diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/lioys10.txt | 18349 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/lioys10.zip | bin | 0 -> 314263 bytes |
2 files changed, 18349 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/lioys10.txt b/old/lioys10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d9935a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lioys10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18349 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Colonel +Alexander K. McClure + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Lincoln's Yarns and Stories + +by Colonel Alexander K. McClure + +February, 2001 [Etext #2517] + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Colonel +Alexander K. McClure +******This file should be named lioys10.txt or lioys10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, lioys11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lioys10a.txt + + +Etext scanned by Dianne Bean, Prescott Valley, Arizona. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text +files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly +from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an +assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few +more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we +don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person. + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +We would prefer to send you this information by email. + +****** + +To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser +to view http://promo.net/pg. This site lists Etexts by +author and by title, and includes information about how +to get involved with Project Gutenberg. You could also +download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here. This +is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com, +for a more complete list of our various sites. + +To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any +Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror +sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed +at http://promo.net/pg). + +Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better. + +Example FTP session: + +ftp metalab.unc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 etext00 and etext01 +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + +*** + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** + +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +We are planning on making some changes in our donation structure +in 2000, so you might want to email me, hart@pobox.com beforehand. + + + + +*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 + + diff --git a/old/lioys10.zip b/old/lioys10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..951afcd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lioys10.zip |