I can't do it. I can't see it as you do.
+You may be right, and I may be wrong; but I'll tell you what I
+can do; I can resign in favor of Mr. Hamlin. Perhaps Mr. Hamlin
+could do it."
+
+The matter ended there, for the time being.
+
+
+THE GUN SHOT BETTER.
+
+The President took a lively interest in all new firearm
+improvements and inventions, and it sometimes happened that, when
+an inventor could get nobody else in the Government to listen to
+him, the President would personally test his gun. A former clerk
+in the Navy Department tells an incident illustrative.
+
+He had stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one
+striding up and down the hall muttering: "I do wonder if they
+have gone already and left the building all alone." Looking out,
+the clerk was surprised to see the President.
+
+"Good evening," said Mr. Lincoln. "I was just looking for that
+man who goes shooting with me sometimes."
+
+The clerk knew Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain messenger of the
+Ordnance Department who had been accustomed to going with him to
+test weapons, but as this man had gone home, the clerk offered
+his services. Together they went to the lawn south of the White
+House, where Mr. Lincoln fixed up a target cut from a sheet of
+white Congressional notepaper.
+
+"Then pacing off a distance of about eighty or a hundred feet,"
+writes the clerk, "he raised the rifle to a level, took a quick
+aim, and drove the round of seven shots in quick succession, the
+bullets shooting all around the target like a Gatling gun and one
+striking near the center.
+
+"'I believe I can make this gun shoot better,' said Mr. Lincoln,
+after we had looked at the result of the first fire. With this he
+took from his vest pocket a small wooden sight which he had
+whittled from a pine stick, and adjusted it over the sight of the
+carbine. He then shot two rounds, and of the fourteen bullets
+nearly a dozen hit the paper!"
+
+
+LENIENT WITH McCLELLAN.
+
+General McClellan, aside from his lack of aggressiveness, fretted
+the President greatly with his complaints about military matters,
+his obtrusive criticism regarding political matters, and
+especially at his insulting declaration to the Secretary of War,
+dated June 28th, 1862, just after his retreat to the James River.
+
+General Halleck was made Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces
+in July, 1862, and September 1st McClellan was called to
+Washington. The day before he had written his wife that "as a
+matter of self-respect, I cannot go there." President Lincoln and
+General Halleck called at McClellan's house, and the President
+said: "As a favor to me, I wish you would take command of the
+fortifications of Washington and all the troops for the defense
+of the capital."
+
+Lincoln thought highly of McClellan's ability as an organizer and
+his strength in defense, yet any other President would have had
+him court-martialed for using this language, which appeared in
+McClellan's letter of June 28th:
+
+"If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks
+to you or to any other person in Washington. You have done your
+best to sacrifice this army."
+
+This letter, although addressed to the Secretary of War,
+distinctly embraced the President in the grave charge of
+conspiracy to defeat McClellan's army and sacrifice thousands of
+the lives of his soldiers.
+
+
+DIDN'T WANT A MILITARY REPUTATION.
+
+Lincoln was averse to being put up as a military hero.
+
+When General Cass was a candidate for the Presidency his friends
+sought to endow him with a military reputation.
+
+Lincoln, at that time a representative in Congress, delivered a
+speech before the House, which, in its allusion to Mr. Cass, was
+exquisitely sarcastic and irresistibly humorous:
+
+"By the way, Mr. Speaker," said Lincoln, "do you know I am a
+military hero?
+
+"Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled, and
+came away.
+
+"Speaking of General Cass's career reminds me of my own.
+
+"I was not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as
+Cass to Hull's surrender; and like him I saw the place very soon
+afterwards.
+
+"It is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to
+break, but I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion.
+
+"If General Cass went in advance of me picking whortleberries, I
+guess I surpassed him in charging upon the wild onion.
+
+"If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did,
+but I had a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes, and
+although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say that
+I was often very hungry."
+
+Lincoln concluded by saying that if he ever turned Democrat and
+should run for the Presidency, he hoped they would not make fun
+of him by attempting to make him a military hero.
+
+
+"SURRENDER NO SLAVE."
+
+About March, 1862, General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at
+Fortress Monroe, advised President Lincoln that he had determined
+to regard all slaves coming into his camps as contraband of war,
+and to employ their labor under fair compensation, and Secretary
+of War Stanton replied to him, in behalf of the President,
+approving his course, and saying, "You are not to interfere
+between master and slave on the one hand, nor surrender slaves
+who may come within your lines."
+
+This was a significant milestone of progress to the great end
+that was thereafter to be reached.
+
+
+CONSCRIPTING DEAD MEN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln being found fault with for making another "call,"
+said that if the country required it, he would continue to do so
+until the matter stood as described by a Western provost marshal,
+who says:
+
+"I listened a short time since to a butternut-clad individual,
+who succeeded in making good his escape, expatiate most
+eloquently on the rigidness with which the conscription was
+enforced south of the Tennessee River. His response to a question
+propounded by a citizen ran somewhat in this wise:
+
+"'Do they conscript close over the river?'
+
+"'Stranger, I should think they did! They take every man who
+hasn't been dead more than two days!'
+
+"If this is correct, the Confederacy has at least a ghost of a
+chance left."
+
+And of another, a Methodist minister in Kansas, living on a small
+salary, who was greatly troubled to get his quarterly instalment.
+He at last told the non-paying trustees that he must have his
+money, as he was suffering for the necessaries of life.
+
+"Money!" replied the trustees; "you preach for money? We thought
+you preached for the good of souls!"
+
+"Souls!" responded the reverend; "I can't eat souls; and if I
+could it would take a thousand such as yours to make a meal!"
+
+"That soul is the point, sir," said the President.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S REJECTED MANUSCRIPT.
+
+On February 5th, 1865, President Lincoln formulated a message to
+Congress, proposing the payment of $400,000,000 to the South as
+compensation for slaves lost by emancipation, and submitted it to
+his Cabinet, only to be unanimously rejected.
+
+Lincoln sadly accepted the decision, and filed away the
+manuscript message, together with this indorsement thereon, to
+which his signature was added: "February 5, 1865. To-day these
+papers, which explain themselves, were drawn up and submitted to
+the Cabinet unanimously disapproved by them."
+
+When the proposed message was disapproved, Lincoln soberly asked:
+"How long will the war last?"
+
+To this none could make answer, and he added: "We are spending
+now, in carrying on the war, $3,000,000 a day, which will amount
+to all this money, besides all the lives."
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A STORY WRITER.
+
+In his youth, Mr. Lincoln once got an idea for a thrilling,
+romantic story. One day, in Springfield, he was sitting with his
+feet on the window sill, chatting with an acquaintance, when he
+suddenly changed the drift of the conversation by saying: "Did
+you ever write out a story in your mind? I did when I was a
+little codger. One day a wagon with a lady and two girls and a
+man broke down near us, and while they were fixing up, they
+cooked in our kitchen. The woman had books and read us stories,
+and they were the first I had ever heard. I took a great fancy to
+one of the girls; and when they were gone I thought of her a
+great deal, and one day when I was sitting out in the sun by the
+house I wrote out a story in my mind. I thought I took my
+father's horse and followed the wagon, and finally I found it,
+and they were surprised to see me. I talked with the girl, and
+persuaded her to elope with me; and that night I put her on my
+horse, and we started off across the prairie. After several hours
+we came to a camp; and when we rode up we found it was the one we
+had left a few hours before, and went in. The next night we tried
+again, and the same thing happened--the horse came back to the
+same place; and then we concluded that we ought not to elope. I
+stayed until I had persuaded her father to give her to me. I
+always meant to write that story out and publish it, and I began
+once; but I concluded that it was not much of a story. But I
+think that was the beginning of love with me."
+
+
+LINCOLN'S IDEAS ON CROSSING A RIVER WHEN HE GOT TO IT.
+
+Lincoln's reply to a Springfield (Illinois) clergyman, who asked
+him what was to be his policy on the slavery question was most
+apt:
+
+"Well, your question is rather a cool one, but I will answer it
+by telling you a story:
+
+"You know Father B., the old Methodist preacher? and you know Fox
+River and its freshets?
+
+"Well, once in the presence of Father B., a young Methodist was
+worrying about Fox River, and expressing fears that he should be
+prevented from fulfilling some of his appointments by a freshet
+in the river.
+
+"Father B. checked him in his gravest manner. Said he:
+
+"'Young man, I have always made it a rule in my life not to
+cross Fox River till I get to it.'
+
+"And," said the President, "I am not going to worry myself over
+the slavery question till I get to it."
+
+A few days afterward a Methodist minister called on the
+President, and on being presented to him, said, simply:
+
+"Mr. President, I have come to tell you that I think we have got
+to Fox River!"
+
+Lincoln thanked the clergyman, and laughed heartily.
+
+
+PRESIDENT NOMINATED FIRST.
+
+The day of Lincoln's second nomination for the Presidency he
+forgot all about the Republican National Convention, sitting at
+Baltimore, and wandered over to the War Department. While there,
+a telegram came announcing the nomination of Johnson as
+Vice-President.
+
+"What," said Lincoln to the operator, "do they nominate a
+Vice-President before they do a President?"
+
+"Why," replied the astonished official, "have you not heard of
+your own nomination? It was sent to the White House two hours
+ago."
+
+"It is all right," replied the President; "I shall probably find
+it on my return."
+
+
+"THEM GILLITEENS."
+
+The illustrated newspapers of the United States and England had a
+good deal of fun, not only with President Lincoln, but the
+latter's Cabinet officers and military commanders as well. It was
+said by these funny publications that the President had set up a
+guillotine in his "back-yard," where all those who offended were
+beheaded with both neatness, and despatch. "Harper's Weekly" of
+January 3rd, 1863, contained a cartoon labeled "Those
+Guillotines; a Little Incident at the White House," the
+personages figuring in the "incident" being Secretary of War
+Stanton and a Union general who had been unfortunate enough to
+lose a battle to the Confederates. Beneath the cartoon was the
+following dialogue:
+
+SERVANT: "If ye plase, sir, them Gilliteens has arrove." 
+MR. LINCOLN: "All right, Michael. Now, gentlemen, will you be
+kind
+enough to step out in the back-yard?"
+
+The hair and whiskers of Secretary of War Stanton are ruffled and
+awry, and his features are not calm and undisturbed, indicating
+that he has an idea of what's the matter in that back-yard; the
+countenance of the officer in the rear of the Secretary of War
+wears rather an anxious, or worried, look, and his hair isn't
+combed smoothly, either.
+
+President Lincoln's frequent changes among army commanders--
+before he found Grant, Sherman and Sheridan--afforded an
+opportunity the caricaturists did not neglect, and some very
+clever cartoons were the consequence.
+
+
+"CONSIDER THE SYMPATHY OF LINCOLN."
+
+Consider the sympathy of Abraham Lincoln. Do you know the story
+of William Scott, private? He was a boy from a Vermont farm.
+
+There had been a long march, and the night succeeding it he had
+stood on picket. The next day there had been another long march,
+and that night William Scott had volunteered to stand guard in
+the place of a sick comrade who had been drawn for the duty.
+
+It was too much for William Scott. He was too tired. He had been
+found sleeping on his beat.
+
+The army was at Chain Bridge. It was in a dangerous neighborhood.
+Discipline must be kept.
+
+William Scott was apprehended, tried by court-martial, sentenced
+to be shot. News of the case was carried to Lincoln. William
+Scott was a prisoner in his tent, expecting to be shot next day.
+
+But the flaps of his tent were parted, and Lincoln stood before
+him. Scott said:
+
+"The President was the kindest man I had ever seen; I knew him at
+once by a Lincoln medal I had long worn.
+
+"I was scared at first, for I had never before talked with a
+great man; but Mr. Lincoln was so easy with me, so gentle, that I
+soon forgot my fright.
+
+"He asked me all about the people at home, the neighbors, the
+farm, and where I went to school, and who my schoolmates were.
+Then he asked me about mother and how she looked; and I was glad
+I could take her photograph from my bosom and show it to him.
+
+"He said how thankful I ought to be that my mother still lived,
+and how, if he were in my place, he would try to make her a proud
+mother, and never cause her a sorrow or a tear.
+
+"I cannot remember it all, but every word was so kind.
+
+"He had said nothing yet about that dreadful next morning; I
+thought it must be that he was so kind-hearted that he didn't
+like to speak of it.
+
+"But why did he say so much about my mother, and my not causing
+her a sorrow or a tear, when I knew that I must die the next
+morning?
+
+"But I supposed that was something that would have to go
+unexplained; and so I determined to brace up and tell him that I
+did not feel a bit guilty, and ask him wouldn't he fix it so that
+the firing party would not be from our regiment.
+
+"That was going to be the hardest of all--to die by the hands of
+my comrades.
+
+"Just as I was going to ask him this favor, he stood up, and he
+says to me:
+
+"'My boy, stand up here and look me in the face.'
+
+"I did as he bade me.
+
+"'My boy,' he said, 'you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I
+believe you when you tell me that you could not keep awake.
+
+"'I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment.
+
+"'But I have been put to a good deal of trouble on your account.
+
+"'I have had to come up here from Washington when I have got a
+great deal to do; and what I want to know is, how are you going
+to pay my bill?'
+
+"There was a big lump in my throat; I could scarcely speak. I had
+expected to die, you see, and had kind of got used to thinking
+that way.
+
+"To have it all changed in a minute! But I got it crowded down,
+and managed to say:
+
+"'I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln! I hope I am as grateful as ever a
+man can be to you for saving my life.
+
+"'But it comes upon me sudden and unexpected like. I didn't lay
+out for it at all; but there is some way to pay you, and I will
+find it after a little.
+
+"'There is the bounty in the savings bank; I guess we could
+borrow some money on the mortgage of the farm.'
+
+"'There was my pay was something, and if he would wait until
+pay-day I was sure the boys would help; so I thought we could
+make it up if it wasn't more than five or six hundred dollars.
+
+"'But it is a great deal more than that,' he said.
+
+"Then I said I didn't just see how, but I was sure I would find
+some way--if I lived.
+
+"Then Mr. Lincoln put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into
+my face as if he was sorry, and said; "'My boy, my bill is a very
+large one. Your friends cannot pay it, nor your bounty, nor the
+farm, nor all your comrades!
+
+"'There is only one man in all the world who can pay it, and his
+name is William Scott!
+
+"'If from this day William Scott does his duty, so that, if I
+was there when he comes to die, he can look me in the face as he
+does now, and say, I have kept my promise, and I have done my
+duty as a soldier, then my debt will be paid.
+
+"'Will you make that promise and try to keep it?"
+
+The promise was given. Thenceforward there never was such a
+soldier as William Scott.
+
+This is the record of the end. It was after one of the awful
+battles of the Peninsula. He was shot all to pieces. He said:
+
+"Boys, I shall never see another battle. I supposed this would be
+my last. I haven't much to say.
+
+"You all know what you can tell them at home about me.
+
+"I have tried to do the right thing! If any of you ever have the
+chance I wish you would tell President Lincoln that I have never
+forgotten the kind words he said to me at the Chain Bridge; that
+I have tried to be a good soldier and true to the flag; that I
+should have paid my whole debt to him if I had lived; and that
+now, when I know that I am dying, I think of his kind face, and
+thank him again, because he gave me the chance to fall like a
+soldier in battle, and not like a coward, by the hands of my
+comrades."
+
+What wonder that Secretary Stanton said, as he gazed upon the
+tall form and kindly face as he lay there, smitten down by the
+assassin's bullet, "There lies the most perfect ruler of men who
+ever lived."
+
+
+SAVED A LIFE.
+
+One day during the Black Hawk War a poor old Indian came into the
+camp with a paper of safe conduct from General Lewis Cass in his
+possession. The members of Lincoln's company were greatly
+exasperated by late Indian barbarities, among them the horrible
+murder of a number of women and children, and were about to kill
+him; they said the safe-conduct paper was a forgery, and
+approached the old savage with muskets cocked to shoot him.
+
+Lincoln rushed forward, struck up the weapons with his hands, and
+standing in front of the victim, declared to the Indian that he
+should not be killed. It was with great difficulty that the men
+could be kept from their purpose, but the courage and firmness of
+Lincoln thwarted them.
+
+Lincoln was physically one of the bravest of men, as his company
+discovered.
+
+
+LINCOLN PLAYED BALL.
+
+Frank P. Blair, of Chicago, tells an incident, showing Mr.
+Lincoln's love for children and how thoroughly he entered into
+all of their sports:
+
+"During the war my grandfather, Francis P. Blair, Sr., lived at
+Silver Springs, north of Washington, seven miles from the White
+House. It was a magnificent place of four or five hundred acres,
+with an extensive lawn in the rear of the house. The
+grandchildren gathered there frequently.
+
+There were eight or ten of us, our ages ranging from eight to
+twelve years. Although I was but seven or eight years of age, Mr.
+Lincoln's visits were of such importance to us boys as to leave a
+clear impression on my memory. He drove out to the place quite
+frequently. We boys, for hours at a time played 'town ball' on
+the vast lawn, and Mr. Lincoln would join ardently in the sport.
+I remember vividly how he ran with the children; how long were
+his strides, and how far his coat-tails stuck out behind, and how
+we tried to hit him with the ball, as he ran the bases. He
+entered into the spirit of the play as completely as any of us,
+and we invariably hailed his coming with delight."
+
+
+HIS PASSES TO RICHMOND NOT HONORED.
+
+A man called upon the President and solicited a pass for
+Richmond.
+
+"Well," said the President, "I would be very happy to oblige, if
+my passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within
+the past two years, given passes to two hundred and fifty
+thousand men to go to Richmond, and not one has got there yet."
+
+The applicant quietly and respectfully withdrew on his tiptoes.
+
+
+"PUBLIC HANGMAN" FOR THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A certain United States Senator, who believed that every man who
+believed in secession should be hanged, asked the President what
+he intended to do when the War was over.
+
+"Reconstruct the machinery of this Government," quickly replied
+Lincoln.
+
+"You are certainly crazy," was the Senator's heated response.
+"You talk as if treason was not henceforth to be made odious, but
+that the traitors, cutthroats and authors of this War should not
+only go unpunished, but receive encouragement to repeat their
+treason with impunity! They should be hanged higher than Haman,
+sir! Yes, higher than any malefactor the world has ever known!"
+
+The President was entirely unmoved, but, after a moment's pause,
+put a question which all but drove his visitor insane.
+
+"Now, Senator, suppose that when this hanging arrangement has
+been agreed upon, you accept the post of Chief Executioner. If
+you will take the office, I will make you a brigadier general and
+Public Hangman for the United States. That would just about suit
+you, wouldn't it?"
+
+"I am a gentleman, sir," returned the Senator, "and I certainly
+thought you knew me better than to believe me capable of doing
+such dirty work. You are jesting, Mr. President."
+
+The President was extremely patient, exhibiting no signs of ire,
+and to this bit of temper on the part of the Senator responded:
+
+"You speak of being a gentleman; yet you forget that in this free
+country all men are equal, the vagrant and the gentleman standing
+on the same ground when it comes to rights and duties,
+particularly in time of war. Therefore, being a gentleman, as you
+claim, and a law-abiding citizen, I trust, you are not exempt
+from doing even the dirty work at which your high spirit
+revolts."
+
+This was too much for the Senator, who quitted the room abruptly,
+and never again showed his face in the White House while Lincoln
+occupied it.
+
+"He won't bother me again," was the President's remark as he
+departed.
+
+
+FEW, BUT BOISTEROUS.
+
+Lincoln was a very quiet man, and went about his business in a
+quiet way, making the least noise possible. He heartily disliked
+those boisterous people who were constantly deluging him with
+advice, and shouting at the tops of their voices whenever they
+appeared at the White House. "These noisy people create a great
+clamor," said he one day, in conversation with some personal
+friends, "and remind me, by the way, of a good story I heard out
+in Illinois while I was practicing, or trying to practice, some
+law there. I will say, though, that I practiced more law than I
+ever got paid for.
+
+"A fellow who lived just out of town, on the bank of a large
+marsh, conceived a big idea in the money-making line. He took it
+to a prominent merchant, and began to develop his plans and
+specifications. 'There are at least ten million frogs in that
+marsh near me, an' I'll just arrest a couple of carloads of them
+and hand them over to you. You can send them to the big cities
+and make lots of money for both of us. Frogs' legs are great
+delicacies in the big towns, an' not very plentiful. It won't
+take me more'n two or three days to pick 'em. They make so much
+noise my family can't sleep, and by this deal I'll get rid of a
+nuisance and gather in some cash.'
+
+"The merchant agreed to the proposition, promised the fellow he
+would pay him well for the two carloads. Two days passed, then
+three, and finally two weeks were gone before the fellow showed
+up again, carrying a small basket. He looked weary and 'done up,'
+and he wasn't talkative a bit. He threw the basket on the counter
+with the remark, 'There's your frogs.'
+
+"'You haven't two carloads in that basket, have you?' inquired
+the merchant.
+
+"'No,' was the reply, 'and there ain't no two carloads in all
+this blasted world.'
+
+"'I thought you said there were at least ten millions of 'em in
+that marsh near you, according to the noise they made,' observed
+the merchant. 'Your people couldn't sleep because of 'em.'
+
+"'Well,' said the fellow, 'accordin' to the noise they made,
+there was, I thought, a hundred million of 'em, but when I had
+waded and swum that there marsh day and night fer two blessed
+weeks, I couldn't harvest but six. There's two or three left yet,
+an' the marsh is as noisy as it uster be. We haven't catched up
+on any of our lost sleep yet. Now, you can have these here six,
+an' I won't charge you a cent fer 'em.'
+
+"You can see by this little yarn," remarked the President, "that
+these boisterous people make too much noise in proportion to
+their numbers."
+
+
+KEEP PEGGING AWAY.
+
+Being asked one time by an "anxious" visitor as to what he would
+do in certain contingencies--provided the rebellion was not
+subdued after three or four years of effort on the part of the
+Government
+
+"Oh," replied the President, "there is no alternative but to keep
+'pegging' away!"
+
+
+BEWARE OF THE TAIL.
+
+After the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation, Governor
+Morgan, of New York, was at the White House one day, when the
+President said:
+
+"I do not agree with those who say that slavery is dead. We are
+like whalers who have been long on a chase--we have at last got
+the harpoon into the monster, but we must now look how we steer,
+or, with one 'flop' of his tail, he will yet send us all into
+eternity!"
+
+
+"LINCOLN'S DREAM."
+
+President Lincoln was depicted as a headsman in a cartoon printed
+in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper," on February 14, 1863,
+the title of the picture being "Lincoln's Dreams; or, There's a
+Good Time Coming."
+
+The cartoon, reproduced here, represents, on the right, the Union
+Generals who had been defeated by the Confederates in battle, and
+had suffered decapitation in consequence--McDowell, who lost at
+Bull Run; McClellan, who failed to take Richmond, when within
+twelve miles of that city and no opposition, comparatively; and
+Burnside, who was so badly whipped at Fredericksburg. To the left
+of the block, where the President is standing with the bloody axe
+in his hand, are shown the members of the Cabinet--Secretary of
+State Seward, Secretary of War Stanton, Secretary of the Navy
+Welles, and others--each awaiting his turn. This part of the
+"Dream" was never realized, however, as the President did not
+decapitate any of his Cabinet officers.
+
+It was the idea of the cartoonist to hold Lincoln up as a man who
+would not countenance failure upon the part of subordinates, but
+visit the severest punishment upon those commanders who did not
+win victories. After Burnside's defeat at Fredericksburg, he was
+relieved by Hooker, who suffered disaster at Chancellorsville;
+Hooker was relieved by Meade, who won at Gettysburg, but was
+refused promotion because he did not follow up and crush Lee;
+Rosecrans was all but defeated at Chickamauga, and gave way to
+Grant, who, of all the Union commanders, had never suffered
+defeat. Grant was Lincoln's ideal fighting man, and the "Old
+Commander" was never superseded.
+
+
+THERE WAS NO NEED OF A STORY.
+
+Dr. Hovey, of Dansville, New York, thought he would call and see
+the President.
+
+Upon arriving at the White House he found the President on
+horseback, ready for a start.
+
+Approaching him, he said:
+
+"President Lincoln, I thought I would call and see you before
+leaving the city, and hear you tell a story."
+
+The President greeted him pleasantly, and asked where he was
+from.
+
+"From Western New York."
+
+"Well, that's a good enough country without stories," replied the
+President, and off he rode.
+
+
+LINCOLN A MAN OF SIMPLE HABITS.
+
+Lincoln's habits at the White House were as simple as they were
+at his old home in Illinois.
+
+He never alluded to himself as "President," or as occupying "the
+Presidency."
+
+His office he always designated as "the place."
+
+"Call me Lincoln," said he to a friend; "Mr. President" had
+become so very tiresome to him.
+
+"If you see a newsboy down the street, send him up this way,"
+said he to a passenger, as he stood waiting for the morning news
+at his gate.
+
+Friends cautioned him about exposing himself so openly in the
+midst of enemies; but he never heeded them.
+
+He frequently walked the streets at night, entirely unprotected;
+and felt any check upon his movements a great annoyance.
+
+He delighted to see his familiar Western friends; and he gave
+them always a cordial welcome.
+
+He met them on the old footing, and fell at once into the
+accustomed habits of talk and story-telling.
+
+An old acquaintance, with his wife, visited Washington. Mr. and
+Mrs. Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the Presidential
+carriage.
+
+It should be stated in advance that the two men had probably
+never seen each other with gloves on in their lives, unless when
+they were used as protection from the cold.
+
+The question of each--Lincoln at the White House, and his friend
+at the hotel--was, whether he should wear gloves.
+
+Of course the ladies urged gloves; but Lincoln only put his in
+his pocket, to be used or not, according to the circumstances.
+
+When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, to take in
+their friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his wife's
+persuasions, very handsomely gloved.
+
+The moment he took his seat he began to draw off the clinging
+kids, while Lincoln began to draw his on!
+
+"No! no! no!" protested his friend, tugging at his gloves. "It is
+none of my doings; put up your gloves, Mr. Lincoln."
+
+So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and had their
+ride after their old fashion.
+
+
+HIS LAST SPEECH.
+
+President Lincoln was reading the draft of a speech. Edward, the
+conservative but dignified butler of the White House, was seen
+struggling with Tad and trying to drag him back from the window
+from which was waving a Confederate flag, captured in some fight
+and given to the boy. Edward conquered and Tad, rushing to find
+his father, met him coming forward to make, as it proved, his
+last speech.
+
+The speech began with these words, "We meet this evening, not in
+sorrow, but in gladness of heart." Having his speech written in
+loose leaves, and being compelled to hold a candle in the other
+hand, he would let the loose leaves drop to the floor one by one.
+"Tad" picked them up as they fell, and impatiently called for
+more as they fell from his father's hand.
+
+
+FORGOT EVERYTHING HE KNEW BEFORE. 
+
+President Lincoln, while entertaining a few select friends, is
+said to have related the following anecdote of a man who knew too
+much:
+
+He was a careful, painstaking fellow, who always wanted to be
+absolutely exact, and as a result he frequently got the ill-will
+of his less careful superiors.
+
+During the administration of President Jackson there was a
+singular young gentleman employed in the Public Postoffice in
+Washington.
+
+His name was G.; he was from Tennessee, the son of a widow, a
+neighbor of the President, on which account the old hero had a
+kind feeling for him, and always got him out of difficulties with
+some of the higher officials, to whom his singular interference
+was distasteful.
+
+Among other things, it is said of him that while employed in the
+General Postoffice, on one occasion he had to copy a letter to
+Major H., a high official, in answer to an application made by an
+old gentleman in Virginia or Pennsylvania, for the establishment
+of a new postoffice.
+
+The writer of the letter said the application could not be
+granted, in consequence of the applicant's "proximity" to another
+office.
+
+When the letter came into G.'s hand to copy, being a great
+stickler for plainness, he altered "proximity" to "nearness to."
+
+Major H. observed it, and asked G. why he altered his letter.
+
+"Why," replied G., "because I don't think the man would
+understand what you mean by proximity."
+
+"Well," said Major H., "try him; put in the 'proximity' again."
+
+In a few days a letter was received from the applicant, in which
+he very indignantly said that his father had fought for liberty
+in the second war for independence, and he should like to have
+the name of the scoundrel who brought the charge of proximity or
+anything else wrong against him.
+
+"There," said G., "did I not say so?"
+
+G. carried his improvements so far that Mr. Berry, the
+Postmaster-General, said to him: "I don't want you any longer;
+you know too much."
+
+Poor G. went out, but his old friend got him another place.
+
+This time G.'s ideas underwent a change. He was one day very busy
+writing, when a stranger called in and asked him where the Patent
+Office was.
+
+"I don't know," said G.
+
+"Can you tell me where the Treasury Department is?" said the
+stranger. "No," said G.
+
+'Nor the President's house?"
+
+"No."
+
+The stranger finally asked him if he knew where the Capitol was.
+
+"No," replied G.
+
+"Do you live in Washington, sir?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said G.
+
+"Good Lord! and don't you know where the Patent Office, Treasury,
+President's house and Capitol are?"
+
+"Stranger," said G., "I was turned out of the postoffice for
+knowing too much. I don't mean to offend in that way again.
+
+"I am paid for keeping this book.
+
+"I believe I know that much; but if you find me knowing anything
+more you may take my head."
+
+"Good morning," said the stranger.
+
+
+LINCOLN BELIEVED IN EDUCATION.
+
+"That every man may receive at least a moderate education, and
+thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other
+countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free
+institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance; even
+on this account alone, to say nothing of the advantages and
+satisfaction to be derived from all being able to read the
+Scriptures and other works, both of a religious and moral nature,
+for themselves.
+
+"For my part, I desire to see the time when education, by its
+means, morality, sobriety, enterprise and integrity, shall become
+much more general than at present, and should be gratified to
+have it in my power to contribute something to the advancement of
+any measure which might have a tendency to accelerate the happy
+period."
+
+
+LINCOLN ON THE DRED SCOTT DECISION.
+
+In a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 26th, 1857, Lincoln
+referred to the decision of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, of the
+United States Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, in this
+manner:
+
+"The Chief justice does not directly assert, but plainly assumes
+as a fact, that the public estimate of the black man is more
+favorable now than it was in the days of the Revolution.
+
+"In those days, by common consent, the spread of the black man's
+bondage in the new countries was prohibited; but now Congress
+decides that it will not continue the prohibition, and the
+Supreme Court decides that it could not if it would.
+
+"In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred
+by all, and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the
+bondage of the negro universal and eternal, it is assailed and
+sneered at, and constructed and hawked at, and torn, till, if its
+framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all
+recognize it.
+
+"All the powers of earth seem combining against the slave; Mammon
+is after him, ambition follows, philosophy follows, and the
+theology of the day is fast joining the cry."
+
+
+LINCOLN MADE MANY NOTABLE SPEECHES.
+
+Abraham Lincoln made many notable addresses and speeches during
+his career previous to the time of his election to the
+Presidency.
+
+However, beautiful in thought and expression as they were, they
+were not appreciated by those who heard and read them until after
+the people of the United States and the world had come to
+understand the man who delivered them.
+
+Lincoln had the rare and valuable faculty of putting the most
+sublime feeling into his speeches; and he never found it
+necessary to incumber his wisest, wittiest and most famous
+sayings with a weakening mass of words.
+
+He put his thoughts into the simplest language, so that all might
+comprehend, and he never said anything which was not full of the
+deepest meaning.
+
+
+WHAT AILED THE BOYS.
+
+Mr. Roland Diller, who was one of Mr. Lincoln's neighbors in
+Springfield, tells the following:
+
+"I was called to the door one day by the cries of children in the
+street, and there was Mr. Lincoln, striding by with two of his
+boys, both of whom were wailing aloud. 'Why, Mr. Lincoln, what's
+the matter with the boys?' I asked.
+
+"'Just what's the matter with the whole world,' Lincoln replied.
+'I've got three walnuts, and each wants two.'"
+
+
+TAD'S CONFEDERATE FLAG.
+
+One of the prettiest incidents in the closing days of the Civil
+War occurred when the troops, 'marching home again,' passed in
+grand form, if with well-worn uniforms and tattered bunting,
+before the White House.
+
+Naturally, an immense crowd had assembled on the streets, the
+lawns, porches, balconies, and windows, even those of the
+executive mansion itself being crowded to excess. A central
+figure was that of the President, Abraham Lincoln, who, with
+bared head, unfurled and waved our Nation's flag in the midst of
+lusty cheers.
+
+But suddenly there was an unexpected sight.
+
+A small boy leaned forward and sent streaming to the air the
+banner of the boys in gray. It was an old flag which had been
+captured from the Confederates, and which the urchin, the
+President's second son, Tad, had obtained possession of and
+considered an additional triumph to unfurl on this all-important
+day.
+
+Vainly did the servant who had followed him to the window plead
+with him to desist. No, Master Tad, Pet of the White House, was
+not to be prevented from adding to the loyal demonstration of the
+hour.
+
+To his surprise, however, the crowd viewed it differently. Had it
+floated from any other window in the capital that day, no doubt
+it would have been the target of contempt and abuse; but when the
+President, understanding what had happened, turned, with a smile
+on his grand, plain face, and showed his approval by a gesture
+and expression, cheer after cheer rent the air.
+
+
+CALLED BLESSINGS ON THE AMERICAN WOMEN.
+
+President Lincoln attended a Ladies' Fair for the benefit of the
+Union soldiers, at Washington, March 16th, 1864.
+
+In his remarks he said:
+
+"I appear to say but a word.
+
+"This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily
+upon all classes of people, but the most heavily upon the
+soldiers. For it has been said, 'All that a man hath will he give
+for his life,' and, while all contribute of their substance, the
+soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his
+country's cause.
+
+"The highest merit, then, is due the soldiers.
+
+"In this extraordinary war extraordinary developments have
+manifested themselves such as have not been seen in former wars;
+and among these manifestations nothing has been more remarkable
+than these fairs for the relief of suffering soldiers and their
+families, and the chief agents in these fairs are the women of
+America!
+
+"I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy; I have
+never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must
+say that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the
+creation of the world in praise of women were applied to the
+women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct
+during the war.
+
+"I will close by saying, God bless the women of America!"
+
+
+LINCOLN'S "ORDER NO. 252."
+
+After the United States had enlisted former negro slaves as
+soldiers to fight alongside the Northern troops for the
+maintenance of the integrity of the Union, so great was the
+indignation of the Confederate Government that President Davis
+declared he would not recognize blacks captured in battle and in
+uniform as prisoners of war. This meant that he would have them
+returned to their previous owners, have them flogged and fined
+for running away from their masters, or even shot if he felt like
+it. This attitude of the President of the Confederate States of
+America led to the promulgation of President Lincoln's famous
+"Order No. 252," which, in effect, was a notification to the
+commanding officers of the Southern forces that if negro
+prisoners of war were not treated as such, the Union commanders
+would retaliate. "Harper's Weekly" of August 15th, 1863,
+contained a clever cartoon, which we reproduce, representing
+President Lincoln holding the South by the collar, while "Old
+Abe" shouts the following words of warning to Jeff Davis, who,
+cat-o'-nine-tails in hand, is in pursuit of a terrified little
+negro boy:
+
+MR. LINCOLN: "Look here, Jeff Davis! If you lay a finger on that
+boy, to hurt him, I'll lick this ugly cub of yours within an inch
+of his life!"
+
+Much to the surprise of the Confederates, the negro soldiers
+fought valiantly; they were fearless when well led, obeyed orders
+without hesitation, were amenable to discipline, and were eager
+and anxious, at all times, to do their duty. In battle they were
+formidable opponents, and in using the bayonet were the equal of
+the best trained troops. The Southerners hated them beyond power
+of expression.
+
+
+TALKED TO THE NEGROES OF RICHMOND.
+
+The President walked through the streets of Richmond--without a
+guard except a few seamen--in company with his son "Tad," and
+Admiral Porter, on April 4th, 1865, the day following the
+evacuation of the city.
+
+Colored people gathered about him on every side, eager to see and
+thank their liberator. Mr. Lincoln addressed the following
+remarks to one of these gatherings:
+
+"My poor friends, you are free--free as air. You can cast off the
+name of slave and trample upon it; it will come to you no more.
+
+"Liberty is your birthright. God gave it to you as He gave it to
+others, and it is a sin that you have been deprived of it for so
+many years.
+
+"But you must try to deserve this priceless boon. Let the world
+see that you merit it, and are able to maintain it by your good
+work.
+
+"Don't let your joy carry you into excesses; learn the laws, and
+obey them. Obey God's commandments, and thank Him for giving you
+liberty, for to Him you owe all things.
+
+"There, now, let me pass on; I have but little time to spare.
+
+"I want to see the Capitol, and must return at once to Washington
+to secure to you that liberty which you seem to prize so highly."
+
+
+"ABE" ADDED A SAVING CLAUSE.
+
+Lincoln fell in love with Miss Mary S. Owens about 1833 or so,
+and, while she was attracted toward him she was not passionately
+fond of him.
+
+Lincoln's letter of proposal of marriage, sent by him to Miss
+Owens, while singular, unique, and decidedly unconventional, was
+certainly not very ardent. He, after the fashion of the lawyer,
+presented the matter very cautiously, and pleaded his own cause;
+then presented her side of the case, advised her not "to do it,"
+and agreed to abide by her decision.
+
+Miss Owens respected Lincoln, but promptly rejected him--really
+very much to "Abe's" relief.
+
+
+HOW "JACK" WAS "DONE UP."
+
+Not far from New Salem, Illinois, at a place called Clary's
+Grove, a gang of frontier ruffians had established headquarters,
+and the champion wrestler of "The Grove" was "Jack" Armstrong, a
+bully of the worst type.
+
+Learning that Abraham was something of a wrestler himself, "Jack"
+sent him a challenge. At that time and in that community a
+refusal would have resulted in social and business ostracism, not
+to mention the stigma of cowardice which would attach.
+
+It was a great day for New Salem and "The Grove" when Lincoln and
+Armstrong met. Settlers within a radius of fifty miles flocked to
+the scene, and the wagers laid were heavy and many. Armstrong
+proved a weakling in the hands of the powerful Kentuckian, and
+"Jack's" adherents were about to mob Lincoln when the latter's
+friends saved him from probable death by rushing to the rescue.
+
+
+ANGELS COULDN'T SWEAR IT RIGHT.
+
+The President was once speaking about an attack made on him by
+the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War for a
+certain alleged blunder in the Southwest--the matter involved
+being one which had fallen directly under the observation of the
+army officer to whom he was talking, who possessed official
+evidence completely upsetting all the conclusions of the
+Committee.
+
+"Might it not be well for me," queried the officer, "to set this
+matter right in a letter to some paper, stating the facts as they
+actually transpired?"
+
+"Oh, no," replied the President, "at least, not now. If I were to
+try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this
+shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the
+very best I know how the very best I can; and I mean to keep
+doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what
+is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me
+out wrong, ten thousand angels swearing I was right would make no
+difference."
+
+
+"MUST GO, AND GO TO STAY."
+
+Ward Hill Lamon was President Lincoln's Cerberus, his watch dog,
+guardian, friend, companion and confidant. Some days before
+Lincoln's departure for Washington to be inaugurated, he wrote to
+Lamon at Bloomington, that he desired to see him at once. He went
+to Springfield, and Lincoln said:
+
+"Hill, on the 11th I go to Washington, and I want you to go along
+with me. Our friends have already asked me to send you as Consul
+to Paris. You know I would cheerfully give you anything for which
+our friends may ask or which you may desire, but it looks as if
+we might have war.
+
+"In that case I want you with me. In fact, I must have you. So
+get yourself ready and come along. It will be handy to have you
+around. If there is to be a fight, I want you to help me to do my
+share of it, as you have done in times past. You must go, and go
+to stay."
+
+This is Lamon's version of it.
+
+
+LINCOLN WASN'T BUYING NOMINATIONS.
+
+To a party who wished to be empowered to negotiate reward for
+promises of influence in the Chicago Convention, 1860, Mr.
+Lincoln replied:
+
+"No, gentlemen; I have not asked the nomination, and I will not
+now buy it with pledges.
+
+"If I am nominated and elected, I shall not go into the
+Presidency as the tool of this man or that man, or as the
+property of any factor or clique."
+
+
+HE ENVIED THE SOLDIER AT THE FRONT.
+
+After some very bad news had come in from the army in the field,
+Lincoln remarked to Schuyler Colfax:
+
+"How willingly would I exchange places to-day with the soldier
+who sleeps on the ground in the Army of the Potomac!"
+
+
+DON'T TRUST TOO FAIL
+
+In the campaign of 1852, Lincoln, in reply to Douglas' speech,
+wherein he spoke of confidence in Providence, replied: "Let us
+stand by our candidate (General Scott) as faithfully as he has
+always stood by our country, and I much doubt if we do not
+perceive a slight abatement of Judge Douglas' confidence in
+Providence as well as the people. I suspect that confidence is
+not more firmly fixed with the judge than it was with the old
+woman whose horse ran away with her in a buggy. She said she
+'trusted in Providence till the britchen broke,' and then she
+'didn't know what in airth to do.'"
+
+
+HE'D "RISK THE DICTATORSHIP."
+
+Lincoln's great generosity to his leaders was shown when, in
+January, 1863, he assigned "Fighting Joe" Hooker to the command
+of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker had believed in a military
+dictatorship, and it was an open secret that McClellan might have
+become such had he possessed the nerve. Lincoln, however, was not
+bothered by this prattle, as he did not think enough of it to
+relieve McClellan of his command. The President said to Hooker:
+
+"I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently
+saying that both the army and the Government needed a dictator.
+Of course, it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have
+given you the command. Only those generals who gain success can
+be dictators.
+
+"What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the
+dictatorship."
+
+Lincoln also believed Hooker had not given cordial support to
+General Burnside when he was in command of the army. In Lincoln's
+own peculiarly plain language, he told Hooker that he had done "a
+great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and
+honorable brother officer."
+
+
+"MAJOR GENERAL, I RECKON."
+
+At one time the President had the appointment of a large
+additional number of brigadier and major generals. Among the
+immense number of applications, Mr. Lincoln came upon one wherein
+the claims of a certain worthy (not in the service at all), "for
+a generalship" were glowingly set forth. But the applicant didn't
+specify whether he wanted to be brigadier or major general.
+
+The President observed this difficulty, and solved it by a lucid
+indorsement. The clerk, on receiving the paper again, found
+written across its back, "Major General, I reckon. A. Lincoln."
+
+
+WOULD SEE THE TRACKS.
+
+Judge Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, said that he never saw
+Lincoln more cheerful than on the day previous to his departure
+from Springfield for Washington, and Judge Gillespie, who visited
+him a few days earlier, found him in excellent spirits.
+
+"I told him that I believed it would do him good to get down to
+Washington," said Herndon.
+
+"I know it will," Lincoln replied. "I only wish I could have got
+there to lock the door before the horse was stolen. But when I
+get to the spot, I can find the tracks."
+
+
+"ABE" GAVE HER A "SURE TIP."
+
+If all the days Lincoln attended school were added together, they
+would not make a single year's time, and he never studied grammar
+or geography or any of the higher branches. His first teacher in
+Indiana was Hazel Dorsey, who opened a school in a log
+schoolhouse a mile and a half from the Lincoln cabin. The
+building had holes for windows, which were covered over with
+greased paper to admit light. The roof was just high enough for a
+man to stand erect. It did not take long to demonstrate that
+"Abe" was superior to any scholar in his class. His next teacher
+was Andrew Crawford, who taught in the winter of 1822-3, in the
+same little schoolhouse. "Abe" was an excellent speller, and it
+is said that he liked to show off his knowledge, especially if he
+could help out his less fortunate schoolmates. One day the
+teacher gave out the word "defied." A large class was on the
+floor, but it seemed that no one would be able to spell it. The
+teacher declared he would keep the whole class in all day and
+night if "defied" was not spelled correctly.
+
+When the word came around to Katy Roby, she was standing where
+she could see young "Abe." She started, "d-e-f," and while trying
+to decide whether to spell the word with an "i" or a "y," she
+noticed that Abe had his finger on his eye and a smile on his
+face, and instantly took the hint. She spelled the word correctly
+and school was dismissed.
+
+
+THE PRESIDENT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF HIM.
+
+Lincoln never forgot anyone or anything.
+
+At one of the afternoon receptions at the White House a stranger
+shook hands with him, and, as he did so, remarked casually, that
+he was elected to Congress about the time Mr. Lincoln's term as
+representative expired, which happened many years before.
+
+"Yes," said the President, "You are from--(mentioning the
+State). "I remember reading of your election in a newspaper one
+morning on a steamboat going down to Mount Vernon."
+
+At another time a gentleman addressed him, saying, "I presume,
+Mr, President, you have forgotten me?"
+
+"No," was the prompt reply; "your name is Flood. I saw you last,
+twelve years ago, at--" (naming the place and the occasion).
+
+"I am glad to see," he continued, "that the Flood goes on."
+
+Subsequent to his re-election a deputation of bankers from
+various sections were introduced one day by the Secretary of the
+Treasury.
+
+After a few moments of general conversation, Lincoln turned to
+one of them and said:
+
+"Your district did not give me so strong a vote at the last
+election as it did in 1860."
+
+"I think, sir, that you must be mistaken," replied the banker. "I
+have the impression that your majority was considerably increased
+at the last election."
+
+"No," rejoined the President, "you fell off about six hundred
+votes."
+
+Then taking down from the bookcase the official canvass of 1860
+and 1864, he referred to the vote of the district named, and
+proved to be quite right in his assertion.
+
+
+ONLY HALF A MAN.
+
+As President Lincoln, arm in arm with ex-President Buchanan,
+entered the Capitol, and passed into the Senate Chamber, filled
+to overflowing with Senators, members of the Diplomatic Corps,
+and visitors, the contrast between the two men struck every
+observer.
+
+"Mr. Buchanan was so withered and bowed with age," wrote George
+W. Julian, of Indiana, who was among the spectators, "that in
+contrast with the towering form of Mr. Lincoln he seemed little
+more than half a man."
+
+
+GRANT CONGRATULATED LINCOLN.
+
+As soon as the result of the Presidential election of 1864 was
+known, General Grant telegraphed from City Point his
+congratulations, and added that "the election having passed off
+quietly . . . is a victory worth more to the country than a
+battle won."
+
+
+"BRUTUS AND CAESAR."
+
+London "Punch" persistently maintained throughout the War for the
+Union that the question of what to do with the blacks was the
+most bothersome of all the problems President Lincoln had to
+solve. "Punch" thought the Rebellion had its origin in an effort
+to determine whether there should or should not be slavery in the
+United States, and was fought with this as the main end in view.
+"Punch" of August 15th, 1863, contained the cartoon reproduced on
+this page, the title being "Brutus and Caesar."
+
+President Lincoln was pictured as Brutus, while the ghost of
+Caesar, which appeared in the tent of the American Brutus during
+the dark hours of the night, was represented in the shape of a
+husky and anything but ghost-like African, whose complexion would
+tend to make the blackest tar look like skimmed milk in
+comparison. This was the text below the cartoon: (From the
+American Edition of Shakespeare.) The Tent of Brutus (Lincoln).
+Night. Enter the Ghost of Caesar.
+
+BRUTUS: "Wall, now! Do tell! Who's you?"
+
+CAESAR: "I am dy ebil genus, Massa Linking. Dis child am awful
+impressional!"
+
+"Punch's" cartoons were decidedly unfriendly in tone toward
+President Lincoln, some of them being not only objectionable in
+the display of bad taste, but offensive and vulgar. It is true
+that after the assassination of the President, "Punch," in
+illustrations, paid marked and deserved tribute to the memory of
+the Great Emancipator, but it had little that was good to say of
+him while he was among the living and engaged in carrying out the
+great work for which he was destined to win eternal fame.
+
+
+HOW STANTON GOT INTO THE CABINET.
+
+President Lincoln, well aware of Stanton's unfriendliness, was
+surprised when Secretary of the Treasury Chase told him that
+Stanton had expressed the opinion that the arrest of the
+Confederate Commissioners, Mason and Slidell, was legal and
+justified by international law. The President asked Secretary
+Chase to invite Stanton to the White House, and Stanton came. Mr.
+Lincoln thanked him for the opinion he had expressed, and asked
+him to put it in writing.
+
+Stanton complied, the President read it carefully, and, after
+putting it away, astounded Stanton by offering him the portfolio
+of War. Stanton was a Democrat, had been one of the President's
+most persistent vilifiers, and could not realize, at first, that
+Lincoln meant what he said. He managed, however to say:
+
+"I am both surprised and embarrassed, Mr. President, and would
+ask a couple of days to consider this most important matter."
+
+Lincoln fully understood what was going on in Stanton's mind, and
+then said:
+
+"This is a very critical period in the life of the nation, Mr.
+Stanton, as you are well aware, and I well know you are as much
+interested in sustaining the government as myself or any other
+man. This is no time to consider mere party issues. The life of
+the nation is in danger. I need the best counsellors around me. I
+have every confidence in your judgment, and have concluded to ask
+you to become one of my counsellors. The office of the Secretary
+of War will soon be vacant, and I am anxious to have you take Mr.
+Cameron's place."
+
+Stanton decided to accept.
+
+"ABE" LIKE HIS FATHER.
+
+"Abe" Lincoln's father was never at loss for an answer. An old
+neighbor of Thomas Lincoln--"Abe's" father--was passing the
+Lincoln farm one day, when he saw "Abe's" father grubbing up some
+hazelnut bushes, and said to him: "Why, Grandpap, I thought you
+wanted to sell your farm?"
+
+"And so I do," he replied, "but I ain't goin' to let my farm know
+it."
+
+"'Abe's' jes' like his father," the old ones would say.
+
+
+"NO MOON AT ALL."
+
+One of the most notable of Lincoln's law cases was that in which
+he defended William D. Armstrong, charged with murder. The case
+was one which was watched during its progress with intense
+interest, and it had a most dramatic ending.
+
+The defendant was the son of Jack and Hannah Armstrong. The
+father was dead, but Hannah, who had been very motherly and
+helpful to Lincoln during his life at New Salem, was still
+living, and asked Lincoln to defend him. Young Armstrong had been
+a wild lad, and was often in bad company.
+
+The principal witness had sworn that he saw young Armstrong
+strike the fatal blow, the moon being very bright at the time.
+
+Lincoln brought forward the almanac, which showed that at the
+time the murder was committed there was no moon at all. In his
+argument, Lincoln's speech was so feelingly made that at its
+close all the men in the jury-box were in tears. It was just half
+an hour when the jury returned a verdict of acquittal.
+
+Lincoln would accept no fee except the thanks of the anxious
+mother.
+
+
+"ABE" A SUPERB MIMIC.
+
+Lincoln's reading in his early days embraced a wide range. He was
+particularly fond of all stories containing fun, wit and humor,
+and every one of these he came across he learned by heart, thus
+adding to his personal store.
+
+He improved as a reciter and retailer of the stories he had read
+and heard, and as the reciter of tales of his own invention, and
+he had ready and eager auditors.
+
+Judge Herndon, in his "Abraham Lincoln," relates that as a mimic
+Lincoln was unequalled. An old neighbor said: "His laugh was
+striking. Such awkward gestures belonged to no other man. They
+attracted universal attention, from the old and sedate down to
+the schoolboy. Then, in a few moments, he was as calm and
+thoughtful as a judge on the bench, and as ready to give advice
+on the most important matters; fun and gravity grew on him
+alike."
+
+
+WHY HE WAS CALLED "HONEST ABE."
+
+During the year Lincoln was in Denton Offutt's store at New
+Salem, that gentleman, whose business was somewhat widely and
+unwisely spread about the country, ceased to prosper in his
+finances and finally failed. The store was shut up, the mill was
+closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of business.
+
+The year had been one of great advance, in many respects. He had
+made new and valuable acquaintances, read many books, mastered
+the grammar of his own tongue, won multitudes of friends, and
+became ready for a step still further in advance.
+
+Those who could appreciate brains respected him, and those whose
+ideas of a man related to his muscles were devoted to him. It was
+while he was performing the work of the store that he acquired
+the sobriquet of "Honest Abe"--a characterization he never
+dishonored, and an abbreviation that he never outgrew.
+
+He was judge, arbitrator, referee, umpire, authority, in all
+disputes, games and matches of man-flesh, horse-flesh, a
+pacificator in all quarrels; everybody's friend; the
+best-natured, the most sensible, the best-informed, the most
+modest and unassuming, the kindest, gentlest, roughest,
+strongest, best fellow in all New Salem and the region round
+about.
+
+
+"ABE'S" NAME REMAINED ON THE SIGN.
+
+Enduring friendship and love of old associations were prominent
+characteristics of President Lincoln. When about to leave
+Springfield for Washington, he went to the dingy little law
+office which had sheltered his saddest hours.
+
+He sat down on the couch, and said to his law partner, Judge
+Herndon:
+
+"Billy, you and I have been together for more than twenty years,
+and have never passed a word. Will you let my name stay on the
+old sign until I come back from Washington?"
+
+The tears started to Herndon's eyes. He put out his hand. "Mr.
+Lincoln," said he, "I never will have any other partner while you
+live"; and to the day of assassination, all the doings of the
+firm were in the name of "Lincoln & Herndon."
+
+
+VERY HOMELY AT FIRST SIGHT.
+
+Early in January, 1861, Colonel Alex. K. McClure, of
+Philadelphia, received a telegram from President-elect Lincoln,
+asking him (McClure) to visit him at Springfield, Illinois.
+Colonel McClure described his disappointment at first sight of
+Lincoln in these words:
+
+"I went directly from the depot to Lincoln's house and rang the
+bell, which was answered by Lincoln himself opening the door. I
+doubt whether a wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting
+him.
+
+"Tall, gaunt, ungainly, ill clad, with a homeliness of manner
+that was unique in itself, I confess that my heart sank within me
+as I remembered that this was the man chosen by a great nation to
+become its ruler in the gravest period of its history.
+
+"I remember his dress as if it were but yesterday--snuff-colored
+and slouchy pantaloons, open black vest, held by a few brass
+buttons; straight or evening dresscoat, with tightly fitting
+sleeves to exaggerate his long, bony arms, and all supplemented
+by an awkwardness that was uncommon among men of intelligence.
+
+"Such was the picture I met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We
+sat down in his plainly furnished parlor, and were uninterrupted
+during the nearly four hours that I remained with him, and little
+by little, as his earnestness, sincerity and candor were
+developed in conversation, I forgot all the grotesque qualities
+which so confounded me when I first greeted him."
+
+
+THE MAN TO TRUST.
+
+"If a man is honest in his mind," said Lincoln one day, long
+before he became President, "you are pretty safe in trusting
+him."
+
+
+"WUZ GOIN' TER BE 'HITCHED."'
+
+"Abe's" nephew--or one of them--related a story in connection
+with Lincoln's first love (Anne Rutledge), and his subsequent
+marriage to Miss Mary Todd. This nephew was a plain, every-day
+farmer, and thought everything of his uncle, whose greatness he
+quite thoroughly appreciated, although he did not pose to any
+extreme as the relative of a President of the United States.
+
+Said he one day, in telling his story:
+
+"Us child'en, w'en we heerd Uncle 'Abe' wuz a-goin' to be
+married, axed Gran'ma ef Uncle 'Abe' never hed hed a gal afore,
+an' she says, sez she, 'Well, "Abe" wuz never a han' nohow to run
+'round visitin' much, or go with the gals, neither, but he did
+fall in love with a Anne Rutledge, who lived out near
+Springfield, an' after she died he'd come home an' ev'ry time
+he'd talk 'bout her, he cried dreadful. He never could talk of
+her nohow 'thout he'd jes' cry an' cry, like a young feller.'
+
+"Onct he tol' Gran'ma they wuz goin' ter be hitched, they havin'
+promised each other, an' thet is all we ever heered 'bout it.
+But, so it wuz, that arter Uncle 'Abe' hed got over his mournin',
+he wuz married ter a woman w'ich hed lived down in Kentuck.
+
+"Uncle 'Abe' hisself tol' us he wuz married the nex' time he come
+up ter our place, an' w'en we ast him why he didn't bring his
+wife up to see us, he said: 'She's very busy and can't come.'
+
+"But we knowed better'n that. He wuz too proud to bring her
+up,'cause nothin' would suit her, nohow. She wuzn't raised the
+way we wuz, an' wuz different from us, and we heerd, tu, she wuz
+as proud as cud be.
+
+"No, an' he never brought none uv the child'en, neither.
+
+"But then, Uncle 'Abe,' he wuzn't to blame. We never thought he
+wuz stuck up."
+
+
+HE PROPOSED TO SAVE THE UNION.
+
+Replying to an editorial written by Horace Greeley, the President
+wrote:
+
+"My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save
+or to destroy slavery.
+
+"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do
+it.
+
+"If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and
+if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I
+would also do that.
+
+"What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I
+believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I
+forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.
+
+"I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts
+the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will
+help the cause."
+
+
+THE SAME OLD RUM.
+
+One of President Lincoln's friends, visiting at the White House,
+was finding considerable fault with the constant agitation in
+Congress of the slavery question. He remarked that, after the
+adoption of the Emancipation policy, he had hoped for something
+new.
+
+"There was a man down in Maine," said the President, in reply,
+"who kept a grocery store, and a lot of fellows used to loaf
+around for their toddy. He only gave 'em New England rum, and
+they drank pretty considerable of it. But after awhile they began
+to get tired of that, and kept asking for something new--
+something new--all the time. Well, one night, when the whole
+crowd were around, the grocer brought out his glasses, and says
+he, 'I've got something New for you to drink, boys, now.'
+
+"'Honor bright?' said they.
+
+"'Honor bright,' says he, and with that he sets out a jug.
+'Thar' says he, 'that's something new; it's New England rum!'
+says he.
+
+"Now," remarked the President, in conclusion, "I guess we're a
+good deal like that crowd, and Congress is a good deal like that
+store-keeper!"
+
+
+SAVED LINCOLN'S LIFE
+
+When Mr. Lincoln was quite a small boy he met with an accident
+that almost cost him his life. He was saved by Austin Gollaher, a
+young playmate. Mr. Gollaher lived to be more than ninety years
+of age, and to the day of his death related with great pride his
+boyhood association with Lincoln.
+
+"Yes," Mr. Gollaher once said, "the story that I once saved
+Abraham Lincoln's life is true. He and I had been going to school
+together for a year or more, and had become greatly attached to
+each other. Then school disbanded on account of there being so
+few scholars, and we did not see each other much for a long
+while.
+
+"One Sunday my mother visited the Lincolns, and I was taken
+along. 'Abe' and I played around all day. Finally, we concluded
+to cross the creek to hunt for some partridges young Lincoln had
+seen the day before. The creek was swollen by a recent rain, and,
+in crossing on the narrow footlog, 'Abe' fell in. Neither of us
+could swim. I got a long pole and held it out to 'Abe,' who
+grabbed it. Then I pulled him ashore.
+
+"He was almost dead, and I was badly scared. I rolled and pounded
+him in good earnest. Then I got him by the arms and shook him,
+the water meanwhile pouring out of his mouth. By this means I
+succeeded in bringing him to, and he was soon all right.
+
+"Then a new difficulty confronted us. If our mothers discovered
+our wet clothes they would whip us. This we dreaded from
+experience, and determined to avoid. It was June, the sun was
+very warm, and we soon dried our clothing by spreading it on the
+rocks about us. We promised never to tell the story, and I never
+did until after Lincoln's tragic end."
+
+
+WOULD NOT RECALL A SINGLE WORD.
+
+In conversation with some friends at the White House on New
+Year's evening, 1863, President Lincoln said, concerning his
+Emancipation Proclamation
+
+"The signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand was tired,
+but my resolution was firm.
+
+"I told them in September, if they did not return to their
+allegiance, and cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at
+this pillar of their strength.
+
+"And now the promise shall be kept, and not one word of it will I
+ever recall."
+
+
+OLD BROOM BEST AFTER ALL.
+
+During the time the enemies of General Grant were making their
+bitterest attacks upon him, and demanding that the President
+remove him from command, "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper,"
+of June 13, 1863, came out with the cartoon reproduced. The text
+printed under the picture was to the following effect:
+
+OLD ABE: "Greeley be hanged! I want no more new brooms. I begin
+to think that the worst thing about my old ones was in not being
+handled right."
+
+The old broom the President holds in his right hand is labeled
+"Grant." The latter had captured Fort Donelson, defeated the
+Confederates at Shiloh, Iuka, Port Gibson, and other places, and
+had Vicksburg in his iron grasp. When the demand was made that
+Lincoln depose Grant, the President answered, "I can't spare this
+man; he fights!" Grant never lost a battle and when he found the
+enemy he always fought him. McClellan, Burnside, Pope and Hooker
+had been found wanting, so Lincoln pinned his faith to Grant. As
+noted in the cartoon, Horace Greeley, editor of the New York
+Tribune, Thurlow Weed, and others wanted Lincoln to try some
+other new brooms, but President Lincoln was wearied with defeats,
+and wanted a few victories to offset them. Therefore; he stood by
+Grant, who gave him victories.
+
+
+GOD WITH A LITTLE "g."
+
+Abraham Lincoln
+  his hand and pen
+he will be good
+  but god Knows When
+
+These lines were found written in young Lincoln's own hand at the
+bottom of a page whereon he had been ciphering. Lincoln always
+wrote a clear, regular "fist." In this instance he evidently did
+not appreciate the sacredness of the name of the Deity, when he
+used a little "g."
+
+Lincoln once said he did not remember the time when he could not
+write.
+
+
+"ABE'S" LOG.
+
+It was the custom in Sangamon for the "menfolks" to gather at
+noon and in the evening, when resting, in a convenient lane near
+the mill. They had rolled out a long peeled log, on which they
+lounged while they whittled and talked.
+
+Lincoln had not been long in Sangamon before he joined this
+circle. At once he became a favorite by his jokes and good-humor.
+As soon as he appeared at the assembly ground the men would start
+him to story-telling. So irresistibly droll were his "yarns" that
+whenever he'd end up in his unexpected way the boys on the log
+would whoop and roll off. The result of the rolling off was to
+polish the log like a mirror. The men, recognizing Lincoln's part
+in this polishing, christened their seat "Abe's log."
+
+Long after Lincoln had disappeared from Sangamon, "Abe's log"
+remained, and until it had rotted away people pointed it out, and
+repeated the droll stories of the stranger.
+
+
+IT WAS A FINE FIZZLE.
+
+President Lincoln, in company with General Grant, was inspecting
+the Dutch Gap Canal at City Point. "Grant, do you know what this
+reminds me of? Out in Springfield, Ill., there was a blacksmith
+who, not having much to do, took a piece of soft iron and
+attempted to weld it into an agricultural implement, but
+discovered that the iron would not hold out; then he concluded it
+would make a claw hammer; but having too much iron, attempted to
+make an ax, but decided after working awhile that there was not
+enough iron left. Finally, becoming disgusted, he filled the
+forge full of coal and brought the iron to a white heat; then
+with his tongs he lifted it from the bed of coals, and thrusting
+it into a tub of water near by, exclaimed: 'Well, if I can't make
+anything else of you, I will make a fizzle, anyhow.'" "I was
+afraid that was about what we had done with the Dutch Gap Canal,"
+said General Grant.
+
+
+A TEETOTALER.
+
+When Lincoln was in the Black Hawk War as captain, the volunteer
+soldiers drank in with delight the jests and stories of the tall
+captain. Aesop's Fables were given a new dress, and the tales of
+the wild adventures that he had brought from Kentucky and Indiana
+were many, but his inspiration was never stimulated by recourse
+to the whisky jug.
+
+When his grateful and delighted auditors pressed this on him he
+had one reply: "Thank you, I never drink it."
+
+
+NOT TO "OPEN SHOP" THERE.
+
+President Lincoln was passing down Pennsylvania avenue in
+Washington one day, when a man came running after him, hailed
+him, and thrust a bundle of papers in his hands.
+
+It angered him not a little, and he pitched the papers back,
+saying, "I'm not going to open shop here."
+
+
+WE HAVE LIBERTY OF ALL KINDS.
+
+Lincoln delivered a remarkable speech at Springfield, Illinois,
+when but twenty-eight years of age, upon the liberty possessed by
+the people of the United States.
+
+In part, he said:
+
+"In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the
+American people, find our account running under date of the
+nineteenth century of the Christian era.
+
+"We find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest
+portion of the earth as regards extent of territory, fertility of
+soil, and salubrity of climate.
+
+"We find ourselves under the government of a system of political
+institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and
+religious liberty than any of which history of former times tells
+us.
+
+"We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the
+legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings.
+
+"We toiled not in the acquisition or establishment of them; they
+are a legacy bequeathed to us by a once hardy, brave, and
+patriotic, but now lamented and departed race of ancestors.
+
+"Theirs was the task (and nobly did they perform it) to possess
+themselves, us, of this goodly land, to uprear upon its hills and
+valleys a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; 'tis
+ours to transmit these--the former unprofaned by the foot of an
+intruder, the latter undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by
+usurpation--to the generation that fate shall permit the world to
+know.
+
+"This task, gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty
+to posterity--all imperatively require us faithfully to perform.
+
+"How, then, shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect
+the approach of danger?
+
+"Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the
+ocean and crush us at a blow?
+
+"Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa, combined, with
+all the treasures of the earth (our own excepted) in their
+military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not, by
+force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue
+Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
+
+"At what point, then, is this approach of danger to be expected?
+
+"I answer, if ever it reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It
+cannot come from abroad.
+
+"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and
+finisher.
+
+"As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by
+suicide.
+
+"I hope I am not over-wary; but, if I am not, there is even now
+something of ill-omen amongst us.
+
+"I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the
+country, the disposition to substitute the wild and furious
+passions in lieu of the sober judgment of courts, and the worse
+than savage mobs for the executive ministers of justice.
+
+"This disposition is awfully fearful in any community, and that
+it now exists in ours, though grating to our feelings to admit
+it, it would be a violation of truth and an insult to deny.
+
+"Accounts of outrages committed by mobs form the every-day news
+of the times.
+
+"They have pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana;
+they are neither peculiar to the eternal snows of the former, nor
+the burning sun of the latter.
+
+"They are not the creatures of climate, neither are they confined
+to the slave-holding or non-slave-holding States.
+
+"Alike they spring up among the pleasure-hunting Southerners and
+the order-loving citizens of the land of steady habits.
+
+"Whatever, then, their cause may be, it is common to the whole
+country.
+
+"Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task
+they may undertake, may ever be found, whose ambition would
+aspire to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or
+Presidential chair; but such belong not to the family of the
+lion, or the tribe of the eagle.
+
+"What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a
+Caesar, or a Napoleon? Never!
+
+"Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions
+hitherto unexplored.
+
+"It seeks no distinction in adding story to story upon the
+monuments of fame, erected to the memory of others.
+
+"It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief.
+
+"It scorns to tread in the footpaths of any predecessor, however
+illustrious.
+
+"It thirsts and burns for distinction, and, if possible, it will
+have it, whether at the expense of emancipating the slaves or
+enslaving freemen.
+
+"Another reason which once was, but which to the same extent is
+now no more, has done much in maintaining our institutions thus
+far.
+
+"I mean the powerful influence which the interesting scenes of
+the Revolution had upon the passions of the people, as
+distinguished from their judgment.
+
+"But these histories are gone. They can be read no more forever.
+They were a fortress of strength.
+
+"But what the invading foeman could never do, the silent
+artillery of time has done,the levelling of the walls.
+
+"They were a forest of giant oaks, but the all-resisting
+hurricane swept over them and left only here and there a lone
+trunk, despoiled of its verdure, shorn of its foliage, unshading
+and unshaded, to murmur in a few more gentle breezes and to
+combat with its mutilated limbs a few more rude storms, then to
+sink and be no more.
+
+"They were the pillars of the temple of liberty, and now that
+they have crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, the
+descendants, supply the places with pillars hewn from the same
+solid quarry of sober reason.
+
+"Passion has helped us, but can do so no more. It will in future
+be our enemy.
+
+"Reason--cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason--must furnish
+all the materials for our support and defense.
+
+"Let those materials be molded into general intelligence, sound
+morality, and, in particular, a reverence for the Constitution
+and the laws; and then our country shall continue to improve, and
+our nation, revering his name, and permitting no hostile foot to
+pass or desecrate his resting-place, shall be the first to hear
+the last trump that shall awaken our Washington.
+
+"Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest as the rock of
+its basis, and as truly as has been said of the only greater
+institution, 'the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'"
+
+
+TOM CORWINS'S LATEST STORY.
+
+One of Mr. Lincoln's warm friends was Dr. Robert Boal, of Lacon,
+Illinois. Telling of a visit he paid to the White House soon
+after Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, he said: "I found him the same
+Lincoln as a struggling lawyer and politician that I did in
+Washington as President of the United States, yet there was a
+dignity and self-possession about him in his high official
+authority. I paid him a second call in the evening. He had thrown
+off his reserve somewhat, and would walk up and down the room
+with his hands to his sides and laugh at the joke he was telling,
+or at one that was told to him. I remember one story he told to
+me on this occasion.
+
+"Tom Corwin, of Ohio, had been down to Alexandria, Va., that day
+and had come back and told Lincoln a story which pleased him so
+much that he broke out in a hearty laugh and said: 'I must tell
+you Tom Corwin's latest. Tom met an old man at Alexandria who
+knew George Washington, and he told Tom that George Washington
+often swore. Now, Corwin's father had always held the father of
+our country up as a faultless person and told his son to follow
+in his footsteps.
+
+"'"Well," said Corwin, "when I heard that George Washington was
+addicted to the vices and infirmities of man, I felt so relieved
+that I just shouted for joy."'"
+
+
+"CATCH 'EM AND CHEAT 'EM."
+
+The lawyers on the circuit traveled by Lincoln got together one
+night and tried him on the charge of accepting fees which tended
+to lower the established rates. It was the understood rule that a
+lawyer should accept all the client could be induced to pay. The
+tribunal was known as "The Ogmathorial Court."
+
+Ward Lamon, his law partner at the time, tells about it:
+
+"Lincoln was found guilty and fined for his awful crime against
+the pockets of his brethren of the bar. The fine he paid with
+great good humor, and then kept the crowd of lawyers in
+uproarious laughter until after midnight.
+
+"He persisted in his revolt, however, declaring that with his
+consent his firm should never during its life, or after its
+dissolution, deserve the reputation enjoyed by those shining
+lights of the profession, 'Catch 'em and Cheat 'em.'"
+
+
+A JURYMAN'S SCORN.
+
+Lincoln had assisted in the prosecution of a man who had robbed
+his neighbor's hen roosts. Jogging home along the highway with
+the foreman of the jury that had convicted the hen stealer, he
+was complimented by Lincoln on the zeal and ability of the
+prosecution, and remarked: "Why, when the country was young, and
+I was stronger than I am now, I didn't mind packing off a sheep
+now and again, but stealing hens!" The good man's scorn could not
+find words to express his opinion of a man who would steal hens.
+
+
+HE "BROKE" TO WIN.
+
+A lawyer, who was a stranger to Mr. Lincoln, once expressed to
+General Linder the opinion that Mr. Lincoln's practice of telling
+stories to the jury was a waste of time.
+
+"Don't lay that flattering unction to your soul," Linder
+answered; "Lincoln is like Tansey's horse, he 'breaks to win.'"
+
+
+WANTED HER CHILDREN BACK.
+
+On the 3rd of January, 1863, "Harper's Weekly" appeared with a
+cartoon representing Columbia indignantly demanding of President
+Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton that they restore to her
+those of her sons killed in battle. Below the picture is the
+reading matter
+
+COLUMBIA: "Where are my 15,000 sons--murdered at Fredericksburg?"
+
+LINCOLN: "This reminds me of a little joke--"
+
+COLUMBIA: "Go tell your joke at Springfield!!"
+
+The battle of Fredericksburg was fought on December 13th, 1862,
+between General Burnside, commanding the Army of the Potomac, and
+General Lee's force. The Union troops, time and again, assaulted
+the heights where the Confederates had taken position, but were
+driven back with frightful losses. The enemy, being behind
+breastworks, suffered comparatively little. At the beginning of
+the fight the Confederate line was broken, but the result of the
+engagement was disastrous to the Union cause. Burnside had one
+thousand one hundred and fifty-two killed, nine thousand one
+hundred and one wounded, and three thousand two hundred and
+thirty-four missing, a total of thirteen thousand seven hundred
+and seventy-one. General Lee's losses, all told, were not much
+more than five thousand men.
+
+Burnside had succeeded McClellan in command of the Army of the
+Potomac, mainly, it was said, through the influence of Secretary
+of War Stanton. Three months before, McClellan had defeated Lee
+at Antietam, the bloodiest battle of the War, Lee's losses
+footing up more than thirteen thousand men. At Fredericksburg,
+Burnside had about one hundred and twenty thousand men; at
+Antietam, McClellan had about eighty thousand. It has been
+maintained that Burnside should not have fought this battle, the
+chances of success being so few.
+
+
+SIX FEET FOUR AT SEVENTEEN.
+
+"Abe's" school teacher, Crawford, endeavored to teach his pupils
+some of the manners of the "polite society" of Indiana--1823 or
+so. This was a part of his system:
+
+One of the pupils would retire, and then come in as a stranger,
+and another pupil would have to introduce him to all the members
+of the school n what was considered "good manners."
+
+As "Abe" wore a linsey-woolsey shirt, buckskin breeches which
+were too short and very tight, and low shoes, and was tall and
+awkward, he no doubt created considerable merriment when his turn
+came. He was growing at a fearful rate; he was fifteen years of
+age, and two years later attained his full height of six feet
+four inches.
+
+
+HAD RESPECT FOR THE EGGS.
+
+Early in 1831, "Abe" was one of the guests of honor at a
+boat-launching, he and two others having built the craft. The
+affair was a notable one, people being present from the territory
+surrounding. A large party came from Springfield with an ample
+supply of whisky, to give the boat and its builders a send-off.
+It was a sort of bipartisan mass-meeting, but there was one
+prevailing spirit, that born of rye and corn. Speeches were made
+in the best of feeling, some in favor of Andrew Jackson and some
+in favor of Henry Clay. Abraham Lincoln, the cook, told a number
+of funny stories, and it is recorded that they were not of too
+refined a character to suit the taste of his audience. A
+sleight-of-hand performer was present, and among other tricks
+performed, he fried some eggs in Lincoln's hat. Judge Herndon
+says, as explanatory to the delay in passing up the hat for the
+experiment, Lincoln drolly observed: "It was out of respect for
+the eggs, not care for my hat."
+
+
+HOW WAS THE MILK UPSET?
+
+William G. Greene, an old-time friend of Lincoln, was a student
+at Illinois College, and one summer brought home with him, on a
+vacation, Richard Yates (afterwards Governor of Illinois) and
+some other boys, and, in order to entertain them, took them up to
+see Lincoln.
+
+He found him in his usual position and at his usual occupation--
+flat on his back, on a cellar door, reading a newspaper. This was
+the manner in which a President of the United States and a
+Governor of Illinois became acquainted with each other.
+
+Greene says Lincoln repeated the whole of Burns, and a large
+quantity of Shakespeare for the entertainment of the college
+boys, and, in return, was invited to dine with them on bread and
+milk. How he managed to upset his bowl of milk is not a matter of
+history, but the fact is that he did so, as is the further fact
+that Greene's mother, who loved Lincoln, tried to smooth over the
+accident and relieve the young man's embarrassment.
+
+
+"PULLED FODDER" FOR A BOOK.
+
+Once "Abe" borrowed Weems' "Life of Washington" from Joseph
+Crawford, a neighbor. "Abe" devoured it; read it and re-read it,
+and when asleep put it by him between the logs of the wall. One
+night a rain storm wet it through and ruined it.
+
+"I've no money," said "Abe," when reporting the disaster to
+Crawford, "but I'll work it out."
+
+"All right," was Crawford's response; "you pull fodder for three
+days, an' the book is your'n."
+
+"Abe" pulled the fodder, but he never forgave Crawford for
+putting so much work upon him. He never lost an opportunity to
+crack a joke at his expense, and the name "Blue-nose Crawford"
+"Abe" applied to him stuck to him throughout his life.
+
+
+PRAISES HIS RIVAL FOR OFFICE.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for the Legislature, it was the
+practice at that date in Illinois for two rival candidates to
+travel over the district together. The custom led to much
+good-natured raillery between them; and in such contests Lincoln
+was rarely, if ever, worsted. He could even turn the generosity
+of a rival to account by his whimsical treatment.
+
+On one occasion, says Mr. Weir, a former resident of Sangamon
+county, he had driven out from Springfield in company with a
+political opponent to engage in joint debate. The carriage, it
+seems, belonged to his opponent. In addressing the gathering of
+farmers that met them, Lincoln was lavish in praise of the
+generosity of his friend.
+
+"I am too poor to own a carriage," he said, "but my friend has
+generously invited me to ride with him. I want you to vote for me
+if you will; but if not then vote for my opponent, for he is a
+fine man."
+
+His extravagant and persistent praise of his opponent appealed to
+the sense of humor in his rural audience, to whom his inability
+to own a carriage was by no means a disqualification.
+
+
+ONE THING "ABE" DIDN'T LOVE.
+
+Lincoln admitted that he was not particularly energetic when it
+came to real hard work.
+
+"My father," said he one day, "taught me how to work, but not to
+love it. I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd
+rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh--anything but
+work."
+
+
+THE MODESTY OF GENIUS.
+
+The opening of the year 1860 found Mr. Lincoln's name freely
+mentioned in connection with the Republican nomination for the
+Presidency. To be classed with Seward, Chase, McLean, and other
+celebrities, was enough to stimulate any Illinois lawyer's pride;
+but in Mr. Lincoln's case, if it had any such effect, he was most
+artful in concealing it. Now and then, some ardent friend, an
+editor, for example, would run his name up to the masthead, but
+in all cases he discouraged the attempt.
+
+"In regard to the matter you spoke of," he answered one man who
+proposed his name, "I beg you will not give it a further mention.
+Seriously, I do not think I am fit for the Presidency."
+
+
+WHY SHE MARRIED HIM.
+
+There was a "social" at Lincoln's house in Springfield, and "Abe"
+introduced his wife to Ward Lamon, his law partner. Lamon tells
+the story in these words:
+
+"After introducing me to Mrs. Lincoln, he left us in
+conversation. I remarked to her that her husband was a great
+favorite in the eastern part of the State, where I had been
+stopping.
+
+"'Yes,' she replied, 'he is a great favorite everywhere. He is
+to be President of the United States some day; if I had not
+thought so I never would have married him, for you can see he is
+not pretty.
+
+"'But look at him, doesn't he look as if he would make a
+magnificent President?'"
+
+
+NIAGARA FALLS.
+
+(Written By Abraham Lincoln.)
+
+The following article on Niagara Falls, in Mr. Lincoln's
+handwriting, was found among his papers after his death:
+
+"Niagara Falls! By what mysterious power is it that millions and
+millions are drawn from all parts of the world to gaze upon
+Niagara Falls? There is no mystery about the thing itself. Every
+effect is just as any intelligent man, knowing the causes, would
+anticipate without seeing it. If the water moving onward in a
+great river reaches a point where there is a perpendicular jog of
+a hundred feet in descent in the bottom of the river, it is plain
+the water will have a violent and continuous plunge at that
+point. It is also plain, the water, thus plunging, will foam and
+roar, and send up a mist continuously, in which last, during
+sunshine, there will be perpetual rainbows. The mere physical of
+Niagara Falls is only this. Yet this is really a very small part
+of that world's wonder. Its power to excite reflection and
+emotion is its great charm. The geologist will demonstrate that
+the plunge, or fall, was once at Lake Ontario, and has worn its
+way back to its present position; he will ascertain how fast it
+is wearing now, and so get a basis for determining how long it
+has been wearing back from Lake Ontario, and finally demonstrate
+by it that this world is at least fourteen thousand years old. A
+philosopher of a slightly different turn will say, 'Niagara Falls
+is only the lip of the basin out of which pours all the surplus
+water which rains down on two or three hundred thousand square
+miles of the earth's surface.' He will estimate with approximate
+accuracy that five hundred thousand tons of water fall with their
+full weight a distance of a hundred feet each minute--thus
+exerting a force equal to the lifting of the same weight, through
+the same space, in the same time.
+
+"But still there is more. It calls up the indefinite past. When
+Columbus first sought this continent--when Christ suffered on the
+cross--when Moses led Israel through the Red Sea--nay, even when
+Adam first came from the hand of his Maker; then, as now, Niagara
+was roaring here. The eyes of that species of extinct giants
+whose bones fill the mounds of America have gazed on Niagara, as
+ours do now. Contemporary with the first race of men, and older
+than the first man, Niagara is strong and fresh to-day as ten
+thousand years ago. The Mammoth and Mastodon, so long dead that
+fragments of their monstrous bones alone testify that they ever
+lived, have gazed on Niagara--in that long, long time never still
+for a single moment (never dried), never froze, never slept,
+never rested."
+
+
+MADE IT HOT FOR LINCOLN.
+
+A lady relative, who lived for two years with the Lincolns, said
+that Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of lying on the floor with the
+back of a chair for a pillow when he read.
+
+One evening, when in this position in the hall, a knock was heard
+at the front door, and, although in his shirtsleeves, he answered
+the call. Two ladies were at the door, whom he invited into the
+parlor, notifying them in his open, familiar way, that he would
+"trot the women folks out."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln, from an adjoining room, witnessed the ladies'
+entrance, and, overhearing her husband's jocose expression, her
+indignation was so instantaneous she made the situation
+exceedingly interesting for him, and he was glad to retreat from
+the house. He did not return till very late at night, and then
+slipped quietly in at a rear door.
+
+
+WOULDN'T HOLD TITLE AGAINST HIM,
+
+During the rebellion the Austrian Minister to the United States
+Government introduced to the President a count, a subject of the
+Austrian government, who was desirous of obtaining a position in
+the American army.
+
+Being introduced by the accredited Minister of Austria he
+required no further recommendation to secure the appointment;
+but, fearing that his importance might not be fully appreciated
+by the republican President, the count was particular in
+impressing the fact upon him that he bore that title, and that
+his family was ancient and highly respectable.
+
+President Lincoln listened with attention, until this unnecessary
+commendation was mentioned; then, with a merry twinkle in his
+eye, he tapped the aristocratic sprig of hereditary nobility on
+the shoulder in the most fatherly way, as if the gentleman had
+made a confession of some unfortunate circumstance connected with
+his lineage, for which he was in no way responsible, and said:
+
+"Never mind,you shall be treated with just as much consideration
+for all that. I will see to it that your bearing a title shan't
+hurt you."
+
+
+ONLY ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
+
+A young man living in Kentucky had been enticed into the rebel
+army. After a few months he became disgusted, and managed to make
+his way back home. Soon after his arrival, the Union officer in
+command of the military stationed in the town had him arrested as
+a rebel spy, and, after a military trial he was condemned to be
+hanged.
+
+President Lincoln was seen by one of his friends from Kentucky,
+who explained his errand and asked for mercy. "Oh, yes, I
+understand; some one has been crying, and worked upon your
+feelings, and you have come here to work on mine."
+
+His friend then went more into detail, and assured him of his
+belief in the truth of the story. After some deliberation, Mr.
+Lincoln, evidently scarcely more than half convinced, but still
+preferring to err on the side of mercy, replied:
+
+"If a man had more than one life, I think a little hanging would
+not hurt this one; but after he is once dead we cannot bring him
+back, no matter how sorry we may be; so the boy shall be
+pardoned."
+
+And a reprieve was given on the spot.
+
+
+COULDN'T LOCATE HIS BIRTHPLACE.
+
+While the celebrated artist, Hicks, was engaged in painting Mr.
+Lincoln's portrait, just after the former's first nomination for
+the Presidency, he asked the great statesman if he could point
+out the precise spot where he was born.
+
+Lincoln thought the matter over for a day or two, and then gave
+the artist the following memorandum:
+
+"Springfield, Ill., June 14, 1860
+
+"I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin county, Kentucky,
+at a point within the now county of Larue, a mile or a mile and a
+half from where Rodgen's mill now is. My parents being dead, and
+my own memory not serving, I know no means of identifying the
+precise locality. It was on Nolen Creek.
+
+A. LINCOLN."
+
+
+"SAMBO" WAS "AFEARED."
+
+In his message to Congress in December, 1864, just after his
+re-election, President Lincoln, in his message of December 6th,
+let himself out, in plain, unmistakable terms, to the effect that
+the freedmen should never be placed in bondage again. "Frank
+Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" of December 24th, 1864, printed
+the cartoon we herewith reproduce, the text underneath running in
+this way:
+
+UNCLE ABE: "Sambo, you are not handsome, any more than myself,
+but as to sending you back to your old master, I'm not the man to
+do it--and, what's more, I won't." (Vice President's message.)
+
+Congress, at the previous sitting, had neglected to pass the
+resolution for the Constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery,
+but, on the 31st of January, 1865, the resolution was finally
+adopted, and the United States Constitution soon had the new
+feature as one of its clauses, the necessary number of State
+Legislatures approving it. President Lincoln regarded the passage
+of this resolution by Congress as most important, as the
+amendment, in his mind, covered whatever defects a rigid
+construction of the Constitution might find in his Emancipation
+Proclamation.
+
+After the latter was issued, negroes were allowed to enlist in
+the Army, and they fought well and bravely. After the War, in the
+reorganization of the Regular Army, four regiments of colored men
+were provided for--the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the
+Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry. In the cartoon, Sambo
+has evidently been asking "Uncle Abe" as to the probability or
+possibility of his being again enslaved.
+
+
+WHEN MONEY MIGHT BE USED.
+
+Some Lincoln enthusiast in Kansas, with much more pretensions
+than power, wrote him in March, 1860 proposing to furnish a
+Lincoln delegation from that State to the Chicago Convention, and
+suggesting that Lincoln should pay the legitimate expenses of
+organizing, electing, and taking to the convention the promised
+Lincoln delegates.
+
+To this Lincoln replied that "in the main, the use of money is
+wrong, but for certain objects in a political contest the use of
+some is both right and indispensable." And he added: "If you
+shall be appointed a delegate to Chicago, I will furnish $100 to
+bear the expenses of the trip."
+
+He heard nothing further from the Kansas man until he saw an
+announcement in the newspapers that Kansas had elected delegates
+and instructed them for Seward.
+
+
+"ABE" WAS NO BEAUTY.
+
+Lincoln's military service in the Back Hawk war had increased his
+popularity at New Salem, and he was put up as a candidate for the
+Legislature.
+
+A. Y. Ellis describes his personal appearance at this time as
+follows: "He wore a mixed jean coat, claw-hammer style, short in
+the sleeves and bob-tailed; in fact, it was so short in the tail
+that he could not sit on it; flax and tow linen pantaloons and a
+straw hat. I think he wore a vest, but do not remember how it
+looked; he wore pot-metal boots."
+
+
+"HE'S JUST BEAUTIFUL."
+
+Lincoln's great love for children easily won their confidence.
+
+A little girl, who had been told that the President was very
+homely, was taken by her father to see the President at the White
+House.
+
+Lincoln took her upon his knee and chatted with her for a moment
+in his merry way, when she turned to her father and exclaimed
+
+"Oh, Pa! he isn't ugly at all; he's just beautiful!"
+
+
+BIG ENOUGH HOG FOR HIM.
+
+To a curiosity-seeker who desired a permit to pass the lines to
+visit the field of Bull Run, after the first battle, Lincoln made
+the following reply:
+
+"A man in Cortlandt county raised a porker of such unusual size
+that strangers went out of their way to see it.
+
+"One of them the other day met the old gentleman and inquired
+about the animal.
+
+"'Wall, yes,' the old fellow said, 'I've got such a critter,
+mi'ty big un; but I guess I'll have to charge you about a
+shillin' for lookin' at him.'
+
+"The stranger looked at the old man for a minute or so, pulled
+out the desired coin, handed it to him and started to go off.
+'Hold on,' said the other. 'don't you want to see the hog?'
+
+"'No,' said the stranger; 'I have seen as big a hog as I want to
+see!'
+
+"And you will find that fact the case with yourself, if you
+should happen to see a few live rebels there as well as dead
+ones."
+
+
+"ABE" OFFERS A SPEECH FOR SOMETHING TO EAT.
+
+When Lincoln's special train from Springfield to Washington
+reached the Illinois State line, there was a stop for dinner.
+There was such a crowd that Lincoln could scarcely reach the
+dining-room. "Gentlemen," said he, as he surveyed the crowd, "if
+you will make me a little path, so that I can get through and get
+something to eat, I will make you a speech when I get back."
+
+
+THEY UNDERSTOOD EACH OTHER.
+
+When complaints were made to President Lincoln by victims of
+Secretary of War Stanton's harshness, rudeness, and refusal to be
+obliging--particularly in cases where Secretary Stanton had
+refused to honor Lincoln's passes through the lines--the
+President would often remark to this effect "I cannot always be
+sure that permits given by me ought to be granted. There is an
+understanding between myself and Stanton that when I send a
+request to him which cannot consistently be granted, he is to
+refuse to honor it. This he sometimes does."
+
+
+FEW FENCE RAILS LEFT.
+
+"There won't be a tar barrel left in Illinois to-night," said
+Senator Stephen A. Douglas, in Washington, to his Senatorial
+friends, who asked him, when the news of the nomination of
+Lincoln reached them, "Who is this man Lincoln, anyhow?"
+
+Douglas was right. Not only the tar barrels, but half the fences
+of the State of Illinois went up in the fire of rejoicing.
+
+
+THE "GREAT SNOW" OF 1830-31.
+
+In explanation of Lincoln's great popularity, D. W. Bartlett, in
+his "Life and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln," published in 1860
+makes this statement of "Abe's" efficient service to his
+neighbors in the "Great Snow" of 1830-31:
+
+"The deep snow which occurred in 1830-31 was one of the chief
+troubles endured by the early settlers of central and southern
+Illinois. Its consequences lasted through several years. The
+people were ill-prepared to meet it, as the weather had been
+mild and pleasant--unprecedentedly so up to Christmas--when a
+snow-storm set in which lasted two days, something never before
+known even among the traditions of the Indians, and never
+approached in the weather of any winter since.
+
+"The pioneers who came into the State (then a territory) in 1800
+say the average depth of snow was never, previous to 1830, more
+than knee-deep to an ordinary man, while it was breast-high all
+that winter.
+
+It became crusted over, so as, in some cases, to bear teams.
+Cattle and horses perished, the winter wheat was killed, the
+meager stock of provisions ran out, and during the three months'
+continuance of the snow, ice and continuous cold weather the most
+wealthy settlers came near starving, while some of the poor ones
+actually did. It was in the midst of such scenes that Abraham
+Lincoln attained his majority, and commenced his career of bold
+and manly independence . . . . .
+
+"Communication between house and house was often entirely
+obstructed for teams, so that the young and strong men had to do
+all the traveling on foot; carrying from one neighbor what of his
+store he could spare to another, and bringing back in return
+something of his store sorely needed. Men living five, ten,
+twenty and thirty miles apart were called 'neighbors' then. Young
+Lincoln was always ready to perform these acts of humanity, and
+was foremost in the counsels of the settlers when their troubles
+seemed gathering like a thick cloud about them."
+
+
+CREDITOR PAID DEBTORS DEBT.
+
+A certain rich man in Springfield, Illinois, sued a poor attorney
+for $2.50, and Lincoln was asked to prosecute the case. Lincoln
+urged the creditor to let the matter drop, adding, "You can make
+nothing out of him, and it will cost you a good deal more than
+the debt to bring suit." The creditor was still determined to
+have his way, and threatened to seek some other attorney. Lincoln
+then said, "Well, if you are determined that suit should be
+brought, I will bring it; but my charge will be $10."
+
+The money was paid him, and peremptory orders were given that the
+suit be brought that day. After the client's departure Lincoln
+went out of the office, returning in about an hour with an amused
+look on his face.
+
+Asked what pleased him, he replied, "I brought suit against --,
+and then hunted him up, told him what I had done, handed him half
+of the $10, and we went over to the squire's office. He confessed
+judgment and paid the bill."
+
+Lincoln added that he didn't see any other way to make things
+satisfactory for his client as well as the other.
+
+
+HELPED OUT THE SOLDIERS.
+
+Judge Thomas B. Bryan, of Chicago, a member of the Union Defense
+Committee during the War, related the following concerning the
+original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation:
+
+"I asked Mr. Lincoln for the original draft of the Proclamation,"
+said Judge Bryan, "for the benefit of our Sanitary Fair, in 1865.
+He sent it and accompanied it with a note in which he said:
+
+"'I had intended to keep this paper, but if it will help the
+soldiers, I give it to you.'
+
+"The paper was put up at auction and brought $3,000. The buyer
+afterward sold it again to friends of Mr. Lincoln at a greatly
+advanced price, and it was placed in the rooms of the Chicago
+Historical Society, where it was burned in the great fire of
+1871."
+
+
+EVERY FELLOW FOR HIMSELF.
+
+An elegantly dressed young Virginian assured Lincoln that he had
+done a great deal of hard manual labor in his time. Much amused
+at this solemn declaration, Lincoln said:
+
+"Oh, yes; you Virginians shed barrels of perspiration while
+standing off at a distance and superintending the work your
+slaves do for you. It is different with us. Here it is every
+fellow for himself, or he doesn't get there."
+
+
+"BUTCHER-KNIFE BOYS" AT THE POLLS.
+
+When young Lincoln had fully demonstrated that he was the
+champion wrestler in the country surrounding New Salem, the men
+of "de gang" at Clary's Grove, whose leader "Abe" had downed,
+were his sworn political friends and allies.
+
+Their work at the polls was remarkably effective. When the
+"Butcherknife boys," the "huge-pawed boys," and the
+"half-horse-half-alligator men" declared for a candidate the
+latter was never defeated.
+
+
+NO "SECOND COMING" FOR SPRINGFIELD.
+
+Soon after the opening of Congress in 1861, Mr. Shannon, from
+California, made the customary call at the White House. In the
+conversation that ensued, Mr Shannon said: "Mr. President, I met
+an old friend of yours in California last summer, a Mr. Campbell,
+who had a good deal to say of your Springfield life."
+
+"Ah!" returned Mr. Lincoln, "I am glad to hear of him. Campbell
+used to be a dry fellow in those days," he continued. "For a time
+he was Secretary of State. One day during the legislative
+vacation, a meek, cadaverous-looking man, with a white neckcloth,
+introduced himself to him at his office, and, stating that he had
+been informed that Mr. C. had the letting of the hall of
+representatives, he wished to secure it, if possible, for a
+course of lectures he desired to deliver in Springfield.
+
+"'May I ask,' said the Secretary, 'what is to be the subject of
+your lectures?'
+
+"'Certainly,' was the reply, with a very solemn expression of
+countenance. 'The course I wish to deliver is on the Second
+Coming of our Lord.'
+
+"'It is of no use,' said C.; 'if you will take my advice, you
+will not waste your time in this city. It is my private opinion
+that, if the Lord has been in Springfield once, He will never
+come the second time!'"
+
+
+HOW HE WON A FRIEND.
+
+J. S. Moulton, of Chicago, a master in chancery and influential
+in public affairs, looked upon the candidacy of Mr. Lincoln for
+President as something in the nature of a joke. He did not rate
+the Illinois man in the same class with the giants of the East.
+In fact he had expressed himself as by no means friendly to the
+Lincoln cause.
+
+Still he had been a good friend to Lincoln and had often met him
+when the Springfield lawyer came to Chicago. Mr. Lincoln heard of
+Moulton's attitude, but did not see Moulton until after the
+election, when the President-elect came to Chicago and was
+tendered a reception at one of the big hotels.
+
+Moulton went up in the line to pay his respects to the
+newly-elected chief magistrate, purely as a formality, he
+explained to his companions. As Moulton came along the line Mr.
+Lincoln grasped Moulton's hand with his right, and with his left
+took the master of chancery by the shoulder and pulled him out of
+the line.
+
+"You don't belong in that line, Moulton," said Mr. Lincoln. "You
+belong here by me."
+
+Everyone at the reception was a witness to the honoring of
+Moulton. From that hour every faculty that Moulton possessed was
+at the service of the President. A little act of kindness,
+skillfully bestowed, had won him; and he stayed on to the end.
+
+
+NEVER SUED A CLIENT.
+
+If a client did not pay, Lincoln did not believe in suing for the
+fee. When a fee was paid him his custom was to divide the money
+into two equal parts, put one part into his pocket, and the other
+into an envelope labeled "Herndon's share."
+
+
+THE LINCOLN HOUSEHOLD GOODS.
+
+It is recorded that when "Abe" was born, the household goods of
+his father consisted of a few cooking utensils, a little bedding,
+some carpenter tools, and four hundred gallons of the fierce
+product of the mountain still.
+
+
+RUNNING THE MACHINE.
+
+One of the cartoon-posters issued by the Democratic National
+Campaign Committee in the fall of 1864 is given here. It had the
+legend, "Running the Machine," printed beneath; the "machine" was
+Secretary Chase's "Greenback Mill," and the mill was turning out
+paper money by the million to satisfy the demands of greedy
+contractors. "Uncle Abe" is pictured as about to tell one of his
+funny stories, of which the scene "reminds" him; Secretary of War
+Stanton is receiving a message from the front, describing a great
+victory, in which one prisoner and one gun were taken; Secretary
+of State Seward is handing an order to a messenger for the arrest
+of a man who had called him a "humbug," the habeas corpus being
+suspended throughout the Union at that period; Secretary of the
+Navy Welles--the long-haired, long-bearded man at the head of the
+table--is figuring out a naval problem; at the side of the table,
+opposite "Uncle Abe," are seated two Government contractors,
+shouting for "more greenbacks," and at the extreme left is
+Secretary of the Treasury Fessenden (who succeeded Chase when the
+latter was made Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
+Court), who complains that he cannot satisfy the greed of the
+contractors for "more greenbacks," although he is grinding away
+at the mill day and night.
+
+
+WAS "BOSS" WHEN NECESSARY.
+
+Lincoln was the actual head of the administration, and whenever
+he chose to do so he controlled Secretary of War Stanton as well
+as the other Cabinet ministers.
+
+Secretary Stanton on one occasion said: "Now, Mr. President,
+those are the facts and you must see that your order cannot be
+executed."
+
+Lincoln replied in a somewhat positive tone: "Mr. Secretary, I
+reckon you'll have to execute the order."
+
+Stanton replied with vigor: "Mr. President, I cannot do it. This
+order is an improper one, and I cannot execute it."
+
+Lincoln fixed his eyes upon Stanton, and, in a firm voice and
+accent that clearly showed his determination, said: "Mr.
+Secretary, it will have to be done."
+
+It was done.
+
+
+"RATHER STARVE THAN SWINDLE."
+
+Ward Lamon, once Lincoln's law partner, relates a story which
+places Lincoln's high sense of honor in a prominent light. In a
+certain case, Lincoln and Lamon being retained by a gentleman
+named Scott, Lamon put the fee at $250, and Scott agreed to pay
+it. Says Lamon:
+
+"Scott expected a contest, but, to his surprise, the case was
+tried inside of twenty minutes; our success was complete. Scott
+was satisfied, and cheerfully paid over the money to me inside
+the bar, Lincoln looking on. Scott then went out, and Lincoln
+asked, 'What did you charge that man?'
+
+"I told him $250. Said he: 'Lamon, that is all wrong. The service
+was not worth that sum. Give him back at least half of it.'
+
+"I protested that the fee was fixed in advance; that Scott was
+perfectly satisfied, and had so expressed himself. 'That may be,'
+retorted Lincoln, with a look of distress and of undisguised
+displeasure, 'but I am not satisfied. This is positively wrong.
+Go, call him back and return half the money at least, or I will
+not receive one cent of it for my share.'
+
+"I did go, and Scott was astonished when I handed back half the
+fee.
+
+"This conversation had attracted the attention of the lawyers and
+the court. Judge David Davis, then on our circuit bench
+(afterwards Associate Justice on the United States Supreme
+bench), called Lincoln to him. The Judge never could whisper, but
+in this instance he probably did his best. At all events, in
+attempting to whisper to Lincoln he trumpeted his rebuke in about
+these words, and in rasping tones that could be heard all over
+the court-room: 'Lincoln, I have been watching you and Lamon. You
+are impoverishing this bar by your picayune charges of fees, and
+the lawyers have reason to complain of you. You are now almost as
+poor as Lazarus, and if you don't make people pay you more for
+your services you will die as poor as Job's turkey!'
+
+"Judge O. L. Davis, the leading lawyer in that part of the State,
+promptly applauded this malediction from the bench; but Lincoln
+was immovable.
+
+"'That money,' said he, 'comes out of the pocket of a poor,
+demented girl, and I would rather starve than swindle her in this
+manner.'"
+
+
+DON'T AIM TOO HIGH.
+
+"Billy, don't shoot too high--aim lower, and the common people
+will understand you," Lincoln once said to a brother lawyer.
+
+"They are the ones you want to reach--at least, they are the ones
+you ought to reach.
+
+"The educated and refined people will understand you, anyway. If
+you aim too high, your idea will go over the heads of the masses,
+and only hit those who need no hitting."
+
+
+NOT MUCH AT RAIL-SPLITTING.
+
+One who afterward became one of Lincoln's most devoted friends
+and adherents tells this story regarding the manner in which
+Lincoln received him when they met for the first time:
+
+"After a comical survey of my fashionable toggery,--my
+swallow-tail coat, white neck-cloth, and ruffled shirt (an
+astonishing outfit for a young limb of the law in that
+settlement), Lincoln said:
+
+"'Going to try your hand at the law, are you? I should know at a
+glance that you were a Virginian; but I don't think you would
+succeed at splitting rails. That was my occupation at your age,
+and I don't think I have taken as much pleasure in anything else
+from that day to this.'"
+
+
+GAVE THE SOLDIER THE PREFERENCE.
+
+July 27th, 1863, Lincoln wrote the Postmaster-General:
+
+"Yesterday little indorsements of mine went to you in two cases
+of postmasterships, sought for widows whose husbands have fallen
+in the battles of this war.
+
+"These cases, occurring on the same day, brought me to reflect
+more attentively than what I had before done as to what is fairly
+due from us here in dispensing of patronage toward the men who,
+by fighting our battles, bear the chief burden of saving our
+country.
+
+"My conclusion is that, other claims and qualifications being
+equal, they have the right, and this is especially applicable to
+the disabled soldier and the deceased soldier's family."
+
+
+THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT SCARED.
+
+When told how uneasy all had been at his going to Richmond,
+Lincoln replied:
+
+"Why, if any one else had been President and had gone to
+Richmond, I would have been alarmed; but I was not scared about
+myself a bit."
+
+
+JEFF. DAVIS' REPLY TO LINCOLN.
+
+On the 20th of July, 1864, Horace Greeley crossed into Canada to
+confer with refugee rebels at Niagara. He bore with him this
+paper from the President:
+
+"To Whom It May Concern: Any proposition which embraces the
+restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the
+abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority
+that can control the armies now at war with the United States,
+will be received and considered by the executive government of
+the United States, and will be met by liberal terms and other
+substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers
+thereof shall have safe conduct both ways."
+
+To this Jefferson Davis replied: "We are not fighting for
+slavery; we are fighting for independence."
+
+
+LINCOLN WAS a GENTLEMAN.
+
+Lincoln was compelled to contend with the results of the
+ill-judged zeal of politicians, who forced ahead his flatboat and
+rail-splitting record, with the homely surroundings of his
+earlier days, and thus, obscured for the time, the other fact
+that, always having the heart, he had long since acquired the
+manners of a true gentleman.
+
+So, too, did he suffer from Eastern censors, who did not take
+those surroundings into account, and allowed nothing for his
+originality of character. One of these critics heard at
+Washington that Mr. Lincoln, in speaking at different times of
+some move or thing, said "it had petered out;" that some other
+one's plan "wouldn't gibe;" and being asked if the War and the
+cause of the Union were not a great care to him, replied:
+
+"Yes, it is a heavy hog to hold."
+
+The first two phrases are so familiar here in the West that they
+need no explanation. Of the last and more pioneer one it may be
+said that it had a special force, and was peculiarly Lincoln-like
+in the way applied by him.
+
+In the early times in Illinois, those having hogs, did their own
+killing, assisted by their neighbors. Stripped of its hair, one
+held the carcass nearly perpendicular in the air, head down,
+while others put one point of the gambrel-bar through a slit in
+its hock, then over the string-pole, and the other point through
+the other hock, and so swung the animal clear of the ground.
+While all this was being done, it took a good man to "hold the
+hog," greasy, warmly moist, and weighing some two hundred pounds.
+And often those with the gambrel prolonged the strain, being
+provokingly slow, in hopes to make the holder drop his burden.
+
+This latter thought is again expressed where President Lincoln,
+writing of the peace which he hoped would "come soon, to stay;
+and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time," added
+that while there would "be some black men who can remember that
+with silent tongue and clenched teeth and steady eye, and
+well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great
+consummation," he feared there would "be some white ones unable
+to forget that, with malignant heart and deceitful tongue, they
+had striven to hinder it."
+
+He had two seemingly opposite elements little understood by
+strangers, and which those in more intimate relations with him
+find difficult to explain; an open, boyish tongue when in a happy
+mood, and with this a reserve of power, a force of thought that
+impressed itself without words on observers in his presence. With
+the cares of the nation on his mind, he became more meditative,
+and lost much of his lively ways remembered "back in Illinois."
+
+
+HIS POOR RELATIONS.
+
+One of the most beautiful traits of Mr. Lincoln's character was
+his considerate regard for the poor and obscure relatives he had
+left, plodding along in their humble ways of life. Wherever upon
+his circuit he found them, he always went to their dwellings, ate
+with them, and, when convenient, made their houses his home. He
+never assumed in their presence the slightest superiority to
+them. He gave them money when they needed it and he had it.
+Countless times he was known to leave his companions at the
+village hotel, after a hard day's work in the court-room, and
+spend the evening with these old friends and companions of his
+humbler days. On one occasion, when urged not to go, he replied,
+"Why, Aunt's heart would be broken if I should leave town without
+calling upon her;" yet, he was obliged to walk several miles to
+make the call.
+
+
+DESERTER'S SINS WASHED OUT IN BLOOD.
+
+This was the reply made by Lincoln to an application for the
+pardon of a soldier who had shown himself brave in war, had been
+severely wounded, but afterward deserted:
+
+"Did you say he was once badly wounded?
+
+"Then, as the Scriptures say that in the shedding of blood is the
+remission of sins, I guess we'll have to let him off this time."
+
+
+SURE CURE FOR BOILS.
+
+President Lincoln and Postmaster-General Blair were talking of
+the war.
+
+"Blair," said the President, "did you ever know that fright has
+sometimes proven a cure for boils?" "No, Mr. President, how is
+that?" "I'll tell you. Not long ago when a colonel, with his
+cavalry, was at the front, and the Rebs were making things rather
+lively for us, the colonel was ordered out to a reconnoissance.
+He was troubled at the time with a big boil where it made
+horseback riding decidedly uncomfortable. He finally dismounted
+and ordered the troops forward without him. Soon he was startled
+by the rapid reports of pistols and the helter-skelter approach
+of his troops in full retreat before a yelling rebel force. He
+forgot everything but the yells, sprang into his saddle, and made
+capital time over the fences and ditches till safe within the
+lines. The pain from his boil was gone, and the boil, too, and
+the colonel swore that there was no cure for boils so sure as
+fright from rebel yells."
+
+
+PAY FOR EVERYTHING.
+
+When President Lincoln issued a military order, it was usually
+expressive, as the following shows:
+
+"War Department, Washington, July 22, '62.
+
+"First: Ordered that military commanders within the States of
+Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
+Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, in an orderly manner, seize and
+use any property, real or personal, which may be necessary or
+convenient for their several commands, for supplies, or for other
+military purposes; and that while property may be all stored for
+proper military objects, none shall be destroyed in wantonness or
+malice.
+
+"Second: That military and naval commanders shall employ as
+laborers within and from said States, so many persons of African
+descent as can be advantageously used for military or naval
+purposes, giving them reasonable wages for their labor.
+
+"Third: That as to both property and persons of African descent,
+accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail to
+show quantities and amounts, and from whom both property and such
+persons shall have come, as a basis upon which compensation can
+be made in proper cases; and the several departments of this
+Government shall attend to and perform their appropriate parts
+towards the execution of these orders.
+
+"By order of the President."
+
+
+BASHFUL WITH LADIES.
+
+Judge David Davis, Justice of the United States Supreme Court,
+and United States Senator from Illinois, was one of Lincoln's
+most intimate friends. He told this story on "Abe":
+
+"Lincoln was very bashful when in the presence of ladies. I
+remember once we were invited to take tea at a friend's house,
+and while in the parlor I was called to the front gate to see
+someone.
+
+"When I returned, Lincoln, who had undertaken to entertain the
+ladies, was twisting and squirming in his chair, and as bashful
+as a schoolboy."
+
+
+SAW HUMOR IN EVERYTHING.
+
+There was much that was irritating and uncomfortable in the
+circuit-riding of the Illinois court, but there was more which
+was amusing to a temperament like Lincoln's. The freedom, the
+long days in the open air, the unexpected if trivial adventures,
+the meeting with wayfarers and settlers--all was an entertainment
+to him. He found humor and human interest on the route where his
+companions saw nothing but commonplaces.
+
+"He saw the ludicrous in an assemblage of fowls," says H. C.
+Whitney, one of his fellow-itinerants, "in a man spading his
+garden, in a clothes-line full of clothes, in a group of boys, in
+a lot of pigs rooting at a mill door, in a mother duck teaching
+her brood to swim--in everything and anything."
+
+
+SPECIFIC FOR FOREIGN "RASH."
+
+It was in the latter part of 1863 that Russia offered its
+friendship to the United States, and sent a strong fleet of
+warships, together with munitions of war, to this country to be
+used in any way the President might see fit. Russia was not
+friendly to England and France, these nations having defeated her
+in the Crimea a few years before. As Great Britain and the
+Emperor of the French were continually bothering him, President
+Lincoln used Russia's kindly feeling and action as a means of
+keeping the other two powers named in a neutral state of mind.
+Underneath the cartoon we here reproduce, which was labeled
+"Drawing Things to a Head," and appeared in the issue of
+"Harper's Weekly," of November 28, 1863, was this DR. LINCOLN (to
+smart boy of the shop): "Mild applications of Russian Salve for
+our friends over the way, and heavy doses--and plenty of it for
+our Southern patient!!"
+
+Secretary of State Seward was the "smart boy" of the shop, and
+"our friend over the way" were England and France. The latter
+bothered President Lincoln no more, but it is a fact that the
+Confederate privateer Alabama was manned almost entirely by
+British seamen; also, that when the Alabama was sunk by the
+Kearsarge, in the summer of 1864, the Confederate seamen were
+picked up by an English vessel, taken to Southhampton, and set at
+liberty!
+
+
+FAVORED THE OTHER SIDE.
+
+Lincoln was candor itself when conducting his side of a case in
+court. General Mason Brayman tells this story as an illustration:
+
+"It is well understood by the profession that lawyers do not read
+authores favoring the opposite side. I once heard Mr. Lincoln, in
+the Supreme Court of Illinois, reading from a reported case some
+strong points in favor of his argument. Reading a little too far,
+and before becoming aware of it, plunged into an authority
+against himself.
+
+"Pausing a moment, he drew up his shoulders in a comical way, and
+half laughing, went on, 'There, there, may it please the court, I
+reckon I've scratched up a snake. But, as I'm in for it, I guess
+I'll read it through.'
+
+"Then, in his most ingenious and matchless manner, he went on
+with his argument, and won his case, convincing the court that it
+was not much of a snake after all."
+
+
+LINCOLN AND THE "SHOW"
+
+Lincoln was fond of going all by himself to any little show or
+concert. He would often slip away from his fellow-lawyers and
+spend the entire evening at a little magic lantern show intended
+for children.
+
+A traveling concert company was always sure of drawing Lincoln. A
+Mrs. Hillis, a member of the "Newhall Family," and a good singer,
+was the only woman who ever seemed to exhibit any liking for
+him--so Lincoln said. He attended a negro-minstrel show in
+Chicago, once, where he heard Dixie sung. It was entirely new,
+and pleased him greatly.
+
+
+"MIXING" AND "MINGLING."
+
+An Eastern newspaper writer told how Lincoln, after his first
+nomination, received callers, the majority of them at his law
+office:
+
+"While talking to two or three gentlemen and standing up, a very
+hard looking customer rolled in and tumbled into the only vacant
+chair and the one lately occupied by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's
+keen eye took in the fact, but gave no evidence of the notice.
+
+"Turning around at last he spoke to the odd specimen, holding out
+his hand at such a distance that our friend had to vacate the
+chair if he accepted the proffered shake. Mr. Lincoln quietly
+resumed his chair.
+
+"It was a small matter, yet one giving proof more positively than
+a larger event of that peculiar way the man has of mingling with
+a mixed crowd."
+
+
+TOOK PART OF THE BLAME.
+
+Among the lawyers who traveled the circuit with Lincoln was Usher
+F. Linder, whose daughter, Rose Linder Wilkinson, has left many
+Lincoln reminiscences.
+
+"One case in which Mr. Lincoln was interested concerned a member
+of my own family," said Mrs. Wilkinson. "My brother, Dan, in the
+heat of a quarrel, shot a young man named Ben Boyle and was
+arrested. My father was seriously ill with inflammatory
+rheumatism at the time, and could scarcely move hand or foot. He
+certainly could not defend Dan. I was his secretary, and I
+remember it was but a day or so after the shooting till letters
+of sympathy began to pour in. In the first bundle which I picked
+up there was a big letter, the handwriting on which I recognized
+as that of Mr. Lincoln. The letter was very sympathetic.
+
+"'I know how you feel, Linder,' it said. 'I can understand your
+anger as a father, added to all the other sentiments. But may we
+not be in a measure to blame? We have talked about the defense of
+criminals before our children; about our success in defending
+them; have left the impression that the greater the crime, the
+greater the triumph of securing an acquittal. Dan knows your
+success as a criminal lawyer, and he depends on you, little
+knowing that of all cases you would be of least value in this.'
+
+"He concluded by offering his services, an offer which touched my
+father to tears.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln tried to have Dan released on bail, but Ben Boyle's
+family and friends declared the wounded man would die, and
+feeling had grown so bitter that the judge would not grant any
+bail. So the case was changed to Marshall county, but as Ben
+finally recovered it was dismissed."
+
+
+THOUGHT OF LEARNING A TRADE.
+
+Lincoln at one time thought seriously of learning the
+blacksmith's trade. He was without means, and felt the immediate
+necessity of undertaking some business that would give him bread.
+While entertaining this project an event occurred which, in his
+undetermined state of mind, seemed to open a way to success in
+another quarter.
+
+Reuben Radford, keeper of a small store in the village of New
+Salem, had incurred the displeasure of the "Clary Grove Boys,"
+who exercised their "regulating" prerogatives by irregularly
+breaking his windows. William G. Greene, a friend of young
+Lincoln, riding by Radford's store soon afterward, was hailed by
+him, and told that he intended to sell out. Mr. Greene went into
+the store, and offered him at random $400 for his stock, which
+offer was immediately accepted.
+
+Lincoln "happened in" the next day, and being familiar with the
+value of the goods, Mr. Greene proposed to him to take an
+inventory of the stock, to see what sort of a bargain he had
+made. This he did, and it was found that the goods were worth
+$600.
+
+Lincoln then made an offer of $125 for his bargain, with the
+proposition that he and a man named Berry, as his partner, take
+over Greene's notes given to Radford. Mr. Greene agreed to the
+arrangement, but Radford declined it, except on condition that
+Greene would be their security. Greene at last assented.
+
+Lincoln was not afraid of the "Clary Grove Boys"; on the
+contrary, they had been his most ardent friends since the time he
+thrashed "Jack" Armstrong, champion bully of "The Grove"--but
+their custom was not heavy.
+
+The business soon became a wreck; Greene had to not only assist
+in closing it up, but pay Radford's notes as well. Lincoln
+afterwards spoke of these notes, which he finally made good to
+Greene, as "the National Debt."
+
+
+LINCOLN DEFENDS FIFTEEN MRS. NATIONS.
+
+When Lincoln's sympathies were enlisted in any cause, he worked
+like a giant to win. At one time (about 1855) he was in
+attendance upon court at the little town of Clinton, Ill., and
+one of the cases on the docket was where fifteen women from a
+neighboring village were defendants, they having been indicted
+for trespass. Their offense, as duly set forth in the indictment,
+was that of swooping down upon one Tanner, the keeper of a saloon
+in the village, and knocking in the heads of his barrels. Lincoln
+was not employed in the case, but sat watching the trial as it
+proceeded.
+
+In defending the ladies, their attorney seemed to evince a little
+want of tact, and this prompted one of the former to invite Mr.
+Lincoln to add a few words to the jury, if he thought he could
+aid their cause. He was too gallant to refuse, and their attorney
+having consented, he made use of the following argument:
+
+"In this case I would change the order of indictment and have it
+read The State vs. Mr. Whiskey, instead of The State vs. The
+Ladies; and touching these there are three laws: the law of
+self-protection; the law of the land, or statute law; and the
+moral law, or law of God.
+
+"First the law of self-protection is a law of necessity, as
+evinced by our forefathers in casting the tea overboard and
+asserting their right to the pursuit of life, liberty and
+happiness: In this case it is the only defense the Ladies have,
+for Tanner neither feared God nor regarded man.
+
+"Second, the law of the land, or statute law, and Tanner is
+recreant to both.
+
+"Third, the moral law, or law of God, and this is probably a law
+for the violation of which the jury can fix no punishment."
+
+Lincoln gave some of his own observations on the ruinous effects
+of whiskey in society, and demanded its early suppression.
+
+After he had concluded, the Court, without awaiting the return of
+the jury, dismissed the ladies, saying:
+
+"Ladies, go home. I will require no bond of you, and if any fine
+is ever wanted of you, we will let you know."
+
+
+AVOIDED EVEN APPEARANCE OF EVIL
+
+Frank W. Tracy, President of the First National Bank of
+Springfield, tells a story illustrative of two traits in Mr.
+Lincoln's character. Shortly after the National banking law went
+into effect the First National of Springield was chartered, and
+Mr. Tracy wrote to Mr. Lincoln, with whom he was well acquainted
+in a business way, and tendered him an opportunity to subscribe
+for some of the stock.
+
+In reply to the kindly offer Mr. Lincoln wrote, thanking Mr.
+Tracy, but at the same time declining to subscribe. He said he
+recognized that stock in a good National bank would be a good
+thing to hold, but he did not feel that he ought, as President,
+profit from a law which had been passed under his administration.
+
+"He seemed to wish to avoid even the appearance of evil," said
+Mr. Tracy, in telling of the incident. "And so the act proved
+both his unvarying probity and his unfailing policy."
+
+
+WAR DIDN'T ADMIT OF HOLIDAYS.
+
+Lincoln wrote a letter on October 2d, 1862, in which he observed
+
+"I sincerely wish war was a pleasanter and easier business than
+it is, but it does not admit of holidays."
+
+
+"NEUTRALITY."
+
+Old John Bull got himself into a precious fine scrape when he
+went so far as to "play double" with the North, as well as the
+South, during the great American Civil War. In its issue of
+November 14th, 1863, London "Punch" printed a rather clever
+cartoon illustrating the predicament Bull had created for
+himself. John is being lectured by Mrs. North and Mrs. South--
+both good talkers and eminently able to hold their own in either
+social conversation, parliamentary debate or political argument--
+but he bears it with the best grace possible. This is the way the
+text underneath the picture runs:
+
+MRS. NORTH. "How about the Alabama, you wicked old man?" MRS.
+SOUTH: "Where's my rams? Take back your precious consols--
+there!!" "Punch" had a good deal of fun with old John before it
+was through with him, but, as the Confederate privateer Alabama
+was sent beneath the waves of the ocean at Cherbourg by the
+Kearsarge, and Mrs. South had no need for any more rams, John got
+out of the difficulty without personal injury. It was a tight
+squeeze, though, for Mrs. North was in a fighting humor, and
+prepared to scratch or pull hair. The fact that the privateer
+Alabama, built at an English shipyard and manned almost entirely
+by English sailors, had managed to do about $10,000,000 worth of
+damage to United States commerce, was enough to make any one
+angry.
+
+
+DAYS OF GLADNESS PAST.
+
+After the war was well on, a patriot woman of the West urged
+President Lincoln to make hospitals at the North where the sick
+from the Army of the Mississippi could revive in a more bracing
+air. Among other reasons, she said, feelingly: "If you grant my
+petition, you will be glad as long as you live."
+
+With a look of sadness impossible to describe, the President
+said:
+
+"I shall never be glad any more."
+
+
+WOULDN'T TAKE THE MONEY.
+
+Lincoln always regarded himself as the friend and protector of
+unfortunate clients, and such he would never press for pay for
+his services. A client named Cogdal was unfortunate in business,
+and gave a note in settlenent of legal fees. Soon afterward he
+met with an accident by which he lost a hand. Meeting Lincoln
+some time after on the steps of the State-House, the kind lawyer
+asked him how he was getting along.
+
+"Badly enough," replied Cogdal; "I am both broken up in business
+and crippled." Then he added, "I have been thinking about that
+note of yours."
+
+Lincoln, who had probably known all about Cogdal's troubles, and
+had prepared himself for the meeting, took out his pocket-book,
+and saying, with a laugh, "Well, you needn't think any more about
+it," handed him the note.
+
+Cogdal protesting, Lincoln said, "Even if you had the money, I
+would not take it," and hurried away.
+
+
+GRANT HELD ON ALL THE TIME.
+
+(Dispatch to General Grant, August 17th, 1864.)
+
+"I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break
+your hold where you are. Neither am I willing.
+
+"Hold on with a bulldog grip."
+
+
+CHEWED THE CUD IN SOLITUDE.
+
+As a student (if such a term could be applied to Lincoln), one
+who did not know him might have called him indolent. He would
+pick up a book and run rapidly over the pages, pausing here and
+there.
+
+At the end of an hour--never more than two or three hours--he
+would close the book, stretch himself out on the office lounge,
+and then, with hands under his head and eyes shut, would digest
+the mental food he had just taken.
+
+
+"ABE'S" YANKEE INGENUITY.
+
+War Governor Richard Yates (he was elected Governor of Illinois
+in 1860, when Lincoln was first elected President) told a good
+story at Springfield (Ill.) about Lincoln.
+
+One day the latter was in the Sangamon River with his trousers
+rolled up five feet--more or less--trying to pilot a flatboat
+over a mill-dam. The boat was so full of water that it was hard
+to manage. Lincoln got the prow over, and then, instead of
+waiting to bail the water out, bored a hole through the
+projecting part and let it run out, affording a forcible
+illustration of the ready ingenuity of the future President.
+
+
+LINCOLN PAID HOMAGE TO WASHINGTON.
+
+The Martyr President thus spoke of Washington in the course of an
+address:
+
+"Washington is the mightiest name on earth--long since the
+mightiest in the cause of civil liberty, still mightiest in moral
+reformation.
+
+"On that name a eulogy is expected. It cannot be.
+
+"To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington
+is alike impossible.
+
+"Let none attempt it.
+
+"In solemn awe pronounce the name, and, in its naked, deathless
+splendor, leave it shining on."
+
+
+STIRRED EVEN THE REPORTERS.
+
+Lincoln's influence upon his audiences was wonderful. He could
+sway people at will, and nothing better illustrates his
+extraordinary power than he manner in which he stirred up the
+newspaper reporters by his Bloomingon speech.
+
+Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago Tribune, told the story:
+
+"It was my journalistic duty, though a delegate to the
+convention, to make a 'longhand' report of the speeches delivered
+for the Tribune. I did make a few paragraphs of what Lincoln said
+in the first eight or ten minutes, but I became so absorbed in
+his magnetic oratory that I forgot myself and ceased to take
+notes, and joined with the convention in cheering and stamping
+and clapping to the end of his speech.
+
+"I well remember that after Lincoln sat down and calm had
+succeeded the tempest, I waked out of a sort of hypnotic trance,
+and then thought of my report for the paper. There was nothing
+written but an abbreviated introduction.
+
+"It was some sort of satisfaction to find that I had not been
+'scooped,' as all the newspaper men present had been equally
+carried away by the excitement caused by the wonderful oration
+and had made no report or sketch of the speech."
+
+
+WHEN "ABE" CAME IN.
+
+When "Abe" was fourteen years of age, John Hanks journeyed from
+Kentucky to Indiana and lived with the Lincolns. He described
+"Abe's" habits thus:
+
+"When Lincoln and I returned to the house from work, he would go
+to the cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, take down a book,
+sit down on a chair, cock his legs up as high as his head, and
+read.
+
+"He and I worked barefooted, grubbed it, plowed, mowed, cradled
+together; plowed corn, gathered it, and shucked corn. 'Abe' read
+constantly when he had an opportunity."
+
+
+ETERNAL FIDELITY TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY.
+
+During the Harrison Presidential campaign of 1840, Lincoln said,
+in a speech at Springfield, Illinois:
+
+"Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose
+hers; but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was
+last to desert, but that I never deserted her.
+
+"I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and
+directed by the evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth
+the lava of political corruption in a current broad and deep,
+which is sweeping with frightful velocity over the whole length
+and breadth of the land, bidding fair to leave unscathed no green
+spot or living thing.
+
+"I cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it, I, too,
+may be; bow to it I never will.
+
+"The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to
+deter us from the support of a cause which we believe to be just.
+It shall never deter me.
+
+"If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those
+dimensions not wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is
+when I contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by all the
+world beside, and I standing up boldly alone, and hurling
+defiance at her victorious oppressors.
+
+"Here, without contemplating consequences, before heaven, and in
+the face of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just
+cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, my liberty, and my
+love; and who that thinks with me will not fearlessly adopt the
+oath that I take?
+
+"Let none falter who thinks he is right, and we may succeed.
+
+"But if, after all, we shall fail, be it so; we have the proud
+consolation of saying to our consciences, and to the departed
+shade of our country's freedom, that the cause approved of our
+judgment, and, adorned of our hearts in disaster, in chains, in
+death, we never faltered in defending."
+
+
+"ABE'S" "DEFALCATIONS."
+
+Lincoln could not rest for as instant under the consciousness
+that, even unwittingly, he had defrauded anybody. On one
+occasion, while clerking in Offutt's store, at New Salem, he sold
+a woman a little bale of goods, amounting, by the reckoning, to
+$2.20. He received the money, and the woman went away.
+
+On adding the items of the bill again to make himself sure of
+correctness, he found that he had taken six and a quarter cents
+too much.
+
+It was night, and, closing and locking the store, he started out
+on foot, a distance of two or three miles, for the house of his
+defrauded customer, and, delivering to her the sum whose
+possession had so much troubled him, went home satisfied.
+
+On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for the
+night, a wooman entered and asked for half a pound of tea. The
+tea was weighed out and paid for, and the store was left for the
+night.
+
+The next morning Lincoln, when about to begin the duties of the
+day, discovered a four-ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once
+that he had made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a
+long walk before breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea.
+
+These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the man's
+perfect conscientiousness--his sensitive honesty--better,
+perhaps, than they would if they were of greater moment.
+
+
+HE WASN'T GUILELESS.
+
+Leonard Swett, of Chicago, whose counsels were doubtless among
+the most welcome to Lincoln, in summing up Lincoln's character,
+said:
+
+"From the commencement of his life to its close I have sometimes
+doubted whether he ever asked anybody's advice about anything. He
+would listen to everybody; he would hear everybody; but he
+rarely, if ever, asked for opinions.
+
+"As a politician and as President he arrived at all his
+conclusions from his own reflections, and when his conclusions
+were once formed he never doubted but what they were right.
+
+"One great public mistake of his (Lincoln's) character, as
+generally received and acquiesced in, is that he is considered by
+the people of this country as a frank, guileless, and
+unsophisticated man. There never was a greater mistake.
+
+"Beneath a smooth surface of candor and apparent declaration of
+all his thoughts and feelings he exercised the most exalted tact
+and wisest discrimination. He handled and moved men remotely as
+we do pieces upon a chess-board.
+
+"He retained through life all the friends he ever had, and he
+made the wrath of his enemies to praise him. This was not by
+cunning or intrigue in the low acceptation of the term, but by
+far-seeing reason and discernment. He always told only enough of
+his plans and purposes to induce the belief that he had
+communicated all; yet he reserved enough to have communicated
+nothing."
+
+
+SWEET, BUT MILD REVENGE.
+
+When the United States found that a war with Black Hawk could not
+be dodged, Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, issued a call for
+volunteers, and among the companies that immediately responded
+was one from Menard county, Illinois. Many of these volunteers
+were from New Salem and Clary's Grove, and Lincoln, being out of
+business, was the first to enlist.
+
+The company being full, the men held a meeting at Richland for
+the election of officers. Lincoln had won many hearts, and they
+told him that he must be their captain. It was an office to which
+he did not aspire, and for which he felt he had no special
+fitness; but he finally consented to be a candidate.
+
+There was but one other candidate, a Mr. Kirkpatrick, who was one
+of the most influential men of the region. Previously,
+Kirkpatrick had been an employer of Lincoln, and was so
+overbearing in his treatment of the young man that the latter
+left him.
+
+The simple mode of electing a captain adopted by the company was
+by placing the candidates apart, and telling the men to go and
+stand with the one they preferred. Lincoln and his competitor
+took their positions, and then the word was given. At least three
+out of every four went to Lincoln at once.
+
+When it was seen by those who had arranged themselves with the
+other candidate that Lincoln was the choice of the majority of
+the company, they left their places, one by one, and came over to
+the successful side, until Lincoln's opponent in the friendly
+strife was left standing almost alone.
+
+"I felt badly to see him cut so," says a witness of the scene.
+
+Here was an opportunity for revenge. The humble laborer was his
+employer's captain, but the opportunity was never improved. Mr.
+Lincoln frequently confessed that no subsequent success of his
+life had given him half the satisfaction that this election did.
+
+
+DIDN'T TRUST THE COURT.
+
+In one of his many stories of Lincoln, his law partner, W. H.
+Herndon, told this as illustrating Lincoln's shrewdness as a
+lawyer:
+
+"I was with Lincoln once and listened to an oral argument by him
+in which he rehearsed an extended history of the law. It was a
+carefully prepared and masterly discourse, but, as I thought,
+entirely useless. After he was through and we were walking home,
+I asked him why he went so far back in the history of the law. I
+presumed the court knew enough history.
+
+"'That's where you're mistaken,' was his instant rejoinder. 'I
+dared not just the case on the presumption that the court knows
+everything--in fact I argued it on the presumption that the court
+didn't know anything,' a statement, which, when one reviews the
+decision of our appellate courts, is not so extravagant as one
+would at first suppose."
+
+
+HANDSOMEST MAN ON EARTH.
+
+One day Thaddeus Stevens called at the White House with an
+elderly woman, whose son had been in the army, but for some
+offense had been court-martialed and sentenced to death. There
+were some extenuating circumstances, and after a full hearing the
+President turned to Stevens and said: "Mr. Stevens, do you think
+this is a case which will warrant my interference?"
+
+"With my knowledge of the facts and the parties," was the reply,
+"I should have no hesitation in granting a pardon."
+
+"Then," returned Mr. Lincoln, "I will pardon him," and proceeded
+forthwith to execute the paper.
+
+The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, save by
+her tears, and not a word was said between her and Stevens until
+they were half way down the stairs on their passage out, when she
+suddenly broke forth in an excited manner with the words:
+
+"I knew it was a copperhead lie!"
+
+"What do you refer to, madam?" asked Stevens.
+
+"Why, they told me he was an ugly-looking man," she replied, with
+vehemence. "He is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life."
+
+
+THAT COON CAME DOWN.
+
+"Lincoln's Last Warning" was the title of a cartoon which
+appeared in "Harper's Weekly," on October 11, 1862. Under the
+picture was the text:
+
+"Now if you don't come down I'll cut the tree from under you."
+
+This illustration was peculiarly apt, as, on the 1st of January,
+1863, President Lincoln issued his great Emancipation
+Proclamation, declaring all slaves in the United States forever
+free. "Old Abe" was a handy man with the axe, he having split
+many thousands of rails with its keen edge. As the "Slavery Coon"
+wouldn't heed the warning, Lincoln did cut the tree from under
+him, and so he came down to the ground with a heavy thump.
+
+This Act of Emancipation put an end to the notion of the Southern
+slave holders that involuntary servitude was one of the "sacred
+institutions" on the Continent of North America. It also
+demonstrated that Lincoln was thoroughly in earnest when he
+declared that he would not only save the Union, but that he meant
+what he said in the speech wherein he asserted, "This Nation
+cannot exist half slave and half free."
+
+
+WROTE "PIECES" WHEN VERY YOUNG.
+
+At fifteen years of age "Abe" wrote "pieces," or compositions,
+and even some doggerel rhyme, which he recited, to the great
+amusement of his playmates.
+
+One of his first compositions was against cruelty to animals. He
+was very much annoyed and pained at the conduct of the boys, who
+were in the habit of catching terrapins and putting coals of fire
+on their backs, which thoroughly disgusted Abraham.
+
+"He would chide us," said "Nat" Grigsby, "tell us it was wrong,
+and would write against it."
+
+When eighteen years old, "Abe" wrote a "piece" on "National
+Politics," and it so pleased a lawyer friend, named Pritchard,
+that the latter had it printed in an obscure paper, thereby
+adding much to the author's pride. "Abe" did not conceal his
+satisfaction. In this "piece" he wrote, among other things:
+
+"The American government is the best form of government for an
+intelligent people. It ought to be kept sound, and preserved
+forever, that general education should be fostered and carried
+all over the country; that the Constitution should be saved, the
+Union perpetuated and the laws revered, respected and enforced."
+
+
+"TRY TO STEER HER THROUGH."
+
+John A. Logan and a friend of Illinois called upon Lincoln at
+Willard's Hotel, Washington, February 23d, the morning of his
+arrival, and urged a vigorous, firm policy.
+
+Patiently listening, Lincoln replied seriously but cheerfully:
+
+"As the country has placed me at the helm of the ship, I'll try
+to steer her through."
+
+
+GRAND, GLOOMY AND PECULIAR.
+
+Lincoln was a marked and peculiar young man. People talked about
+him. His studious habits, his greed for information, his thorough
+mastery of the difficulties of every new position in which he was
+placed, his intelligence on all matters of public concern, his
+unwearying good-nature, his skill in telling a story, his great
+athletic power, his quaint, odd ways, his uncouth appearance--all
+tended to bring him in sharp contrast with the dull mediocrity by
+which he was surrounded.
+
+Denton Offutt, his old employer, said, after having had a
+conversation with Lincoln, that the young man "had talent enough
+in him to make a President."
+
+
+ON THE WAY TO GETTYSBURG.
+
+When Lincoln was on his way to the National Cemetery at
+Gettysburg, an old gentleman told him that his only son fell on
+Little Round Top at Gettysburg, and he was going to look at the
+spot. Mr. Lincoln replied: "You have been called on to make a
+terrible sacrifice for the Union, and a visit to that spot, I
+fear, will open your wounds afresh.
+
+"But, oh, my dear sir, if we had reached the end of such
+sacrifices, and had nothing left for us to do but to place
+garlands on the graves of those who have already fallen, we could
+give thanks even amidst our tears; but when I think of the
+sacrifices of life yet to be offered, and the hearts and homes
+yet to be made desolate before this dreadful war is over, my
+heart is like lead within me, and I feel at times like hiding in
+deep darkness." At one of the stopping places of the train, a
+very beautiful child, having a bunch of rosebuds in her hand, was
+lifted up to an open window of the President's car. "Floweth for
+the President." The President stepped to the window, took the
+rosebuds, bent down and kissed the child, saying, "You are a
+sweet little rosebud yourself. I hope your life will open into
+perpetual beauty and goodness."
+
+
+STOOD UP THE LONGEST.
+
+There was a rough gallantry among the young people; and Lincoln's
+old comrades and friends in Indiana have left many tales of how
+he "went to see the girls," of how he brought in the biggest
+back-log and made the brightest fire; of how the young people,
+sitting around it, watching the way the sparks flew, told their
+fortunes.
+
+He helped pare apples, shell corn and crack nuts. He took the
+girls to meeting and to spelling school, though he was not often
+allowed to take part in the spelling-match, for the one who
+"chose first" always chose "Abe" Lincoln, and that was equivalent
+to winning, as the others knew that "he would stand up the
+longest."
+
+
+A MORTIFYING EXPERIENCE.
+
+A lady reader or elocutionist came to Springfield in 1857. A
+large crowd greeted her. Among other things she recited "Nothing
+to Wear," a piece in which is described the perplexities that
+beset "Miss Flora McFlimsy" in her efforts to appear fashionable.
+
+In the midst of one stanza in which no effort is made to say
+anything particularly amusing, and during the reading of which
+the audience manifested the most respectful silence and
+attention, some one in the rear seats burst out with a loud,
+coarse laugh, a sudden and explosive guffaw.
+
+It startled the speaker and audience, and kindled a storm of
+unsuppressed laughter and applause. Everybody looked back to
+ascertain the cause of the demonstration, and were greatly
+surprised to find that it was Mr. Lincoln.
+
+He blushed and squirmed with the awkward diffidence of a
+schoolboy. What caused him to laugh, no one was able to explain.
+He was doubtless wrapped up in a brown study, and recalling some
+amusing episode, indulged in laughter without realizing his
+surroundings. The experience mortified him greatly.
+
+
+NO HALFWAY BUSINESS.
+
+Soon after Mr. Lincoln began to practice law at Springfield, he
+was engaged in a criminal case in which it was thought there was
+little chance of success. Throwing all his powers into it, he
+came off victorious, and promptly received for his services five
+hundred dollars. A legal friend, calling upon him the next
+morning, found him sitting before a table, upon which his money
+was spread out, counting it over and over.
+
+"Look here, Judge," said he. "See what a heap of money I've got
+from this case. Did you ever see anything like it? Why, I never
+had so much money in my life before, put it all together." Then,
+crossing his arms upon the table, his manner sobering down, he
+added: "I have got just five hundred dollars; if it were only
+seven hundred and fifty, I would go directly and purchase a
+quarter section of land, and settle it upon my old step-mother."
+
+His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed, he
+would loan him the amount, taking his note, to which Mr. Lincoln
+instantly acceded.
+
+His friend then said:
+
+"Lincoln, I would do just what you have indicated. Your
+step-mother is getting old, and will not probably live many
+years. I would settle the property upon her for her use during
+her lifetime, to revert to you upon her death."
+
+With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+"I shall do no such thing. It is a poor return at best for all
+the good woman's devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not
+going to be any halfway business about it." And so saying, he
+gathered up his money and proceeded forthwith to carry his
+long-cherished purpose into execution.
+
+
+DISCOURAGED LITIGATION.
+
+Lincoln believed in preventing unnecessary litigation, and
+carried out this in his practice. "Who was your guardian?" he
+asked a young man who came to him to complain that a part of the
+property left him had been withheld. "Enoch Kingsbury," replied
+the young man.
+
+"I know Mr. Kingsbury," said Lincoln, "and he is not the man to
+have cheated you out of a cent, and I can't take the case, and
+advise you to drop the subject."
+
+And it was dropped.
+
+
+GOING HOME TO GET READY.
+
+Edwin M. Stanton was one of the attorneys in the great "reaper
+patent" case heard in Cincinnati in 1855, Lincoln also having
+been retained. The latter was rather anxious to deliver the
+argument on the general propositions of law applicable to the
+case, but it being decided to have Mr. Stanton do this, the
+Westerner made no complaint.
+
+Speaking of Stanton's argument and the view Lincoln took of it,
+Ralph Emerson, a young lawyer who was present at the trial, said:
+
+"The final summing up on our side was by Mr. Stanton, and though
+he took but about three hours in its delivery, he had devoted as
+many, if not more, weeks to its preparation. It was very able,
+and Mr. Lincoln was throughout the whole of it a rapt listener.
+Mr. Stanton closed his speech in a flight of impassioned
+eloquence.
+
+"Then the court adjourned for the day, and Mr. Lincoln invited me
+to take a long walk with him. For block after block he walked
+rapidly forward, not saying a word, evidently deeply dejected.
+
+"At last he turned suddenly to me, exclaiming, 'Emerson, I am
+going home.' A pause. 'I am going home to study law.'
+
+"'Why,' I exclaimed, 'Mr. Lincoln, you stand at the head of the
+bar in llinois now! What are you talking about?'
+
+"'Ah, yes,' he said, 'I do occupy a good position there, and I
+think that I can get along with the way things are done there
+now. But these college-trained men, who have devoted their whole
+lives to study, are coming West, don't you see? And they study
+their cases as we never do. They have got as far as Cincinnati
+now. They will soon be in Illinois.'
+
+"Another long pause; then stopping and turning toward me, his
+countenance suddenly assuming that look of strong determination
+which those who knew him best sometimes saw upon his face, he
+exclaimed, 'I am going home to study law! I am as good as any, of
+them, and when they get out to Illinois, I will be ready for
+them.'"
+
+
+"THE 'RAIL-SPUTTER' REPAIRING THE UNION."
+
+The cartoon given here in facsimile was one of the posters which
+decorated the picturesque Presidential campaign of 1864, and
+assisted in making the period previous to the vote-casting a
+lively and memorable one. This poster was a lithograph, and, as
+the title, "The Rail-Splitter at Work Repairing the Union," would
+indicate, the President is using the Vice-Presidential candidate
+on the Republican National ticket (Andrew Johnson) as an aid in
+the work. Johnson was, in early life, a tailor, and he is
+pictured as busily engaged in sewing up the rents made in the map
+of the Union by the secessionists.
+
+Both men are thoroughly in earnest, and, as history relates, the
+torn places in the Union map were stitched together so nicely
+that no one could have told, by mere observation, that a tear had
+ever been made. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln upon the
+assassination of the latter, was a remarkable man. Born in North
+Carolina, he removed to Tennessee when young, was Congressman,
+Governor, and United States Senator, being made military Governor
+of his State in 1862. A strong, stanch Union man, he was
+nominated for the Vice-Presidency on the Lincoln ticket to
+conciliate the War Democrats. After serving out his term as
+President, he was again elected United States Senator from
+Tennessee, but died shortly after taking his seat. But he was
+just the sort of a man to assist "Uncle Abe" in sewing up the
+torn places in the Union map, and as military Governor of
+Tennessee was a powerful factor in winning friends in the South
+to the Union cause.
+
+
+"FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES."
+
+"Several of us lawyers," remarked one of his colleagues, "in the
+eastern end of the circuit, annoyed Lincoln once while he was
+holding court for Davis by attempting to defend against a note to
+which there were many makers. We had no legal, but a good moral
+defense, but what we wanted most of all was to stave it off till
+the next term of court by one expedient or another.
+
+"We bothered 'the court' about it till late on Saturday, the day
+of adjournment. He adjourned for supper with nothing left but
+this case to dispose of. After supper he heard our twaddle for
+nearly an hour, and then made this odd entry.
+
+"'L. D. Chaddon vs. J. D. Beasley et al. April Term, 1856.
+Champaign county Court. Plea in abatement by B. Z. Green, a
+defendant not served, filed Saturday at 11 o'clock a. m., April
+24, 1856, stricken from the files by order of court. Demurrer to
+declaration, if there ever was one, overruled. Defendants who are
+served now, at 8 o'clock p. m., of the last day of the term, ask
+to plead to the merits, which is denied by the court on the
+ground that the offer comes too late, and therefore, as by nil
+dicet, judgment is rendered for Pl'ff. Clerk assess damages. A.
+Lincoln, Judge pro tem.'
+
+"The lawyer who reads this singular entry will appreciate its
+oddity if no one else does. After making it, one of the lawyers,
+on recovering from his astonishment, ventured to enquire: 'Well,
+Lincoln, how can we get this case up again?'
+
+"Lincoln eyed him quizzically for a moment, and then answered,
+'You have all been so mighty smart about this case, you can find
+out how to take it up again yourselves."'
+
+
+ROUGH ON THE NEGRO.
+
+Mr. Lincoln, one day, was talking with the Rev. Dr. Sunderland
+about the Emancipation Proclamation and the future of the negro.
+Suddenly a ripple of amusement broke the solemn tone of his
+voice. "As for the negroes, Doctor, and what is going to become
+of them: I told Ben Wade the other day, that it made me think of
+a story I read in one of my first books, 'Aesop's Fables.' It was
+an old edition, and had curious rough wood cuts, one of which
+showed three white men scrubbing a negro in a potash kettle
+filled with cold water. The text explained that the men thought
+that by scrubbing the negro they might make him white. Just about
+the time they thought they were succeeding, he took cold and
+died. Now, I am afraid that by the time we get through this War
+the negro will catch cold and die."
+
+
+CHALLENGED ALL COMERS.
+
+Personal encounters were of frequent occurrence in Gentryville in
+early days, and the prestige of having thrashed an opponent gave
+the victor marked social distinction. Green B. Taylor, with whom
+"Abe" worked the greater part of one winter on a farm, furnished
+an account of the noted fight between John Johnston, "Abe's"
+stepbrother, and William Grigsby, in which stirring drama "Abe"
+himself played an important role before the curtain was rung
+down.
+
+Taylor's father was the second for Johnston, and William Whitten
+officiated in a similar capacity for Grigsby. "They had a
+terrible fight," related Taylor, "and it soon became apparent
+that Grigsby was too much for Lincoln's man, Johnston. After they
+had fought a long time without interference, it having been
+agreed not to break the ring, 'Abe' burst through, caught
+Grigsby, threw him off and some feet away. There Grigsby stood,
+proud as Lucifer, and, swinging a bottle of liquor over his head,
+swore he was 'the big buck of the lick.'
+
+"'If any one doubts it,' he shouted, 'he has only to come on and
+whet his horns.'"
+
+A general engagement followed this challenge, but at the end of
+hostilities the field was cleared and the wounded retired amid
+the exultant shouts of their victors.
+
+
+"GOVERNMENT RESTS IN PUBLIC OPINION."
+
+Lincoln delivered a speech at a Republican banquet at Chicago,
+December l0th, 1856, just after the Presidential campaign of that
+year, in which he said:
+
+"Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change
+public opinion can change the government practically just so
+much.
+
+"Public opinion, on any subject, always has a 'central idea,'
+from which all its minor thoughts radiate.
+
+"That 'central idea' in our political public opinion at the
+beginning was, and until recently has continued to be, 'the
+equality of man.'
+
+"And although it has always submitted patiently to whatever of
+inequality there seemed to be as a matter of actual necessity,
+its constant working has been a steady progress toward the
+practical equality of all men.
+
+"Let everyone who really believes, and is resolved, that free
+society is not and shall not be a failure, and who can
+conscientiously declare that in the past contest he has done only
+what he thought best--let every such one have charity to believe
+that every other one can say as much.
+
+"Thus, let bygones be bygones; let party differences as nothing
+be, and with steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugurate
+the good old 'central ideas' of the Republic.
+
+"We can do it. The human heart is with us; God is with us.
+
+"We shall never be able to declare that 'all States as States are
+equal,' nor yet that 'all citizens are equal,' but to renew the
+broader, better declaration, including both these and much more,
+that 'all men are created equal.'"
+
+
+HURRY MIGHT MAKE TROUBLE.
+
+Up to the very last moment of the life of the Confederacy, the
+London "Punch" had its fling at the United States. In a cartoon,
+printed February 18th, 1865, labeled "The Threatening Notice,"
+"Punch" intimates that Uncle Sam is in somewhat of a hurry to
+serve notice on John Bull regarding the contentions in connection
+with the northern border of the United States.
+
+Lincoln, however, as attorney for his revered Uncle, advises
+caution. Accordingly, he tells his Uncle, according to the text
+under the picture
+
+ATTORNEY LINCOLN: "Now, Uncle Sam, you're in a darned hurry to
+serve this here notice on John Bull. Now, it's my duty, as your
+attorney, to tell you that you may drive him to go over to that
+cuss, Davis." (Uncle Sam considers.) In this instance, President
+Lincoln is given credit for judgment and common sense, his advice
+to his Uncle Sam to be prudent being sound. There was trouble all
+along the Canadian border during the War, while Canada was the
+refuge of Northern conspirators and Southern spies, who, at
+times, crossed the line and inflicted great damage upon the
+States bordering on it. The plot to seize the great lake cities--
+Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and others--was
+figured out in Canada by the Southerners and Northern allies.
+President Lincoln, in his message to Congress in December, 1864,
+said the United States had given notice to England that, at the
+end of six months, this country would, if necessary, increase its
+naval armament upon the lakes. What Great Britain feared was the
+abrogation by the United States of all treaties regarding Canada.
+By previous stipulation, the United States and England were each
+to have but one war vessel on the Great Lakes.
+
+
+SAW HIMSELF DEAD.
+
+This story cannot be repeated in Lincoln's own language, although
+he told it often enough to intimate friends; but, as it was never
+taken down by a stenographer in the martyred President's exact
+words, the reader must accept a simple narration of the strange
+occurrence.
+
+It was not long after the first nomination of Lincoln for the
+Presidency, when he saw, or imagined he saw, the startling
+apparition. One day, feeling weary, he threw himself upon a
+lounge in one of the rooms of his house at Springfield to rest.
+Opposite the lounge upon which he was lying was a large, long
+mirror, and he could easily see the reflection of his form, full
+length.
+
+Suddenly he saw, or imagined he saw, two Lincolns in the mirror,
+each lying full length upon the lounge, but they differed
+strangely in appearance. One was the natural Lincoln, full of
+life, vigor, energy and strength; the other was a dead Lincoln,
+the face white as marble, the limbs nerveless and lifeless, the
+body inert and still.
+
+Lincoln was so impressed with this vision, which he considered
+merely an optical illusion, that he arose, put on his hat, and
+went out for a walk. Returning to the house, he determined to
+test the matter again--and the result was the same as before. He
+distinctly saw the two Lincolns--one living and the other dead.
+
+He said nothing to his wife about this, she being, at that time,
+in a nervous condition, and apprehensive that some accident would
+surely befall her husband. She was particularly fearful that he
+might be the victim of an assassin. Lincoln always made light of
+her fears, but yet he was never easy in his mind afterwards.
+
+To more thoroughly test the so-called "optical illusion," and
+prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, whether it was a mere
+fanciful creation of the brain or a reflection upon the broad
+face of the mirror which might be seen at any time, Lincoln made
+frequent experiments. Each and every time the result was the
+same. He could not get away from the two Lincolns--one living and
+the other dead.
+
+Lincoln never saw this forbidding reflection while in the White
+House. Time after time he placed a couch in front of a mirror at
+a distance from the glass where he could view his entire length
+while lying down, but the looking-glass in the Executive Mansion
+was faithful to its trust, and only the living Lincoln was
+observable.
+
+The late Ward Lamon, once a law partner of Lincoln, and Marshal
+of the District of Columbia during his first administration,
+tells, in his "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," of the dreams
+the President had--all foretelling death.
+
+Lamon was Lincoln's most intimate friend, being, practically, his
+bodyguard, and slept in the White House. In reference to
+Lincoln's "death dreams," he says:
+
+"How, it may be asked, could he make life tolerable, burdened as
+he was with that portentous horror, which, though visionary, and
+of trifling import in our eyes, was by his interpretation a
+premonition of impending doom? I answer in a word: His sense of
+duty to his country; his belief that 'the inevitable' is right;
+and his innate and irrepressible humor.
+
+"But the most startling incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln was a
+dream he had only a few days before his assassination. To him it
+was a thing of deadly import, and certainly no vision was ever
+fashioned more exactly like a dread reality. Coupled with other
+dreams, with the mirror-scene and with other incidents, there was
+something about it so amazingly real, so true to the actual
+tragedy which occurred soon after, that more than mortal strength
+and wisdom would have been required to let it pass without a
+shudder or a pang.
+
+"After worrying over it for some days, Mr. Lincoln seemed no
+longer able to keep the secret. I give it as nearly in his own
+words as I can, from notes which I made immediately after its
+recital. There were only two or three persons present.
+
+"The President was in a melancholy, meditative mood, and had been
+silent for some time. Mrs. Lincoln, who was present, rallied him
+on his solemn visage and want of spirit. This seemed to arouse
+him, and, without seeming to notice her sally, he said, in slow
+and measured tones:
+
+"'It seems strange how much there is in the Bible about dreams.
+There are, I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament
+and four or five in the New, in which dreams are mentioned; and
+there are many other passages scattered throughout the book which
+refer to visions. In the old days, God and His angels came to men
+in their sleep and made themselves known in dreams.'
+
+"Mrs. Lincoln here remarked, 'Why, you look dreadfully solemn; do
+you believe in dreams?'
+
+"'I can't say that I do,' returned Mr. Lincoln; 'but I had one
+the other night which has haunted me ever since. After it
+occurred the first time, I opened the Bible, and, strange as it
+may appear, it was at the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which
+relates the wonderful dream Jacob had. I turned to other
+passages, and seemed to encounter a dream or a vision wherever I
+looked. I kept on turning the leaves of the old book, and
+everywhere my eyes fell upon passages recording matters strangely
+in keeping with my own thoughts--supernatural visitations,
+dreams, visions, etc.'
+
+"He now looked so serious and disturbed that Mrs. Lincoln
+exclaimed 'You frighten me! What is the matter?'
+
+"'I am afraid,' said Mr. Lincoln, observing the effect his words
+had upon his wife, 'that I have done wrong to mention the subject
+at all; but somehow the thing has got possession of me, and, like
+Banquo's ghost, it will not down.'
+
+"This only inflamed Mrs. Lincoln's curiosity the more, and while
+bravely disclaiming any belief in dreams, she strongly urged him
+to tell the dream which seemed to have such a hold upon him,
+being seconded in this by another listener. Mr. Lincoln
+hesitated, but at length commenced very deliberately, his brow
+overcast with a shade of melancholy.
+
+"'About ten days ago,' said he, 'I retired very late. I had been
+up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not
+have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was
+weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a deathlike
+stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of
+people were weeping.
+
+"'I thought I left my bed and wandered down-stairs. There the
+silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners
+were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in
+sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I
+passed along. It was light in all the rooms; every object was
+familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving
+as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What
+could be the meaning of all this?
+
+"'Determined to find the cause of a state of things so
+mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East
+Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise.
+Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in
+funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were
+acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, some gazing
+mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others
+weeping pitifully.
+
+"'"Who is dead in the White House?" I demanded of one of the
+soldiers.
+
+"'"The President," was his answer; "he was killed by an
+assassin."
+
+"'Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which awoke me
+from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was
+only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.'
+
+"'That is horrid!' said Mrs. Lincoln. 'I wish you had not told
+it. I am glad I don't believe in dreams, or I should be in terror
+from this time forth.'
+
+"'Well,' responded Mr. Lincoln, thoughtfully, 'it is only a
+dream, Mary. Let us say no more about it, and try to forget it.'
+
+"This dream was so horrible, so real, and so in keeping with
+other dreams and threatening presentiments of his, that Mr.
+Lincoln was profoundly disturbed by it. During its recital he was
+grave, gloomy, and at times visibly pale, but perfectly calm. He
+spoke slowly, with measured accents and deep feeling.
+
+"In conversations with me, he referred to it afterwards, closing
+one with this quotation from 'Hamlet': 'To sleep; perchance to
+dream! ay, there's the rub!' with a strong accent upon the last
+three words.
+
+"Once the President alluded to this terrible dream with some show
+of playful humor. 'Hill,' said he, 'your apprehension of harm to
+me from some hidden enemy is downright foolishness. For a long
+time you have been trying to keep somebody-the Lord knows who--
+from killing me.
+
+"'Don't you see how it will turn out? In this dream it was not
+me, but some other fellow, that was killed. It seems that this
+ghostly assassin tried his hand on some one else. And this
+reminds me of an old farmer in Illinois whose family were made
+sick by eating greens.
+
+"'Some poisonous herb had got into the mess, and members of the
+family were in danger of dying. There was a half-witted boy in
+the family called Jake; and always afterward when they had greens
+the old man would say, "Now, afore we risk these greens, let's
+try 'em on Jake. If he stands 'em we're all right." Just so with
+me. As long as this imaginary assassin continues to exercise
+himself on others, I can stand it.'
+
+"He then became serious and said: 'Well, let it go. I think the
+Lord in His own good time and way will work this out all right.
+God knows what is best.'
+
+"These words he spoke with a sigh, and rather in a tone of
+soliloquy, as if hardly noting my presence.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln had another remarkable dream, which was repeated so
+frequently during his occupancy of the White House that he came
+to regard it is a welcome visitor. It was of a pleasing and
+promising character, having nothing in it of the horrible.
+
+"It was always an omen of a Union victory, and came with unerring
+certainty just before every military or naval engagement where
+our arms were crowned with success. In this dream he saw a ship
+sailing away rapidly, badly damaged, and our victorious vessels
+in close pursuit.
+
+"He saw, also, the close of a battle on land, the enemy routed,
+and our forces in possession of vantage ground of inestimable
+importance. Mr. Lincoln stated it as a fact that he had this
+dream just before the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and other
+signal engagements throughout the War.
+
+"The last time Mr. Lincoln had this dream was the night before
+his assassination. On the morning of that lamentable day there
+was a Cabinet meeting, at which General Grant was present. During
+an interval of general discussion, the President asked General
+Grant if he had any news from General Sherman, who was then
+confronting Johnston. The reply was in the negative, but the
+general added that he was in hourly expectation of a dispatch
+announcing Johnston's surrender.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln then, with great impressiveness, said, 'We shall
+hear very soon, and the news will be important.'
+
+"General Grant asked him why he thought so.
+
+"'Because,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'I had a dream last night; and
+ever since this War began I have had the same dream just before
+every event of great national importance. It portends some
+important event which will happen very soon.'
+
+"On the night of the fateful 14th of April, 1865, Mrs. Lincoln's
+first exclamation, after the President was shot, was, 'His dream
+was prophetic!'
+
+"Lincoln was a believer in certain phases of the supernatural.
+Assured as he undoubtedly was by omens which, to his mind, were
+conclusive, that he would rise to greatness and power, he was as
+firmly convinced by the same tokens that he would be suddenly cut
+off at the height of his career and the fullness of his fame. He
+always believed that he would fall by the hand of an assassin.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln had this further idea: Dreams, being natural
+occurrences, in the strictest sense, he held that their best
+interpreters are the common people; and this accounts, in great
+measure, for the profound respect he always had for the
+collective wisdom of plain people--'the children of Nature,' he
+called them--touching matters belonging to the domain of
+psychical mysteries. There was some basis of truth, he believed,
+for whatever obtained general credence among these 'children of
+Nature.'
+
+"Concerning presentiments and dreams, Mr. Lincoln had a
+philosophy of his own, which, strange as it may appear, was in
+perfect harmony with his character in all other respects. He was
+no dabbler in divination--astrology, horoscopy, prophecy, ghostly
+lore, or witcheries of any sort.
+
+
+EVERY LITTLE HELPED.
+
+As the time drew near at which Mr. Lincoln said he would issue
+the Emancipation Proclamation, some clergymen, who feared the
+President might change his mind, called on him to urge him to
+keep his promise.
+
+"We were ushered into the Cabinet room," says Dr. Sunderland. "It
+was very dim, but one gas jet burning. As we entered, Mr. Lincoln
+was standing at the farther end of the long table, which filled
+the center of the room. As I stood by the door, I am so very
+short, that I was obliged to look up to see the President. Mr.
+Robbins introduced me, and I began at once by saying: 'I have
+come, Mr. President, to anticipate the new year with my respects,
+and if I may, to say to you a word about the serious condition of
+this country.'
+
+"'Go ahead, Doctor,' replied the President; 'every little
+helps.' But I was too much in earnest to laugh at his sally at my
+smallness."
+
+
+ABOUT TO LAY DOWN THE BURDEN.
+
+President Lincoln (at times) said he felt sure his life would end
+with the War. A correspondent of a Boston paper had an interview
+with him in July, 1864, and wrote regarding it:
+
+"The President told me he was certain he should not outlast the
+rebellion. As will be remembered, there was dissension then among
+the Republican leaders. Many of his best friends had deserted
+him, and were talking of an opposition convention to nominate
+another candidate, and universal gloom was among the people.
+
+"The North was tired of the War, and supposed an honorable peace
+attainable. Mr. Lincoln knew it was not--that any peace at that
+time would be only disunion. Speaking of it, he said: 'I have
+faith in the people. They will not consent to disunion. The
+danger is, they are misled. Let them know the truth, and the
+country is safe.'
+
+"He looked haggard and careworn; and further on in the interview
+I remarked on his appearance, 'You are wearing yourself out with
+work.'
+
+"'I can't work less,' he answered; 'but it isn't that--work
+never troubled me. Things look badly, and I can't avoid anxiety.
+Personally, I care nothing about a re-election, but if our
+divisions defeat us, I fear for the country.'
+
+"When I suggested that right must eventually triumph, he replied,
+'I grant that, but I may never live to see it. I feel a
+presentiment that I shall not outlast the rebellion. When it is
+over, my work will be done.'
+
+"He never intimated, however, that he expected to be
+assassinated."
+
+
+LINCOLN WOULD HAVE PREFERRED DEATH.
+
+Horace Greeley said, some time after the death of President
+Lincoln:
+
+"After the Civil War began, Lincoln's tenacity of purpose
+paralleled his former immobility; I believe he would have been
+nearly the last, if not the very last, man in America to
+recognize the Southern Confederacy had its armies been
+triumphant. He would have preferred death."
+
+
+"PUNCH" AND HIS LITTLE PICTURE.
+
+London "Punch" was not satisfied with anything President Lincoln
+did. On December 3rd, 1864, after Mr. Lincoln's re-election to
+the Presidency, a cartoon appeared in one of the pages of that
+genial publication, the reproduction being printed here, labeled
+"The Federal Phoenix." It attracted great attention at the time,
+and was particularly pleasing to the enemies of the United
+States, as it showed Lincoln as the Phoenix arising from the
+ashes of the Federal Constitution, the Public Credit, the Freedom
+of the Press, State Rights and the Commerce of the North American
+Republic.
+
+President Lincoln's endorsement by the people of the United
+States meant that the Confederacy was to be crushed, no matter
+what the cost; that the Union of States was to be preserved, and
+that State Rights was a thing of the past. "Punch" wished to
+create the impression that President Lincoln's re-election was a
+personal victory; that he would set up a despotism, with himself
+at its head, and trample upon the Constitution of the United
+States and all the rights the citizens of the Republic ever
+possessed.
+
+The result showed that "Punch" was suffering from an acute attack
+of needless alarm.
+
+
+FASCINATED By THE WONDERFUL
+
+Lincoln was particularly fascinated by the wonderful happenings
+recorded in history. He loved to read of those mighty events
+which had been foretold, and often brooded upon these subjects.
+His early convictions upon occult matters led him to read all
+books tending' to strengthen these convictions.
+
+The following lines, in Byron's "Dream," were frequently quoted
+by him:
+
+    "Sleep hath its own world,
+A boundary between the things misnamed
+Death and existence: Sleep hath its own world
+And a wide realm of wild reality.
+And dreams in their development have breath,
+And tears and tortures, and the touch of joy;
+They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts,
+They take a weight from off our waking toils,
+They do divide our being."
+
+Those with whom he was associated in his early youth and young
+manhood, and with whom he was always in cordial sympathy, were
+thorough believers in presentiments and dreams; and so Lincoln
+drifted on through years of toil and exceptional hardship--
+meditative, aspiring, certain of his star, but appalled at times
+by its malignant aspect. Many times prior to his first election
+to the Presidency he was both elated and alarmed by what seemed
+to him a rent in the veil which hides from mortal view what the
+future holds.
+
+He saw, or thought he saw, a vision of glory and of blood,
+himself the central figure in a scene which his fancy transformed
+from giddy enchantment to the most appalling tragedy.
+
+
+"WHY DON'T THEY COME!"
+
+The suspense of the days when the capital was isolated, the
+expected troops not arriving, and an hourly attack feared, wore
+on Mr. Lincoln greatly.
+
+"I begin to believe," he said bitterly, one day, to some
+Massachusetts soldiers, "that there is no North. The Seventh
+Regiment is a myth. Rhode Island is another. You are the only
+real thing."
+
+And again, after pacing the floor of his deserted office for a
+half-hour, he was heard to exclaim to himself, in an anguished
+tone: "Why don't they come! Why don't they come!"
+
+
+GRANT'S BRAND OF WHISKEY.
+
+Lincoln was not a man of impulse, and did nothing upon the spur
+of the moment; action with him was the result of deliberation and
+study. He took nothing for granted; he judged men by their
+performances and not their speech.
+
+If a general lost battles, Lincoln lost confidence in him; if a
+commander was successful, Lincoln put him where he would be of
+the most service to the country.
+
+"Grant is a drunkard," asserted powerful and influential
+politicians to the President at the White House time after time;
+"he is not himself half the time; he can't be relied upon, and it
+is a shame to have such a man in command of an army."
+
+"So Grant gets drunk, does he?" queried Lincoln, addressing
+himself to one of the particularly active detractors of the
+soldier, who, at that period, was inflicting heavy damage upon
+the Confederates.
+
+"Yes, he does, and I can prove it," was the reply.
+
+"Well," returned Lincoln, with the faintest suspicion of a
+twinkle in his eye, "you needn't waste your time getting proof;
+you just find out, to oblige me, what brand of whiskey Grant
+drinks, because I want to send a barrel of it to each one of my
+generals."
+
+That ended the crusade against Grant, so far as the question of
+drinking was concerned.
+
+
+HIS FINANCIAL STANDING.
+
+A New York firm applied to Abraham Lincoln, some years before he
+became President, for information as to the financial standing of
+one of his neighbors. Mr. Lincoln replied:
+
+"I am well acquainted with Mr.-- and know his circumstances.
+First of all, he has a wife and baby; together they ought to be
+worth $50,000 to any man. Secondly, he has an office in which
+there is a table worth $1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1.
+Last of all, there is in one corner a large rat hole, which will
+bear looking into. Respectfully, A. Lincoln."
+
+
+THE DANDY AND THE BOYS.
+
+President Lincoln appointed as consul to a South American country
+a young man from Ohio who was a dandy. A wag met the new
+appointee on his way to the White House to thank the President.
+He was dressed in the most extravagant style. The wag horrified
+him by telling him that the country to which he was assigned was
+noted chiefly for the bugs that abounded there and made life
+unbearable.
+
+"They'll bore a hole clean through you before a week has passed,"
+was the comforting assurance of the wag as they parted at the
+White House steps. The new consul approached Lincoln with
+disappointment clearly written all over his face. Instead of
+joyously thanking the President, he told him the wag's story of
+the bugs. "I am informed, Mr. President," he said, "that the
+place is full of vermin and that they could eat me up in a week's
+time." "Well, young man," replied Lincoln, "if that's true, all
+I've got to say is that if such a thing happened they would leave
+a mighty good suit of clothes behind."
+
+
+"SOME UGLY OLD LAWYER."
+
+A. W. Swan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, told this story on
+Lincoln, being an eyewitness of the scene:
+
+"One day President Lincoln was met in the park between the White
+House and the War Department by an irate private soldier, who was
+swearing in a high key, cursing the Government from the President
+down. Mr. Lincoln paused and asked him what was the matter.
+'Matter enough,' was the reply. 'I want my money. I have been
+discharged here, and can't get my pay.' Mr. Lincoln asked if he
+had his papers, saying that he used to practice law in a small
+way, and possibly could help him.
+
+"My friend and I stepped behind some convenient shrubbery where
+we could watch the result. Mr. Lincoln took the papers from the
+hands of the crippled soldier, and sat down with him at the foot
+of a convenient tree, where he examined them carefully, and
+writing a line on the back, told the soldier to take them to Mr.
+Potts, Chief Clerk of the War Department, who would doubtless
+attend to the matter at once.
+
+"After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped out and asked
+him if he knew whom he had been talking with. 'Some ugly old
+fellow who pretends to be a lawyer,' was the reply. My companion
+asked to see the papers, and on their being handed to him,
+pointed to the indorsement they had received: This indorsement
+read
+
+"'Mr. Potts, attend to this man's case at once and see that he
+gets his pay. A. L.'"
+
+
+GOOD MEMORY OF NAMES.
+
+The following story illustrates the power of Mr. Lincoln's memory
+of names and faces. When he was a comparatively young man, and a
+candidate for the Illinois Legislature, he made a personal
+canvass of the district. While "swinging around the circle" he
+stopped one day and took dinner with a farmer in Sangamon county.
+
+Years afterward, when Mr. Lincoln had become President, a soldier
+came to call on him at the White House. At the first glance the
+Chief Executive said: "Yes, I remember; you used to live on the
+Danville road. I took dinner with you when I was running for the
+Legislature. I recollect that we stood talking out at the
+barnyard gate while I sharpened my jackknife."
+
+"Y-a-a-s," drawled the soldier, "you did. But say, wherever did
+you put that whetstone? I looked for it a dozen times, but I
+never could find it after the day you used it. We allowed as how
+mabby you took it 'long with you."
+
+"No," said Lincoln, looking serious and pushing away a lot of
+documents of state from the desk in front of him. "No, I put it
+on top of that gatepost--that high one."
+
+"Well!" exclaimed the visitor, "mabby you did. Couldn't anybody
+else have put it there, and none of us ever thought of looking
+there for it."
+
+The soldier was then on his way home, and when he got there the
+first thing he did was to look for the whetstone. And sure
+enough, there it was, just where Lincoln had laid it fifteen
+years before. The honest fellow wrote a letter to the Chief
+Magistrate, telling him that the whetstone had been found, and
+would never be lost again.
+
+
+SETTLED OUT OF COURT.
+
+When Abe Lincoln used to be drifting around the country,
+practicing law in Fulton and Menard counties, Illinois, an old
+fellow met him going to Lewiston, riding a horse which, while it
+was a serviceable enough animal, was not of the kind to be
+truthfully called a fine saddler. It was a weatherbeaten nag,
+patient and plodding, and it toiled along with Abe--and Abe's
+books, tucked away in saddle-bags, lay heavy on the horse's
+flank.
+
+"Hello, Uncle Tommy," said Abe.
+
+"Hello, Abe," responded Uncle Tommy. "I'm powerful glad to see
+ye, Abe, fer I'm gwyne to have sumthin' fer ye at Lewiston co't,
+I reckon."
+
+"How's that, Uncle Tommy?" said Abe.
+
+"Well, Jim Adams, his land runs 'long o' mine, he's pesterin' me
+a heap an' I got to get the law on Jim, I reckon."
+
+"Uncle Tommy, you haven't had any fights with Jim, have you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"He's a fair to middling neighbor, isn't he?"
+
+"Only tollable, Abe."
+
+"He's been a neighbor of yours for a long time, hasn't he?"
+
+"Nigh on to fifteen year."
+
+"Part of the time you get along all right, don't you?"
+
+"I reckon we do, Abe."
+
+"Well, now, Uncle Tommy, you see this horse of mine? He isn't as
+good a horse as I could straddle, and I sometimes get out of
+patience with him, but I know his faults. He does fairly well as
+horses go, and it might take me a long time to get used to some
+other horse's faults. For all horses have faults. You and Uncle
+Jimmy must put up with each other as I and my horse do with one
+another."
+
+"I reckon, Abe," said Uncle Tommy, as he bit off about four
+ounces of Missouri plug. "I reckon you're about right."
+
+And Abe Lincoln, with a smile on his gaunt face, rode on toward
+Lewiston.
+
+
+THE FIVE POINTS SUNDAY SCHOOL.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln visited New York in 1860, he felt a great
+interest in many of the institutions for reforming criminals and
+saving the young from a life of crime. Among others, he visited,
+unattended, the Five Points House of Industry, and the
+superintendent of the Sabbath school there gave the following
+account of the event:
+
+"One Sunday morning I saw a tall, remarkable-looking man enter
+the room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed
+attention to our exercises, and his countenance expressed such
+genuine interest that I approached him and suggested that he
+might be willing to say something to the children. He accepted
+the invitation with evident pleasure, and coming forward began a
+simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer and
+hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly
+beautiful, and his tones musical with intense feeling. The little
+faces would droop into sad conviction when he uttered sentences
+of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful
+words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his
+remarks, but the imperative shout of, 'Go on! Oh, do go on!'
+would compel him to resume.
+
+"As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and
+marked his powerful head and determined features, now touched
+into softness by the impressions of the moment, I felt an
+irrepressible curiosity to learn something more about him, and
+while he was quietly leaving the room, I begged to know his name.
+He courteously replied: 'It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois.'"
+
+
+SENTINEL OBEYED ORDERS.
+
+A slight variation of the traditional sentry story is related by
+C. C. Buel. It was a cold, blusterous winter night. Says Mr.
+Buel:
+
+"Mr. Lincoln emerged from the front door, his lank figure bent
+over as he drew tightly about his shoulders the shawl which he
+employed for such protection; for he was on his way to the War
+Department, at the west corner of the grounds, where in times of
+battle he was wont to get the midnight dispatches from the field.
+As the blast struck him he thought of the numbness of the pacing
+sentry, and, turning to him, said: 'Young man, you've got a cold
+job to-night; step inside, and stand guard there.'
+
+"'My orders keep me out here,' the soldier replied.
+
+"'Yes,' said the President, in his argumentative tone; 'but your
+duty can be performed just as well inside as out here, and you'll
+oblige me by going in.'
+
+"'I have been stationed outside,' the soldier answered, and
+resumed his beat.
+
+"'Hold on there!' said Mr. Lincoln, as he turned back again; 'it
+occurs to me that I am Commander-in-Chief of the army, and I
+order you to go inside.'"
+
+
+WHY LINCOLN GROWED WHISKERS.
+
+Perhaps the majority of people in the United States don't know
+why Lincoln "growed" whiskers after his first nomination for the
+Presidency. Before that time his face was clean shaven.
+
+In the beautiful village of Westfield, Chautauqua county, New
+York, there lived, in 1860, little Grace Bedell. During the
+campaign of that year she saw a portrait of Lincoln, for whom she
+felt the love and reverence that was common in Republican
+families, and his smooth, homely face rather disappointed her.
+She said to her mother: "I think, mother, that Mr. Lincoln would
+look better if he wore whiskers, and I mean to write and tell him
+so."
+
+The mother gave her permission.
+
+Grace's father was a Republican; her two brothers were Democrats.
+Grace wrote at once to the "Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Esq.,
+Springfield, Illinois," in which she told him how old she was,
+and where she lived; that she was a Republican; that she thought
+he would make a good President, but would look better if he would
+let his whiskers grow. If he would do so, she would try to coax
+her brothers to vote for him. She thought the rail fence around
+the picture of his cabin was very pretty. "If you have not time
+to answer my letter, will you allow your little girl to reply for
+you?"
+
+Lincoln was much pleased with the letter, and decided to answer
+it, which he did at once, as follows:
+
+"Springfield, Illinois, October i9, 1860.
+
+"Miss Grace Bedell.
+
+"My Dear Little Miss: Your very agreeable letter of the fifteenth
+is received. I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughter.
+I have three sons; one seventeen, one nine and one seven years of
+age. They, with their mother, constitute my whole family. As to
+the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people
+would call it a piece of silly affectation if I should begin it
+now? Your very sincere well-wisher, A. LINCOLN."
+
+When on the journey to Washington to be inaugurated, Lincoln's
+train stopped at Westfield. He recollected his little
+correspondent and spoke of her to ex-Lieutenant Governor George
+W. Patterson, who called out and asked if Grace Bedell was
+present.
+
+There was a large surging mass of people gathered about the
+train, but Grace was discovered at a distance; the crowd opened a
+pathway to the coach, and she came, timidly but gladly, to the
+President-elect, who told her that she might see that he had
+allowed his whiskers to grow at her request. Then, reaching out
+his long arms, he drew her up to him and kissed her. The act drew
+an enthusiastic demonstration of approval from the multitude.
+
+Grace married a Kansas banker, and became Grace Bedell Billings.
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A DANCER.
+
+Lincoln made his first appearance in society when he was first
+sent to Springfield, Ill., as a member of the State Legislature.
+It was not an imposing figure which he cut in a ballroom, but
+still he was occasionally to be found there. Miss Mary Todd, who
+afterward became his wife, was the magnet which drew the tall,
+awkward young man from his den. One evening Lincoln approached
+Miss Todd, and said, in his peculiar idiom:
+
+"Miss Todd, I should like to dance with you the worst way." The
+young woman accepted the inevitable, and hobbled around the room
+with him. When she returned to her seat, one of her companions
+asked mischievously
+
+"Well, Mary, did he dance with you the worst way."
+
+"Yes," she answered, "the very worst."
+
+
+SIMPLY PRACTICAL HUMANITY.
+
+An instance of young Lincoln's practical humanity at an early
+period of his life is recorded in this way:
+
+One evening, while returning from a "raising" in his wide
+neighborhood, with a number of companions, he discovered a stray
+horse, with saddle and bridle upon him. The horse was recognized
+as belonging to a man who was accustomed to get drunk, and it was
+suspected at once that he was not far off. A short search only
+was necessary to confirm the belief.
+
+The poor drunkard was found in a perfectly helpless condition,
+upon the chilly ground. Abraham's companions urged the cowardly
+policy of leaving him to his fate, but young Lincoln would not
+hear to the proposition.
+
+At his request, the miserable sot was lifted on his shoulders,
+and he actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house.
+
+Sending word to his father that he should not be back that night,
+with the reason for his absence, he attended and nursed the man
+until the morning, and had the pleasure of believing that he had
+saved his life.
+
+
+HAPPY FIGURES OF SPEECH.
+
+On one occasion, exasperated at the discrepancy between the
+aggregate of troops forwarded to McClellan and the number that
+same general reported as having received, Lincoln exclaimed:
+"Sending men to that army is like shoveling fleas across a
+barnyard--half of them never get there."
+
+To a politician who had criticised his course, he wrote: "Would
+you have me drop the War where it is, or would you prosecute it
+in future with elder stalk squirts charged with rosewater?"
+
+When, on his first arrival in Washington as President, he found
+himself besieged by office-seekers, while the War was breaking
+out, he said: "I feel like a man letting lodgings at one end of
+his house while the other end is on fire."
+
+
+A FEW "RHYTHMIC SHOTS."
+
+Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia during Lincoln's
+time in Washington, accompanied the President everywhere. He was
+a good singer, and, when Lincoln was in one of his melancholy
+moods, would "fire a few rhythmic shots" at the President to
+cheer the latter. Lincoln keenly relished nonsense in the shape
+of witty or comic ditties. A parody of "A Life on the Ocean Wave"
+was always pleasing to him:
+
+"Oh, a life on the ocean wave,
+  And a home on the rolling deep!
+With ratlins fried three times a day
+  And a leaky old berth for to sleep;
+Where the gray-beard cockroach roams,
+  On thoughts of kind intent,
+And the raving bedbug comes
+  The road the cockroach went."
+
+Lincoln could not control his laughter when he heard songs of
+this sort.
+
+He was fond of negro melodies, too, and "The Blue-Tailed Fly" was
+a great favorite with him. He often called for that buzzing
+ballad when he and Lamon were alone, and he wanted to throw off
+the weight of public and private cares. The ballad of "The
+Blue-Tailed Fly" contained two verses, which ran:
+
+"When I was young I used to wait
+At massa's table, 'n' hand de plate,
+An' pass de bottle when he was dry,
+An' brush away de blue-tailed fly.
+
+"Ol' Massa's dead; oh, let him rest!
+Dey say all things am for de best;
+But I can't forget until I die
+Ol' massa an' de blue-tailed fly."
+
+While humorous songs delighted the President, he also loved to
+listen to patriotic airs and ballads containing sentiment. He was
+fond of hearing "The Sword of Bunker Hill," "Ben Bolt," and "The
+Lament of the Irish Emigrant." His preference of the verses in
+the latter was this:
+
+"I'm lonely now, Mary,
+  For the poor make no new friends;
+But, oh, they love the better still
+  The few our Father sends!
+And you were all I had, Mary,
+  My blessing and my pride;
+There's nothing left to care for now,
+  Since my poor Mary died."
+
+Those who knew Lincoln were well aware he was incapable of so
+monstrous an act as that of wantonly insulting the dead, as was
+charged in the infamous libel which asserted that he listened to
+a comic song on the field of Antietam, before the dead were
+buried.
+
+
+OLD MAN GLENN'S RELIGION.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once remarked to a friend that his religion was like
+that of an old man named Glenn, in Indiana, whom he heard speak
+at a church meeting, and who said: "When I do good, I feel good;
+when I do bad, I feel bad; and that's my religion."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln herself has said that Mr. Lincoln had no faith--no
+faith, in the usual acceptance of those words. "He never joined a
+church; but still, as I believe, he was a religious man by
+nature. He first seemed to think about the subject when our boy
+Willie died, and then more than ever about the time he went to
+Gettysburg; but it was a kind of poetry in his nature, and he
+never was a technical Christian."
+
+
+LAST ACTS OF MERCY.
+
+During the afternoon preceding his assassination the President
+signed a pardon for a soldier sentenced to be shot for desertion,
+remarking as he did so, "Well, I think the boy can do us more
+good above ground than under ground."
+
+He also approved an application for the discharge, on taking the
+oath of allegiance, of a rebel prisoner, in whose petition he
+wrote, "Let it be done."
+
+This act of mercy was his last official order.
+
+
+JUST LIKE SEWARD.
+
+The first corps of the army commanded by General Reynolds was
+once reviewed by the President on a beautiful plain at the north
+of Potomac Creek, about eight miles from Hooker's headquarters.
+The party rode thither in an ambulance over a rough corduroy
+road, and as they passed over some of the more difficult portions
+of the jolting way the ambulance driver, who sat well in front,
+occasionally let fly a volley of suppressed oaths at his wild
+team of six mules.
+
+Finally, Mr. Lincoln, leaning forward, touched the man on the
+shoulder and said
+
+"Excuse me, my friend, are you an Episcopalian?"
+
+The man, greatly startled, looked around and replied:
+
+"No, Mr. President; I am a Methodist."
+
+"Well," said Lincoln, "I thought you must be an Episcopalian,
+because you swear just like Governor Seward, who is a church
+warder."
+
+
+A CHEERFUL PROSPECT.
+
+The first night after the departure of President-elect Lincoln
+from Springfield, on his way to Washington, was spent in
+Indianapolis. Governor Yates, O. H. Browning, Jesse K. Dubois, O.
+M. Hatch, Josiah Allen, of Indiana, and others, after taking
+leave of Mr. Lincoln to return to their respective homes, took
+Ward Lamon into a room, locked the door, and proceeded in the
+most solemn and impressive manner to instruct him as to his
+duties as the special guardian of Mr. Lincoln's person during the
+rest of his journey to Washington. Lamon tells the story as
+follows:
+
+"The lesson was concluded by Uncle Jesse, as Mr. Dubois was
+commonly, called, who said:
+
+"'Now, Lamon, we have regarded you as the Tom Hyer of Illinois,
+with Morrissey attachment. We intrust the sacred life of Mr.
+Lincoln to your keeping; and if you don't protect it, never
+return to Illinois, for we will murder you on sight."'
+
+
+THOUGHT GOD WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM.
+
+Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner was one of the few men to whom
+Mr. Lincoln confided his intention to issue the Proclamation of
+Emancipation.
+
+Mr. Lincoln told his Illinois friend of the visit of a delegation
+to him who claimed to have a message from God that the War would
+not be successful without the freeing of the negroes, to whom Mr.
+Lincoln replied: "Is it not a little strange that He should tell
+this to you, who have so little to do with it, and should not
+have told me, who has a great deal to do with it?"
+
+At the same time he informed Professor Turner he had his
+Proclamation in his pocket.
+
+
+LINCOLN AND A BIBLE HERO.
+
+A writer who heard Mr. Lincoln's famous speech delivered in New
+York after his nomination for President has left this record of
+the event:
+
+"When Lincoln rose to speak, I was greatly disappointed. He was
+tall, tall, oh, so tall, and so angular and awkward that I had
+for an instant a feeling of pity for so ungainly a man. He began
+in a low tone of voice, as if he were used to speaking out of
+doors and was afraid of speaking too loud.
+
+"He said 'Mr. Cheerman,' instead of 'Mr. Chairman,' and employed
+many other words with an old-fashioned pronunciation. I said to
+myself, 'Old fellow, you won't do; it is all very well for the
+Wild West, but this will never go down in New York.' But pretty
+soon he began to get into the subject; he straightened up, made
+regular and graceful gestures; his face lighted as with an inward
+fire; the whole man was transfigured.
+
+"I forgot the clothing, his personal appearance, and his
+individual peculiarities. Presently, forgetting myself, I was on
+my feet with the rest, yelling like a wild Indian, cheering the
+wonderful man. In the close parts of his argument you could hear
+the gentle sizzling of the gas burners.
+
+"When he reached a climax the thunders of applause were terrific.
+It was a great speech. When I came out of the hall my face was
+glowing with excitement and my frame all a-quiver. A friend, with
+his eyes aglow, asked me what I thought of 'Abe' Lincoln, the
+rail-splitter. I said, 'He's the greatest man since St. Paul.'
+And I think so yet."
+
+
+BOY WAS CARED FOR.
+
+President Lincoln one day noticed a small, pale, delicate-looking
+boy, about thirteen years old, among the number in the White
+House antechamber.
+
+The President saw him standing there, looking so feeble and
+faint, and said: "Come here, my boy, and tell me what you want."
+
+The boy advanced, placed his hand on the arm of the President's
+chair, and, with a bowed head and timid accents, said: "Mr.
+President, I have been a drummer boy in a regiment for two years,
+and my colonel got angry with me and turned me off. I was taken
+sick and have been a long time in the hospital."
+
+The President discovered that the boy had no home, no father--he
+had died in the army--no mother.
+
+"I have no father, no mother, no brothers, no sisters, and,"
+bursting into tears, "no friends--nobody cares for me."
+
+Lincoln's eyes filled with tears, and the boy's heart was soon
+made glad by a request to certain officials "to care for this
+poor boy."
+
+
+THE JURY ACQUITTED HIM
+
+One of the most noted murder cases in which Lincoln defended the
+accused was tried in August, 1859. The victim, Crafton, was a
+student in his own law office, the defendant, "Peachy" Harrison,
+was a grandson of Rev. Peter Cartwright; both were connected with
+the best families in the county; they were brothers-in-law, and
+had always been friends.
+
+Senator John M. Palmer and General John A. McClelland were on the
+side of the prosecution. Among those who represented the
+defendant were Lincoln and Senator Shelby M. Cullom. The two
+young men had engaged in a political quarrel, and Crafton was
+stabbed to death by Harrison. The tragic pathos of a case which
+involved the deepest affections of almost an entire community
+reached its climax in the appearance in court of the venerable
+Peter Cartwright. Lincoln had beaten him for Congress in 1846.
+
+Eccentric and aggressive as he was, he was honored far and wide;
+and when he arose to take the witness stand, his white hair
+crowned with this cruel sorrow, the most indifferent spectator
+felt that his examination would be unbearable.
+
+It fell to Lincoln to question Cartwright. With the rarest
+gentleness he began to put his questions.
+
+"How long have you known the prisoner?"
+
+Cartwright's head dropped on his breast for a moment; then
+straightening himself, he passed his hand across his eyes and
+answered in a deep, quavering voice:
+
+"I have known him since a babe, he laughed and cried on my knee."
+
+The examination ended by Lincoln drawing from the witness the
+story of how Crafton had said to him, just before his death: "I
+am dying; I will soon part with all I love on earth, and I want
+you to say to my slayer that I forgive him. I want to leave this
+earth with a forgiveness of all who have in any way injured me."
+
+This examination made a profound impression on the jury. Lincoln
+closed his argument by picturing the scene anew, appealing to the
+jury to practice the same forgiving spirit that the murdered man
+had shown on his death-bed. It was undoubtedly to his handling of
+the grandfather's evidence that Harrison's acquittal was due.
+
+
+TOOK NOTHING BUT MONEY.
+
+During the War Congress appropriated $10,000 to be expended by
+the President in defending United States Marshals in cases of
+arrests and seizures where the legality of their actions was
+tested in the courts. Previously the Marshals sought the
+assistance of the Attorney-General in defending them, but when
+they found that the President had a fund for that purpose they
+sought to control the money.
+
+In speaking of these Marshals one day, Mr. Lincoln said:
+
+"They are like a man in Illinois, whose cabin was burned down,
+and, according to the kindly custom of early days in the West,
+his neighbors all contributed something to start him again. In
+his case they had been so liberal that he soon found himself
+better off than before the fire, and he got proud. One day a
+neighbor brought him a bag of oats, but the fellow refused it
+with scorn.
+
+"'No,' said he, 'I'm not taking oats now. I take nothing but
+money.'"
+
+
+NAUGHTY BOY HAD TO TAKE HIS MEDICINE.
+
+The resistance to the military draft of 1863 by the City of New
+York, the result of which was the killing of several thousand
+persons, was illustrated on August 29th, 1863, by "Frank Leslie's
+Illustrated Newspaper," over the title of "The Naughty Boy,
+Gotham, Who Would Not Take the Draft." Beneath was also the text:
+
+MAMMY LINCOLN: "There now, you bad boy, acting that way, when
+your little sister Penn (State of Pennsylvania) takes hers like a
+lady!"
+
+Horatio Seymour was then Governor of New York, and a prominent
+"the War is a failure" advocate. He was in Albany, the State
+capital, when the riots broke out in the City of New York, July
+13th, and after the mob had burned the Colored Orphan Asylum and
+killed several hundred negroes, came to the city. He had only
+soft words for the rioters, promising them that the draft should
+be suspended. Then the Government sent several regiments of
+veterans, fresh from the field of Gettysburg, where they had
+assisted in defeating Lee. These troops made short work of the
+brutal ruffians, shooting down three thousand or so of them, and
+the rioting was subdued. The "Naughty Boy Gotham" had to take his
+medicine, after all, but as the spirit of opposition to the War
+was still rampant, the President issued a proclamation suspending
+the writ of habeas corpus in all the States of the Union where
+the Government had control. This had a quieting effect upon those
+who were doing what they could in obstructing the Government.
+
+
+WOULD BLOW THEM TO H---.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had advised Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott,
+commanding the United States Army, of the threats of violence on
+inauguration day, 1861. General Scott was sick in bed at
+Washington when Adjutant-General Thomas Mather, of Illinois,
+called upon him in President-elect Lincoln's behalf, and the
+veteran commander was much wrought up. Said he to General Mather:
+
+"Present my compliments to Mr. Lincoln when you return to
+Springfield, and tell him I expect him to come on to Washington
+as soon as he is ready; say to him that I will look after those
+Maryland and Virginia rangers myself. I will plant cannon at both
+ends of Pennsylvania avenue, and if any of them show their heads
+or raise a finger, I'll blow them to h---."
+
+
+"YANKEE" GOODNESS OF HEART.
+
+One day, when the President was with the troops who were fighting
+at the front, the wounded, both Union and Confederate, began to
+pour in.
+
+As one stretcher was passing Lincoln, he heard the voice of a lad
+calling to his mother in agonizing tones. His great heart filled.
+He forgot the crisis of the hour. Stopping the carriers, he
+knelt, and bending over him, asked: "What can I do for you, my
+poor child?"
+
+"Oh, you will do nothing for me," he replied. "You are a Yankee.
+I cannot hope that my message to my mother will ever reach her."
+
+Lincoln, in tears, his voice full of tenderest love, convinced
+the boy of his sincerity, and he gave his good-bye words without
+reserve.
+
+The President directed them copied, and ordered that they be sent
+that night, with a flag of truce, into the enemy's lines.
+
+
+WALKED AS HE TALKED.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln made his famous humorous speech in Congress
+ridiculing General Cass, he began to speak from notes, but, as he
+warmed up, he left his desk and his notes, to stride down the
+alley toward the Speaker's chair.
+
+Occasionally, as he would complete a sentence amid shouts of
+laughter, he would return up the alley to his desk, consult his
+notes, take a sip of water and start off again.
+
+Mr. Lincoln received many congratulations at the close, Democrats
+joining the Whigs in their complimentary comments.
+
+One Democrat, however (who had been nicknamed "Sausage" Sawyer),
+didn't enthuse at all.
+
+"Sawyer," asked an Eastern Representative, "how did you like the
+lanky Illinoisan's speech? Very able, wasn't it?"
+
+"Well," replied Sawyer, "the speech was pretty good, but I hope
+he won't charge mileage on his travels while delivering it."
+
+
+THE SONG DID THE BUSINESS.
+
+The Virginia (Ill.) Enquirer, of March 1, 1879, tells this story:
+
+"John McNamer was buried last Sunday, near Petersburg, Menard
+county. A long while ago he was Assessor and Treasurer of the
+County for several successive terms. Mr. McNamer was an early
+settler in that section, and, before the town of Petersburg was
+laid out, in business in Old Salem, a village that existed many
+years ago two miles south of the present site of Petersburg.
+
+"'Abe' Lincoln was then postmaster of the place and sold whisky
+to its inhabitants. There are old-timers yet living in Menard who
+bought many a jug of corn-juice from 'Old Abe' when he lived at
+Salem. It was here that Anne Rutledge dwelt, and in whose grave
+Lincoln wrote that his heart was buried.
+
+"As the story runs, the fair and gentle Anne was originally John
+McNamer's sweetheart, but 'Abe' took a 'shine' to the young lady,
+and succeeded in heading off McNamer and won her affections. But
+Anne Rutledge died, and Lincoln went to Springfield, where he
+some time afterwards married.
+
+"It is related that during the War a lady belonging to a
+prominent Kentucky family visited Washington to beg for her son's
+pardon, who was then in prison under sentence of death for
+belonging to a band of guerrillas who had committed many murders
+and outrages.
+
+"With the mother was her daughter, a beautiful young lady, who
+was an accomplished musician. Mr. Lincoln received the visitors
+in his usual kind manner, and the mother made known the object of
+her visit, accompanying her plea with tears and sobs and all the
+customary romantic incidents.
+
+"There were probably extenuating circumstances in favor of the
+young rebel prisoner, and while the President seemed to be deeply
+pondering the young lady moved to a piano near by and taking a
+seat commenced to sing 'Gentle Annie,' a very sweet and pathetic
+ballad which, before the War, was a familiar song in almost every
+household in the Union, and is not yet entirely forgotten, for
+that matter.
+
+"It is to be presumed that the young lady sang the song with more
+plaintiveness and effect than 'Old Abe' had ever heard it in
+Springfield. During its rendition, he arose from his seat,
+crossed the room to a window in the westward, through which he
+gazed for several minutes with a 'sad, far-away look,' which has
+so often been noted as one of his peculiarities.
+
+"His memory, no doubt, went back to the days of his humble life
+on the Sangamon, and with visions of Old Salem and its rustic
+people, who once gathered in his primitive store, came a picture
+of the 'Gentle Annie' of his youth, whose ashes had rested for
+many long years under the wild flowers and brambles of the old
+rural burying-ground, but whose spirit then, perhaps, guided him
+to the side of mercy.
+
+"Be that as it may, President Lincoln drew a large red silk
+handkerchief from his coatpocket, with which he wiped his face
+vigorously. Then he turned, advanced quickly to his desk, wrote a
+brief note, which he handed to the lady, and informed her that it
+was the pardon she sought.
+
+"The scene was no doubt touching in a great degree and proves
+that a nice song, well sung, has often a powerful influence in
+recalling tender recollections. It proves, also, that Abraham
+Lincoln was a man of fine feelings, and that, if the occurrence
+was a put-up job on the lady's part, it accomplished the purpose
+all the same."
+
+
+A "FREE FOR ALL."
+
+Lincoln made a political speech at Pappsville, Illinois, when a
+candidate for the Legislature the first time. A free-for-all
+fight began soon after the opening of the meeting, and Lincoln,
+noticing one of his friends about to succumb to the energetic
+attack of an infuriated ruffian, edged his way through the crowd,
+and, seizing the bully by the neck and the seat of his trousers,
+threw him, by means of his strength and long arms, as one witness
+stoutly insists, "twelve feet away." Returning to the stand, and
+throwing aside his hat, he inaugurated his campaign with the
+following brief but pertinent declaration
+
+"Fellow-citizens, I presume you all know who I am. I am humble
+Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become
+a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet,
+like the old woman's dance. I am in favor of the national bank; I
+am in favor of the internal improvement system and a high
+protective tariff. These are my sentiments; if elected, I shall
+be thankful; if not, it will be all the same."
+
+
+THREE INFERNAL BORES.
+
+One day, when President Lincoln was alone and busily engaged on
+an important subject, involving vexation and anxiety, he was
+disturbed by the unwarranted intrusion of three men, who, without
+apology, proceeded to lay their claim before him.
+
+The spokesman of the three reminded the President that they were
+the owners of some torpedo or other warlike invention which, if
+the government would only adopt it, would soon crush the
+rebellion.
+
+"Now," said the spokesman, "we have been here to see you time and
+again; you have referred us to the Secretary of War, the Chief of
+Ordnance, and the General of the Army, and they give us no
+satisfaction. We have been kept here waiting, till money and
+patience are exhausted, and we now come to demand of you a final
+reply to our application."
+
+Mr. Lincoln listened to this insolent tirade, and at its close
+the old twinkle came into his eye.
+
+"You three gentlemen remind me of a story I once heard," said he,
+"of a poor little boy out West who had lost his mother. His
+father wanted to give him a religious education, and so placed
+him in the family of a clergyman, whom he directed to instruct
+the little fellow carefully in the Scriptures. Every day the boy
+had to commit to memory and recite one chapter of the Bible.
+Things proceeded smoothly until they reached that chapter which
+details the story of the trial of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
+in the fiery furnace. When asked to repeat these three names the
+boy said he had forgotten them.
+
+"His teacher told him that he must learn them, and gave him
+another day to do so. The next day the boy again forgot them.
+
+"'Now,' said the teacher, 'you have again failed to remember
+those names and you can go no farther until you have learned
+them. I will give you another day on this lesson, and if you
+don't repeat the names I will punish you.'
+
+"A third time the boy came to recite, and got down to the
+stumbling block, when the clergyman said: 'Now tell me the names
+of the men in the fiery furnace.'
+
+"'Oh,' said the boy, 'here come those three infernal bores! I
+wish the devil had them!'"
+
+Having received their "final answer," the three patriots retired,
+and at the Cabinet meeting which followed, the President, in high
+good humor, related how he had dismissed his unwelcome visitors.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S MEN WERE "HUSTLERS."
+
+In the Chicago Convention of 1860 the fight for Seward was
+maintained with desperate resolve until the final ballot was
+taken. Thurlow Weed was the Seward leader, and he was simply
+incomparable as a master in handling a convention. With him were
+Governor Morgan, Henry J. Raymond, of the New York Times, with
+William M. Evarts as chairman of the New York delegation, whose
+speech nominating Seward was the most impressive utterance of his
+life. The Bates men (Bates was afterwards Lincoln's
+Attorney-General) were led by Frank Blair, the only Republican
+Congressman from a slave State, who was nothing if not heroic,
+aided by his brother Montgomery (afterwards Lincoln's Postmaster
+General), who was a politician of uncommon cunning. With them was
+Horace Greeley, who was chairman of the delegation from the then
+almost inaccessible State of Oregon.
+
+It was Lincoln's friends, however, who were the "hustlers" of
+that battle. They had men for sober counsel like David Davis; men
+of supreme sagacity like Leonard Swett; men of tireless effort
+like Norman B. Judd; and they had what was more important than
+all--a seething multitude wild with enthusiasm for "Old Abe."
+
+
+A SLOW HORSE.
+
+On one occasion when Mr. Lincoln was going to attend a political
+convention one of his rivals, a liveryman, provided him with a
+slow horse, hoping that he would not reach his destination in
+time. Mr. Lincoln got there, however, and when he returned with
+the horse he said: "You keep this horse for funerals, don't you?"
+"Oh, no," replied the liveryman. "Well, I'm glad of that, for if
+you did you'd never get a corpse to the grave in time for the
+resurrection."
+
+
+DODGING "BROWSING PRESIDENTS."
+
+General McClellan, after being put in command of the Army,
+resented any "interference" by the President. Lincoln, in his
+anxiety to know the details of the work in the army, went
+frequently to McClellan's headquarters. That the President had a
+serious purpose in these visits McClellan did not see.
+
+"I enclose a card just received from 'A. Lincoln,'" he wrote to
+his wife one day; "it shows too much deference to be seen
+outside."
+
+In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke of being
+"interrupted" by the President and Secretary Seward, "who had
+nothing in particular to say," and again of concealing himself
+"to dodge all enemies in shape of 'browsing' Presidents," etc.
+
+"I am becoming daily more disgusted with this Administration--
+perfectly sick of it," he wrote early in October; and a few days
+later, "I was obliged to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at 8 P.
+M., and was bored and annoyed. There are some of the greatest
+geese in the Cabinet I have ever seen--enough to tax the patience
+of Job."
+
+
+A GREENBACK LEGEND.
+
+At a Cabinet meeting once, the advisability of putting a legend
+on
+greenbacks similar to the In God We Trust legend on the silver
+coins was discussed, and the President was asked what his view
+was. He replied: "If you are going to put a legend on the
+greenback, I would suggest that of Peter and Paul: 'Silver and
+gold we have not, but what we have we'll give you.'"
+
+
+GOD'S BEST GIFT TO MAN.
+
+One of Mr. Lincoln's notable religious utterances was his reply
+to a deputation of colored people at Baltimore who presented him
+a Bible. He said:
+
+"In regard to the great book, I have only to say it is the best
+gift which God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior
+of the world is communicated to us through this book. But for
+this book we could not know right from wrong. All those things
+desirable to man are contained in it."
+
+
+SCALPING IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
+
+When Lincoln was President he told this story of the Black Hawk
+War:
+
+The only time he ever saw blood in this campaign, was one morning
+when, marching up a little valley that makes into the Rock River
+bottom, to reinforce a squad of outposts that were thought to be
+in danger, they came upon the tent occupied by the other party
+just at sunrise. The men had neglected to place any guard at
+night, and had been slaughtered in their sleep.
+
+As the reinforcing party came up the slope on which the camp had
+been made, Lincoln saw them all lying with their heads towards
+the rising sun, and the round red spot that marked where they had
+been scalped gleamed more redly yet in the ruddy light of the
+sun. This scene years afterwards he recalled with a shudder.
+
+
+MATRIMONIAL ADVICE.
+
+For a while during the Civil War, General Fremont was without a
+command. One day in discussing Fremont's case with George W.
+Julian, President Lincoln said he did not know where to place
+him, and that it reminds him of the old man who advised his son
+to take a wife, to which the young man responded: "All right;
+whose wife shall I take?"
+
+
+OWED LOTS OF MONEY.
+
+On April 14, 1865, a few hours previous to his assassination,
+President Lincoln sent a message by Congressman Schuyler Colfax,
+Vice-President during General Grant's first term, to the miners
+in the Rocky Mountains and the regions bounded by the Pacific
+ocean, in which he said:
+
+"Now that the Rebellion is overthrown, and we know pretty nearly
+the amount of our National debt, the more gold and silver we
+mine,
+we make the payment of that debt so much easier.
+
+"Now I am going to encourage that in every possible way. We shall
+have hundreds of thousands of disbanded soldiers, and many have
+feared that their return home in such great numbers might
+paralyze industry by furnishing, suddenly, a greater supply of
+labor than there will be demand for. I am going to try to attract
+them to the hidden wealth of our mountain ranges, where there is
+room enough for all. Immigration, which even the War has not
+stopped, will land upon our shores hundreds of thousands more per
+year from overcrowded Europe. I intend to point them to the gold
+and silver that wait for them in the West.
+
+"Tell the miners for me that I shall promote their interests to
+the utmost of my ability; because their prosperity as the
+prosperity of the nation; and," said he, his eye kindling with
+enthusiasm, "we shall prove, in a very few years, that we are
+indeed the treasury of the world."
+
+
+"ON THE LORD'S SIDE."
+
+President Lincoln made a significant remark to a clergyman in the
+early days of the War.
+
+"Let us have faith, Mr. President," said the minister, "that the
+Lord is on our side in this great struggle."
+
+Mr. Lincoln quietly answered: "I am not at all concerned about
+that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the
+right; but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this
+nation may be on the Lord's side."
+
+
+WANTED TO BE NEAR "ABE."
+
+It was Lincoln's custom to hold an informal reception once a
+week, each caller taking his turn.
+
+Upon one of these eventful days an old friend from Illinois stood
+in line for almost an hour. At last he was so near the President
+his voice could reach him, and, calling out to his old associate,
+he startled every one by exclaiming, "Hallo, 'Abe'; how are ye?
+I'm in line and hev come for an orfice, too."
+
+Lincoln singled out the man with the stentorian voice, and
+recognizing
+
+"a particularly old friend, one whose wife had befriended him at
+a peculiarly trying time, the President responded to his greeting
+in a cordial manner, and told him "to hang onto himself and not
+kick the traces. Keep in line and you'll soon get here."
+
+They met and shook hands with the old fervor and renewed their
+friendship.
+
+The informal reception over, Lincoln sent for his old friend, and
+the latter began to urge his claims.
+
+After having given him some good advice, Lincoln kindly told him
+he was incapable of holding any such position as he asked for.
+The disappointment of the Illinois friend was plainly shown, and
+with a perceptible tremor in his voice he said, "Martha's dead,
+the gal is married, and I've guv Jim the forty."
+
+Then looking at Lincoln he came a little nearer and almost
+whispered, "I knowed I wasn't eddicated enough to git the place,
+but I kinder want to stay where I ken see 'Abe' Lincoln."
+
+He was given employment in the White House grounds.
+
+Afterwards the President said, "These brief interviews, stripped
+of even the semblance of ceremony, give me a better insight into
+the real character of the person and his true reason for seeking
+one."
+
+
+GOT HIS FOOT IN IT.
+
+William H. Seward, idol of the Republicans of the East, six
+months after Lincoln had made his "Divided House" speech,
+delivered an address at Rochester, New York, containing this
+famous sentence:
+
+"It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring
+forces, and it means that the United States must, and will,
+sooner or later, become either entirely a slave-holding nation,
+or entirely a free-labor nation."
+
+Seward, who had simply followed in Lincoln's steps, was defeated
+for the Presidential nomination at the Republican National
+Convention of 1860, because he was "too radical," and Lincoln,
+who was still "radicaler," was named.
+
+
+SAVED BY A LETTER.
+
+The chief interest of the Illinois campaign of 1843 lay in the
+race for Congress in the Capital district, which was between
+Hardin--fiery, eloquent, and impetuous Democrat--and Lincoln--
+plain, practical, and ennobled Whig. The world knows the result.
+Lincoln was elected.
+
+It is not so much his election as the manner in which he secured
+his nomination with which we have to deal. Before that
+ever-memorable spring Lincoln vacillated between the courts of
+Springfield, rated as a plain, honest, logical Whig, with no
+ambition higher politically than to occupy some good home office.
+
+Late in the fall of 1842 his name began to be mentioned in
+connection with Congressional aspirations, which fact greatly
+annoyed the leaders of his political party, who had already
+selected as the Whig candidate E. D. Baker, afterward the gallant
+Colonel who fell so bravely and died such an honorable death on
+the battlefield of Ball's Bluff.
+
+Despite all efforts of his opponents within his party, the name
+of the "gaunt railsplitter" was hailed with acclaim by the
+masses, to whom he had endeared himself by his witticisms, honest
+tongue, and quaint philosophy when on the stump, or mingling with
+them in their homes.
+
+The convention, which met in early spring, in the city of
+Springfield, was to be composed of the usual number of delegates.
+The contest for the nomination was spirited and exciting.
+
+A few weeks before the meeting of the convention the fact was
+found by the leaders that the advantage lay with Lincoln, and
+that unless they pulled some very fine wires nothing could save
+Baker.
+
+They attempted to play the game that has so often won, by
+"convincing" delegates under instructions for Lincoln to violate
+them, and vote for Baker. They had apparently succeeded.
+
+"The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley." So it was
+in this case. Two days before the convention Lincoln received an
+intimation of this, and, late at night, wrote the following
+letter.
+
+The letter was addressed to Martin Morris, who resided at
+Petersburg, an intimate friend of his, and by him circulated
+among those who were instructed for him at the county convention.
+
+It had the desired effect. The convention met, the scheme of the
+conspirators miscarried, Lincoln was nominated, made a vigorous
+canvass, and was triumphantly elected, thus paving the way for
+his more extended and brilliant conquests.
+
+This letter, Lincoln had often told his friends, gave him
+ultimately the Chief Magistracy of the nation. He has also said,
+that, had he been beaten before the convention, he would have
+been forever obscured. The following is a verbatim copy of the
+epistle
+
+"April 14, 1843.
+
+"Friend Morris: I have heard it intimated that Baker is trying to
+get you or Miles, or both of you, to violate the instructions of
+the meeting that appointed you, and to go for him. I have
+insisted, and still insist, that this cannot be true.
+
+"Sure Baker would not do the like. As well might Hardin ask me to
+vote for him in the convention.
+
+"Again, it is said there will be an attempt to get instructions
+in your county requiring you to go for Baker. This is all wrong.
+Upon the same rule, why might I not fly from the decision against
+me at Sangamon and get up instructions to their delegates to go
+for me. There are at least 1,200 Whigs in the county that took no
+part, and yet I would as soon stick my head in the fire as
+attempt it.
+
+"Besides, if any one should get the nomination by such
+extraordinary means, all harmony in the district would inevitably
+be lost. Honest Whigs (and very nearly all of them are honest)
+would not quietly abide such enormities.
+
+"I repeat, such an attempt on Baker's part cannot be true. Write
+me at Springfield how the matter is. Don't show or speak of this
+letter.
+
+"A. LINCOLN."
+
+
+Mr. Morris did show the letter, and Mr. Lincoln always thanked
+his stars that he did.
+
+
+HIS FAVORITE POEM.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's favorite poem was "Oh! Why Should the Spirit of
+Mortal Be Proud?" written by William Knox, a Scotchman, although
+Mr. Lincoln never knew the author's name. He once said to a
+friend:
+
+"This poem has been a great favorite with me for years. It was
+first shown to me, when a young man, by a friend. I afterward saw
+it and cut it from a newspaper and learned it by heart. I would
+give a great deal to know who wrote it, but I have never been
+able to ascertain."
+
+"Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?--
+Like a swift-fleeing meteor, a fastflying cloud,
+A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
+He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
+
+"The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
+Be scattered around, and together be laid;
+And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
+Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie.
+
+"The infant a mother attended and loved;
+The mother, that infant's affection who proved,
+The husband, that mother and infant who blessed--
+Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest.
+
+"The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye,
+Shone beauty and pleasure--her triumphs are by;
+And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
+Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
+
+"The hand of the king, that the sceptre hath borne,
+The brow of the priest, that the mitre hath worn,
+The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave,
+Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.
+
+"The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap,
+The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep;
+The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
+Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
+
+"The saint, who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
+The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven;
+The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
+Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.
+
+"So the multitude goes--like the flower or the weed
+That withers away to let others succeed;
+So the multitude comes--even those we behold,
+To repeat every tale that has often been told:
+
+"For we are the same our fathers have been;
+We see the same sights our fathers have seen;
+We drink the same stream, we view the same sun,
+And run the same course our fathers have run.
+
+"The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think;
+>From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink;
+To the life we are clinging, they also would cling--
+But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing.
+
+"They loved--but the story we cannot unfold;
+They scorned--but the heart of the haughty is cold;
+They grieved--but no wail from their slumber will come;
+They joyed--but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.
+
+"They died--aye, they died--and we things that are now,
+That walk on the turf that lies o'er their brow,
+And make in their dwellings a transient abode,
+Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.
+
+"Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
+Are mingled together in sunshine and rain;
+And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
+Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
+
+"'Tis the wink of an eye,--'tis the draught of a breath;--
+>From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
+>From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud:--
+Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?"
+
+
+FIVE-LEGGED CALF.
+
+President Lincoln had great doubt as to his right to emancipate
+the slaves under the War power. In discussing the question, he
+used to like the case to that of the boy who, when asked how many
+legs his calf would have if he called its tail a leg, replied,
+"five," to which the prompt response was made that calling the
+tail a leg would not make it a leg.
+
+
+A STAGE-COACH STORY.
+
+The following is told by Thomas H. Nelson, of Terre Haute,
+Indiana, who was appointed minister to Chili by Lincoln:
+
+Judge Abram Hammond, afterwards Governor of Indiana, and myself
+arranged to go from Terre Haute to Indianapolis in a stage-coach.
+
+As we stepped in we discovered that the entire back seat was
+occupied by a long, lank individual, whose head seemd to protrude
+from one end of the coach and his feet from the other. He was the
+sole occupant, and was sleeping soundly. Hammond slapped him
+familiarly on the shoulder, and asked him if he had chartered the
+coach that day.
+
+"Certainly not," and he at once took the front seat, politely
+giving us the place of honor and comfort. An odd-looking fellow
+he was, with a twenty-five cent hat, without vest or cravat.
+Regarding him as a good subject for merriment, we perpetrated
+several jokes.
+
+He took them all with utmost innocence and good nature, and
+joined in the laugh, although at his own expense.
+
+After an astounding display of wordy pyrotechnics, the dazed and
+bewildered stranger asked, "What will be the upshot of this comet
+business?"
+
+Late in the evening we reached Indianapolis, and hurried to
+Browning's hotel, losing sight of the stranger altogether.
+
+We retired to our room to brush our clothes. In a few minutes I
+descended to the portico, and there descried our long, gloomy
+fellow traveler in the center of an admiring group of lawyers,
+among whom were Judges McLean and Huntington, Albert S. White,
+and Richard W. Thompson, who seemed to be amused and interested
+in a story he was telling. I inquired of Browning, the landlord,
+who he was. "Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, a member of Congress,"
+was his response.
+
+I was thunderstruck at the announcement. I hastened upstairs and
+told Hammond the startling news, and together we emerged from the
+hotel by a back door, and went down an alley to another house,
+thus avoiding further contact with our distinguished fellow
+traveler.
+
+Years afterward, when the President-elect was on his way to
+Washington, I was in the same hotel looking over the
+distinguished party, when a long arm reached to my shoulder, and
+a shrill voice exclaimed, "Hello, Nelson! do you think, after
+all, the whole world is going to follow the darned thing off?"
+The words were my own in answer to his question in the
+stage-coach. The speaker was Abraham Lincoln.
+
+
+THE "400" GATHERED THERE.
+
+Lincoln had periods while "clerking" in the New Salem grocery
+store during which there was nothing for him to do, and was
+therefore in circumstances that made laziness almost inevitable.
+Had people come to him for goods, they would have found him
+willing to sell them. He sold all that he could, doubtless.
+
+The store soon became the social center of the village. If the
+people did not care (or were unable) to buy goods, they liked to
+go where they could talk with their neighbors and listen to
+stories. These Lincoln gave them in abundance, and of a rare
+sort.
+
+It was in these gatherings of the "Four Hundred" at the village
+store that Lincoln got his training as a debater. Public
+questions were discussed there daily and nightly, and Lincoln
+always took a prominent part in the discussions. Many of the
+debaters came to consider "Abe Linkin" as about the smartest man
+in the village.
+
+
+ONLY LEVEL-HEADED MEN WANTED.
+
+Lincoln wanted men of level heads for important commands. Not
+infrequently he gave his generals advice.
+
+He appreciated Hooker's bravery, dash and activity, but was
+fearful of the results of what he denominated "swashing around."
+
+This was one of his telegrams to Hooker:
+
+"And now, beware of rashness; beware of rashness, but, with
+energy and sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us
+victories."
+
+
+HIS FAITH IN THE MONITOR.
+
+When the Confederate iron-clad Merrimac was sent against the
+Union vessels in Hampton Roads President Lincoln expressed his
+belief in the Monitor to Captain Fox, the adviser of Captain
+Ericsson, who constructed the Monitor. "We have three of the most
+effective vessels in Hampton Roads, and any number of small craft
+that will hang on the stern of the Merrimac like small dogs on
+the haunches of a bear. They may not be able to tear her down,
+but they will interfere with the comfort of her voyage. Her trial
+trip will not be a pleasure trip, I am certain.
+
+"We have had a big share of bad luck already, but I do not
+believe the future has any such misfortunes in store for us as
+you anticipate." Said Captain Fox: "If the Merrimac does not sink
+our ships, who is to prevent her from dropping her anchor in the
+Potomac, where that steamer lies," pointing to a steamer at
+anchor below the long bridge, "and throwing her hundred-pound
+shells into this room, or battering down the walls of the
+Capitol?"
+
+"The Almighty, Captain," answered the President, excitedly, but
+without the least affectation. "I expect set-backs, defeats; we
+have had them and shall have them. They are common to all wars.
+But I have not the slightest fear of any result which shall
+fatally impair our military and naval strength, or give other
+powers any right to interfere in our quarrel. The destruction of
+the Capitol would do both.
+
+"I do not fear it, for this is God's fight, and He will win it in
+His own good time. He will take care that our enemies will not
+push us too far,
+
+"Speaking of iron-clads," said the President, "you do not seem to
+take the little Monitor into account. I believe in the Monitor
+and her commander. If Captain Worden does not give a good account
+of the Monitor and of himself, I shall have made a mistake in
+following my judgment for the first time since I have been here,
+Captain.
+
+"I have not made a mistake in following my clear judgment of men
+since this War began. I followed that judgment when I gave Worden
+the command of the Monitor. I would make the appointment over
+again to-day. The Monitor should be in Hampton Roads now. She
+left New York eight days ago."
+
+After the captain had again presented what he considered the
+possibilities of failure the President replied, "No, no, Captain,
+I respect your judgments as you have reason to know, but this
+time you are all wrong.
+
+"The Monitor was one of my inspirations; I believed in her firmly
+when that energetic contractor first showed me Ericsson's plans.
+Captain Ericsson's plain but rather enthusiastic demonstration
+made my conversion permanent. It was called a floating battery
+then; I called it a raft. I caught some of the inventor's
+enthusiasm and it has been growing upon me. I thought then, and I
+am confident now, it is just what we want. I am sure that the
+Monitor is still afloat, and that she will yet give a good
+account of herself. Sometimes I think she may be the veritable
+sling with a stone that will yet smite the Merrimac Philistine in
+the forehead."
+
+Soon was the President's judgment verified, for the "Fight of the
+Monitor and Merrimac" changed all the conditions of naval
+warfare.
+
+After the victory was gained, the presiding Captain Fox and
+others went on board the Monitor, and Captain Worden was
+requested by the President to narrate the history of the
+encounter.
+
+Captain Worden did so in a modest manner, and apologized for not
+being able better to provide for his guests. The President
+smilingly responded "Some charitable people say that old Bourbon
+is an indispensable element in the fighting qualities of some of
+our generals in the field, but, Captain, after the account that
+we have heard to-day, no one will say that any Dutch courage is
+needed on board the Monitor."
+
+"It never has been, sir," modestly observed the captain.
+
+Captain Fox then gave a description of what he saw of the
+engagement and described it as indescribably grand. Then, turning
+to the President, he continued, "Now standing here on the deck of
+this battle-scarred vessel, the first genuine iron-clad--the
+victor in the first fight of iron-clads--let me make a
+confession, and perform an act of simple justice.
+
+"I never fully believed in armored vessels until I saw this
+battle.
+
+"I know all the facts which united to give us the Monitor. I
+withhold no credit from Captain Ericsson, her inventor, but I
+know that the country is principally indebted for the
+construction of the vessel to President Lincoln, and for the
+success of her trial to Captain Worden, her commander."
+
+
+HER ONLY IMPERFECTION.
+
+At one time a certain Major Hill charged Lincoln with making
+defamatory remarks regarding Mrs. Hill.
+
+Hill was insulting in his language to Lincoln who never lost his
+temper.
+
+When he saw his chance to edge a word in, Lincoln denied
+emphatically using the language or anything like that attributed
+to him.
+
+He entertained, he insisted, a high regard for Mrs. Hill, and the
+only thing he knew to her discredit was the fact that she was
+Major Hill's wife.
+
+
+THE OLD LADY'S PROPHECY.
+
+Among those who called to congratulate Mr. Lincoln upon his
+nomination for President was an old lady, very plainly dressed.
+She knew Mr. Lincoln, but Mr. Lincoln did not at first recognize
+her. Then she undertook to recall to his memory certain incidents
+connected with his ride upon the circuit--especially his dining
+at her house upon the road at different times. Then he remembered
+her and her home.
+
+Having fixed her own place in his recollection, she tried to
+recall to him a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he
+once ate at her house. He could not remember it--on the contrary,
+he only remembered that he had always fared well at her house.
+
+"Well," she said, "one day you came along after we had got
+through dinner, and we had eaten up everything, and I could give
+you nothing but a bowl of bread and milk, and you ate it; and
+when you got up you said it was good enough for the President of
+the United States!"
+
+The good woman had come in from the country, making a journey of
+eight or ten miles, to relate to Mr. Lincoln this incident,
+which, in her mind, had doubtless taken the form of a prophecy.
+Mr. Lincoln placed the honest creature at her ease, chatted with
+her of old times, and dismissed her in the most happy frame of
+mind.
+
+
+HOW THE TOWN OF LINCOLN, ILL., WAS NAMED.
+
+The story of naming the town of Lincoln, the county seat of Logan
+county, Illinois, is thus given on good authority:
+
+The first railroad had been built through the county, and a
+station was about to be located there. Lincoln, Virgil Hitchcock,
+Colonel R. B. Latham and several others were sitting on a pile of
+ties and talking about moving a county seat from Mount Pulaski.
+Mr. Lincoln rose and started to walk away, when Colonel Latham
+said: "Lincoln, if you will help us to get the county seat here,
+we will call the place Lincoln."
+
+"All right, Latham," he replied.
+
+Colonel Latham then deeded him a lot on the west side of the
+courthouse, and he owned it at the time he was elected President.
+
+
+"OLD JEFF'S" BIG NIGHTMARE.
+
+"Jeff" Davis had a large and threatening nightmare in November,
+1864, and what he saw in his troubled dreams was the long and
+lanky figure of Abraham Lincoln, who had just been endorsed by
+the people of the United States for another term in the White
+House at Washington. The cartoon reproduced here is from the
+issue of "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" of December 3rd,
+1864, it being entitled "Jeff Davis' November Nightmare."
+
+Davis had been told that McClellan, "the War is a failure"
+candidate for the Presidency, would have no difficulty whatever
+in defeating Lincoln; that negotiations with the Confederate
+officials for the cessation of hostilities would be entered into
+as soon as McClellan was seated in the Chief Executive's chair;
+that the Confederacy would, in all probability, be recognized as
+an independent government by the Washington Administration; that
+the "sacred institution" of slavery would continue to do business
+at the old stand; that the Confederacy would be one of the great
+nations of the world, and have all the "State Rights" and other
+things it wanted, with absolutely no interference whatever upon
+the part of the North.
+
+Therefore, Lincoln's re-election was a rough, rude shock to
+Davis, who had not prepared himself for such an event. Six months
+from the date of that nightmare-dream he was a prisoner in the
+hands of the Union forces, and the Confederacy was a thing of the
+past.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S LAST OFFICIAL ACT.
+
+Probably the last official act of President Lincoln's life was
+the signing of the commission reappointing Alvin Saunders
+Governor of Nebraska.
+
+"I saw Mr. Lincoln regarding the matter," said Governor Saunders,
+"and he told me to go home; that he would attend to it all right.
+I left Washington on the morning of the 14th, and while en route
+the news of the assassination on the evening of the same day
+reached me. I immediately wired back to find out what had become
+of my commission, and was told that the room had not been opened.
+When it was opened, the document was found lying on the desk.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln signed it just before leaving for the theater that
+fatal evening, and left it lying there, unfolded.
+
+"A note was found below the document as follows: 'Rather a
+lengthy commission, bestowing upon Mr. Alvin Saunders the
+official authority of Governor of the Territory of Nebraska.'
+Then came Lincoln's signature, which, with one exception, that of
+a penciled message on the back of a card sent up by a friend as
+Mr. Lincoln was dressing for the theater, was the very last
+signature of the martyred President."
+
+THE LAD NEEDED THE SLEEP.
+
+A personal friend of President Lincoln is authority for this:
+
+"I called on him one day in the early part of the War. He had
+just written a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced to
+be shot for sleeping at his post. He remarked as he read it to
+me:
+
+"'I could not think of going into eternity with the blood of the
+poor young man on my skirts.' Then he added:
+
+"'It is not to be wondered at that a boy, raised on a farm,
+probably in the habit of going to bed at dark, should, when
+required to watch, fall asleep; and I cannot consent to shoot him
+for such an act.'"
+
+
+"MASSA LINKUM LIKE DE LORD!"
+
+By the Act of Emancipation President Lincoln built for himself
+forever the first place in the affections of the African race in
+this country. The love and reverence manifested for him by many
+of these people has, on some occasions, almost reached adoration.
+One day Colonel McKaye, of New York, who had been one of a
+committee to investigate the condition of the freedmen, upon his
+return from Hilton Head and Beaufort called upon the President,
+and in the course of the interview said that up to the time of
+the arrival among them in the South of the Union forces they had
+no knowledge of any other power. Their masters fled upon the
+approach of our soldiers, and this gave the slaves the conception
+of a power greater than their masters exercised. This power they
+called "Massa Linkum."
+
+Colonel McKaye said their place of worship was a large building
+they called "the praise house," and the leader of the "meeting,"
+a venerable black man, was known as "the praise man."
+
+On a certain day, when there was quite a large gathering of the
+people, considerable confusion was created by different persons
+attempting to tell who and what "Massa Linkum" was. In the midst
+of the excitement the white-headed leader commanded silence.
+"Brederen," said he, "you don't know nosen' what you'se talkin'
+'bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa Linkum, he ebery whar.
+He know ebery ting."
+
+Then, solemnly looking up, he added: "He walk de earf like de
+Lord!"
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN TOOK THE NEWS.
+
+One of Lincoln's most dearly loved friends, United States Senator
+Edward D. Baker, of Oregon, Colonel of the Seventy-first
+Pennsylvania, a former townsman of Mr. Lincoln, was killed at the
+battle of Ball's Bluff, in October, 1861. The President went to
+General McClellan's headquarters to hear the news, and a friend
+thus described the effect it had upon him:
+
+"We could hear the click of the telegraph in the adjoining room
+and low conversation between the President and General McClellan,
+succeeded by silence, excepting the click, click of the
+instrument, which went on with its tale of disaster.
+
+"Five minutes passed, and then Mr. Lincoln, unattended, with
+bowed head and tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, his face
+pale and wan, his breast heaving with emotion, passed through the
+room. He almost fell as he stepped into the street. We sprang
+involuntarily from our seats to render assistance, but he did not
+fall.
+
+"With both hands pressed upon his heart, he walked down the
+street, not returning the salute of the sentinel pacing his beat
+before the door."
+
+
+PROFANITY AS A SAFETY-VALVE.
+
+Lincoln never indulged in profanity, but confessed that when Lee
+was beaten at Malvern Hill, after seven days of fighting, and
+Richmond, but twelve miles away, was at McClellan's mercy, he
+felt very much like swearing when he learned that the Union
+general had retired to Harrison's Landing.
+
+Lee was so confident his opponent would not go to Richmond that
+he took his army into Maryland--a move he would not have made had
+an energetic fighting man been in McClellan's place.
+
+It is true McClellan followed and defeated Lee in the bloodiest
+battle of the War--Antietam--afterwards following him into
+Virginia; but Lincoln could not bring himself to forgive the
+general's inaction before Richmond.
+
+
+WHY WE WON AT GETTYSBURG.
+
+President Lincoln said to General Sickles, just after the victory
+of Gettysburg: "The fact is, General, in the stress and pinch of
+the campaign there, I went to my room, and got down on my knees
+and prayed God Almighty for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him
+that this was His country, and the war was His war, but that we
+really couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville.
+And then and there I made a solemn vow with my Maker that if He
+would stand by you boys at Gettysburg I would stand by Him. And
+He did, and I will! And after this I felt that God Almighty had
+taken the whole thing into His hands."
+
+
+HAD TO WAIT FOR HIM.
+
+President Lincoln, having arranged to go to New York, was late
+for his train, much to the disgust of those who were to accompany
+him, and all were compelled to wait several hours until the next
+train steamed out of the station. President Lincoln was much
+amused at the dissatisfaction displayed, and then ventured the
+remark that the situation reminded him of "a little story." Said
+he:
+
+"Out in Illinois, a convict who had murdered his cellmate was
+sentenced to be hanged. On the day set for the execution, crowds
+lined the roads leading to the spot where the scaffold had been
+erected, and there was much jostling and excitement. The
+condemned man took matters coolly, and as one batch of
+perspiring, anxious men rushed past the cart in which he was
+riding, he called out, 'Don't be in a hurry, boys. You've got
+plenty of time. There won't be any fun until I get there.'
+
+"That's the condition of things now," concluded the President;
+"there won't be any fun at New York until I get there."
+
+
+PRESIDENT AND CABINET JOINED IN PRAYER.
+
+On the day the news of General Lee's surrender at Appomattox
+Court-House was received, so an intimate friend of President
+Lincoln relates, the Cabinet meeting was held an hour earlier
+than usual. Neither the President nor any member of the Cabinet
+was able, for a time, to give utterance to his feelings. At the
+suggestion of Mr. Lincoln all dropped on their knees, and
+offered, in silence and in tears, their humble and heartfelt
+acknowledgments to the Almighty for the triumph He had granted to
+the National cause.
+
+
+BELIEVED HE WAS A CHRISTIAN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was much impressed with the devotion and earnestness
+of purpose manifested by a certain lady of the "Christian
+Commission" during the War, and on one occasion, after she had
+discharged the object of her visit, said to her:
+
+"Madam, I have formed a high opinion of your Christian character,
+and now, as we are alone, I have a mind to ask you to give me in
+brief your idea of what constitutes a true religious experience."
+
+The lady replied at some length, stating that, in her judgment,
+it consisted of a conviction of one's own sinfulness and
+weakness, and a personal need of the Saviour for strength and
+support; that views of mere doctrine might and would differ, but
+when one was really brought to feel his need of divine help, and
+to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, it
+was satisfactory evidence of his having been born again. This was
+the substance of her reply.
+
+When she had, concluded Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a few
+moments. He at length said, very earnestly: "If what you have
+told me is really a correct view of this great subject I think I
+can say with sincerity that I hope I am a Christian. I had
+lived," he continued, "until my boy Willie died without fully
+realizing these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my
+weakness as I had never felt it before, and if I can take what
+you have stated as a test I think I can safely say that I know
+something of that change of which you speak; and I will further
+add that it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable
+opportunity, to make a public religious profession."
+
+
+WITH THE HELP OF GOD.
+
+Mr. Lincoln once remarked to Mr. Noah Brooks, one of his most
+intimate personal friends: "I should be the most presumptuous
+blockhead upon this footstool if I for one day thought that I
+could discharge the duties which have come upon me, since I came
+to this place, without the aid and enlightenment of One who is
+stronger and wiser than all others."
+
+He said on another occasion: "I am very sure that if I do not go
+away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, from
+having learned here what a very poor sort of a man I am."
+
+
+TURNED TEARS TO SMILES.
+
+One night Schuyler Colfax left all other business to go to the
+White House to ask the President to respite the son of a
+constituent, who was sentenced to be shot, at Davenport, for
+desertion. Mr. Lincoln heard the story with his usual patience,
+though he was wearied out with incessant calls, and anxious for
+rest, and then replied:
+
+"Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline and
+subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but it
+makes me rested, after a hard day's work, if I can find some good
+excuse for saving a man's life, and I go to bed happy as I think
+how joyous the signing of my name will make him and his family
+and his friends."
+
+And with a happy smile beaming over that care-furrowed face, he
+signed that name that saved that life.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S LAST WRITTEN WORDS.
+
+As the President and Mrs. Lincoln were leaving the White House, a
+few minutes before eight o'clock, on the evening of April 14th,
+1865, Lincoln wrote this note:
+
+"Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come to see me at 9 o'clock a.
+m., to-morrow, April 15th, 1865."
+
+
+WOMEN PLEAD FOR PARDONS.
+
+One day during the War an attractively and handsomely dressed
+woman called on President Lincoln to procure the release from
+prison of a relation in whom she professed the deepest interest.
+
+She was a good talker, and her winning ways seemed to make a deep
+impression on the President. After listening to her story, he
+wrote a few words on a card: "This woman, dear Stanton, is a
+little smarter than she looks to be," enclosed it in an envelope
+and directed her to take it to the Secretary of War.
+
+On the same day another woman called, more humble in appearance,
+more plainly clad. It was the old story.
+
+Father and son both in the army, the former in prison. Could not
+the latter be discharged from the army and sent home to help his
+mother?
+
+A few strokes of the pen, a gentle nod of the head, and the
+little woman, her eyes filling with tears and expressing a
+grateful acknowledgment her tongue, could not utter, passed out.
+
+A lady so thankful for the release of her husband was in the act
+of kneeling in thankfulness. "Get up," he said, "don't kneel to
+me, but thank God and go."
+
+An old lady for the same reason came forward with tears in her
+eyes to express her gratitude. "Good-bye, Mr. Lincoln," said she;
+"I shall probably never see you again till we meet in heaven."
+She had the President's hand in hers, and he was deeply moved. He
+instantly took her right hand in both of his, and, following her
+to the door, said, "I am afraid with all my troubles I shall
+never get to the resting-place you speak of; but if I do, I am
+sure I shall find you. That you wish me to get there is, I
+believe, the best wish you could make for me. Good-bye."
+
+Then the President remarked to a friend, "It is more than many
+can often say, that in doing right one has made two people happy
+in one day. Speed, die when I may, I want it said of me by those
+who know me best, that I have always plucked a thistle and
+planted a flower when I thought a flower would grow."
+
+
+LINCOLN WISHED TO SEE RICHMOND.
+
+The President remarked to Admiral David D. Porter, while on board
+the flagship Malvern, on the James River, in front of Richmond,
+the day the city surrendered:
+
+"Thank God that I have lived to see this!
+
+"It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid dream for four
+years, and now the nightmare is gone.
+
+"I wish to see Richmond."
+
+
+SPOKEN LIKE A CHRISTIAN.
+
+Frederick Douglass told, in these words, of his first interview
+with President Lincoln:
+
+"I approached him with trepidation as to how this great man might
+receive me; but one word and look from him banished all my fears
+and set me perfectly at ease. I have often said since that
+meeting that it was much easier to see and converse with a great
+man than it was with a small man.
+
+"On that occasion he said:
+
+"'Douglass, you need not tell me who you are. Mr. Seward has
+told me all about you.'
+
+"I then saw that there was no reason to tell him my personal
+story, however interesting it might be to myself or others, so I
+told him at once the object of my visit. It was to get some
+expression from him upon three points:
+
+"1. Equal pay to colored soldiers.
+
+"2. Their promotion when they had earned it on the battle-field.
+
+"3. Should they be taken prisoners and enslaved or hanged, as
+Jefferson Davis had threatened, an equal number of Confederate
+prisoners should be executed within our lines.
+
+"A declaration to that effect I thought would prevent the
+execution of the rebel threat. To all but the last, President
+Lincoln assented. He argued, however, that neither equal pay nor
+promotion could be granted at once. He said that in view of
+existing prejudices it was a great step forward to employ colored
+troops at all; that it was necessary to avoid everything that
+would offend this prejudice and increase opposition to the
+measure.
+
+"He detailed the steps by which white soldiers were reconciled to
+the employment of colored troops; how these were first employed
+as laborers; how it was thought they should not be armed or
+uniformed like white soldiers; how they should only be made to
+wear a peculiar uniform; how they should be employed to hold
+forts and arsenals in sickly locations, and not enter the field
+like other soldiers.
+
+"With all these restrictions and limitations he easily made me
+see that much would be gained when the colored man loomed before
+the country as a full-fledged United States soldier to fight,
+flourish or fall in defense of the united republic. The great
+soul of Lincoln halted only when he came to the point of
+retaliation.
+
+"The thought of hanging men in cold blood, even though the rebels
+should murder a few of the colored prisoners, was a horror from
+which he shrank.
+
+"'Oh, Douglass! I cannot do that. If I could get hold of the
+actual murderers of colored prisoners I would retaliate; but to
+hang those who have no hand in such murders, I cannot.'
+
+"The contemplation of such an act brought to his countenance such
+an expression of sadness and pity that it made it hard for me to
+press my point, though I told him it would tend to save rather
+than destroy life. He, however, insisted that this work of blood,
+once begun, would be hard to stop--that such violence would beget
+violence. He argued more like a disciple of Christ than a
+commander-in-chief of the army and navy of a warlike nation
+already involved in a terrible war.
+
+"How sad and strange the fate of this great and good man, the
+saviour of his country, the embodiment of human charity, whose
+heart, though strong, was as tender as a heart of childhood; who
+always tempered justice with mercy; who sought to supplant the
+sword with counsel of reason, to suppress passion by kindness and
+moderation; who had a sigh for every human grief and a tear for
+every human woe, should at last perish by the hand of a desperate
+assassin, against whom no thought of malice had ever entered his
+heart!"
+
+
+"LINCOLN GOES IN WHEN THE QUAKERS ARE OUT"
+
+One of the campaign songs of 1860 which will never be forgotten
+was Whittier's "The Quakers Are Out:--"
+
+"Give the flags to the winds!
+  Set the hills all aflame!
+Make way for the man with
+  The Patriarch's name!
+Away with misgivings--away
+  With all doubt,
+For Lincoln goes in when the
+  Quakers are out!"
+
+Speaking of this song (with which he was greatly pleased) one day
+at the White House, the President said: "It reminds me of a
+little story I heard years ago out in Illinois. A political
+campaign was on, and the atmosphere was kept at a high
+temperature. Several fights had already occurred, many men having
+been seriously hurt, and the prospects were that the result would
+be close. One of the candidates was a professional politician
+with a huge wart on his nose, this disfigurement having earned
+for him the nickname of 'Warty.' His opponent was a young lawyer
+who wore 'biled' shirts, 'was shaved by a barber, and had his
+clothes made to fit him.
+
+"Now, 'Warty' was of Quaker stock, and around election time made
+a great parade of the fact. When there were no campaigns in
+progress he was anything but Quakerish in his language or
+actions. The young lawyer didn't know what the inside of a
+meeting house looked like.
+
+"Well, the night before election-day the two candidates came
+together at a joint debate, both being on the speakers' platform.
+The young lawyer had to speak after 'Warty,' and his reputation
+suffered at the hands of the Quaker, who told the many Friends
+present what a wicked fellow the young man was--never went to
+church, swore, drank, smoked and gambled.
+
+"After 'Warty' had finished the other arose and faced the
+audience. 'I'm not a good man,' said he, 'and what my opponent
+has said about me is true enough, but I'm always the same. I
+don't profess religion when I run for office, and then turn
+around and associate with bad people when the campaign's over.
+I'm no hypocrite. I don't sing many psalms. Neither does my
+opponent; and, talking about singing, I'd just like to hear my
+friend who is running against me sing the song--for the benefit
+of this audience--I heard him sing the night after he was
+nominated. I yield the floor to him:
+
+"Of course 'Warty' refused, his Quaker supporters grew
+suspicious, and when they turned out at the polls the following
+day they voted for the wicked young lawyer.
+
+"So, it's true that when 'the Quakers are out' the man they
+support is apt to go in."
+
+
+HAD CONFIDENCE IN HIM--"BUT--."
+
+"General Blank asks for more men," said Secretary of War Stanton
+to the President one day, showing the latter a telegram from the
+commander named appealing for re-enforcements.
+
+"I guess he's killed off enough men, hasn't he?" queried the
+President.
+
+"I don't mean Confederates--our own men. What's the use in
+sending volunteers down to him if they're only used to fill
+graves?"
+
+"His dispatch seems to imply that, in his opinion, you have not
+the confidence in him he thinks he deserves," the War Secretary
+went on to say, as he looked over the telegram again.
+
+"Oh," was the President's reply, "he needn't lose any of his
+sleep on that account. Just telegraph him to that effect; also,
+that I don't propose to send him any more men."
+
+
+HOW HOMINY WAS ORIGINATED.
+
+During the progress of a Cabinet meeting the subject of food for
+the men in the Army happened to come up. From that the
+conversation changed to the study of the Latin language.
+
+"I studied Latin once," said Mr. Lincoln, in a casual way.
+
+"Were you interested in it?" asked Mr. Seward, the Secretary of
+State.
+
+"Well, yes. I saw some very curious things," was the President's
+rejoinder.
+
+"What?" asked Secretary Seward.
+
+"Well, there's the word hominy, for instance. We have just
+ordered a lot of that stuff for the troops. I see how the word
+originated. I notice it came from the Latin word homo--a man.
+
+"When we decline homo, it is:
+
+"'Homo--a man.
+
+"'Hominis--of man.
+
+"'Homini--for man.'
+
+"So you see, hominy, being 'for man,' comes from the Latin. I
+guess those soldiers who don't know Latin will get along with it
+all right--though I won't rest real easy until I hear from the
+Commissary Department on it."
+
+
+HIS IDEA'S OLD, AFTER ALL.
+
+One day, while listening to one of the wise men who had called at
+the White House to unload a large cargo of advice, the President
+interjected a remark to the effect that he had a great reverence
+for learning.
+
+"This is not," President Lincoln explained, "because I am not an
+educated man. I feel the need of reading. It is a loss to a man
+not to have grown up among books."
+
+"Men of force," the visitor answered, "can get on pretty well
+without books. They do their own thinking instead of adopting
+what other men think."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Lincoln, "but books serve to show a man that
+those original thoughts of his aren't very new, after all."
+
+This was a point the caller was not willing to debate, and so he
+cut his call short.
+
+
+LINCOLN'S FIRST SPEECH.
+
+Lincoln made his first speech when he was a mere boy, going
+barefoot, his trousers held up by one suspender, and his shock of
+hair sticking through a hole in the crown of his cheap straw hat.
+
+"Abe," in company with Dennis Hanks, attended a political
+meeting, which was addressed by a typical stump speaker--one of
+those loud-voiced fellows who shouted at the top of his voice and
+waved his arms wildly.
+
+At the conclusion of the speech, which did not meet the views
+either of "Abe" or Dennis, the latter declared that "Abe" could
+make a better speech than that. Whereupon he got a dry-goods box
+and called on "Abe" to reply to the campaign orator.
+
+Lincoln threw his old straw hat on the ground, and, mounting the
+dry-goods box, delivered a speech which held the attention of the
+crowd and won him considerable applause. Even the campaign orator
+admitted that it was a fine speech and answered every point in
+his own "oration."
+
+Dennis Hanks, who thought "Abe" was about the greatest man that
+ever lived, was delighted, and he often told how young "Abe" got
+the better of the trained campaign speaker.
+
+
+"ABE WANTED NO "SNEAKIN' 'ROUND."
+
+It was in 1830, when "Abe" was just twenty-one years of age, that
+the Lincoln family moved from Gentryville, Indiana, to near
+Decatur, Illinois, their household goods being packed in a wagon
+drawn by four oxen driven by "Abe."
+
+The winter previous the latter had "worked" in a country store in
+Gentryville and before undertaking the journey he invested all
+the money he had--some thirty dollars--in notions, such as
+needles, pins, thread, buttons and other domestic necessities.
+These he sold to families along the route and made a profit of
+about one hundred per cent.
+
+This mercantile adventure of his youth "reminded" the President
+of a very clever story while the members of the Cabinet were one
+day solemnly debating a rather serious international problem. The
+President was in the minority, as was frequently the case, and he
+was "in a hole," as he afterwards expressed it. He didn't want to
+argue the points raised, preferring to settle the matter in a
+hurry, and an apt story was his only salvation.
+
+Suddenly the President's fact brightened. "Gentlemen," said he,
+addressing those seated at the Cabinet table, "the situation just
+now reminds me of a fix I got into some thirty years or so ago
+when I was peddling 'notions' on the way from Indiana to
+Illinois. I didn't have a large stock, but I charged large
+prices, and I made money. Perhaps you don't see what I am driving
+at?"
+
+Secretary of State Seward was wearing a most gloomy expression of
+countenance; Secretary of War Stanton was savage and inclined to
+be morose; Secretary of the Treasury Chase was indifferent and
+cynical, while the others of the Presidential advisers resigned
+themselves to the hearing of the inevitable "story."
+
+"I don't propose to argue this matter," the President went on to
+say, "because arguments have no effect upon men whose opinions
+are fixed and whose minds are made up. But this little story of
+mine will make some things which now are in the dark show up more
+clearly."
+
+There was another pause, and the Cabinet officers, maintaining
+their previous silence, began wondering if the President himself
+really knew what he was "driving at."
+
+"Just before we left Indiana and crossed into Illinois,"
+continued Mr. Lincoln solemnly, speaking in a grave tone of
+voice, "we came across a small farmhouse full of nothing but
+children. These ranged in years from seventeen years to seventeen
+months, and all were in tears. The mother of the family was
+red-headed and red-faced, and the whip she held in her right hand
+led to the inference that she had been chastising her brood. The
+father of the family, a meek-looking, mild-mannered, tow-headed
+chap, was standing in the front door-way, awaiting--to all
+appearances--his turn to feel the thong.
+
+"I thought there wasn't much use in asking the head of that house
+if she wanted any 'notions.' She was too busy. It was evident an
+insurrection had been in progress, but it was pretty well quelled
+when I got there. The mother had about suppressed it with an iron
+hand, but she was not running any risks. She kept a keen and wary
+eye upon all the children, not forgetting an occasional glance at
+the 'old man' in the doorway.
+
+"She saw me as I came up, and from her look I thought she was of
+the opinion that I intended to interfere. Advancing to the
+doorway, and roughly pushing her husband aside, she demanded my
+business.
+
+"'Nothing, madame,' I answered as gently as possible; 'I merely
+dropped in as I came along to see how things were going.'
+
+"'Well, you needn't wait,' was the reply in an irritated way;
+'there's trouble here, an' lots of it, too, but I kin manage my
+own affairs without the help of outsiders. This is jest a family
+row, but I'll teach these brats their places ef I hev to lick the
+hide off ev'ry one of them. I don't do much talkin', but I run
+this house, an' I don't want no one sneakin' round tryin' to find
+out how I do it, either.'
+
+"That's the case here with us," the President said in conclusion.
+"We must let the other nations know that we propose to settle our
+family row in our own way, and 'teach these brats their places'
+(the seceding States) if we have to 'lick the hide off' of each
+and every one of them. And, like the old woman, we don't want any
+'sneakin' 'round' by other countries who would like to find out
+how we are to do it, either.
+
+"Now, Seward, you write some diplomatic notes to that effect."
+
+And the Cabinet session closed.
+
+
+DIDN'T EVEN NEED STILTS.
+
+As the President considered it his duty to keep in touch with all
+the improvements in the armament of the vessels belonging to the
+United States Navy, he was necessarily interested in the various
+types of these floating fortresses. Not only was it required of
+the Navy Department to furnish seagoing warships, deep-draught
+vessels for the great rivers and the lakes, but this Department
+also found use for little gunboats which could creep along in the
+shallowest of water and attack the Confederates in by-places and
+swamps.
+
+The consequence of the interest taken by Mr. Lincoln in the Navy
+was that he was besieged, day and night, by steamboat
+contractors, each one eager to sell his product to the Washington
+Government. All sorts of experiments were tried, some being dire
+failures, while others were more than fairly successful. More
+than once had these tiny war vessels proved themselves of great
+service, and the United States Government had a large number of
+them built.
+
+There was one particular contractor who bothered the President
+more than all the others put together. He was constantly
+impressing upon Mr. Lincoln the great superiority of his boats,
+because they would run in such shallow water.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the President, "I've no doubt they'll run
+anywhere where the ground is a little moist!"
+
+
+"HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS PLACE?"
+
+"It seems to me," remarked the President one day while reading,
+over some of the appealing telegrams sent to the War Department
+by General McClellan, "that McClellan has been wandering around
+and has sort of got lost. He's been hollering for help ever since
+he went South--wants somebody to come to his deliverance and get
+him out of the place he's got into.
+
+"He reminds me of the story of a man out in Illinois who, in
+company with a number of friends, visited the State penitentiary.
+They wandered all through the institution and saw everything, but
+just about the time to depart this particular man became
+separated from his friends and couldn't find his way out.
+
+"He roamed up and down one corridor after another, becoming more
+desperate all the time, when, at last, he came across a convict
+who was looking out from between the bars of his cell-door. Here
+was salvation at last. Hurrying up to the prisoner he hastily
+asked
+
+"'Say! How do you get out of this place?"
+
+
+"TAD" INTRODUCES "OUR FRIENDS."
+
+President Lincoln often avoided interviews with delegations
+representing various States, especially when he knew the objects
+of their errands, and was aware he could not grant their
+requests. This was the case with several commissioners from
+Kentucky, who were put off from day to day.
+
+They were about to give up in despair, and were leaving the White
+House lobby, their speech being interspersed with vehement and
+uncomplimentary terms concerning "Old Abe," when "Tad" happened
+along. He caught at these words, and asked one of them if they
+wanted to see "Old Abe," laughing at the same time.
+
+"Yes," he replied.
+
+"Wait a minute," said "Tad," and rushed into his father's office.
+Said he, "Papa, may I introduce some friends to you?"
+
+His father, always indulgent and ready to make him happy, kindly
+said, "Yes, my son, I will see your friends."
+
+"Tad" went to the Kentuckians again, and asked a very dignified
+looking gentleman of the party his name. He was told his name. He
+then said, "Come, gentlemen," and they followed him.
+
+Leading them up to the President, "Tad," with much dignity, said,
+"Papa, let me introduce to you Judge --, of Kentucky;" and
+quickly added, "Now Judge, you introduce the other gentlemen."
+
+The introductions were gone through with, and they turned out to
+be the gentlemen Mr. Lincoln had been avoiding for a week. Mr.
+Lincoln reached for the boy, took him in his lap, kissed him, and
+told him it was all right, and that he had introduced his friend
+like a little gentleman as he was. Tad was eleven years old at
+this time.
+
+The President was pleased with Tad's diplomacy, and often laughed
+at the incident as he told others of it. One day while caressing
+the boy, he asked him why he called those gentlemen "his
+friends." "Well," said Tad, "I had seen them so often, and they
+looked so good and sorry, and said they were from Kentucky, that
+I thought they must be our friends." "That is right, my son,"
+said Mr. Lincoln; "I would have the whole human race your friends
+and mine, if it were possible."
+
+
+MIXED UP WORSE THAN BEFORE.
+
+The President told a story which most beautifully illustrated the
+muddled situation of affairs at the time McClellan's fate was
+hanging in the balance. McClellan's s work was not satisfactory,
+but the President hesitated to remove him; the general was so
+slow that the Confederates marched all around him; and, to add to
+the dilemma, the President could not find a suitable man to take
+McClellan's place.
+
+The latter was a political, as well as a military, factor; his
+friends threatened that, if he was removed, many war Democrats
+would cast their influence with the South, etc. It was,
+altogether, a sad mix-up, and the President, for a time, was at
+his wits' end. He was assailed on all sides with advice, but none
+of it was worth acting upon.
+
+"This situation reminds me," said the President at a Cabinet
+meeting one day not long before the appointment of General
+Halleck as McClellan's successor in command of the Union forces,
+"of a Union man in Kentucky whose two sons enlisted in the
+Federal Army. His wife was of Confederate sympathies. His nearest
+neighbor was a Confederate in feeling, and his two sons were
+fighting under Lee. This neighbor's wife was a Union woman and it
+nearly broke her heart to know that her sons were arrayed against
+the Union.
+
+"Finally, the two men, after each had talked the matter over with
+his wife, agreed to obtain divorces; this they, did, and the
+Union man and Union woman were wedded, as were the Confederate
+man and the Confederate woman--the men swapped wives, in short.
+But this didn't seem to help matters any, for the sons of the
+Union woman were still fighting for the South, and the sons of
+the Confederate woman continued in the Federal Army; the Union
+husband couldn't get along with his Union wife, and the
+Confederate husband and his Confederate wife couldn't agree upon
+anything, being forever fussing and quarreling.
+
+"It's the same thing with the Army. It doesn't seem worth while
+to secure divorces and then marry the Army and McClellan to
+others, for they won't get along any better than they do now, and
+there'll only be a new set of heartaches started. I think we'd
+better wait; perhaps a real fighting general will come along some
+of these days, and then we'll all be happy. If you go to mixing
+in a mixup, you only make the muddle worse."
+
+
+"LONG ABE'S" FEET "PROTRUDED OVER."
+
+George M. Pullman, the great sleeping-car builder, once told a
+joke in which Lincoln was the prominent figure. In fact, there
+wouldn't have been any joke had it not been for "Long Abe." At
+the time of the occurrence, which was the foundation for the
+joke--and Pullman admitted that the latter was on him--Pullman
+was the conductor of his only sleeping-car. The latter was an
+experiment, and Pullman was doing everything possible to get the
+railroads to take hold of it.
+
+"One night," said Pullman in telling the story, "as we were about
+going out of Chicago--this was long before Lincoln was what you
+might call a renowned man--a long, lean, ugly man, with a wart on
+his cheek, came into the depot. He paid me fifty cents, and half
+a berth was assigned him. Then he took off his coat and vest and
+hung them up, and they fitted the peg about as well as they
+fitted him. Then he kicked off his boots, which were of
+surprising length, turned into the berth, and, undoubtedly having
+an easy conscience, was sleeping like a healthy baby before the
+car left the depot.
+
+"Pretty soon along came another passenger and paid his fifty
+cents. In two minutes he was back at me, angry as a wet hen.
+
+"'There's a man in that berth of mine,' said he, hotly, 'and
+he's about ten feet high. How am I going to sleep there, I'd like
+to know? Go and look at him.'
+
+"In I went--mad, too. The tall, lank man's knees were under his
+chin, his arms were stretched across the bed and his feet were
+stored comfortably--for him. I shook him until he awoke, and then
+told him if he wanted the whole berth he would have to pay $1.
+
+"'My dear sir,' said the tall man, 'a contract is a contract. I
+have paid you fifty cents for half this berth, and, as you see,
+I'm occupying it. There's the other half,' pointing to a strip
+about six inches wide. 'Sell that and don't disturb me again.'
+
+"And so saying, the man with a wart on his face went to sleep
+again. He was Abraham Lincoln, and he never grew any shorter
+afterward. We became great friends, and often laughed over the
+incident."
+
+
+COULD LICK ANY MAN IN THE CROWD.
+
+When the enemies of General Grant were bothering the President
+with emphatic and repeated demands that the "Silent Man" be
+removed from command, Mr. Lincoln remained firm. He would not
+consent to lose the services of so valuable a soldier. "Grant
+fights," said he in response to the charges made that Grant was a
+butcher, a drunkard, an incompetent and a general who did not
+know his business.
+
+"That reminds me of a story," President Lincoln said one day to a
+delegation of the "Grant-is-no-good" style.
+
+"Out in my State of Illinois there was a man nominated for
+sheriff of the county. He was a good man for the office, brave,
+determined and honest, but not much of an orator. In fact, he
+couldn't talk at all; he couldn't make a speech to save his life.
+
+"His friends knew he was a man who would preserve the peace of
+the county and perform the duties devolving upon him all right,
+but the people of the county didn't know it. They wanted him to
+come out boldly on the platform at political meetings and state
+his convictions and principles; they had been used to speeches
+from candidates, and were somewhat suspicious of a man who was
+afraid to open his mouth.
+
+"At last the candidate consented to make a speech, and his
+friends were delighted. The candidate was on hand, and, when he
+was called upon, advanced to the front and faced the crowd. There
+was a glitter in his eye that wasn't pleasing, and the way he
+walked out to the front of the stand showed that he knew just
+what he wanted to say.
+
+"'Feller Citizens,' was his beginning, the words spoken quietly,
+'I'm not a speakin' man; I ain't no orator, an' I never stood up
+before a lot of people in my life before; I'm not goin' to make
+no speech, 'xcept to say that I can lick any man in the crowd!'"
+
+
+HIS WAY TO A CHILD'S HEART.
+
+Charles E. Anthony's one meeting with Mr. Lincoln presents an
+interesting contrast to those of the men who shared the
+emancipator's interest in public affairs. It was in the latter
+part of the winter of 1861, a short time before Mr. Lincoln left
+for his inauguration at Washington. Judge Anthony went to the
+Sherman House, where the President-elect was stopping, and took
+with him his son, Charles, then but a little boy. Charles played
+about the room as a child will, looking at whatever interested
+him for the time, and when the interview with his father was over
+he was ready to go.
+
+But Mr. Lincoln, ever interested in little children, called the
+lad to him and took him upon his great knee.
+
+"My impression of him all the time I had been playing about the
+room," said Mr. Anthony, "was that he was a terribly homely man.
+I was rather repelled. But no sooner did he speak to me than the
+expression of his face changed completely, or, rather, my view of
+it changed. It at once became kindly and attractive. He asked me
+some questions, seeming instantly to find in the turmoil of all
+the great questions that must have been heavy upon him, the very
+ones that would go to the thought of a child. I answered him
+without hesitation, and after a moment he patted my shoulder and
+said:
+
+"'Well, you'll be a man before your mother yet,' and put me
+down.
+
+"I had never before heard the homely old expression, and it
+puzzled me for a time. After a moment I understood it, but he
+looked at me while I was puzzling over it, and seemed to be
+amused, as no doubt he was."
+
+The incident simply illustrates the ease and readiness with which
+Lincoln could turn from the mighty questions before the nation,
+give a moment's interested attention to a child, and return at
+once to matters of state.
+
+
+"LEFT IT THE WOMEN TO HOWL ABOUT ME."
+
+Donn Piatt, one of the brightest newspaper writers in the
+country, told a good story on the President in regard to the
+refusal of the latter to sanction the death penalty in cases of
+desertion from the Union Army.
+
+"There was far more policy in this course," said Piatt, "than
+kind feeling. To assert the contrary is to detract from Lincoln's
+force of character, as well as intellect. Our War President was
+not lost in his high admiration of brigadiers and major-generals,
+and had a positive dislike for their methods and the despotism
+upon which an army is based. He knew that he was dependent upon
+volunteers for soldiers, and to force upon such men as those the
+stern discipline of the Regular Army was to render the service
+unpopular. And it pleased him to be the source of mercy, as well
+as the fountain of honor, in this direction.
+
+"I was sitting with General Dan Tyler, of Connecticut, in the
+antechamber of the War Department, shortly after the adjournment
+of the Buell Court of Inquiry, of which we had been members, when
+President Lincoln came in from the room of Secretary Stanton.
+Seeing us, he said: 'Well, gentlemen, have you any matter worth
+reporting?'
+
+"'I think so, Mr. President,' replied General Tyler. 'We had it
+proven that Bragg, with less than ten thousand men, drove your
+eighty-three thousand men under Buell back from before
+Chattanooga, down to the Ohio at Louisville, marched around us
+twice, then doubled us up at Perryville, and finally got out of
+the State of Kentucky with all his plunder.'
+
+"'Now, Tyler,' returned the President, 'what is the meaning of
+all this; what is the lesson? Don't our men march as well, and
+fight as well, as these rebels? If not, there is a fault
+somewhere. We are all of the same family--same sort.'
+
+"'Yes, there is a lesson,' replied General Tyler; 'we are of the
+same sort, but subject to different handling. Bragg's little
+force was superior to our larger number because he had it under
+control. If a man left his ranks, he was punished; if he
+deserted, he was shot. We had nothing of that sort. If we attempt
+to shoot a deserter you pardon him, and our army is without
+discipline.'
+
+"The President looked perplexed. 'Why do you interfere?'
+continued General Tyler. 'Congress has taken from you all
+responsibility.'
+
+"'Yes,' answered the President impatiently, 'Congress has taken
+the responsibility and left the women to howl all about me,' and
+so he strode away."
+
+
+HE'D RUIN ALL THE OTHER CONVICTS.
+
+One of the droll stories brought into play by the President as an
+ally in support of his contention, proved most effective.
+Politics was rife among the generals of the Union Army, and there
+was more "wire-pulling" to prevent the advancement of fellow
+commanders than the laying of plans to defeat the Confederates in
+battle.
+
+However, when it so happened that the name of a particularly
+unpopular general was sent to the Senate for confirmation, the
+protest against his promotion was almost unanimous. The
+nomination didn't seem to please anyone. Generals who were
+enemies before conferred together for the purpose of bringing
+every possible influence to bear upon the Senate and securing the
+rejection of the hated leader's name. The President was
+surprised. He had never known such unanimity before.
+
+"You remind me," said the President to a delegation of officers
+which called upon him one day to present a fresh protest to him
+regarding the nomination, "of a visit a certain Governor paid to
+the Penitentiary of his State. It had been announced that the
+Governor would hear the story of every inmate of the institution,
+and was prepared to rectify, either by commutation or pardon, any
+wrongs that had been done to any prisoner.
+
+"One by one the convicts appeared before His Excellency, and each
+one maintained that he was an innocent man, who had been sent to
+prison because the police didn't like him, or his friends and
+relatives wanted his property, or he was too popular, etc., etc.
+The last prisoner to appear was an individual who was not all
+prepossessing. His face was against him; his eyes were shifty; he
+didn't have the appearance of an honest man, and he didn't act
+like one.
+
+"'Well,' asked the Governor, impatiently, 'I suppose you're
+innocent like the rest of these fellows?'
+
+"'No, Governor,' was the unexpected answer; 'I was guilty of the
+crime they charged against me, and I got just what I deserved.'
+
+"When he had recovered from his astonishment, the Governor,
+looking the fellow squarely in the face, remarked with emphasis:
+'I'll have to pardon you, because I don't want to leave so bad a
+man as you are in the company of such innocent sufferers as I
+have discovered your fellow-convicts to be. You might corrupt
+them and teach them wicked tricks. As soon as I get back to the
+capital, I'll have the papers made out.'
+
+"You gentlemen," continued the President, "ought to be glad that
+so bad a man, as you represent this officer to be, is to get his
+promotion, for then you won't be forced to associate with him and
+suffer the contamination of his presence and influence. I will do
+all I can to have the Senate confirm him."
+
+And he was confirmed.
+
+
+IN A HOPELESS MINORITY.
+
+The President was often in opposition to the general public
+sentiment of the North upon certain questions of policy, but he
+bided his time, and things usually came out as he wanted them. It
+was Lincoln's opinion, from the first, that apology and
+reparation to England must be made by the United States because
+of the arrest, upon the high seas, of the Confederate
+Commissioners, Mason and Slidell. The country, however (the
+Northern States), was wild for a conflict with England.
+
+"One war at a time," quietly remarked the President at a Cabinet
+meeting, where he found the majority of his advisers unfavorably
+disposed to "backing down." But one member of the Cabinet was a
+really strong supporter of the President in his attitude.
+
+"I am reminded," the President said after the various arguments
+had been put forward by the members of the Cabinet, "of a fellow
+out in my State of Illinois who happened to stray into a church
+while a revival meeting was in progress. To be truthful, this
+individual was not entirely sober, and with that instinct which
+seems to impel all men in his condition to assume a prominent
+part in proceedings, he walked up the aisle to the very front
+pew.
+
+"All noticed him, but he did not care; for awhile he joined
+audibly in the singing, said 'Amen' at the close of the prayers,
+but, drowsiness overcoming him, he went to sleep. Before the
+meeting closed, the pastor asked the usual question--'Who are on
+the Lord's side?'--and the congregation arose en masse. When he
+asked, 'Who are on the side of the Devil?' the sleeper was about
+waking up. He heard a portion of the interrogatory, and, seeing
+the minister on his feet, arose.
+
+"'I don't exactly understand the question,' he said, 'but I'll
+stand by you, parson, to the last. But it seems to me,' he added,
+'that we're in a hopeless minority.'
+
+"I'm in a hopeless minority now," said the President, "and I'll
+have to admit it."
+
+
+"DID YE ASK MORRISSEY YET?"
+
+John Morrissey, the noted prize fighter, was the "Boss" of
+Tammany Hall during the Civil War period. It pleased his fancy to
+go to Congress, and his obedient constituents sent him there.
+Morrissey was such an absolute despot that the New York City
+democracy could not make a move without his consent, and many of
+the Tammanyites were so afraid of him that they would not even
+enter into business ventures without consulting the autocrat.
+
+President Lincoln had been seriously annoyed by some of his
+generals, who were afraid to make the slightest move before
+asking advice from Washington. One commander, in particular, was
+so cautious that he telegraphed the War Department upon the
+slightest pretext, the result being that his troops were lying in
+camp doing nothing, when they should have been in the field.
+
+"This general reminds me," the President said one day while
+talking to Secretary Stanton, at the War Department, "of a story
+I once heard about a Tammany man. He happened to meet a friend,
+also a member of Tammany, on the street, and in the course of the
+talk the friend, who was beaming with smiles and good nature,
+told the other Tammanyite that he was going to be married.
+
+"This first Tammany man looked more serious than men usually do
+upon hearing of the impending happiness of a friend. In fact, his
+face seemed to take on a look of anxiety and worry.
+
+"'Ain't you glad to know that I'm to get married?' demanded the
+second Tammanyite, somewhat in a huff.
+
+"'Of course I am,' was the reply; 'but,' putting his mouth close
+to the ear of the other, 'have ye asked Morrissey yet?'
+
+"Now, this general of whom we are speaking, wouldn't dare order
+out the guard without asking Morrissey," concluded the President.
+
+
+GOT THE LAUGH ON DOUGLAS.
+
+At one time, when Lincoln and Douglas were "stumping" Illinois,
+they met at a certain town, and it was agreed that they would
+have a joint debate. Douglas was the first speaker, and in the
+course of his talk remarked that in early life, his father, who,
+he said, was an excellent cooper by trade, apprenticed him out to
+learn the cabinet business.
+
+This was too good for Lincoln to let pass, so when his turn came
+to reply, he said:
+
+"I had understood before that Mr. Douglas had been bound out to
+learn the cabinet-making business, which is all well enough, but
+I was not aware until now that his father was a cooper. I have no
+doubt, however, that he was one, and I am certain, also, that he
+was a very good one, for (here Lincoln gently bowed toward
+Douglas) he has made one of the best whiskey casks I have ever
+seen."
+
+As Douglas was a short heavy-set man, and occasionally imbibed,
+the pith of the joke was at once apparent, and most heartily
+enjoyed by all.
+
+On another occasion, Douglas made a point against Lincoln by
+telling the crowd that when he first knew Lincoln he was a
+"grocery-keeper," and sold whiskey, cigars, etc.
+
+"Mr. L.," he said, "was a very good bar-tender!" This brought the
+laugh on Lincoln, whose reply, however, soon came, and then the
+laugh was on the other side.
+
+"What Mr. Douglas has said, gentlemen," replied Lincoln, "is true
+enough; I did keep a grocery and I did sell cotton, candles and
+cigars, and sometimes whiskey; but I remember in those days that
+Mr. Douglas was one of my best customers."
+
+
+"I can also say this; that I have since left my side of the
+counter, while Mr. Douglas still sticks to his!"
+
+This brought such a storm of cheers and laughter that Douglas was
+unable to reply.
+
+
+"FIXED UP" A BIT FOR THE "CITY FOLKS."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln knew her husband was not "pretty," but she liked to
+have him presentable when he appeared before the public. Stephen
+Fiske, in "When Lincoln Was First Inaugurated," tells of Mrs.
+Lincoln's anxiety to have the President-elect "smoothed down" a
+little when receiving a delegation that was to greet them upon
+reaching New York City.
+
+"The train stopped," writes Mr. Fiske, "and through the windows
+immense crowds could be seen; the cheering drowning the blowing
+off of steam of the locomotive. Then Mrs. Lincoln opened her
+handbag and said:
+
+"'Abraham, I must fix you up a bit for these city folks.'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln gently lifted her upon the seat before him; she
+parted, combed and brushed his hair and arranged his black
+necktie.
+
+"'Do I look nice now, mother?' he affectionately asked.
+
+"'Well, you'll do, Abraham,' replied Mrs. Lincoln critically. So
+he kissed her and lifted her down from the seat, and turned to
+meet Mayor Wood, courtly and suave, and to have his hand shaken
+by the other New York officials."
+
+
+EVEN REBELS OUGHT TO BE SAVED.
+
+The Rev. Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, a Universalist, had been
+nominated for hospital chaplain, and a protesting delegation went
+to Washington to see President Lincoln on the subject.
+
+"We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you in regard to
+the appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, as hospital
+chaplain."
+
+The President responded: "Oh, yes, gentlemen. I have sent his
+name to the Senate, and he will no doubt be confirmed at an early
+date." One of the young men replied: "We have not come to ask for
+the appointment, but to solicit you to withdraw the nomination."
+
+"Ah!" said Lincoln, "that alters the case; but on what grounds do
+you wish the nomination withdrawn?"
+
+The answer was: "Mr. Shrigley is not sound in his theological
+opinions."
+
+The President inquired: "On what question is the gentleman
+unsound?"
+
+Response: "He does not believe in endless punishment; not only
+so, sir, but he believes that even the rebels themselves will be
+finally saved."
+
+"Is that so?" inquired the President.
+
+The members of the committee responded, "Yes, yes.'
+
+"Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way under
+Heaven whereby the rebels can be saved, then, for God's sake and
+their sakes, let the man be appointed."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Shrigley was appointed, and served until the close
+of the war.
+
+
+TRIED TO DO WHAT SEEMED BEST.
+
+John M. Palmer, Major-General in the Volunteer Army, Governor of
+the State of Illinois, and United States Senator from the Sucker
+State, became acquainted with Lincoln in 1839, and the last time
+he saw the President was at the White House in February, 1865.
+Senator Palmer told the story of his interview as follows:
+
+"I had come to Washington at the request of the Governor, to
+complain that Illinois had been credited with 18,000 too few
+troops. I saw Mr. Lincoln one afternoon, and he asked me to come
+again in the morning.
+
+"Next morning I sat in the ante-room while several officers were
+relieved. At length I was told to enter the President's room. Mr.
+Lincoln was in the hands of the barber.
+
+"'Come in, Palmer,' he called out, 'come in. You're home folks.
+I can shave before you. I couldn't before those others, and I
+have to do it some time.'
+
+"We chatted about various matters, and at length I said:
+
+"'Well, Mr. Lincoln, if anybody had told me that in a great
+crisis like this the people were going out to a little one-horse
+town and pick out a one-horse lawyer for President I wouldn't
+have believed it.'
+
+"Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his chair, his face white with
+lather, a towel under his chin. At first I thought he was angry.
+Sweeping the barber away he leaned forward, and, placing one hand
+on my knee, said:
+
+"'Neither would I. But it was time when a man with a policy
+would have been fatal to the country. I have never had a policy.
+I have simply tried to do what seemed best each day, as each day
+came.'"
+
+
+"HOLDING A CANDLE TO THE CZAR."
+
+England was anything but pleased when the Czar Alexander, of
+Russia, showed his friendship for the United States by sending a
+strong fleet to this country with the accompanying suggestion
+that Uncle Sam, through his representative, President Lincoln,
+could do whatever he saw fit with the ironclads and the munitions
+of war they had stowed away in their holds.
+
+London "Punch," on November 7th, 1863, printed the cartoon shown
+on this page, the text under the picture reading in this way:
+"Holding a candle to the * * * * *." (Much the same thing.)
+
+Of course, this was a covert sneer, intended to convey the
+impression that President Lincoln, in order to secure the support
+and friendship of the Emperor of Russia as long as the War of the
+Rebellion lasted, was willing to do all sorts of menial offices,
+even to the extent of holding the candle and lighting His Most
+Gracious Majesty, the White Czar, to his imperial bed-chamber.
+
+It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the Emperor Alexander, who
+tendered inestimable aid to the President of the United States,
+was the Lincoln of Russia, having given freedom to millions of
+serfs in his empire; and, further than that, he was, like
+Lincoln,
+the victim of assassination. He was literally blown to pieces by
+a bomb thrown under his carriage while riding through the streets
+near the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg.
+
+
+NASHVILLE WAS NOT SURRENDERED.
+
+"I was told a mighty good story," said the President one day at a
+Cabinet meeting, "by Colonel Granville Moody, 'the fighting
+Methodist parson,' as they used to call him in Tennessee. I
+happened to meet Moody in Philadelphia, where he was attending a
+conference.
+
+"The story was about 'Andy' Johnson and General Buell. Colonel
+Moody happened to be in Nashville the day it was reported that
+Buell had decided to evacuate the city. The rebels, strongly
+re-inforced, were said to be within two days' march of the
+capital. Of course, the city was greatly excited. Moody said he
+went in search of Johnson at the edge of the evening and found
+him at his office closeted with two gentlemen, who were walking
+the floor with him, one on each side. As he entered they retired,
+leaving him alone with Johnson, who came up to him, manifesting
+intense feeling, and said:
+
+"'Moody, we are sold out. Buell is a traitor. He is going to
+evacuate the city, and in forty-eight hours we will all be in the
+hands of the rebels!'
+
+"Then he commenced pacing the floor again, twisting his hands and
+chafing like a caged tiger, utterly insensible to his friend's
+entreaties to become calm. Suddenly he turned and said:
+
+"'Moody, can you pray?'
+
+"'That is my business, sir, as a minister of the gospel,'
+returned the colonel.
+
+"'Well, Moody, I wish you would pray,' said Johnson, and
+instantly both went down upon their knees at opposite sides of
+the room.
+
+"As the prayer waxed fervent, Johnson began to respond in true
+Methodist style. Presently he crawled over on his hands and knees
+to Moody's side and put his arms over him, manifesting the
+deepest emotion.
+
+"Closing the prayer with a hearty 'amen' from each, they arose.
+
+"Johnson took a long breath, and said, with emphasis:
+
+"'Moody, I feel better.'
+
+"Shortly afterward he asked:
+
+"'Will you stand by me?'
+
+"'Certainly I will,' was the answer.
+
+"'Well, Moody, I can depend upon you; you are one in a hundred
+thousand.'
+
+"He then commenced pacing the floor again. Suddenly he wheeled,
+the current of his thought having changed, and said:
+
+"'Oh, Moody, I don't want you to think I have become a religious
+man because I asked you to pray. I am sorry to say it, I am not,
+and never pretended to be religious. No one knows this better
+than you, but, Moody, there is one thing about it, I do believe
+in Almighty God, and I believe also in the Bible, and I say, d--n
+me if Nashville shall be surrendered!'
+
+"And Nashville was not surrendered!"
+
+
+HE COULDN'T WAIT FOR THE COLONEL.
+
+General Fisk, attending a reception at the White House, saw
+waiting in the ante-room a poor old man from Tennessee, and
+learned that he had been waiting three or four days to get an
+audience, on which probably depended the life of his son, under
+sentence of death for some military offense.
+
+General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card and sent it in,
+with a a special request that the President would see the man. In
+a moment the order came; and past impatient senators, governors
+and generals, the old man went.
+
+He showed his papers to Mr. Lincoln, who said he would look into
+the case and give him the result next day.
+
+The old man, in an agony of apprehension, looked up into the
+President's sympathetic face and actually cried out:
+
+"To-morrow may be too late! My son is under sentence of death! It
+ought to be decided now!"
+
+His streaming tears told how much he was moved.
+
+"Come," said Mr. Lincoln, "wait a bit and I'll tell you a story;"
+and then he told the old man General Fisk's story about the
+swearing driver, as follows:
+
+"The general had begun his military life as a colonel, and when
+he raised his regiment in Missouri he proposed to his men that he
+should do all the swearing of the regiment. They assented; and
+for months no instance was known of the violation of the promise.
+
+"The colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were
+not always the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper
+and his tongue.
+
+"John happened to be driving a mule team through a series of
+mudholes a little worse than usual, when, unable to restrain
+himself any longer, he burst forth into a volley of energetic
+oaths.
+
+"The colonel took notice of the offense and brought John to
+account.
+
+"'John,' said he, 'didn't you promise to let me do all the
+swearing of the regiment?'
+
+"'Yes, I did, colonel,' he replied, 'but the fact was, the
+swearing had to be done then or not at all, and you weren't there
+to do it.'"
+
+As he told the story the old man forgot his boy, and both the
+President and his listener had a hearty laugh together at its
+conclusion.
+
+Then he wrote a few words which the old man read, and in which he
+found new occasion for tears; but the tears were tears of joy,
+for the words saved the life of his son.
+
+
+LINCOLN PRONOUNCED THIS STORY FUNNY.
+
+The President was heard to declare one day that the story given
+below was one of the funniest he ever heard.
+
+One of General Fremont's batteries of eight Parrott guns,
+supported by a squadron of horse commanded by Major Richards, was
+in sharp conflict with a battery of the enemy near at hand.
+Shells and shot were flying thick and fast, when the commander of
+the battery, a German, one of Fremont's staff, rode suddenly up
+to the cavalry, exclaiming, in loud and excited terms, "Pring up
+de shackasses! Pring up de shackasses! For Cot's sake, hurry up
+de shackasses, im-me-di-ate-ly!"
+
+The necessity of this order, though not quite apparent, will be
+more obvious when it is remembered that "shackasses" are mules,
+carry mountain howitzers, which are fired from the backs of that
+much-abused but valuable animal; and the immediate occasion for
+the "shackasses" was that two regiments of rebel infantry were at
+that moment discovered ascending a hill immediately behind our
+batteries.
+
+The "shackasses," with the howitzers loaded with grape and
+canister, were soon on the ground.
+
+The mules squared themselves, as they well knew how, for the
+shock.
+
+A terrific volley was poured into the advancing column, which
+immediately broke and retreated.
+
+Two hundred and seventy-eight dead bodies were found in the
+ravine next day, piled closely together as they fell, the effects
+of that volley from the backs of the "shackasses."
+
+
+JOKE WAS ON LINCOLN.
+
+Mr. Lincoln enjoyed a joke at his own expense. Said he: "In the
+days when I used to be in the circuit, I was accosted in the cars
+by a stranger, who said, 'Excuse me, sir, but I have an article
+in my possession which belongs to you.' 'How is that?' I asked,
+considerably astonished.
+
+"The stranger took a jackknife from his pocket. 'This knife,'
+said he, 'was placed in my hands some years ago, with the
+injunction that I was to keep it until I had found a man uglier
+than myself. I have carried it from that time to this. Allow me
+to say, sir, that I think you are fairly entitled to the
+property.'"
+
+
+THE OTHER ONE WAS WORSE.
+
+It so happened that an official of the War Department had escaped
+serious punishment for a rather flagrant offense, by showing
+where grosser irregularities existed in the management of a
+certain bureau of the Department. So valuable was the information
+furnished that the culprit who "gave the snap away" was not even
+discharged.
+
+"That reminds me," the President said, when the case was laid
+before him, "of a story about Daniel Webster, when the latter was
+a boy.
+
+"When quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty of a
+gross violation of the rules. He was detected in the act, and
+called up by the teacher for punishment.
+
+"This was to be the old-fashioned 'feruling' of the hand. His
+hands happened to be very dirty.
+
+"Knowing this, on the way to the teacher's desk, he spit upon the
+palm of his right hand, wiping it off upon the side of his
+pantaloons.
+
+"'Give me your hand, sir,' said the teacher, very sternly.
+
+"Out went the right hand, partly cleansed. The teacher looked at
+it a moment, and said:
+
+"'Daniel, if you will find another hand in this school-room as
+filthy as that, I will let you off this time!'
+
+"Instantly from behind the back came the left hand.
+
+"'Here it is, sir,' was the ready reply.
+
+"'That will do,' said the teacher, 'for this time; you can take
+your seat, sir.'"
+
+
+"I'D A BEEN MISSED BY MYSE'F."
+
+The President did not consider that every soldier who ran away in
+battle, or did not stand firmly to receive a bayonet charge, was
+a coward. He was of opinion that self-preservation was the first
+law of Nature, but he didn't want this statute construed too
+liberally by the troops.
+
+At the same time he took occasion to illustrate a point he wished
+to make by a story in connection with a darky who was a member of
+the Ninth Illinois Infantry Regiment. This regiment was one of
+those engaged at the capture of Fort Donelson. It behaved
+gallantly, and lost as heavily as any.
+
+"Upon the hurricane-deck of one of our gunboats," said the
+President in telling the story, "I saw an elderly darky, with a
+very philosophical and retrospective cast of countenance,
+squatted upon his bundle, toasting his shins against the chimney,
+and apparently plunged into a state of profound meditation.
+
+"As the negro rather interested me, I made some inquiries, and
+found that he had really been with the Ninth Illinois Infantry at
+Donelson. and began to ask him some questions about the capture
+of the place.
+
+"'Were you in the fight?'
+
+"'Had a little taste of it, sa.'
+
+"'Stood your ground, did you?'
+
+"'No, sa, I runs.'
+
+"'Run at the first fire, did you?
+
+"'Yes, sa, and would hab run soona, had I knowd it war comin'."
+
+"'Why, that wasn't very creditable to your courage.'
+
+"'Dat isn't my line, sa--cookin's my profeshun.'
+
+"'Well, but have you no regard for your reputation?'
+
+"'Reputation's nuffin to me by de side ob life.'
+
+"'Do you consider your life worth more than other people's?'
+
+"'It's worth more to me, sa.'
+
+"'Then you must value it very highly?'
+
+"'Yes, sa, I does, more dan all dis wuld, more dan a million ob
+dollars, sa, for what would dat be wuth to a man wid de bref out
+ob him? Self-preserbation am de fust law wid me.'
+
+"'But why should you act upon a different rule from other men?'
+
+"'Different men set different values on their lives; mine is not
+in de market.'
+
+"'But if you lost it you would have the satisfaction of knowing
+that you died for your country.'
+
+"'Dat no satisfaction when feelin's gone.'
+
+"'Then patriotism and honor are nothing to you?'
+
+"'Nufin whatever, sat--I regard them as among the vanities.'
+
+"'If our soldiers were like you, traitors might have broken up
+the government without resistance.'
+
+"'Yes, sa, dar would hab been no help for it. I wouldn't put my
+life in de scale 'g'inst any gobernment dat eber existed, for no
+gobernment could replace de loss to me.'
+
+"'Do you think any of your company would have missed you if you
+had been killed?'
+
+"'Maybe not, sa--a dead white man ain't much to dese sogers, let
+alone a dead nigga--but I'd a missed myse'f, and dat was de p'int
+wid me.'
+
+"I only tell this story," concluded the President, "in order to
+illustrate the result of the tactics of some of the Union
+generals who would be sadly 'missed' by themselves, if no one
+else, if they ever got out of the Army."
+
+
+IT ALL "DEPENDED" UPON THE EFFECT.
+
+President Lincoln and some members of his Cabinet were with a
+part of the Army some distance south of the National Capital at
+one time, when Secretary of War Stanton remarked that just before
+he left Washington he had received a telegram from General
+Mitchell, in Alabama. General Mitchell asked instructions in
+regard to a certain emergency that had arisen.
+
+The Secretary said he did not precisely understand the emergency
+as explained by General Mitchell, but had answered back, "All
+right; go ahead."
+
+"Now," he said, as he turned to Mr. Lincoln, "Mr. President, if I
+have made an error in not understanding him correctly, I will
+have to get you to countermand the order."
+
+"Well," exclaimed President Lincoln, "that is very much like the
+happening on the occasion of a certain horse sale I remember that
+took place at the cross-roads down in Kentucky, when I was a boy.
+
+"A particularly fine horse was to be sold, and the people in
+large numbers had gathered together. They had a small boy to ride
+the horse up and down while the spectators examined the horse's
+points.
+
+"At last one man whispered to the boy as he went by: 'Look here,
+boy, hain't that horse got the splints?'
+
+"The boy replied: 'Mister, I don't know what the splints is, but
+if it's good for him, he has got it; if it ain't good for him, he
+ain't got it.'
+
+"Now," said President Lincoln, "if this was good for Mitchell, it
+was all right; but if it was not, I have got to countermand it."
+
+
+TOO SWIFT TO STAY IN THE ARMY.
+
+There were strange, queer, odd things and happenings in the Army
+at times, but, as a rule, the President did not allow them to
+worry him. He had enough to bother about.
+
+A quartermaster having neglected to present his accounts in
+proper shape, and the matter being deemed of sufficient
+importance to bring it to the attention of the President, the
+latter remarked:
+
+"Now this instance reminds me of a little story I heard only a
+short time ago. A certain general's purse was getting low, and he
+said it was probable he might be obliged to draw on his banker
+for some money.
+
+"'How much do you want, father?' asked his son, who had been
+with him a few days.
+
+"'I think I shall send for a couple of hundred,' replied the
+general.
+
+"Why, father,' said his son, very quietly, 'I can let you have
+it.'
+
+"'You can let me have it! Where did you get so much money?
+
+"'I won it playing draw-poker with your staff, sir!' replied the
+youth.
+
+"The earliest morning train bore the young man toward his home,
+and I've been wondering if that boy and that quartermaster had
+happened to meet at the same table."
+
+
+ADMIRED THE STRONG MAN.
+
+Governor Hoyt of Wisconsin tells a story of Mr. Lincoln's great
+admiration for physical strength. Mr. Lincoln, in 1859, made a
+speech at the Wisconsin State Agricultural Fair. After the
+speech, in company with the Governor, he strolled about the
+grounds, looking at the exhibits. They came to a place where a
+professional "strong man" was tossing cannon balls in the air and
+catching them on his arms and juggling with them as though they
+were light as baseballs. Mr. Lincoln had never before seen such
+an exhibition, and he was greatly surprised and interested.
+
+When the performance was over, Governor Hoyt, seeing Mr.
+Lincoln's interest, asked him to go up and be introduced to the
+athlete. He did so, and, as he stood looking down musingly on the
+man, who was very short, and evidently wondering that one so much
+smaller than he could be so much stronger, he suddenly broke out
+with one of his quaint speeches. "Why," he said, "why, I could
+lick salt off the top of your hat."
+
+
+WISHED THE ARMY CHARGED LIKE THAT.
+
+A prominent volunteer officer who, early in the War, was on duty
+in Washington and often carried reports to Secretary Stanton at
+the War Department, told a characteristic story on President
+Lincoln. Said he:
+
+"I was with several other young officers, also carrying reports
+to the War Department, and one morning we were late. In this
+instance we were in a desperate hurry to deliver the papers, in
+order to be able to catch the train returning to camp.
+
+"On the winding, dark staircase of the old War Department, which
+many will remember, it was our misfortune, while taking about
+three stairs at a time, to run a certain head like a catapult
+into the body of the President, striking him in the region of the
+right lower vest pocket.
+
+"The usual surprised and relaxed grunt of a man thus assailed
+came promptly.
+
+"We quickly sent an apology in the direction of the dimly seen
+form, feeling that the ungracious shock was expensive, even to
+the humblest clerk in the department.
+
+"A second glance revealed to us the President as the victim of
+the collision. Then followed a special tender of 'ten thousand
+pardons,' and the President's reply:
+
+"'One's enough; I wish the whole army would charge like that.'"
+
+
+"UNCLE ABRAHAM" HAD EVERYTHING READY.
+
+"You can't do anything with them Southern fellows," the old man
+at the table was saying.
+
+"If they get whipped, they'll retreat to them Southern swamps and
+bayous along with the fishes and crocodiles. You haven't got the
+fish-nets made that'll catch 'em."
+
+"Look here, old gentleman," remarked President Lincoln, who was
+sitting alongside, "we've got just the nets for traitors, in the
+bayous or anywhere."
+
+"Hey? What nets?"
+
+"Bayou-nets!" and "Uncle Abraham" pointed his joke with his fork,
+spearing a fishball savagely.
+
+
+NOT AS SMOOTH AS HE LOOKED.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's skill in parrying troublesome questions was
+wonderful. Once he received a call from Congressman John Ganson,
+of Buffalo, one of the ablest lawyers in New York, who, although
+a Democrat, supported all of Mr. Lincoln's war measures. Mr.
+Ganson wanted explanations. Mr. Ganson was very bald with a
+perfectly smooth face. He had a most direct and aggressive way of
+stating his views or of demanding what he thought he was entitled
+to. He said: "Mr. Lincoln, I have supported all of your measures
+and think I am entitled to your confidence. We are voting and
+acting in the dark in Congress, and I demand to know--think I
+have the right to ask and to know--what is the present situation,
+and what are the prospects and conditions of the several
+campaigns and armies."
+
+Mr. Lincoln looked at him critically for a moment and then said:
+"Ganson, how clean you shave!"
+
+Most men would have been offended, but Ganson was too broad and
+intelligent a man not to see the point and retire at once,
+satisfied, from the field.
+
+
+A SMALL CROP.
+
+Chauncey M. Depew says that Mr. Lincoln told him the following
+story, which he claimed was one of the best two things he ever
+originated: He was trying a case in Illinois where he appeared
+for a prisoner charged with aggravated assault and battery. The
+complainant had told a horrible story of the attack, which his
+appearance fully justified, when the District Attorney handed the
+witness over to Mr. Lincoln, for cross-examination. Mr. Lincoln
+said he had no testimony, and unless he could break down the
+complainant's story he saw no way out. He had come to the
+conclusion that the witness was a bumptious man, who rather
+prided himself upon his smartness in repartee and, so, after
+looking at him for some minutes, he said:
+
+"Well, my friend, how much ground did you and my client here
+fight over?"
+
+The fellow answered: "About six acres."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "don't you think that this is an
+almighty small crop of fight to gather from such a big piece of
+ground?"
+
+The jury laughed. The Court and District-Attorney and complainant
+all joined in, and the case was laughed out of court.
+
+
+"NEVER REGRET WHAT YOU DON'T WRITE."
+
+A simple remark one of the party might make would remind Mr.
+Lincoln of an apropos story.
+
+Secretary of the Treasury Chase happened to remark, "Oh, I am so
+sorry that I did not write a letter to Mr. So-and-so before I
+left home!"
+
+President Lincoln promptly responded:
+
+"Chase, never regret what you don't write; it is what you do
+write that you are often called upon to feel sorry for."
+
+
+A VAIN GENERAL.
+
+In an interview between President Lincoln and Petroleum V. Nasby,
+the name came up of a recently deceased politician of Illinois
+whose merit was blemished by great vanity. His funeral was very
+largely attended.
+
+"If General --- had known how big a funeral he would have had,"
+said Mr. Lincoln, "he would have died years ago."
+
+
+DEATH BED REPENTANCE.
+
+A Senator, who was calling upon Mr. Lincoln, mentioned the name
+of a most virulent and dishonest official; one, who, though very
+brilliant, was very bad.
+
+"It's a good thing for B---" said Mr. Lincoln. "that there is
+such a thing as a deathbed repentance."
+
+
+NO CAUSE FOR PRIDE.
+
+A member of Congress from Ohio came into Mr. Lincoln's presence
+in a state of unutterable intoxication, and sinking into a chair,
+exclaimed in tones that welled up fuzzy through the gallon or
+more of whiskey that he contained, "Oh, 'why should (hic) the
+spirit of mortal be proud?'"
+
+"My dear sir," said the President, regarding him closely, "I see
+no reason whatever."
+
+
+
+...THE STORY OF LINCOLN'S LIFE...
+
+When Abraham Lincoln once was asked to tell the story of his
+life, he replied:
+
+"It is contained in one line of Gray's 'Elegy in a Country
+Churchyard':
+
+"'The short and simple annals of the poor.'"
+
+That was true at the time he said it, as everything else he said
+was Truth, but he was then only at the beginning of a career that
+was to glorify him as one of the heroes of the world, and place
+his name forever beside the immortal name of the mighty
+Washington.
+
+Many great men, particularly those of America, began life in
+humbleness and poverty, but none ever came from such depths or
+rose to such a height as Abraham Lincoln.
+
+His birthplace, in Hardin county, Kentucky, was but a wilderness,
+and Spencer county, Indiana, to which the Lincoln family removed
+when Abraham was in his eighth year, was a wilder and still more
+uncivilized region.
+
+The little red schoolhouse which now so thickly adorns the
+country hillside had not yet been built. There were scattered
+log schoolhouses, but they were few and far between. In several
+of these Mr. Lincoln got the rudiments of an education--an
+education that was never finished, for to the day of his death he
+was a student and a seeker after knowledge.
+
+Some records of his schoolboy days are still left us. One is a
+book made and bound by Lincoln himself, in which he had written
+the table of weights and measures, and the sums to be worked out
+therefrom. This was his arithmetic, for he was too poor to own a
+printed copy.
+
+A YOUTHFUL POET.
+
+On one of the pages of this quaint book he had written these four
+lines of schoolboy doggerel:
+
+"Abraham Lincoln,
+  His Hand and Pen,
+He Will be Good,
+  But God knows when."
+
+The poetic spirit was strong in the youngscholar just then for on
+another page 
+of the same book he had
+written these two verses, which are supposed to have been
+original with him:
+
+"Time, what an empty vapor 'tis,
+  And days, how swift they are;
+Swift as an Indian arrow
+  Fly on like a shooting star.
+
+The present moment just is here,
+  Then slides away in haste,
+That we can never say they're ours,
+  But only say they're past."
+
+Another specimen of the poetical, or rhyming ability, is found in
+the following couplet, written by him for his friend, Joseph C.
+Richardson:
+
+"Good boys who to their books apply,
+ Will all be great men by and by."
+
+In all, Lincoln's "schooling" did not amount to a year's time,
+but
+he was a constant student outside of the schoolhouse. He read all
+the books he could borrow, and it was his chief delight during
+the day to lie under the shade of some tree, or at night in front
+of an open fireplace, reading and studying. His favorite books
+were the Bible and Aesop's fables, which he kept always within
+reach and read time and again.
+
+The first law book he ever read was "The Statutes of Indiana,"
+and it was from this work that he derived his ambition to be a
+lawyer.
+
+
+MADE SPEECHES WHEN A BOY.
+
+When he was but a barefoot boy he would often make political
+speeches to the boys in the neighborhood, and when he had reached
+young manhood and was engaged in the labor of chopping wood or
+splitting rails he continued this practice of speechmaking with
+only the stumps and surrounding trees for hearers.
+
+At the age of seventeen he had attained his full height of six
+feet four inches and it was at this time he engaged as a ferry
+boatman on the Ohio river, at thirty-seven cents a day.
+
+That he was seriously beginning to think of public affairs even
+at this early age is shown by the fact that about this time he
+wrote a composition on the American Government, urging the
+necessity for 
+preserving the Constitution and perpetuating the Union. A
+Rockport lawyer,
+by the name of Pickert, who read this composition, declared that
+"the world couldn't beat it."
+
+When the dreaded disease, known as the "milk-sick" created such
+havoc in Indiana in 1829, the father of Abraham Lincoln, who was
+of a roving disposition, sought and found a new home in Illinois,
+locating near the town of Decatur, in Macon county, on a bluff
+overlooking the Sangamon river. A short time thereafter Abraham
+Lincoln came of age, and having done his duty to his father,
+began life on his own account.
+
+His first employer was a man named Denton Offut, who engaged
+Lincoln, together with his step-brother and John Hanks, to take a
+boat-load of stock and provisions to New Orleans. Offut was so
+well pleased with the energy and skill that Lincoln displayed on
+this trip that he engaged him as clerk in a store which Offut
+opened a few months later at New Salem.
+
+It was while clerking for Offut that Lincoln performed many of
+those marvelous feats of strength for which he was noted in his
+youth, and displayed his wonderful skill as a wrestler. In
+addition to being six feet four inches high he now weighed two
+hundred and fourteen pounds. And his strength and skill were so
+great combined that he could out-wrestle and out-lift any man in
+that section of the country.
+
+During his clerkship in Offut's store Lincoln continued to read
+and study and made considerable progress in grammar and
+mathematics. Offut failed in business and disappeared from the
+village. In the language of Lincoln he "petered out," and his
+tall, muscular clerk had to seek other employment.
+
+
+ASSISTANT PILOT ON A STEAMBOAT.
+
+In his first public speech, which had already been delivered,
+Lincoln had contended that the Sangamon river was navigable, and
+it now fell to his lot to assist in giving practical proof of his
+argument. A steamboat had arrived at New Salem from Cincinnati,
+and Lincoln was hired as an assistant in piloting the vessel
+through the uncertain channel of the Sangamon river to the
+Illinois river. The way was obstructed by a milldam. Lincoln
+insisted to the owners of the dam that under the Federal
+Constitution and laws no one had a right to dam up or obstruct a
+navigable stream and as he had already proved that the Sangamon
+was navigable a portion of the dam was torn away and the boat
+passed safely through.
+
+
+"CAPTAIN LINCOLN" PLEASED HIM.
+
+At this period in his career the Blackhawk War broke out, and
+Lincoln was one of the first to respond to Governor Reynold's
+call for a thousand mounted volunteers to assist the United
+States troops in driving Blackhawk back across the Mississippi.
+Lincoln enlisted in the company from Sangamon county and was
+elected captain. He often remarked that this gave him greater
+pleasure than anything that had happened in his life up to this
+time. He had, however, no opportunities in this war to perform
+any distinguished service.
+
+Upon his return from the Blackhawk War, in which, as he said
+afterward, in a humorous speech, when in Congress, that he
+"fought, bled and came away," he was an unsuccessful candidate
+for the Legislature. This was the only time in his life, as he
+himself has said, that he was ever beaten by the people. Although
+defeated, in his own town of New Salem he received all of the two
+hundred and eight votes cast except three.
+
+
+FAILURE AS A BUSINESS MAN.
+
+Lincoln's next business venture was with William Berry in a
+general store, under the firm name of Lincoln & Berry, but did
+not take long to show that he was not adapted for a business
+career. The firm failed, Berry died and the debts of the firm
+fell entirely upon Lincoln. Many of these debts he might have
+escaped legally, but he assumed them all and it was not until
+fifteen years later that the last indebtedness of Lincoln & Berry
+was discharged. During his membership in this firm he had applied
+himself to the study of law, beginning at the beginning, that is
+with Blackstone. Now that he had nothing to do he spent much of
+his time lying under the shade of a tree poring over law books,
+borrowed from a comrade in the Blackhawk War, who was then a
+practicing lawyer at Springfield.
+
+
+GAINS FAME AS A STORY TELLER,.
+
+It was about this time, too, that Lincoln's fame as a
+story-teller began to spread far and wide. His sayings and his
+jokes were repeated throughout that section of the country, and
+he was famous as a story-teller before anyone ever heard of him
+as a lawyer or a politician.
+
+It required no little moral courage to resist the temptation that
+beset an idle young man on every hand at that time, for drinking
+and carousing were of daily and nightly occurrence. Lincoln never
+drank intoxicating liquors, nor did he at that time use tobacco,
+but in any sports that called for skill or muscle he took a
+lively interest, even in horse races and cock fights.
+
+
+SURVEYOR WITH NO STRINGS ON HIM.
+
+John Calhoun was at that time surveyor of Sangamon county. He had
+been a lawyer and had noticed the studious Lincoln. Needing an
+assistant he offered the place to Lincoln. The average young man
+without any regular employment and hard-pressed for means to pay
+his board as Lincoln was, would have jumped at the opportunity,
+but a question of principle was involved which had to be settled
+before Lincoln would accept. Calhoun was a Democrat and Lincoln
+was a Whig, therefore Lincoln said, "I will take the office if I
+can be perfectly free in my political actions, but if my
+sentiments or even expression of them are to be abridged in any
+way, I would not have it or any other office."
+
+With this understanding he accepted the office and began to study
+books on surveying, furnished him by his employer. He was not a
+natural mathematician, and in working out his most difficult
+problems he sought the assistance of Mentor Graham, a famous
+schoolmaster in those days, who had previously assisted Lincoln
+in his studies. He soon became a competent surveyor, however, and
+was noted for the accurate way in which he ran his lines and
+located his corners.
+
+Surveying was not as profitable then as it has since become, and
+the young surveyor often had to take his pay in some article
+other than money. One old settler relates that for a survey made
+for him by Lincoln he paid two buckskins, which Hannah Armstrong
+"foxed" on his pants so that the briars would not wear them out.
+
+About this time, 1833, he was made postmaster at New Salem, the
+first Federal office he ever held. Although the postoffice was
+located in a store, Lincoln usually carried the mail around in
+his hat and distributed it to people when he met them.
+
+
+A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE.
+
+The following year Lincoln again ran for the Legislature, this
+time as an avowed Whig. Of the four successful candidates,
+Lincoln
+received the second highest number of votes.
+
+When Lincoln went to take his seat in the Legislature at
+Vandalia he was so poor that he was obliged to borrow $200 to buy
+suitable clothes and uphold the dignity of his new position. He
+took little part in the proceedings, keeping in the background,
+but forming many lasting acquaintances and friendships.
+
+Two years later, when he was again a candidate for the same
+office, there were more political issues to be met, and Lincoln
+met them with characteristic honesty and boldness. During the
+campaign he issued the following letter
+
+"New Salem, June 13, 1836.
+
+"To the Editor of The Journal:
+
+"In your paper of last Saturday I see a communication over the
+signature of 'Many Voters' in which the candidates who are
+announced in the journal are called upon to 'show their hands.'
+Agreed. Here's mine:
+
+"I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist
+in bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all
+whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no
+means excluding females).
+
+"If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my
+constituents, as well those that oppose as those that support me.
+
+"While acting as their Representative, I shall be governed by
+their will on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing
+what their will is; and upon all others I shall do what my own
+judgment teaches me will best advance their interests. Whether
+elected or not, I go for distributing the proceeds of the sales
+of public lands to the several States to enable our State, in
+common with others, to dig canals and construct railroads without
+borrowing money and paying the interest on it.
+
+"If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for Hugh
+L. White, for President.
+
+"Very respectfully
+
+"A. LINCOLN."
+
+This was just the sort of letter to win the support of the
+plain-spoken voters of Sangamon county. Lincoln not only received
+more votes than any other candidate on the Legislative ticket,
+but the county which had always been Democratic was turned Whig.
+
+
+THE FAMOUS "LONG NINE."
+
+The other candidates elected with Lincoln were Ninian W. Edwards,
+John Dawson, Andrew McCormick, "Dan" Stone, William F. Elkin,
+Robert L. Wilson, "Joe" Fletcher, and Archer G. Herndon. These
+were known as the "Long Nine." Their average height was six feet,
+and average weight two hundred pounds.
+
+This Legislature was one of the most famous that ever convened in
+Illinois. Bonds to the amount of $12,000,000 were voted to assist
+in building thirteen hundred miles of railroad, to widen and
+deepen all the streams in the State and to dig a canal from the
+Illinois river to Lake Michigan. Lincoln favored all these plans,
+but in justice to him it must be said that the people he
+represented were also in favor of them.
+
+It was at this session that the State capital was changed from
+Vandalia to Springfield. Lincoln, as the leader of the "Long
+Nine," had charge of the bill and after a long and bitter
+struggle succeeded in passing it.
+
+
+BEGINS TO OPPOSE SLAVERY.
+
+At this early stage in his career Abraham Lincoln began his
+opposition to slavery which eventually resulted in his giving
+liberty to four million human beings. This Legislature passed the
+following resolutions on slavery
+
+"Resolved by the General Assembly, of the State of Illinois: That
+we highly disapprove of the formation of Abolition societies and
+of the doctrines promulgated by them,
+
+"That the right of property in slaves is sacred to the
+slave-holding States by the Federal Constitution, and that they
+cannot be deprived of that right without their consent,
+
+"That the General Government cannot abolish slavery in the
+District of Columbia against the consent of the citizens of said
+district without a manifest breach of good faith."
+
+Against this resolution Lincoln entered a protest, but only
+succeeded in getting one man in the Legislature to sign the
+protest with him.
+
+The protest was as follows:
+
+"Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed
+both branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the
+undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same.
+
+"They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both
+injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of abolition
+doctrines tends rather o increase than abate its evils.
+
+"They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power
+under the Constitution to interfere with the institution of
+slavery in the different States.
+
+"They believe that the Congress of the United States has the
+power under the Constitution to abolish slavery in the District
+of Columbia, but that the power ought not to be exercised unless
+at the request of the people of the District.
+
+"The difference between these opinions and those contained in the
+above resolutions is their reason for entering this protest.
+
+"DAN STONE,
+"A. LINCOLN,
+"Representatives from the county of Sangamon."
+
+
+BEGINS TO PRACTICE LAW.
+
+At the end of this session of the Legislature, Mr. Lincoln
+decided to remove to Springfield and practice law. He entered the
+office of John T. Stuart, a former comrade in the Blackhawk War,
+and in March, 1837, was licensed to practice.
+
+Stephen T. Logan was judge of the Circuit Court, and Stephen A.
+Douglas, who was destined to become Lincoln's greatest political
+opponent, was prosecuting attorney. When Lincoln was not in his
+law office his headquarters were in the store of his friend
+Joshua F. Speed, in which gathered all the youthful orators and
+statesmen of that day, and where many exciting arguments and
+discussions were held. Lincoln and Douglas both took part in the
+discussion held in Speed's store. Douglas was the acknowledged
+leader of the Democratic side and Lincoln was rapidly coming to
+the front as a leader among the Whig debaters. One evening in the
+midst of a heated argument Douglas, or "the Little Giant," as he
+was called, exclaimed:
+
+"This store is no place to talk politics."
+
+
+HIS FIRST JOINT DEBATE.
+
+Arrangements were at once made for a joint debate between the
+leading Democrats and Whigs to take place in a local church. The
+Democrats were represented by Douglas, Calhoun, Lamborn and
+Thomas. The Whig speakers were Judge Logan, Colonel E. D. Baker,
+Mr. Browning and Lincoln. This discussion was the forerunner of
+the famous joint-debate between Lincoln and Douglas, which took
+place some years later and attracted the attention of the people
+throughout the United States. Although Mr. Lincoln was the last
+speaker in the first discussion held, his speech attracted more
+attention than any of the others and added much to his reputation
+as a public debater.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's last campaign for the Legislature was in 1840. In
+the same year he was made an elector on the Harrison presidential
+ticket, and in his canvass of the State frequently met the
+Democratic champion, Douglas, in debate. After 1840 Mr. Lincoln
+declined re-election to the Legislature, but he was a
+presidential elector on the Whig tickets of 1844 and 1852, and
+on the Republican ticket for the State at large in 1856.
+
+
+MARRIES A SPRINGFIELD BELLE.
+
+Among the social belles of Springfield was Mary Todd, a handsome
+and cultivated girl of the illustrious descent which could be
+traced back to the sixth century, to whom Mr. Lincoln was married
+in 1842. Stephen A. Douglas was his competitor in love as well as
+in politics. He courted Mary Todd until it became evident that
+she preferred Mr. Lincoln.
+
+Previous to his marriage Mr. Lincoln had two love affairs, one of
+them so serious that it left an impression upon his whole future
+life. One of the objects of his affection was Miss Mary Owen, of
+Green county, Kentucky, who decided that Mr. Lincoln "was
+deficient in those little links which make up the chain of
+woman's happiness." The affair ended without any damage to Mr.
+Lincoln's heart or the heart of the lady.
+
+
+STORY OF ANNE RUTLEDGE.
+
+Lincoln's first love, however, had a sad termination. The object
+of his affections at that time was Anne Rutledge, whose father
+was one of the founders of New Salem. Like Miss Owen, Miss
+Rutledge was also born in Kentucky, and was gifted with the
+beauty and graces that distinguish many Southern women. At the
+time that Mr. Lincoln and Anne Rutledge were engaged to be
+married, he thought himself too poor to properly support a wife,
+and they decided to wait until such time as he could better his
+financial condition. A short time thereafter Miss Rutledge was
+attacked with a fatal illness, and her death was such a blow to
+her intended husband that for a long time his friends feared that
+he would lose his mind.
+
+
+HIS DUEL WITH SHIELDS.
+
+Just previous to his marriage with Mary Todd, Mr. Lincoln was
+challenged to fight a duel by James Shields, then Auditor of
+State. The challenge grew out of some humorous letters concerning
+Shields, published in a local paper. The first of these letters
+was written by Mr. Lincoln. The others by Mary Todd and her
+sister. Mr. Lincoln acknowledged the authorship of the letters
+without naming the ladies, and agreed to meet Shields on the
+field of honor. As he had the choice of weapons he named
+broadswords, and actually went to the place selected for the
+duel.
+
+The duel was never fought. Mutual friends got together and
+patched up an understanding between Mr. Lincoln and the
+hot-headed Irishman.
+
+
+FORMS NEW PARTNERSHIP.
+
+Before this time Mr. Lincoln had dissolved partnership with
+Stuart and entered into a law partnership with Judge Logan. In
+1843 both Lincoln and Logan were candidates for nomination for
+Congress and the personal ill-will caused by their rivalry
+resulted in the dissolution of the firm and the formation of a
+new law firm of Lincoln & Herndon, which continued, nominally at
+least, until Mr. Lincoln's death.
+
+The congressional nomination, however, went to Edward D. Baker,
+who was elected. Two years later the principal candidates for the
+Whig nomination for Congress were Mr. Lincoln and his former law
+partner, Judge Logan. Party sentiment was so strongly in favor of
+Lincoln that Judge Logan withdrew and Lincoln was nominated
+unanimously. The campaign that followed was one of the most
+memorable and interesting ever held in Illinois.
+
+
+DEFEATS PETER CARTWRIGHT FOR CONGRESS.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's opponent on the Democratic ticket was no less a
+person than old Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist preacher
+and circuit rider. Cartwright had preached to almost every
+congregation in the district and had a strong following in all
+the churches. Mr. Lincoln did not underestimate the strength of
+his great rival. He abandoned his law business entirely and gave
+his whole attention to the canvass. This time Mr. Lincoln was
+victorious and was elected by a large majority.
+
+When Lincoln took his seat in Congress, in 1847, he was the only
+Whig member from Illinois. His great political rival, Douglas,
+was in the Senate. The Mexican War had already broken out,
+which, in common with his party, he had opposed. Later in life he
+was charged with having opposed the voting of supplies to the
+American troops in Mexico, but this was a falsehood which he
+easily disproved. He was strongly opposed to the War, but after
+it was once begun he urged its vigorous prosecution and voted
+with the Democrats on all measures concerning the care and pay of
+the soldiers. His opposition to the War, however, cost him a
+re-election; it cost his party the congressional district, which
+was carried by the Democrats in 1848. Lincoln's former law
+partner, Judge Logan, secured the Whig nomination that year and
+was defeated.
+
+
+MAKES SPEECHES FOR "OLD ZACH."
+
+In the national convention at Philadelphia, in 1848, Mr. Lincoln
+was a delegate and advocated the nomination of General Taylor.
+
+After the nomination of General Taylor, or "Old Zach," or
+"rough and Ready," as he was called, Mr. Lincoln made a tour of
+New York and several New England States, making speeches for his
+candidate.
+
+Mr. Lincoln went to New England in this campaign on account of
+the great defection in the Whig party. General Taylor's
+nomination was unsatisfactory to the free-soil element, and such
+leaders as Henry Wilson, Charles Francis Adams, Charles Allen,
+Charles Sumner, Stephen C. Phillips, Richard H. Dana, Jr., and
+Anson Burlingame, were in open revolt. Mr. Lincoln's speeches
+were confined largely to a defense of General Taylor, but at the
+same time he denounced the free-soilers for helping to elect
+Cass. Among other things he said that the free-soilers had but
+one principle and that they reminded him of the Yankee peddler
+going to sell a pair of pantaloons and describing them as "large
+enough for any man, and small enough for any boy."
+
+It is an odd fact in history that the prominent Whigs of
+Massachusetts at that time became the opponents of Mr. Lincoln's
+election to the presidency and the policy of his administration,
+while the free-soilers, whom he denounced, were among his
+strongest supporters, advisers and followers.
+
+At the second session of Congress Mr. Lincoln's one act of
+consequence was the introduction of a bill providing for the
+gradual emancipation of the slaves in the District of Columbia.
+Joshua R. Giddings, the great antislavery agitator, and one or
+two lesser lights supported it, but the bill was laid on the
+table.
+
+After General Taylor's election Mr. Lincoln had the distribution
+of Federal patronage in his own Congressional district, and this
+added much to his political importance, although it was a
+ceaseless source of worry to him.
+
+
+DECLINES A HIGH OFFICE.
+
+Just before the close of his term in Congress Mr. Lincoln was an
+applicant for the office of Commissioner of the General Land
+Office, but was unsuccessful. He had been such a factor in
+General Taylor's election that the administration thought
+something was due him, and after his return to Illinois he was
+called to Washington and offered the Governorship of the
+Territory of Oregon. It is likely he would have accepted this had
+not Mrs. Lincoln put her foot down with an emphatic no.
+
+He declined a partnership with a well-known Chicago lawyer and
+returning to his Springfield home resumed the practice of law.
+
+>From this time until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,
+which
+opened the way for the admission of slavery into the territories,
+Mr. Lincoln devoted himself more industriously than ever to the
+practice of law, and during those five years he was probably a
+greater student than he had ever been before. His partner, W. H.
+Herndon, has told of the changes that took place in the courts
+and in the methods of practice while Mr. Lincoln was away.
+
+
+LINCOLN AS A LAWYER.
+
+When he returned to active practice he saw at once that the
+courts had grown more learned and dignified and that the bar
+relied more upon method and system and a knowledge of the statute
+law than upon the stump speech method of early days.
+
+Mr. Herndon tells us that Lincoln would lie in bed and read by
+candle light, sometimes until two o'clock in the morning, while
+his famous colleagues, Davis, Logan, Swett, Edwards and Herndon,
+were soundly and sometimes loudly sleeping. He read and reread
+the statutes and books of practice, devoured Shakespeare, who was
+always a favorite of his, and studied Euclid so diligently that
+he could easily demonstrate all the propositions contained in the
+six books.
+
+Mr. Lincoln detested office work. He left all that to his
+partner. He disliked to draw up legal papers or to write letters.
+The firm of which he was a member kept no books. When either
+Lincoln or Herndon received a fee they divided the money then and
+there. If his partner were not in the office at the time Mr.
+Lincoln would wrap up half of the fee in a sheet of paper, on
+which he would write, "Herndon's half," giving the name of the
+case, and place it in his partner's desk.
+
+But in court, arguing a case, pleading to the jury and laying
+down the law, Lincoln was in his element. Even when he had a weak
+case he was a strong antagonist, and when he had right and
+justice on his side, as he nearly always had, no one could beat
+him.
+
+He liked an outdoor life, hence he was fond of riding the
+circuit. He enjoyed the company of other men, liked discussion
+and argument, loved to tell stories and to hear them, laughing as
+heartily at his own stories as he did at those that were told to
+him.
+
+
+TELLING STORIES ON THE CIRCUIT.
+
+The court circuit in those days was the scene of many a
+story-telling joust, in which Lincoln was always the chief.
+Frequently he would sit up until after midnight reeling off story
+after story, each one followed by roars of laughter that could be
+heard all over the country tavern, in which the story-telling
+group was gathered. Every type of character would be represented
+in these groups, from the learned judge on the bench down to the
+village loafer.
+
+Lincoln's favorite attitude was to sit with his long legs propped
+up on the rail of the stove, or with his feet against the wall,
+and thus he would sit for hours entertaining a crowd, or being
+entertained.
+
+One circuit judge was so fond of Lincoln's stories that he often
+would sit up until midnight listening to them, and then declare
+that he had laughed so much he believed his ribs were shaken
+loose.
+
+The great success of Abraham Lincoln as a trial lawyer was due to
+a number of facts. He would not take a case if he believed that
+the law and justice were on the other side. When he addressed a
+jury he made them feel that he only wanted fair play and justice.
+He did not talk over their heads, but got right down to a
+friendly tone such as we use in ordinary conversation, and talked
+at them, appealing to their honesty and common sense,
+
+And making his argument plain by telling a story or two that
+brought the matter clearly within their understanding.
+
+When he did not know the law in a particular case he never
+pretended to know it. If there were no precedents to cover a case
+he would state his side plainly and fairly; he would tell the
+jury what he believed was right for them to do, and then conclude
+with his favorite expression, "it seems to me that this ought to
+be the law."
+
+Some time before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise a lawyer
+friend said to him: "Lincoln, the time is near at hand when we
+shall have to be all Abolitionists or all Democrats."
+
+"When that time comes my mind is made up," he replied, "for I
+believe the slavery question never can be compromised."
+
+
+THE LION IS AROUSED TO ACTION.
+
+While Lincoln took a mild interest in politics, he was not a
+candidate for office, except as a presidential elector, from the
+time of leaving Congress until the repeal of the Missouri
+Compromise. This repeal Legislation was the work of Lincoln's
+political antagonist, Stephen A. Douglas, and aroused Mr. Lincoln
+to action as the lion is roused by some foe worthy of his great
+strength and courage.
+
+Mr. Douglas argued that the true intent and meaning of the act
+was not to legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor to
+exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people perfectly free to
+form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way.
+
+"Douglas' argument amounts to this," said Mr. Lincoln, "that if
+any one man chooses to enslave another no third man shall be
+allowed to object."
+
+After the adjournment of Congress Mr. Douglas returned to
+Illinois and began to defend his action in the repeal of the
+Missouri Compromise. His most important speech was made at
+Springfield, and Mr. Lincoln was selected to answer it. That
+speech alone was sufficient to make Mr. Lincoln the leader of
+anti-Slavery sentiment in the West, and some of the men who heard
+it declared that it was the greatest speech he ever made.
+
+With the repeal of the Missouri Compromise the Whig party began
+to break up, the majority of its members who were pronounced
+Abolitionists began to form the nucleus of the Republican party.
+Before this party was formed, however, Mr. Lincoln was induced to
+follow Douglas around the State and reply to him, but after one
+meeting at Peoria, where they both spoke, they entered into an
+agreement to return to their homes and make no more speeches
+during the campaign.
+
+
+SEEKS A SEAT IN THE SENATE.
+
+Mr. Lincoln made no secret at this time of his ambition to
+represent Illinois in the United States Senate. Against his
+protest he was nominated and elected to the Legislature, but
+resigned his seat. His old rival, James Shields, with whom he was
+once near to a duel, was then senator, and his term was to expire
+the following year.
+
+A letter, written by Mr. Lincoln to a friend in Paris, Illinois,
+at this time is interesting and significant. He wrote:
+
+"I have a suspicion that a Whig has been elected to the
+Legislature from Eagar. If this is not so, why, then, 'nix cum
+arous;' but if it is so, then could you not make a mark with him
+for me for United States senator? I really have some chance."
+
+Another candidate besides Mr. Lincoln was seeking the seat in the
+United States Senate, soon to be vacated by Mr. Shields. This was
+Lyman Trumbull, an anti-slavery Democrat. When the Legislature
+met it was found that Mr. Lincoln lacked five votes of an
+election, while Mr. Trumbull had but five supporters. After
+several ballots Mr. Lincoln feared that Trumbull's votes would be
+given to a Democratic candidate and he determined to sacrifice
+himself for the principle at stake. Accordingly he instructed his
+friends in the Legislature to vote for Judge Trumbull, which they
+did, resulting in Trumbull's election.
+
+The Abolitionists in the West had become very radical in their
+views, and did not hesitate to talk of opposing the extension of
+slavery by the use of force if necessary. Mr. Lincoln, on the
+other hand, was conservative and counseled moderation. In the
+meantime many outrages, growing out of the extension of slavery,
+were being perpetrated on the borders of Kansas and Missouri, and
+they no doubt influenced Mr. Lincoln to take a more radical stand
+against the slavery question.
+
+An incident occurred at this time which had great effect in this
+direction. The negro son of a colored woman in Springfield had
+gone South to work. He was born free, but did not have his free
+papers with him. He was arrested and would have been sold into
+slavery to pay his prison expenses, had not Mr. Lincoln and some
+friends purchased his liberty. Previous to this Mr. Lincoln had
+tried to secure the boy's release through the Governor of
+Illinois, but the Governor informed him that nothing could be
+done.
+
+Then it was that Mr. Lincoln rose to his full height and
+exclaimed:
+
+"Governor, I'll make the ground in this country too hot for the
+foot of a slave, whether you have the legal power to secure the
+release of this boy or not."
+
+
+HELPS TO ORGANIZE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
+
+The year after Mr. Trumbull's election to the Senate the
+Republican party was formally organized. A state convention of
+that party was called to meet at Bloomington May 29, 1856. The
+call for this convention was signed by many Springfield Whigs,
+and among the names was that of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's
+name had been signed to the call by his law partner, but when he
+was informed of this action he endorsed it fully. Among the
+famous men who took part in this convention were Abraham
+Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, David Davis, Leonard Swett, Richard
+Yates, Norman, B. Judd and Owen Lovejoy, the Alton editor, whose
+life, like Lincoln's, finally paid the penalty for his Abolition
+views. The party nominated for Governor, Wm. H. Bissell, a
+veteran of the Mexican War, and adopted a platform ringing with
+anti-slavery sentiment.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was the greatest power in the campaign that followed.
+He was one of the Fremont Presidential electors, and he went to
+work with all his might to spread the new party gospel and make
+votes for the old "Path-Finder of the Rocky Mountains."
+
+An amusing incident followed close after the Bloomington
+convention. A meeting was called at Springfield to ratify the
+action at Bloomington. Only three persons attended--Mr. Lincoln,
+his law partner and a man named John Paine. Mr. Lincoln made a
+speech to his colleagues, in which, among other things, he said:
+"While all seems dead, the age itself is not. It liveth as sure
+as our Maker liveth."
+
+In this campaign Mr. Lincoln was in general demand not only in
+his own state, but in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin as well.
+
+The result of that Presidential campaign was the election of
+Buchanan as President, Bissell as Governor, leaving Mr. Lincoln
+the undisputed leader of the new party. Hence it was that two
+years later he was the inevitable man to oppose Judge Douglas in
+the campaign for United States Senator.
+
+
+THE RAIL SPLITTER vs. THE LITTLE GIANT.
+
+No record of Abraham Lincoln's career would be complete without
+the story of the memorable joint debates between the
+"Rail-Splitter of the Sangamon Valley" and the "Little Giant."
+The opening lines in Mr. Lincoln's speech to the Republican
+Convention were not only prophetic of the coming rebellion, but
+they clearly made the issue between the Republican and Democratic
+parties for two Presidential campaigns to follow. The memorable
+sentences were as follows:
+
+"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this
+Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I
+do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the
+house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It
+will become all the one thing or the other. Either the opponents
+of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it
+where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the
+course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it
+forward till it becomes alike lawful in all the states, old as
+well as new, North as well as South."
+
+It is universally conceded that this speech contained the most
+important utterances of Mr. Lincoln's life.
+
+Previous to its delivery, the Democratic convention had endorsed
+Mr. Douglas for re-election to the Senate, and the Republican
+convention had resolved that "Abraham Lincoln is our first and
+only choice for United States Senator, to fill the vacancy
+about to be created by the expiration of Mr. Douglas' term of
+office."
+
+Before Judge Douglas had made many speeches in this Senatorial
+campaign, Mr. Lincoln challenged him to a joint debate, which
+was accepted, and seven memorable meetings between these two
+great leaders followed. The places and dates were: Ottawa, August
+21st; Freeport, August 27th; Jonesboro, September 15th;
+Charleston, September 18th; Galesburg, October 7th; Quincy,
+October 13th; and Alton, October 15th.
+
+The debates not only attracted the attention of the people in the
+state of Illinois, but aroused an interest throughout the whole
+country equal to that of a Presidential election.
+
+
+WERE LIKE CROWDS AT A CIRCUS.
+
+All the meetings of the joint debate were attended by immense
+crowds of people. They came in all sorts of vehicles, on
+horseback, and many walked weary miles on foot to hear these two
+great leaders discuss the issues of the campaign. There had never
+been political meetings held under such unusual conditions as
+these, and there probably never will be again. At every place the
+speakers were met by great crowds of their friends and escorted
+to the platforms in the open air where the debates were held. The
+processions that escorted the speakers were most unique. They
+carried flags and banners and were preceded by bands of music.
+The people discharged cannons when they had them, and, when they
+did not, blacksmiths' anvils were made to take their places.
+
+Oftentimes a part of the escort would be mounted, and in most of
+the processions were chariots containing young ladies
+representing the different states of the Union designated by
+banners they carried. Besides the bands, there was usually vocal
+music. Patriotic songs were the order of the day, the
+"Star-Spangled Banner" and "Hail Columbia" being great favorites.
+
+So far as the crowds were concerned, these joint debates took on
+the appearance of a circus day, and this comparison was
+strengthened by the sale of lemonade, fruit, melons and
+confectionery on the outskirts of the gatherings.
+
+At Ottawa, after his speech, Mr. Lincoln was carried around on
+the shoulders of his enthusiastic supporters, who did not put him
+down until they reached the place where he was to spend the
+night.
+
+In the joint debates, each of the candidates asked the other a
+series of questions. Judge Douglas' replies to Mr. Lincoln's
+shrewd questions helped Douglas to win the Senatorial election,
+but they lost him the support of the South in the campaign for
+President two years thereafter. Mr. Lincoln was told when he
+framed his questions that if Douglas answered them in the way it
+was believed he would that the answers would make him Senator.
+
+"That may be," said Mr. Lincoln, "but if he takes that shoot he
+never can be President."
+
+The prophecy was correct. Mr. Douglas was elected Senator, but
+two years later only carried one state--Missouri--for President.
+
+
+HIS BUCKEYE CAMPAIGN.
+
+After the close of this canvass, Mr. Lincoln again devoted
+himself to the practice of his profession, but he was destined to
+remain but a short time in retirement. In the fall of 1859 Mr.
+Douglas went to Ohio to stump the state for his friend, Mr. Pugh,
+the Democratic candidate for Governor. The Ohio Republicans at
+once asked Mr. Lincoln to come to the state and reply to the
+"Little Giant." He accepted the invitation and made two masterly
+speeches in the campaign. In one of them, delivered at
+Cincinnati, he prophesied the outcome of the rebellion if the
+Southern people attempted to divide the Union by force.
+
+Addressing himself particularly to the Kentuckians in the
+audience, he said:
+
+"I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know, now, when
+that thing takes place, what do you mean to do? I often hear it
+intimated that you mean to divide the Union whenever a
+Republican, or anything like it, is elected President of the
+United States. [A Voice--"That is so."] 'That is so,' one of them
+says; I wonder if he is a Kentuckian? [A Voice--"He is a Douglas
+man."] Well, then, I want to know what you are going to do with
+your half of it?
+
+"Are you going to split the Ohio down through, and push your half
+off a piece? Or are you going to keep it right alongside of us
+outrageous fellows? Or are you going to build up a wall some way
+between your country, and ours, by which that movable property of
+yours can't come over here any more, to the danger of your losing
+it? Do you think you can better yourselves on that subject by
+leaving us here under no obligation whatever to return those
+specimens of your movable property that come hither?
+
+"You have divided the Union because we would not do right with
+you, as you think, upon that subject; when we cease to be under
+obligations to do anything for you, how much better off do you
+think you will be? Will you make war upon us and kill us all?
+Why, gentlemen, I think you are as gallant and as brave men as
+live; that you can fight as bravely in a good cause, man for man,
+as any other people living; that you have shown yourselves
+capable of this upon various occasions; but, man for man, you are
+not better than we are, and there are not so many of you as there
+are of us.
+
+"You will never make much of a hand at whipping us. If we were
+fewer in numbers than you, I think that you could whip us; if we
+were equal, it would likely be a drawn battle; but, being
+inferior in numbers, you will make nothing by attempting to
+master us.
+
+"But perhaps I have addressed myself as long, or longer, to the
+Kentuckians than I ought to have done, inasmuch as I have said
+that, whatever course you take, we intend in the end to beat
+you."
+
+
+FIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK.
+
+Later in the year Mr. Lincoln also spoke in Kansas, where he was
+received with great enthusiasm, and in February of the following
+year he made his great speech in Cooper Union, New York, to an
+immense gathering, presided over by William Cullen Bryant, the
+poet, who was then editor of the New York Evening Post. There was
+great curiosity to see the Western rail-splitter who had so
+lately met the famous "Little Giant" of the West in debate, and
+Mr. Lincoln's speech was listened to by many of the ablest men in
+the East.
+
+This speech won for him many supporters in the Presidential
+campaign that followed, for his hearers at once recognized his
+wonderful ability to deal with the questions then uppermost in
+the public mind.
+
+
+FIRST NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT.
+
+The Republican National Convention of 1860 met in Chicago, May
+16, in an immense building called the "Wigwam." The leading
+candidates for President were William H. Seward of New York and
+Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. Among others spoken of were Salmon
+P. Chase of Ohio and Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania.
+
+On the first ballot for President, Mr. Seward received one
+hundred and seventy-three and one-half votes; Mr. Lincoln, one
+hundred and two votes, the others scattering. On the first
+ballot, Vermont had divided her vote, but on the second the
+chairman of the Vermont delegation announced: "Vermont casts her
+ten votes for the young giant of the West--Abraham Lincoln."
+
+This was the turning point in the convention toward Mr. Lincoln's
+nomination. The second ballot resulted: Seward, one hundred and
+eighty-four and one-half; Lincoln, one hundred and eighty-one. On
+the third ballot, Mr. Lincoln received two hundred and thirty
+votes. One and one-half votes more would nominate him. Before the
+ballot was announced, Ohio made a change of four votes in favor
+of Mr. Lincoln, making him the nominee for President.
+
+Other states tried to follow Ohio's example, but it was a long
+time before any of the delegates could make themselves heard.
+Cannons planted on top of the wigwam were roaring and booming;
+the large crowd in the wigwam and the immense throng outside were
+cheering at the top of their lungs, while bands were playing
+victorious airs.
+
+When order had been restored, it was announced that on the third
+ballot Abraham Lincoln of Illinois had received three hundred and
+fifty-four votes and was nominated by the Republican party to the
+office of President of the United States.
+
+Mr. Lincoln heard the news of his nomination while sitting in a
+newspaper office in Springfield, and hurried home to tell his
+wife.
+
+As Mr. Lincoln had predicted, Judge Douglas' position on slavery
+in the territories lost him the support of the South, and when
+the Democratic convention met at Charleston, the slave-holding
+states forced the nomination of John C. Breckinridge. A
+considerable number of people who did not agree with either party
+nominated John Bell of Tennessee.
+
+In the election which followed, Mr. Lincoln carried all of the
+free states, except New Jersey, which was divided between himself
+and Douglas; Breckinridge carried all the slave states, except
+Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, which went for Bell, and
+Missouri gave its vote to Douglas.
+
+
+FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
+
+The election was scarcely over before it was evident that the
+Southern States did not intend to abide by the result, and that a
+conspiracy was on foot to divide the Union. Before the
+Presidential election even, the Secretary of War in President
+Buchanan's Cabinet had removed one hundred and fifty thousand
+muskets from Government armories in the North and sent them to
+Government armories in the South.
+
+Before Mr. Lincoln had prepared his inaugural address, South
+Carolina, which took the lead in the secession movement, had
+declared through her Legislature her separation from the Union.
+Before Mr. Lincoln took his seat, other Southern States had
+followed the example of South Carolina, and a convention had been
+held at Montgomery, Alabama, which had elected Jefferson Davis
+President of the new Confederacy, and Alexander H. Stevens, of
+Georgia, Vice-President.
+
+Southern men in the Cabinet, Senate and House had resigned their
+seats and gone home, and Southern States were demanding that
+Southern forts and Government property in their section should be
+turned over to them.
+
+Between his election and inauguration, Mr. Lincoln remained
+silent, reserving his opinions and a declaration of his policy
+for his inaugural address.
+
+Before Mr. Lincoln's departure from Springfield for Washington,
+threats had been freely made that he would never reach the
+capital alive, and, in fact, a conspiracy was then on foot to
+take his life in the city of Baltimore.
+
+Mr. Lincoln left Springfield on February 11th, in company with
+his wife and three sons, his brother-in-law, Dr. W. S. Wallace;
+David Davis, Norman B. Judd, Elmer E. Elsworth, Ward H. Lamon,
+Colonel E. V. Sunder of the United States Army, and the
+President's two secretaries.
+
+
+GOOD-BYE TO THE OLD FOLK.
+
+Early in February, before leaving for Washington, Mr. Lincoln
+slipped away from Springfield and paid a visit to his aged
+step-mother in Coles county. He also paid a visit to the unmarked
+grave of his father and ordered a suitable stone to mark the
+spot.
+
+Before leaving Springfield, he made an address to his
+fellow-townsmen, in which he displayed sincere sorrow at parting
+from them.
+
+"Friends," he said, "no one who has never been placed in a like
+position can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the
+oppressive sadness I feel at this parting. For more than a
+quarter of a century I have lived among you, and during all that
+time I have received nothing but kindness at your hands. Here I
+have lived from my youth until now I am an old man. Here the most
+sacred ties of earth were assumed. Here all my children were
+born, and here one of them lies buried.
+
+
+"To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All
+the strange, checkered past seems to crowd now upon my mind.
+To-day I leave you. I go to assume a task more difficult than
+that which devolved upon Washington. Unless the great God who
+assisted him shall be with and aid me, I must fail; but if the
+same omniscient mind and almighty arm that directed and protected
+him shall guide and support me, I shall not fail--I shall
+succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may
+not forsake us now.
+
+"To Him I commend you all. Permit me to ask that with equal
+sincerity and faith you will invoke His wisdom and guidance for
+me. With these words I must leave you, for how long I know not.
+Friends, one and all, I must now bid you an affectionate
+farewell."
+
+The journey from Springfield to Philadelphia was a continuous
+ovation for Mr. Lincoln. Crowds assembled to meet him at the
+various places along the way, and he made them short speeches,
+full of humor and good feeling. At Harrisburg, Pa., the party was
+met by Allan Pinkerton, who knew of the plot in Baltimore to take
+the life of Mr. Lincoln.
+
+
+THE "SECRET PASSAGE" TO WASHINGTON.
+
+Throughout his entire life, Abraham Lincoln's physical courage
+was as great and superb as his moral courage. When Mr. Pinkerton
+and Mr. Judd urged the President-elect to leave for Washington
+that night, he positively refused to do it. He said he had made
+an engagement to assist at a flag raising in the forenoon of the
+next day and to show himself to the people of Harrisburg in the
+afternoon, and that he intended to keep both engagements.
+
+At Philadelphia the Presidential party was met by Mr. Seward's
+son, Frederick, who had been sent to warn Mr. Lincoln of the plot
+against his life. Mr. Judd, Mr. Pinkerton and Mr. Lamon figured
+out a plan to take Mr. Lincoln through Baltimore between midnight
+and daybreak, when the would-be assassins would not be expecting
+him, and this plan was carried out so thoroughly that even the
+conductor on the train did not know the President-elect was on
+board.
+
+Mr. Lincoln was put into his berth and the curtains drawn. He was
+supposed to be a sick man. When the conductor came around, Mr.
+Pinkerton handed him the "sick man's" ticket and he passed on
+without question.
+
+When the train reached Baltimore, at half-past three o'clock in
+the morning, it was met by one of Mr. Pinkerton's detectives, who
+reported that everything was "all right," and in a short time the
+party was speeding on to the national capital, where rooms had
+been engaged for Mr. Lincoln and his guard at Willard's Hotel.
+
+Mr. Lincoln always regretted this "secret passage" to Washington,
+for it was repugnant to a man of his high courage. He had agreed
+to the plan simply because all of his friends urged it as the
+best thing to do.
+
+Now that all the facts are known, it is assured that his friends
+were right, and that there never was a moment from the day he
+crossed the Maryland line until his assassination that his life
+was not in danger, and was only saved as long as it was by the
+constant vigilance of those who were guarding him.
+
+
+HIS ELOQUENT INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
+
+The wonderful eloquence of Abraham Lincoln--clear, sincere,
+natural--found grand expression in his first inaugural address,
+in which he not only outlined his policy toward the States in
+rebellion, but made that beautiful and eloquent plea for
+conciliation. The closing sentences of Mr. Lincoln's first
+inaugural address deservedly take rank with his Gettysburg speech
+
+"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen," he said, "and
+not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government
+will not assail you.
+
+"You can have no conflict without being yourselves the
+aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the
+Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve,
+protect and defend' it.
+
+"I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must
+not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not
+break our bonds of affection.
+
+"The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every battle-field
+and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over
+this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when
+again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of
+our nature."
+
+
+FOLLOWS PRECEDENT OF WASHINGTON.
+
+In selecting his Cabinet, Mr. Lincoln, consciously or
+unconsciously, followed a precedent established by Washington, of
+selecting men of almost opposite opinions. His Cabinet was
+composed of William H. Seward of New York, Secretary of State;
+Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron
+of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon E. Welles of
+Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith of Indiana,
+Secretary of the Interior; Montgomery Blair of Maryland,
+Postmaster-General; Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney-General.
+
+Mr. Chase, although an anti-slavery leader, was a States-Rights
+Federal Republican, while Mr. Seward was a Whig, without having
+connected himself with the anti-slavery movement.
+
+Mr. Chase and Mr. Seward, the leading men of Mr. Lincoln's
+Cabinet, were as widely apart and antagonistic in their views as
+were Jefferson, the Democrat, and Hamilton, the Federalist, the
+two leaders in Washington's Cabinet. But in bringing together
+these two strong men as his chief advisers, both of whom had been
+rival candidates for the Presidency, Mr. Lincoln gave another
+example of his own greatness and self-reliance, and put them both
+in a position to render greater service to the Government than
+they could have done, probably, as President.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had been in office little more than five weeks when
+the War of the Rebellion began by the firing on Fort Sumter.
+
+
+GREATER DIPLOMAT THAN SEWARD.
+
+The War of the Rebellion revealed to the people--in fact, to the
+whole world--the many sides of Abraham Lincoln's character. It
+showed him as a real ruler of men--not a ruler by the mere power
+of might, but by the power of a great brain. In his Cabinet were
+the ablest men in the country, yet they all knew that Lincoln was
+abler than any of them.
+
+Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, was a man famed in
+statesmanship and diplomacy. During the early stages of the Civil
+War, when France and England were seeking an excuse to interfere
+and help the Southern Confederacy, Mr. Seward wrote a letter to
+our minister in London, Charles Francis Adams, instructing him
+concerning the attitude of the Federal government on the question
+of interference, which would undoubtedly have brought about a war
+with England if Abraham Lincoln had not corrected and amended the
+letter. He did this, too, without yielding a point or sacrificing
+in any way his own dignity or that of the country.
+
+
+LINCOLN A GREAT GENERAL.
+
+Throughout the four years of war, Mr. Lincoln spent a great deal
+of time in the War Department, receiving news from the front and
+conferring with Secretary of War Stanton concerning military
+affairs.
+
+Mr. Lincoln's War Secretary, Edwin M. Stanton, who had succeeded
+Simon Cameron, was a man of wonderful personality and iron will.
+It is generally conceded that no other man could have managed the
+great War Secretary so well as Lincoln. Stanton had his way in
+most matters, but when there was an important difference of
+opinion he always found Lincoln was the master.
+
+Although Mr. Lincoln's communications to the generals in the
+field were oftener in the nature of suggestions than positive
+orders, every military leader recognized Mr. Lincoln's ability in
+military operations. In the early stages of the war, Mr. Lincoln
+followed closely every plan and movement of McClellan, and the
+correspondence between them proves Mr. Lincoln to have been far
+the abler general of the two. He kept close watch of Burnside,
+too, and when he gave the command of the Army of the Potomac to
+"Fighting Joe" Hooker he also gave that general some fatherly
+counsel and advice which was of great benefit to him as a
+commander.
+
+
+ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN GRANT.
+
+It was not until General Grant had been made Commander-in-Chief
+that President Lincoln felt he had at last found a general who
+did not need much advice. He was the first to recognize that
+Grant was a great military leader, and when he once felt sure of
+this fact nothing could shake his confidence in that general.
+Delegation after delegation called at the White House and asked
+for Grant's removal from the head of the army. They accused him
+of being a butcher, a drunkard, a man without sense or feeling.
+
+President Lincoln listened to all of these attacks, but he always
+had an apt answer to silence Grant's enemies. Grant was doing
+what Lincoln wanted done from the first--he was fighting and
+winning victories, and victories are the only things that count
+in war.
+
+
+REASONS FOB FREEING THE SLAVES.
+
+The crowning act of Lincoln's career as President was the
+emancipation of the slaves. All of his life he had believed in
+gradual emancipation, but all of his plans contemplated payment
+to the slaveholders. While he had always been opposed to slavery,
+he did not take any steps to use it as a war measure until about
+the middle of 1862. His chief object was to preserve the Union.
+
+He wrote to Horace Greeley that if he could save the Union
+without freeing any of the slaves he would do it; that if he
+could save it by freeing some and leaving the others in slavery
+he would do that; that if it became necessary to free all the
+slaves in order to save the Union he would take that course.
+
+The anti-slavery men were continually urging Mr. Lincoln to set
+the slaves free, but he paid no attention to their petitions and
+demands until he felt that emancipation would help him to
+preserve the Union of the States.
+
+The outlook for the Union cause grew darker and darker in 1862,
+and Mr. Lincoln began to think, as he expressed it, that he must
+"change his tactics or lose the game." Accordingly he decided to
+issue the Emancipation Proclamation as soon as the Union army won
+a substantial victory. The battle of Antietam, on September 17,
+gave him the opportunity he sought. He told Secretary Chase that
+he had made a solemn vow before God that if General Lee should be
+driven back from Pennsylvania he would crown the result by a
+declaration of freedom to the slaves.
+
+On the twenty-second of that month he issued a proclamation
+stating that at the end of one hundred days he would issue
+another proclamation declaring all slaves within any State or
+Territory to be forever free, which was done in the form of the
+famous Emancipation Proclamation.
+
+
+HARD TO REFUSE PARDONS.
+
+In the conduct of the war and in his purpose to maintain the
+Union, Abraham Lincoln exhibited a will of iron and determination
+that could not be shaken, but in his daily contact with the
+mothers, wives and daughters begging for the life of some soldier
+who had been condemned to death for desertion or sleeping on duty
+he was as gentle and weak as a woman.
+
+It was a difficult matter for him to refuse a pardon if the
+slightest excuse could be found for granting it.
+
+Secretary Stanton and the commanding generals were loud in
+declaring that Mr. Lincoln would destroy the discipline of the
+army by his wholesale pardoning of condemned soldiers, but when
+we come to examine the individual cases we find that Lincoln was
+nearly always right, and when he erred it was always on the side
+of humanity.
+
+During the four years of the long struggle for the preservation
+of the Union, Mr. Lincoln kept "open shop," as he expressed it,
+where the general public could always see him and make known
+their wants and complaints. Even the private soldier was not
+denied admittance to the President's private office, and no
+request or complaint was too small or trivial to enlist his
+sympathy and interest.
+
+
+A FUN-LOVING AND HUMOR-LOVING MAN.
+
+It was once said of Shakespeare that the great mind that
+conceived the tragedies of "Hamlet," "Macbeth," etc., would have
+lost its reason if it had not found vent in the sparkling humor
+of such comedies as "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "The Comedy
+of Errors."
+
+The great strain on the mind of Abraham Lincoln produced by four
+years of civil war might likewise have overcome his reason had it
+not found vent in the yarns and stories he constantly told. No
+more fun-loving or humor-loving man than Abraham Lincoln ever
+lived. He enjoyed a joke even when it was on himself, and
+probably, while he got his greatest enjoyment from telling
+stories, he had a keen appreciation of the humor in those that
+were told him.
+
+His favorite humorous writer was David R. Locke, better known as
+"Petroleum V. Nasby," whose political satires were quite famous
+in their day. Nearly every prominent man who has written his
+recollections of Lincoln has told how the President, in the
+middle of a conversation on some serious subject, would suddenly
+stop and ask his hearer if he ever read the Nasby letters.
+
+Then he would take from his desk a pamphlet containing the
+letters and proceed to read them, laughing heartily at all the
+good points they contained. There is probably no better evidence
+of Mr. Lincoln's love of humor and appreciation of it than his
+letter to Nasby, in which he said: "For the ability to
+write these things I would gladly trade places with you."
+
+Mr. Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864. His opponent on the
+Democratic ticket was General George B. McClellan, whose command
+of the Army of the Potomac had been so unsatisfactory at the
+beginning of the war. Mr. Lincoln's election was almost
+unanimous, as McClellan carried but three States--Delaware,
+Kentucky and New Jersey.
+
+General Grant, in a telegram of congratulation, said that it was
+"a victory worth more to the country than a battle won."
+
+The war was fast drawing to a close. The black war clouds were
+breaking and rolling away. Sherman had made his famous march to
+the sea. Through swamp and ravine, Grant was rapidly tightening
+the lines around Richmond. Thomas had won his title of the "Rock
+of Chickamauga." Sheridan had won his spurs as the great modern
+cavalry commander, and had cleaned out the Shenandoah Valley.
+Sherman was coming back from his famous march to join Grant at
+Richmond.
+
+The Confederacy was without a navy. The Kearsarge had sunk the
+Alabama, and Farragut had fought and won the famous victory in
+Mobile Bay. It was certain that Lee would soon have to evacuate
+Richmond only to fall into the hands of Grant.
+
+Lincoln saw the dawn of peace. When he came to deliver his second
+inaugural address, it contained no note of victory, no exultation
+over a fallen foe. On the contrary, it breathed the spirit of
+brotherly love and of prayer for an early peace: "With malice
+toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as
+God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in,
+to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have
+borne the battle and for his widow and his orphans, to do all
+which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among
+ourselves and with all nations."
+
+Not long thereafter, General Lee evacuated Richmond with about
+half of his original army, closely pursued by Grant. The boys in
+blue overtook their brothers in gray at Appomattox Court House,
+and there, beneath the warm rays of an April sun, the great
+Confederate general made his final surrender. The war was over,
+the American flag was floated over all the territory of the
+United States, and peace was now a reality. Mr. Lincoln visited
+Richmond and the final scenes of the war and then returned to
+Washington to carry out his announced plan of "binding up the
+nation's wounds."
+
+He had now reached the climax of his career and touched the
+highest point of his greatness. His great task was over, and the
+heavy burden that had so long worn upon his heart was lifted.
+
+While the whole nation was rejoicing over the return of peace,
+the Saviour of the Union was stricken down by the hand of an
+assassin.
+
+
+WARNINGS OF HIS TRAGIC DEATH.
+
+>From early youth, Mr. Lincoln had presentiments that he would
+die
+a violent death, or, rather, that his final days would be marked
+by some great tragic event. From the time of his first election
+to the Presidency, his closest friends had tried to make him
+understand that he was in constant danger of assassination, but,
+notwithstanding his presentiments, he had such splendid courage
+that he only laughed at their fears.
+
+During the summer months he lived at the Soldiers' Home, some
+miles from Washington, and frequently made the trip between the
+White House and the Home without a guard or escort. Secretary of
+War Stanton and Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District, were almost
+constantly alarmed over Mr. Lincoln's carelessness in exposing
+himself to the danger of assassination.
+
+They warned him time and again, and provided suitable body-guards
+to attend him. But Mr. Lincoln would often give the guards the
+slip, and, mounting his favorite riding horse, "Old Abe," would
+set out alone after dark from the White House for the Soldiers'
+Home.
+
+While riding to the Home one night, he was fired upon by some one
+in ambush, the bullet passing through his high hat. Mr. Lincoln
+would not admit that the man who fired the shot had tried to kill
+him. He always attributed it to an accident, and begged his
+friends to say nothing about it.
+
+Now that all the circumstances of the assassination are known, it
+is plain that there was a deep-laid and well-conceived plot to
+kill Mr. Lincoln long before the crime was actually committed.
+When Mr. Lincoln was delivering his second inaugural address on
+the steps of the Capitol, an excited individual tried to force
+his way through the guards in the building to get on the platform
+with Mr. Lincoln.
+
+It was afterward learned that this man was John Wilkes Booth, who
+afterwards assassinated Mr. Lincoln in Ford's Theatre, on the
+night of the 14th of April.
+
+
+LINCOLN AT THE THEATRE.
+
+The manager of the theatre had invited the President to witness a
+performance of a new play known as "Our American Cousin," in
+which the famous actress, Laura Keane, was playing. Mr. Lincoln
+was particularly fond of the theatre. He loved Shakespeare's
+plays above all others and never missed a chance to see the
+leading Shakespearean actors.
+
+As "Our American Cousin" was a new play, the President did not
+care particularly to see it, but as Mrs. Lincoln was anxious to
+go, he consented and accepted the invitation.
+
+General Grant was in Washington at the time, and as he was
+extremely anxious about the personal safety of the President, he
+reported every day regularly at the White House. Mr. Lincoln
+invited General Grant and his wife to accompany him and Mrs.
+Lincoln to the theatre on the night of the assassination, and the
+general accepted, but while they were talking he received a note
+from Mrs. Grant saying that she wished to leave Washington that
+evening to visit her daughter in Burlington. General Grant made
+his excuses to the President and left to accompany Mrs. Grant to
+the railway station. It afterwards became known that it was also
+a part of the plot to assassinate General Grant, and only Mrs.
+Grant's departure from Washington that evening prevented the
+attempt from being made.
+
+General Grant afterwards said that as he and Mrs. Grant were
+riding along Pennsylvania avenue to the railway station a
+horseman rode rapidly by at a gallop, and, wheeling his horse,
+rode back, peering into their carriage as he passed.
+
+Mrs. Grant remarked to the general: "That is the very man who sat
+near us at luncheon to-day and tried to overhear our
+conversation. He was so rude, you remember, as to cause us to
+leave the dining-room. Here he is again, riding after us."
+
+General Grant attributed the action of the man to idle curiosity,
+but learned afterward that the horseman was John Wilkes Booth.
+
+
+LAMON'S REMARKABLE REQUEST.
+
+Probably one reason why Mr. Lincoln did not particularly care to
+go to the theatre that night was a sort of half promise he had
+made to his friend and bodyguard, Marshal Lamon. Two days
+previous he had sent Lamon to Richmond on business connected with
+a call of a convention for reconstruction. Before leaving, Mr.
+Lamon saw Mr. Usher, the Secretary of the Interior, and asked him
+to persuade Mr. Lincoln to use more caution about his personal
+safety, and to go out as little as possible while Lamon was
+absent. Together they went to see Mr. Lincoln, and Lamon asked
+the President if he would make him a promise.
+
+"I think I can venture to say I will," said Mr. Lincoln. "What is
+it?"
+
+"Promise me that you will not go out after night while I am
+gone," said Mr. Lamon, "particularly to the theatre."
+
+Mr. Lincoln turned to Mr. Usher and said: "Usher, this boy is a
+monomaniac on the subject of my safety. I can hear him or hear of
+his being around at all times in the night, to prevent somebody
+from murdering me. He thinks I shall be killed, and we think he
+is going crazy. What does any one want to assassinate me for? If
+any one wants to do so, he can do it any day or night if he is
+ready to give his life for mine. It is nonsense."
+
+Mr. Usher said to Mr. Lincoln that it was well to heed Lamon's
+warning, as he was thrown among people from whom he had better
+opportunities to know about such matters than almost any one.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Lincoln to Lamon, "I promise to do the best I
+can toward it."
+
+
+HOW LINCOLN WAS MURDERED.
+
+The assassination of President Lincoln was most carefully
+planned, even to the smallest detail. The box set apart for the
+President's party was a double one in the second tier at the left
+of the stage. The box had two doors with spring locks, but Booth
+had loosened the screws with which they were fastened so that it
+was impossible to secure them from the inside. In one door he had
+bored a hole with a gimlet, so that he could see what was going
+on inside the box.
+
+An employee of the theatre by the name of Spangler, who was an
+accomplice of the assassin, had even arranged the seats in the
+box to suit the purposes of Booth.
+
+On the fateful night the theatre was packed. The Presidential
+party arrived a few minutes after nine o'clock, and consisted of
+the President and Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Harris and Major Rathbone,
+daughter and stepson of Senator Harris of New York. The immense
+audience rose to its feet and cheered the President as he passed
+to his box.
+
+Booth came into the theatre about ten o'clock. He had not only,
+planned to kill the President, but he had also planned to escape
+into Maryland, and a swift horse, saddled and ready for the
+journey, was tied in the rear of the theatre. For a few minutes
+he pretended to be interested in the performance, and then
+gradually made his way back to the door of the President's box.
+
+Before reaching there, however, he was confronted by one of the
+President's messengers, who had been stationed at the end of the
+passage leading to the boxes to prevent any one from intruding.
+To this man Booth handed a card saying that the President had
+sent for him, and was permitted to enter.
+
+Once inside the hallway leading to the boxes, he closed the hall
+door and fastened it by a bar prepared for the occasion, so that
+it was impossible to open it from without. Then he quickly
+entered the box through the right-hand door. The President was
+sitting in an easy armchair in the left-hand corner of the box
+nearest the audience. He was leaning on one hand and with the
+other had hold of a portion of the drapery. There was a smile on
+his face. The other members of the party were intently watching
+the performance on the stage.
+
+The assassin carried in his right hand a small silver-mounted
+derringer pistol and in his left a long double-edged dagger. He
+placed the pistol just behind the President's left ear and fired.
+
+Mr. Lincoln bent slightly forward and his eyes closed, but in
+every other respect his attitude remained unchanged.
+
+The report of the pistol startled Major Rathbone, who sprang to
+his feet. The murderer was then about six feet from the
+President, and Rathbone grappled with him, but was shaken off.
+Dropping his pistol, Booth struck at Rathbone with the dagger and
+inflicted a severe wound. The assassin then placed his left hand
+lightly on the railing of the box and jumped to the stage, eight
+or nine feet below.
+
+
+BOOTH BRANDISHES HIS DAGGER AND ESCAPES.
+
+The box was draped with the American flag, and, in jumping,
+Booth's spurs caught in the folds, tearing down the flag, the
+assassin falling heavily to the stage and spraining his ankle. He
+arose, however, and walked theatrically across the stage,
+brandished his knife and shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" and then
+added, "The South is avenged."
+
+For the moment the audience was horrified and incapable of
+action. One man only, a lawyer named Stuart, had sufficient
+presence of mind to leap upon the stage and attempt to capture
+the assassin. Booth went to the rear door of the stage, where his
+horse was held in readiness for him, and, leaping into the
+saddle, dashed through the streets toward Virginia. Miss Keane
+rushed to the President's box with water and stimulants, and
+medical aid was summoned.
+
+By this time the audience realized the tragedy that had been
+enacted, and then followed a scene such as has never been
+witnessed in any public gathering in this country. Women wept,
+shrieked and fainted; men raved and swore, and horror was
+depicted on every face. Before the audience could be gotten out
+of the theatre, horsemen were dashing through the streets and the
+telegraph was carrying the terrible details of the tragedy
+throughout the nation.
+
+
+WALT WHITMAN'S DESCRIPTION.
+
+Walt Whitman, the poet, has sketched in graphic language the
+scenes of that most eventful fourteenth of April. His account of
+the assassination has become historic, and is herewith given:
+
+"The day (April 14, 1865) seems to have been a pleasant one
+throughout the whole land--the moral atmosphere pleasant, too--
+the long storm, so dark, so fratricidal, full of blood and doubt
+and gloom, over and ended at last by the sunrise of such an
+absolute national victory, and utter breaking down of
+secessionism--we almost doubted our senses! Lee had capitulated,
+beneath the apple tree at Appomattox. The other armies, the
+flanges of the revolt, swiftly followed.
+
+"And could it really be, then? Out of all the affairs of this
+world of woe and passion, of failure and disorder and dismay, was
+there really come the confirmed, unerring sign of peace, like a
+shaft of pure light--of rightful rule--of God?
+
+"But I must not dwell on accessories. The deed hastens. The
+popular afternoon paper, the little Evening Star, had scattered
+all over its third page, divided among the advertisements in a
+sensational manner in a hundred different places:
+
+"'The President and his lady will be at the theatre this
+evening.'
+
+"Lincoln was fond of the theatre. I have myself seen him there
+several times. I remember thinking how funny it was that he, the
+leading actor in the greatest and stormiest drama known to real
+history's stage, through centuries, should sit there and be so
+completely interested in those human jackstraws, moving about
+with their silly little gestures, foreign spirit, and flatulent
+text.
+
+"So the day, as I say, was propitious. Early herbage, early
+flowers, were out. I remember where I was stopping at the time,
+the season being advanced, there were many lilacs in full bloom.
+
+"By one of those caprices that enter and give tinge to events
+without being a part of them, I find myself always reminded of
+the great tragedy of this day by the sight and odor of these
+blossoms. It never fails.
+
+"On this occasion the theatre was crowded, many ladies in rich
+and gay costumes, officers in their uniforms, many well-known
+citizens, young folks, the usual cluster of gas lights, the usual
+magnetism of so many people, cheerful with perfumes, music of
+violins and flutes--and over all, that saturating, that vast,
+vague wonder, Victory, the nation's victory, the triumph of the
+Union, filling the air, the thought, the sense, with exhilaration
+more than all the perfumes.
+
+"The President came betimes, and, with his wife, witnessed the
+play from the large stage boxes of the second tier, two thrown
+into one, and profusely draped with the national flag. The acts
+and scenes of the piece--one of those singularly witless
+compositions which have at the least the merit of giving entire
+relief to an audience engaged in mental action or business
+excitements and cares during the day, as it makes not the
+slightest call on either the moral, emotional, esthetic or
+spiritual nature--a piece in which among other characters, so
+called, a Yankee--certainly such a one as was never seen, or at
+least like it ever seen in North America, is introduced in
+England, with a varied fol-de-rol of talk, plot, scenery, and
+such phantasmagoria as goes to make up a modern popular
+drama--had progressed perhaps through a couple of its acts, when,
+in the midst of this comedy, or tragedy, or non-such, or whatever
+it is to be called, and to offset it, or finish it out, as if in
+Nature's and the Great Muse's mockery of these poor mimics, comes
+interpolated that scene, not really or exactly to be described at
+all (for on the many hundreds who were there it seems to this
+hour to have left little but a passing blur, a dream, a
+blotch)--and yet partially described as I now proceed to give it:
+
+"There is a scene in the play, representing the modern parlor, in
+which two unprecedented ladies are informed by the unprecedented
+and impossible Yankee that he is not a man of fortune, and
+therefore undesirable for marriage-catching purposes; after
+which, the comments being finished, the dramatic trio make exit,
+leaving the stage clear for a moment.
+
+"There was a pause, a hush, as it were. At this period came the
+death of Abraham Lincoln.
+
+"Great as that was, with all its manifold train circling around
+it, and stretching into the future for many a century, in the
+politics, history, art, etc., of the New World, in point of fact,
+the main thing, the actual murder, transpired with the quiet and
+simplicity of any commonest occurrence--the bursting of a bud or
+pod in the growth of vegetation, for instance.
+
+"Through the general hum following the stage pause, with the
+change of positions, etc., came the muffled sound of a pistol
+shot, which not one-hundredth part of the audience heard at the
+time--and yet a moment's hush--somehow, surely a vague, startled
+thrill--and then, through the ornamented, draperied, starred and
+striped space-way of the President's box, a sudden figure, a man,
+raises himself with hands and feet, stands a moment on the
+railing, leaps below to the stage, falls out of position,
+catching his bootheel in the copious drapery (the American flag),
+falls on one knee, quickly recovers himself, rises as if nothing
+had happened (he really sprains his ankle, unfelt then)--and the
+figure, Booth, the murderer, dressed in plain black broadcloth,
+bareheaded, with a full head of glossy, raven hair, and his eyes,
+like some mad animal's, flashing with light and resolution, yet
+with a certain strange calmness holds aloft in one hand a large
+knife--walks along not much back of the footlights--turns fully
+towards the audience, his face of statuesque beauty, lit by those
+basilisk eyes, flashing with desperation, perhaps
+insanity--launches out in a firm and steady voice the words, 'Sic
+semper tyrannis'--and then walks with neither slow nor very rapid
+pace diagonally across to the back of the stage, and disappears.
+
+"(Had not all this terrible scene--making the mimic ones
+preposterous--had it not all been rehearsed, in blank, by Booth,
+beforehand?)
+
+"A moment's hush, incredulous--a scream--a cry of murder--Mrs.
+Lincoln leaning out of the box, with ashy cheeks and lips, with
+involuntary cry, pointing to the retreating figure, 'He has
+killed the President!'
+
+"And still a moment's strange, incredulous suspense--and then the
+deluge!--then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty--the
+sound, somewhere back, of a horse's hoofs clattering with speed--
+the people burst through chairs and railings, and break them
+up--that noise adds to the queerness of the scene--there is
+inextricable confusion and terror--women faint--quite feeble
+persons fall, and are trampled on--many cries of agony are heard
+--the broad stage suddenly fills to suffocation with a dense and
+motley crowd, like some horrible carnival--the audience rush
+generally upon it--at least the strong men do--the actors and
+actresses are there in their play costumes and painted faces,
+with mortal fright showing through the rouge--some trembling,
+some in tears--the screams and calls, confused talk--redoubled,
+trebled--two or three manage to pass up water from the stage to
+the President's box, others try to clamber up, etc., etc.
+
+"In the midst of all this the soldiers of the President's Guard,
+with others, suddenly drawn to the scene, burst in--some two
+hundred altogether--they storm the house, through all the tiers,
+especially the upper ones--inflamed with fury, literally charging
+the audience with fixed bayonets, muskets and pistols, shouting,
+'Clear out! clear out!'
+
+"Such a wild scene, or a suggestion of it, rather, inside the
+playhouse that night!
+
+"Outside, too, in the atmosphere of shock and craze, crowds of
+people filled with frenzy, ready to seize any outlet for it, came
+near committing murder several times on innocent individuals.
+
+"One such case was particularly exciting. The infuriated crowd,
+through some chance, got started against one man, either for
+words he uttered, or perhaps without any cause at all, and were
+proceeding to hang him at once to a neighboring lamp-post, when
+he was rescued by a few heroic policemen, who placed him in their
+midst and fought their way slowly and amid great peril toward the
+station-house.
+
+"It was a fitting episode of the whole affair. The crowd rushing
+and eddying to and fro, the night, the yells, the pale faces,
+many frightened people trying in vain to extricate themselves,
+the attacked man, not yet freed from the jaws of death, looking
+like a corpse; the silent, resolute half-dozen policemen, with no
+weapons but their little clubs, yet stern and steady through all
+those eddying swarms, made, indeed, a fitting side scene to the
+grand tragedy of the murder. They gained the station-house with
+the protected man, whom they placed in security for the night,
+and discharged in the morning.
+
+"And in the midst of that night pandemonium of senseless hate,
+infuriated soldiers, the audience and the crowd--the stage, and
+all its actors and actresses, its paint pots, spangles,
+gas-light--the life-blood from those veins, the best and sweetest
+of the land, drips slowly down, and death's ooze already begins
+its little bubbles on the lips.
+
+"Such, hurriedly sketched, were the accompaniments of the death
+of President Lincoln. So suddenly, and in murder and horror
+unsurpassed, he was taken from us. But his death was painless."
+
+The assassin's bullet did not produce instant death, but the
+President never again became conscious. He was carried to a house
+opposite the theatre, where he died the next morning. In the
+meantime the authorities had become aware of the wide-reaching
+conspiracy, and the capital was in a state of terror.
+
+On the night of the President's assassination, Mr. Seward,
+Secretary of State, was attacked while in bed with a broken arm,
+by Booth's fellow-conspirators, and badly wounded.
+
+The conspirators had also planned to take the lives of
+Vice-President Johnson and Secretary Stanton. Booth had called on
+Vice-President Johnson the day before, and, not finding him in,
+left a card.
+
+Secretary Stanton acted with his usual promptness and courage.
+During the period of excitement he acted as President, and
+directed the plans for the capture of Booth.
+
+Among other things, he issued the following reward:
+
+REWARD OFFERED BY SECRETARY STANTON.
+War Department, Washington, April 20, 1865.
+Major-General John A. Dix, New York:
+
+The murderer of our late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is
+still at large. Fifty thousand dollars reward will be paid by
+this Department for his apprehension, in addition to any reward
+offered by municipal authorities or State Executives.
+
+Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the
+apprehension of G. W. Atzerodt, sometimes called "Port Tobacco,"
+one of Booth's accomplices. Twenty-five thousand dollars reward
+will be paid for the apprehension of David C. Herold, another of
+Booth's accomplices.
+
+A liberal reward will be paid for any information that shall
+conduce to the arrest of either the above-named criminals or
+their accomplices.
+
+All persons harboring or secreting the said persons, or either of
+them, or aiding or assisting their concealment or escape, will be
+treated as accomplices in the murder of the President and the
+attempted assassination of the Secretary of State, and shall be
+subject to trial before a military commission, and the punishment
+of death.
+
+Let the stain of innocent blood be removed from the land by the
+arrest and punishment of the murderers.
+
+All good citizens are exhorted to aid public justice on this
+occasion. Every man should consider his own conscience charged
+with this solemn duty, and rest neither night nor day until it be
+accomplished.
+
+EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
+
+
+BOOTH FOUND IN A BARN.
+
+Booth, accompanied by David C. Herold, a fellow-conspirator,
+finally made his way into Maryland, where eleven days after the
+assassination the two were discovered in a barn on Garrett's farm
+near Port Royal on the Rappahannock. The barn was surrounded by a
+squad of cavalrymen, who called upon the assassins to surrender.
+Herold gave himself up and was roundly cursed and abused by
+Booth, who declared that he would never be taken alive.
+
+The cavalrymen then set fire to the barn and as the flames leaped
+up the figure of the assassin could be plainly seen, although the
+wall of fire prevented him from seeing the soldiers. Colonel
+Conger saw him standing upright upon a crutch with a carbine in
+his hands.
+
+When the fire first blazed up Booth crept on his hands and knees
+to the spot, evidently for the purpose of shooting the man who
+had applied the torch, but the blaze prevented him from seeing
+anyone. Then it seemed as if he were preparing to extinguish the
+flames, but seeing the impossibility of this he started toward
+the door with his carbine held ready for action.
+
+His eyes shone with the light of fever, but he was pale as death
+and his general appearance was haggard and unkempt. He had shaved
+off his mustache and his hair was closely cropped. Both he and
+Herold wore the uniforms of Confederate soldiers.
+
+
+BOOTH SHOT BY "BOSTON" CORBETT.
+
+The last orders given to the squad pursuing Booth were: "Don't
+shoot Booth, but take him alive." Just as Booth started to the
+door of the barn this order was disobeyed by a sergeant named
+Boston Corbett, who fired through a crevice and shot Booth in the
+neck. The wounded man was carried out of the barn and died four
+hours afterward on the grass where they had laid him. Before he
+died he whispered to Lieutenant Baker, "Tell mother I died for my
+country; I thought I did for the best." What became of Booth's
+body has always been and probably always will be a mystery. Many
+different stories have been told concerning his final resting
+place, but all that is known positively is that the body was
+first taken to Washington and a post-mortem examination of it
+held on the Monitor Montauk. On the night of April 27th it was
+turned over to two men who took it in a rowboat and disposed of
+it secretly. How they disposed of it none but themselves know and
+they have never told.
+
+
+FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS.
+
+The conspiracy to assassinate the President involved altogether
+twenty-five people. Among the number captured and tried were
+David C. Herold, G. W. Atzerodt, Louis Payne, Edward Spangler,
+Michael O'Loughlin, Samuel Arnold, Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Samuel
+Mudd, a physician, who set Booth's leg, which was sprained by his
+fall from the stage box. Of these Herold, Atzerodt, Payne and
+Mrs. Surratt were hanged. Dr. Mudd was deported to the Dry
+Tortugas. While there an epidemic of yellow fever broke out and
+he rendered such good service that he was granted a pardon and
+died a number of years ago in Maryland.
+
+John Surratt, the son of the woman who was hanged, made his
+escape to Italy, where he became one of the Papal guards in the
+Vatican at Rome. His presence there was discovered by Archbishop
+Hughes, and, although there were no extradition laws to cover his
+case, the Italian Government gave him up to the United States
+authorities.
+
+He had two trials. At the first the jury disagreed; the long
+delay before his second trial allowed him to escape by pleading
+the statute of limitation. Spangler and O'Loughlin were sent to
+the Dry Tortugas and served their time.
+
+Ford, the owner of the theatre in which the President was
+assassinated, was a Southern sympathizer, and when he attempted
+to re-open his theatre after the great national tragedy,
+Secretary Stanton refused to allow it. The Government afterward
+bought the theatre and turned it into a National museum.
+
+President Lincoln was buried at Springfield, and on the day of
+his funeral there was universal grief.
+
+
+HENRY WARD BEECHER'S EULOGY.
+
+No final words of that great life can be more fitly spoken than
+the eulogy pronounced by Henry Ward Beecher:
+
+"And now the martyr is moving in triumphal march, mightier than
+when alive. The nation rises up at every stage of his coming.
+Cities and States are his pall-bearers, and the cannon speaks the
+hours with solemn progression. Dead, dead, dead, he yet speaketh.
+
+"Is Washington dead? Is Hampden dead? Is any man that was ever
+fit to live dead? Disenthralled of flesh, risen to the
+unobstructed sphere where passion never comes, he begins
+his illimitable work. His life is now grafted upon the infinite,
+and will be fruitful as no earthly life can be.
+
+"Pass on, thou that hast overcome. Ye people, behold the martyr
+whose blood, as so many articulate words, pleads for fidelity,
+for law, for liberty."
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FAMILY.
+
+Abraham Lincoln was married on November 4, 1842, to Miss Mary
+Todd, four sons being the issue of the union.
+
+Robert Todd, born August 1, 1843, removed to Chicago after his
+father's death, practiced law, and became wealthy; in 1881 he was
+appointed Secretary of War by President Garfield, and served
+through President Arthur's term; was made Minister to England in
+1889, and served four years; became counsel for the Pullman
+Palace Car Company, and succeeded to the presidency of that
+corporation upon the death of George M. Pullman.
+
+Edward Baker, born March 10, 1846, died in infancy.
+
+William Wallace, born December 21, 1850, died in the White House
+in February, 1862.
+
+Thomas (known as "Tad"), born April 4, 1853, died in 1871.
+
+Mrs. Lincoln died in her sixty-fourth year at the home of her
+sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards, at Springfield, Illinois, in
+1882. She was the daughter of Robert S. Todd, of Kentucky. Her
+great-uncle, John Todd, and her grandfather, Levi Todd,
+accompanied General George Rogers Clark to Illinois, and were
+present at the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes. In December,
+1778, John Todd was appointed by Patrick Henry, Governor of
+Virginia, to be lieutenant of the County of Illinois, then a part
+of Virginia. Colonel John Todd was one of the original
+proprietors of the town of Lexington, Kentucky. While encamped on
+the site of the present city, he heard of the opening battle of
+the Revolution, and named his infant settlement in its honor.
+
+Mrs. Lincoln was a proud, ambitious woman, well-educated,
+speaking French fluently, and familiar with the ways of the best
+society in Lexington, Kentucky, where she was born December 13,
+1818. She was a pupil of Madame Mantelli, whose celebrated
+seminary in Lexington was directly opposite the residence of
+Henry Clay. The conversation at the seminary was carried on
+entirely in French.
+
+She visited Springfield, Illinois, in 1837, remained three months
+and then returned to her native State. In 1839 she made
+Springfield her permanent home. She lived with her eldest sister,
+Elizabeth, wife of Ninian W. Edwards, Lincoln's colleague in the
+Legislature, and it was not strange she and Lincoln should meet.
+Stephen A. Douglas was also a friend of the Edwards family, and a
+suitor for her hand, but she rejected him to accept the future
+President. She was one of the belles of the town.
+
+She is thus described at the time she made her home in
+Springfield--1839:
+
+"She was of the average height, weighing about a hundred and
+thirty pounds. She was rather compactly built, had a well rounded
+face, rich dark-brown hair, and bluish-gray eyes. In her bearing
+she was proud, but handsome and vivacious; she was a good
+conversationalist, using with equal fluency the French and
+English languages.
+
+"When she used a pen, its point was sure to be sharp, and she
+wrote with wit and ability. She not only had a quick intellect
+but an intuitive judgment of men and their motives. Ordinarily
+she was affable and even charming in her manners; but when
+offended or antagonized she could be very bitter and sarcastic.
+
+"In her figure and physical proportions, in education, bearing,
+temperament, history--in everything she was the exact reverse of
+Lincoln."
+
+That Mrs. Lincoln was very proud of her husband there is no
+doubt; and it is probable that she married him largely from
+motives of ambition. She knew Lincoln better than he knew
+himself; she instinctively felt that he would occupy a proud
+position some day, and it is a matter of record that she told
+Ward Lamon, her husband's law partner, that "Mr. Lincoln will yet
+be President of the United States."
+
+Mrs. Lincoln was decidedly pro-slavery in her views, but this
+never disturbed Lincoln. In various ways they were unlike. Her
+fearless, witty, and austere nature had nothing in common with
+the calm, imperturbable, and simple ways of her thoughtful and
+absent-minded husband. She was bright and sparkling in
+conversation, and fit to grace any drawing-room. She well knew
+that to marry Lincoln meant not a life of luxury and ease, for
+Lincoln was not a man to accumulate wealth; but in him she saw
+position in society, prominence in the world, and the grandest
+social distinction. By that means her ambition was certainly
+satisfied, for nineteen years after her marriage she was "the
+first lady of the land," and the mistress of the White House.
+
+After his marriage, by dint of untiring efforts and the
+recognition of influential friends, the couple managed through
+rare frugality to move along.
+
+In Lincoln's struggles, both in the law and for political
+advancement, his wife shared his sacrifices. She was a plucky
+little woman, and in fact endowed with a more restless ambition
+than he. She was gifted with a rare insight into the motives that
+actuate mankind, and there is no doubt that much of Lincoln's
+success was in a measure attributable to her acuteness and the
+stimulus of her influence.
+
+His election to Congress within four years after their marriage
+afforded her extreme gratification. She loved power and
+prominence, and was inordinately proud of her tall and ungainly
+husband. She saw in him bright prospects ahead, and his every
+move was watched by her with the closest interest. If to other
+persons he seemed homely, to her he was the embodiment of noble
+manhood, and each succeeding day impressed upon her the wisdom of
+her choice of Lincoln over Douglas--if in reality she ever
+seriously accepted the latter's attentions.
+
+"Mr. Lincoln may not be as handsome a figure," she said one day
+in Lincoln's law office during her husband's absence, when the
+conversation turned on Douglas, "but the people are perhaps not
+aware that his heart is as large as his arms are long."
+
+
+LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD.
+
+The remains of Abraham Lincoln rest beneath a magnificent
+monument in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Ill. Before they
+were deposited in their final resting place they were moved many
+times.
+
+On May 4, 1865, all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln was
+deposited in the receiving vault at the cemetery, until a tomb
+could be built. In 1876 thieves made an unsuccessful attempt to
+steal the remains. From the tomb the body of the martyred
+President was removed later to the monument.
+
+A flight of iron steps, commencing about fifty yards east of the
+vault, ascends in a curved line to the monument, an elevation of
+more than fifty feet.
+
+Excavation for this monument commenced September 9, 1869. It is
+built of granite, from quarries at Biddeford, Maine. The rough
+ashlers were shipped to Quincy, Massachusetts, where they were
+dressed and numbered, thence shipped to Springfield. It is 721
+feet from east to west, 119 1/2 feet from north to south, and l00
+feet high. The total cost is about $230,000 to May 1, 1885. All
+the statuary is orange-colored bronze. The whole monument was
+designed by Larkin G. Mead; the statuary was modeled in plaster
+by him in Florence, Italy, and cast by the Ames Manufacturing
+Company, of Chicopee, Massachusetts. A statue of Lincoln and Coat
+of Arms were first placed on the monument; the statue was
+unveiled and the monument dedicated October 15, 1874. Infantry
+and Naval Groups were put on in September, 1877, an Artillery
+Group, April 13, 1882, and a Cavalry Group, March 13, 1883.
+
+The principal front of the monument is on the south side, the
+statue of Lincoln being on that side of the obelisk, over
+Memorial Hall. On the east side are three tablets, upon which are
+the letters U. S. A. To the right of that, and beginning with
+Virginia, we find the the abbreviations of the original thirteen
+States. Next comes Vermont, the first state admitted after the
+Union was perfected, the States following in the order they were
+admitted, ending with Nebraska on the east, thus forming the
+cordon of thirty-seven States composing the United States of
+America when the monument was erected. The new States admitted
+since the monument was built have been added.
+
+The statue of Lincoln is just above the Coat of Arms of the
+United States. The grand climax is indicated by President
+Lincoln, with his left hand holding out as a golden scepter the
+emancipation Proclamation, while in his right he holds the pen
+with which he has just written it. The right hand is resting on
+another badge of authority, the American flag, thrown over the
+fasces. At the foot of the fasces lies a wreath of laurel, with
+which to crown the President as the victor over slavery and
+rebellion.
+
+On March 10, 1900,  President Lincoln's body was removed to a
+temporary vault to permit of alterations to the monument. The
+shaft was made twenty feet higher, and other changes were made
+costing $100,000.
+
+April 24, 1901. the body was again transferred to the monument
+without public ceremony.
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by
+Colonel Alexander K. McClure
+
+
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