518     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
eye  of  the  President  discovered  the  identity  of  the 
modest  soldier,  and  he  was  most  heartily  welcomed. 
"  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  he  was  present,  the 
pressure  of  the  crowd  to  see  the  hero  of  Vicksburg 
was  so  great  that  he  was  forced  to  shelter  himself 
behind  a  sofa.  So  irrepressible  was  the  desire  to  see 
him  that  Secretary  Seward  finally  induced  him  to 
mount  a  sofa,  that  this  curiosity  might  be  gratified. 
When  parting  from  the  President,  he  said,  'This  has 
been  rather  the  warmest  campaign  I  have  witnessed 
during  the  war.' '  A  graphic  account  of  this  interest 
ing  event  is  given  by  Secretary  Welles,  who  records  in 
his  Diary  (March  9,  1864)  :  "  Went  last  evening  to  the 
Presidential  reception.  Quite  a  gathering;  very  many 
that  are  not  usually  seen  at  receptions  were  attracted 
thither,  I  presume,  from  the  fact  that  General  Grant 
was  expected  to  be  there.  He  came  about  half-past 
nine.  I  was  near  the  centre  of  the  reception-room, 
when  a  stir  and  buzz  attracted  attention,  and  it  was 
whispered  that  General  Grant  had  arrived.  The  room 
was  not  full,  the  crowd  having  passed  through  to  the 
East  Room.  I  saw  some  men  in  uniform  standing  at 
the  entrance,  and  one  of  them,  a  short,  brown,  dark- 
haired  man,  was  talking  with  the  President.  There 
was  hesitation,  a  degree  of  awkwardness,  in  the  General. 
Soon  word  was  passed  around  —  *  Mr.  Seward,  General 
Grant  is  here,'  arid  Seward,  who  was  just  behind  me, 
hurried  and  took  the  General  by  the  hand  and  led  him 
to  Mrs.  Lincoln,  near  whom  I  was  standing.  The 
crowd  gathered  around  the  circle  rapidly,  and  it  being 
intimated  that  it  would  be  necessary  the  throng  should 
pass  on,  Seward  took  the  General's  arm  and  went  with 
him  to  the  East  Room.  There  was  clapping  of  hands 
in  the  next  room  as  he  passed  through,  and  all  in  the 
East  Room  joined  in  it  as  he  entered." 
The   next   day  at  noon  the   General  waited  on  the
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     519 
President  to  receive  his  commission.  The  interview 
took  place  in  the  Cabinet  room.  There  were  present, 
besides  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  General  Halleck, 
a  member  of  Congress,  two  of  General  Grant's  staff- 
officers,  his  eldest  son,  Frederick  D.  Grant,  and  the 
President's  private  secretary.  The  ceremony  was 
simple,  the  President  saying,  as  he  proffered  the 
papers :  "  The  nation's  appreciation  of  what  you  have 
done,  and  its  reliance  upon  you  for  what  remains  to 
be  done  in  the  existing  great  struggle,  are  now  pre 
sented  with  this  commission,  constituting  you  Lieuten- 
ant-General  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States.  With 
this  high  honor  devolves  upon  you  also  a  correspond 
ing  responsibility.  As  the  country  herein  trusts  you, 
so,  under  God,  it  will  sustain  you.  I  scarcely  need  to 
add  that  with  what  I  here  speak  for  the  nation  goes 
my  own  hearty  personal  concurrence."  The  General 
responded  briefly,  promising  to  "  accept  the  commis 
sion  with  gratitude  for  the  high  honor  conferred.  With 
the  aid  of  the  noble  armies  that  have  fought  on  so 
many  fields  for  our  common  country,  it  will  be  my 
earnest  endeavor  not  to  disappoint  your  expectations.  I 
feel  the  full  weight  of  the  responsibilities  now  devolving 
on  me,  and  I  know  that  if  they  are  met  it  will  be  due 
to  those  armies,  and  above  all  to  the  favor  of  that 
Providence  which  leads  both  nations  and  men." 
Before  assuming  personal  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  as  he  had  determined  to  do,  General 
Grant  found  it  necessary  to  return  once  more  to  the 
W'est.  In  his  parting  interview  with  Lincoln,  he  was 
urged  to  remain  to  dinner  the  next  day  and  meet  a 
brilliant  party  whom  the  lady  of  the  White  House  had 
invited  to  do  him  special  honor.  The  General  an 
swered,  apologetically :  "  Mrs.  Lincoln  must  excuse  me. 
I  must  be  in  Tennessee  at  a  given  time."  "  But  we 
can't  excuse  you,"  said  the  President.  "  Mrs.  Lincoln's
520     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
dinner  without  you  would  be  Hamlet  with  Hamlet  left 
out."  "  I  appreciate  the  honor  Mrs.  Lincoln  would 
do  me,"  said  the  General,  "  but  time  is  very  important 
now.  I  ought  to  be  at  the  front,  and  a  dinner  to  me 
means  a  million  dollars  a  day  lost  to  the  country." 
Lincoln  was  pleased  with  this  answer,  and  said  cheer 
fully,  "  Well,  we  '11  have  the  dinner  without  you." 
After  Lincoln's  first  meeting  with  General  Grant  he 
was  asked  regarding  his  personal  impressions  of  the 
new  commander.  He  replied,  "  Well,  I  hardly  know 
what  to  think  of  him.  He  's  the  quietest  little  fellow 
you  ever  saw.  He  makes  the  least  fuss  of  any  man 
I  ever  knew.  I  believe  on  several  occasions  he  has  been 
in  this  room  a  minute  or  so  before  I  knew  he  was  here. 
It 's  about  so  all  around.  The  only  evidence  you  have 
that  he  's  in  any  particular  place  is  that  he  makes 
things  move."  To  a  subsequent  inquiry  as  to  his 
estimate  of  Grant's  military  capacities,  Lincoln  re 
sponded,  with  emphasis :  "  Grant  is  the  first  General 
I  've  had.  He  's  a  General."  "  How  do  you  mean, 
Mr.  Lincoln?  "  his  visitor  asked.  "  Well,  I  '11  tell  you 
what  I  mean,"  replied  Lincoln.  "  You  know  how  it  's 
been  with  all  the  rest.  As  soon  as  I  put  a  man  in 
command  of  the  army,  he  'd  come  to  me  with  the  plan 
of  a  campaign,  and  about  as  much  as  to  say :  *  Now 
I  don't  believe  I  can  do  it,  but  if  you  say  so  I  '11  try 
it  on,'  and  so  put  the  responsibility  of  success  or  failure 
on  me.  They  all  wanted  me  to  be  the  General.  Now, 
it  is  n't  so  with  Grant.  He  has  n't  told  me  what  his 
plans  are.  I  don't  know  and  I  don't  want  to  know. 
I  am  glad  to  find  a  man  who  can  go  ahead  without 
me.  When  any  of  the  rest  set  out  on  a  campaign 
they  'd  look  over  matters  and  pick  out  some  one  thing 
they  were  short  of  and  they  knew  I  could  n't  give  them, 
and  tell  me  they  could  n't  hope  to  win  unless  they  had 
it  —  and  it  was  most  generally  cavalry.  Now  when
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     521 
Grant  took  hold  I  was  waiting  to  see  what  his  pet  im 
possibility  would  be,  and  I  reckoned  it  would  be  cavalry, 
of  course,  for  we  had  n't  horses  enough  to  mount  what 
men  we  had.  There  were  fifteen  thousand  men,  or 
thereabouts,  up  near  Harper's  Ferry,  and  no  horses 
to  put  them  on.  Well,  the  other  day  Grant  sent  to 
me  about  these  very  men,  just  as  I  expected;  but  what 
he  wanted  to  know  was  whether  he  could  make  infantry 
of  'em  or  disband  'em.  He  does  n't  ask  impossibilities 
of  me,  and  he  's  the  first  General  I  've  had  that  did  n't." 
On  another  occasion  Lincoln  said  of  Grant:  "  The 
great  thing  about  him  is  his  cool  persistency  of  pur 
pose.  He  is  not  easily  excited,  and  he  has  the  grip 
of  a  bulldog.  When  he  once  gets  his  teeth  in,  nothing 
can  shake  him  off." 
The  President's  satisfaction  with  the  new  commander 
was  speedily  communicated  to  him  in  a  characteristic 
ally  frank  manner,  in  a  letter  dated  April  30,  1864. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT  :  — 
Not  expecting  to  see  you  before  the  Spring 
campaign  opens,  I  wish  to  express  in  this  way  my 
entire  satisfaction  with  what  you  have  done  up  to 
this  time,  so  far  as  I  understand  it.  The  particulars 
of  your  plan  I  neither  know  nor  seek  to  know. 
You  are  vigilant  and  self-reliant;  afid,  pleased  with 
this,  I  wish  not  to  obtrude  any  restraints  or  con 
straints  upon  you.  While  I  am  very  anxious  that 
any  great  disaster  or  capture  of  our  men  in  great 
numbers  shall  be  avoided,  I  know  that  these  points  are 
less  likely  to  escape  your  attention  than  they  would  be 
mine.  If  there  be  anything  wanting  which  is  in  my 
power  to  give,  do  not  fail  to  let  me  know  it.  And  now, 
with  a  brave  army  and  a  just  cause,  may  God  sustain 
you.  Yours  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 
General  Grant  himself  wrote,  on  this  point :  "  In  my 
first  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln  alone,  he  stated  to
522     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
me  that  he  had  never  professed  to  be  a  military  man, 
or  to  know  how  campaigns  should  be«  conducted,  and 
never  wanted  to  interfere  in  them;  but  that  procras 
tination  on  the  part  of  commanders,  and  the  pressure 
of  the  people  at  the  North  and  Congress,  which  was 
always  with  him,  forced  him  into  issuing  his  series  of 
'  Military  Orders  '  —  one,  two,  three,  etc.  He  did  not 
know  but  they  were  all  wrong,  and  did  know  that  some 
of  them  were.  All  he  wanted  or  had  ever  wanted  was 
someone  who  would  take  the  responsibility  and  act,  and 
call  on  him  for  all  the  assistance  needed,  pledging  him 
self  to  use  all  the  power  of  the  government  in  rendering 
such  assistance.  .  .  .  The  President  told  me  he  did  not 
want  to  know  what  I  proposed  to  do.  But  he  sub 
mitted  a  plan  of  campaign  of  his  own  which  he  wanted 
me  to  hear  and  then  do  as  I  pleased  about.  He  brought 
out  a  map  of  Virginia  on  which  he  had  evidently 
marked  every  position  occupied  by  the  Federal  and 
Confederate  armies  up  to  that  time.  He  pointed  out 
on  the  map  two  streams  which  empty  into  the  Potomac, 
and  suggested  that  the  army  might  be  moved  on  boats 
and  landed  between  the  mouths  of  these  streams.  We 
would  then  have  the  Potomac  to  bring  our  supplies, 
and  the  tributaries  would  protect  our  flanks  while 
we  moved  out.  .  I  listened  respectfully,  but  did  not 
suggest  that  the  same  streams  would  protect  Lee's 
flanks  while  he  was  shutting  us  up." 
General  Horace  Porter,  for  some  time  Grant's  chief 
of  staff,  says :  "  The  nearest  Mr.  Lincoln  ever  came 
to  giving  General  Grant  an  order  for  the  movement 
of  troops  was  during  Early's  raid  upon  Washington. 
On  July  10,  1864,  he  telegraphed  a  long  despatch  from 
Washington,  which  contained  the  following  language: 
*  What  I  think  is  that  you  should  provide  to  retain 
your  hold  where  you  are,  certainly,  and  bring  the 
rest  with  you  personally,  and  make  a  vigorous  effort
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     523 
to  defeat  the  enemy's  force  in  this  vicinity.  I  think 
there  is  really  a  fair  chance  to  do  this,  if  the  move 
ment  is  prompt.  This  is  what  I  think  —  given  upon 
your  suggestion,  —  and  is  not  an  order.'  Grant  re 
plied  that  on  reflection  he  thought  it  would  have  a  bad 
effect  for  him  to  leave  City  Point,  then  his  head 
quarters,  in  front  of  Richmond  and  Petersburg;  and 
the  President  was  satisfied  with  the  dispositions  which 
Grant  made  for  the  repulse  of  Early  without  taking 
command  against  him  in  person." 
A  curious  incident  revealing  the  intense  interest  with 
which  Lincoln  watched  the  career  of  Grant  is  related 
by  Mr.  J.  Russell  Jones,  an  old  and  trusted  friend  of 
the  President,  who  joined  the  army  at  Vicksburg  in 
time  to  witness  its  final  triumph.  Soon  after  Mr. 
Jones's  return  to  Chicago,  the  President  summoned  him 
to  Washington.  With  eager  haste,  after  the  first  salu 
tations  were  over,  Lincoln  declared  the  object  for 
which  he  had  secured  the  interview :  "  '  I  have  sent  for 
you,  Mr.  Jones,  to  know  if  that  man  Grant  wants  to 
be  President.'  Mr.  Jones,  although  somewhat  aston 
ished  at  the  question  and  the  circumstances  under  which 
it  was  asked,  replied  at  once,  '  No,  Mr.  President.' 
'Are  you  sure?'  queried  the  latter.  'Yes,'  said  Mr. 
Jones,  '  perfectly  sure.  I  have  just  come  from  Vicks 
burg.  I  have  seen  General  Grant  frequently,  and 
talked  fully  and  freely  with  him  about  that  and  every 
other  question ;  and  I  know  he  has  no  political  aspira 
tions  whatever,  and  certainly  none  for  the  Presidency. 
His  only  desire  is  to  see  you  re-elected  and  to  do  what 
he  can  under  your  orders  to  put  down  the  rebellion 
and  restore  peace  to  the  country.'  '  Ah,  Mr.  Jones,' 
said  Lincoln,  '  you  have  lifted  a  great  weight  off  my 
mind,  and  done  me  an  immense  amount  of  good;  for 
I  tell  you,  my  friend,  no  man  knows  how  deeply  that 
Presidential  grub  gnaws  till  he  has  had  it  himself.' '
524     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
We  cannot  believe  that  Lincoln  cherished  any  feeling 
of  jealousy  of  the  rising  commander,  or  desired  to 
interfere  with  whatever  political  ambition  he  might 
nourish.  It  was  rather  his  desire  to  be  assured  of  the 
single-hearted  purpose  of  a  military  leader  whom  he 
had  trusted  and  to  whom  he  wished  to  confide  still 
more  important  services  in  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
It  may  be  remembered  that  early  in  the  war  an  an 
ecdote  went  the  rounds  of  the  press  to  the  effect  that, 
in  reply  to  a  complaint  that  Grant  had  been  guilty 
of  drunkenness  in  the  campaigns  in  the  West,  Lincoln 
remarked  that  he  would  "  like  to  find  out  what  kind 
of  liquor  Grant  drank,"  so  that  he  might  "  send  some 
of  it  to  the  other  Generals."  The  true  version  of  that 
characteristic  anecdote  is  this,  as  given  by  the  late 
Judge  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  who  was  a  Judge  of  the  Illinois 
Supreme  Court  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and  at  the 
time  of  Grant's  famous  Vicksburg  campaign  was  on 
the  General's  staff  as  chief  of  cavalry.  Judge  (then 
Colonel)  Dickey  had  been  sent  to  Washington  with 
private  despatches  for  the  President  and  the  Secretary 
of  War.  Lincoln  and  Dickey  had  been  intimate  friends 
for  years,  and  during  the  latter's  visit  to  the  former 
on  that  occasion,  Dickey  remarked,  "  I  hear  that  some 
one  has  been  trying  to  poison  you  against  Grant  by 
reporting  that  he  gets  drunk.  I  wish  to  assure  you, 
Mr.  President,  that  there  is  not  a  scintilla  of  truth 
in  the  report."  "Oh,  Colonel,"  replied  the  President, 
"  we  get  all  sorts  of  reports  here,  but  I  '11  say  this  to 
you:  that  if  those  accusing  General  Grant  of  getting 
drunk  will  tell  me  where  lie  gets  his  whiskey,  I  will  get 
a  lot  of  it  and  send  it  around  to  some  of  the  other 
Generals,  who  are  badly  in  need  of  something  of  the 
kind." 
After  Lincoln  and  General  Grant  had  become  per 
sonally  intimate,  they  had  many  enjoyable  conversa-
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     525 
tions  and  exchanges  of  anecdotes.  Lincoln  especially 
enjoyed  telling  the  General  of  the  various  persons  who 
had  come  to  him  with  complaints  and  criticisms  about 
the  Vicksburg  campaign.  "  After  the  place  had  ac 
tually  surrendered,"  said  the  President,  "  I  thought  it 
was  about  time  to  shut  down  on  this  sort  of  thing.  So 
one  day,  when  a  delegation  came  to  see  me,  and  had 
spent  half  an  hour  trying  to  show  me  the  fatal  mis 
take  you  had  made  in  paroling  Pemberton's  army,  and 
insisting  that  the  rebels  would  violate  their  paroles  and 
in  less  than  a  month  confront  you  again  in  the  ranks 
and  have  to  be  whipped  all  over  again,  I  thought  I 
could  get  rid  of  them  best  by  telling  them  a  story 
about  Sykes's  dog.  '  Have  you  ever  heard  about 
Sykes's  yellow  dog?  '  said  I  to  the  spokesman  of  the 
delegation.  He  said  he  had  n't.  *  Well,  I  must  tell 
you  about  him,'  said  I.  '  Sykes  had  a  yellow  dog  he 
set  great  store  by,  but  there  were  a  lot  of  small  boys 
around  the  village,  and  that  's  always  a  bad  thing  for 
dogs,  you  know.  These  boys  didn't  share  Sykes's 
views,  and  they  were  not  disposed  to  let  the  dog  have 
a  fair  show.  Even  Sykes  had  to  admit  that  the  dog 
was  getting  unpopular;  in  fact,  it  was  soon  seen  that 
a  prejudice  was  growing  up  against  that  dog  that 
threatened  to  wreck  all  his  future  prospects  in  life. 
The  boys,  after  meditating  how  they  could  get  the  best 
of  him,  finally  fixed  up  a  cartridge  with  a  long  fuse, 
put  the  cartridge  in  a  piece  of  meat,  dropped  the  meat 
in  the  road  in  front  of  Sykes's  door,  and  then  perched 
themselves  on  a  fence  a  good  distance  off  with  the  end 
of  the  fuse  in  their  hands.  Then  they  whistled  for 
the  dog.  When  he  came  out  he  scented  the  bait,  and 
bolted  the  meat,  cartridge  and  all.  The  boys  touched 
off  the  fuse  with  a  cigar,  and  in  about  a  second  a  re 
port  came  from  that  dog  that  sounded  like  a  small 
clap  of  thunder.  Sykes  came  bouncing  out  of  the
526     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
house,  and  yelled:  "  What  's  up!  Anything  busted?  " 
There  was  no  reply,  except  a  snicker  from  the  small 
boys  roosting  on  the  fence;  but  as  Sykes  looked  up 
he  saw  the  whole  air  filled  with  pieces  of  yellow  dog. 
He  picked  up  the  biggest  piece  he  could  find  —  a  por 
tion  of  the  back,  with  a  part  of  the  tail  still  hanging 
to  it,  and,  after  turning  it  around  and  looking  it  all 
over,  he  said,  "  Well,  I  guess  he  '11  never  be  much 
account  again  —  a-s  a  dog."  And  I  guess  Pemberton's 
forces  will  never  be  much  account  again  —  as  an  army.' 
The  delegation  began  looking  around  for  their  hats 
before  I  had  quite  got  to  the  end  of  the  story,  and 
I  was  never  bothered  any  more  about  superseding  the 
commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee." 
When  General  Grant  was  ready  to  begin  active 
operations  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  he  sent 
forward  all  available  men  from  Washington.  Secre 
tary  Stanton,  anxious  about  the  safety  of  the  city, 
said  to  Grant  one  day :  "  General,  I  suppose  you  have 
left  us  enough  men  to  strongly  garrison  the  forts  ?  " 
"  No,  I  can't  do  that,"  was  Grant's  quiet  answer. 
"Why  not?  Why  not?"  repeated  the  Secretary  ner 
vously.  "  Because  I  have  already  sent  the  men  to  the 
front."  Said  the  Secretary,  still  more  nervously :  "  That 
won't  do.  It 's  contrary  to  my  plans.  I  cannot  allow 
it.  I  will  order  the  men  back."  To  this  Grant  returned 
with  quiet  determination :  "  I  shall  need  the  men  there, 
and  you  cannot  order  them  back."  "  Why  not?  Why 
not? "  cried  the  Secretary.  "  I  believe  that  I  rank 
the  Secretary  in  this  matter,"  remarked  Grant.  "  Very 
well,  we  will  see  the  President  about  that,"  responded 
the  Secretary  sharply.  "  I  will  have  to  take  you  to 
the  President."  "  That  is  right.  The  President  ranks 
us  both."  So  they  went  to  the  President;  and  the 
Secretary,  turning  to  General  Grant,  said,  "  Now, 
General,  state  your  case."  But  the  General  calmly  re-
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     527 
plied,  "  I  have  no  case  to  state.  I  am  satisfied  as  it 
is."  This  threw  the  burden  of  statement  on  Secretary 
Stanton,  and  was  excellent  strategy.  Meanwhile,  Gen 
eral  Grant  had  the  men.  When  the  Secretary  had 
concluded,  Lincoln  crossed  his  legs,  rested  his  elbow 
on  his  knee,  and  said  in  his  quaint  way  and  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye :  "  Now,  Mr.  Secretary,  you  know 
we  have  been  trying  to  manage  this  army  for  nearly 
three  years,  and  you  know  we  have  n't  done  much  with 
it.  We  sent  over  the  mountains  and  brought  Mr. 
Grant,  as  Mrs.  Grant  calls  him,  to  manage  it  for  us ; 
and  now  I  guess  we  'd  better  let  Mr.  Grant  have  his 
own  way."  And  Mr.  Grant  had  it. 
The  favorable  opinion  which  Lincoln  held  of  Grant 
was  strongly  reciprocated.  A  short  time  before  the 
former's  death,  Grant  said :  "  I  regard  Lincoln  as  one 
of  the  greatest  of  men.  He  is  unquestionably  the 
greatest  man  I  have  ever  encountered.  The  more  I 
see  of  him  and  exchange  views  with  him,  the  more  he 
impresses  me.  I  admire  his  courage,  and  respect  the 
firmness  he  always  displays.  Many  think  from  the 
gentleness  of  his  character  that  he  has  a  yielding  na 
ture  ;  but  while  he  has  the  courage  to  change  his  mind 
when  convinced  that  he  is  wrong,  he  has  all  the  te 
nacity  of  purpose  which  could  be  desired  in  a  great 
statesman.  His  quickness  of  perception  often  aston 
ishes  me.  Long  before  the  statement  of  a  complicated 
question  is  finished,  his  mind  will  grasp  the  main  points, 
and  he  will  seem  to  comprehend  the  whole  subject 
better  than  the  person  who  is  stating  it.  He  will  take 
rank  in  history  alongside  of  Washington."
CHAPTER    XXVII 
Lincoln's  Second  Presidential  Term  —  His  Attitude  toward  it  —  Rival 
Candidates  for  the  Nomination  —  Chase's  Achillean  Wrath  —  Har 
mony  Restored  —  The  Baltimore  Convention  —  Decision  "not  to 
Swap  Horses  while  Crossing  a  Stream"  —  The  Summer  of  1864  — 
Washington  again  Threatened  —  Lincoln  under  Fire  —  Unpopular 
Measures  —  The  President's  Perplexities  and  Trials  —  The  Famous 
Letter  "To  Whom  It  May  Concern "  —  Little  Expectation  of  Re 
election  —  Dangers  of  Assassination  —  A  Thrilling  Experience  — 
Lincoln's  Forced  Serenity  —  "The  Saddest  Man  in  the  World"  — 
A  Break  in  the  Clouds  —  Lincoln  Vindicated  by  Re-election  — 
Cheered  and  Reassured  —  More  Trouble  with  Chase  —  Lincoln's 
Final  Disposal  of  him  —  The  President's  Fourth  Annual  Message 
—  His  Position  toward  the  Rebellion  and  Slavery  Reaffirmed  — 
Colored  Folks'  Reception  at  the  White  House  —  Passage  of  the 
Amendment  Prohibiting  Slavery  —  Lincoln  and  the  Southern  Peace 
Commissioners  —  The  Meeting  in  Hampton  Roads  —  Lincoln's 
Impression  of  A.  H.  Stephens  —  The  Second  Inauguration  — Sec 
ond  Inaugural  Address  —  "With  Malice  toward  None,  with  Char 
ity  for  All"  —  An  Auspicious  Omen. 
THE  year  1864  witnessed  another  Presidential 
election,  and  one  which  was  attended  by  the  most 
novel  and  extraordinary  circumstances.  It  was  held 
while  a  considerable  portion  of  the  people  were  engaged 
in  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  National 
Government ;  and  it  was  not  participated  in  by  the 
voters  of  several  entire  States.  Aside  from  these  unique 
features,  it  marked  a  most  critical  epoch  in  the  history 
of  the  country,  and  in  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as 
well.  The  policy  and  acts  of  the  administration,  even 
the  question  of  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war,  were 
to  be  submitted  to  the  sovereign  tribunal  of  the  people ; 
and  with  their  verdict  would  be  recorded  also  the  popu 
lar  measure  of  approval  or  disapproval  of  President 
Lincoln.  Those  who  knew  him  best  during  his  first
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     529 
official  term  pronounce  him  singularly  free  from  plans 
and  calculations  regarding  his  own  political  future. 
He  was  too  absorbed  in  public  cares  and  duties,  too 
nearly  crushed  by  the  great  burdens  resting  upon  him, 
to  give  thought  or  attention  to  questions  of  personal 
ambition.  It  had  never  been  his  aim,  during  his  Presi 
dential  life,  to  look  far  ahead.  He  was  content  to  deal 
wisely  and  soberly  with  important  questions  as  they 
arose  from  day  to  day  and  hour  to  hour;  to  adapt 
himself  and  his  actions  to  the  exigencies  of  the  present, 
and  in  that  way  to  earn  security  for  the  future.  He 
himself  said,  using  a  forcible  and  apt  illustration  bor 
rowed  from  his  early  life :  "  The  pilots  on  our  Western 
rivers  steer  from  point  to  point,  as  they  call  it  —  set 
ting  the  course  of  the  boat  no  farther  than  they  can  see ; 
and  that  is  all  I  propose  to  do  in  the  great  problems 
that  are  set  before  me." 
Such  a  policy  as  that  outlined  by  Lincoln,  embraced 
in  his  homely  and  characteristic  phrase  of  "  pegging 
away,"  caused  him  to  be  greatly  misunderstood  and 
even  distrusted  in  some  quarters.  As  the  time  for  the 
new  election  drew  near,  there  was  very  pronounced  dis 
satisfaction  with  him,  particularly  in  New  England. 
It  was  said  of  him,  among  other  things,  that  he 
"  lacked  the  essential  qualities  of  a  leader."  Mr.  Henry 
Greenleaf  Pearson,  the  biographer  of  Governor  Andrew 
of  Massachusetts,  illuminates  this  point  in  a  few  in 
structive  sentences.  "  To  comprehend  this  objection, 
which  to  us  seems  so  astonishingly  wide  of  the  mark," 
says  Mr.  Pearson,  "  we  must  realize  that  whenever  a 
New  Englander  of  that  generation  uttered  the  word 
*  leader  '  his  mind's  eye  was  filled  with  the  image  of 
Daniel  Webster.  Even  those  who  called  the  fallen 
statesman  *  Ichabod  '  could  not  forget  his  commanding 
presence,  his  lofty  tone  about  affairs  of  state,  his 
sonorous  professions  of  an  ideal,  his  whole  ex  cathedra
530     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
attitude.  All  these  characteristics  supplied  the  aristo 
cratic  connotation  of  the  word  '  leader.'  Of  the  broad 
democratic  meaning  of  the  term,  the  world  had  as  yet 
received  no  demonstration.  That  Lincoln  was  in  very 
truth  the  '  new  birth  of  a  new  soil,'  Lowell,  with  the 
advantage  of  literary  detachment,  was  one  of  the  first 
to  discover  and  proclaim,  both  in  his  political  essays 
and  in  the  splendid  stanzas  of  the  '  Commemoration 
Ode.'  " 
While  Lincoln  seemingly  gave  little  heed  to  the 
question  of  a  second,  Presidential  term,  it  must  not  be 
inferred  that  he  was  indifferent  regarding  it.  His 
nature  was  one  of  those  strong  ones  which,  though 
desiring  approbation,  are  yet  able  to  live  without  it. 
His  whole  life  had  been  a  schooling  in  self-reliance 
and  independence,  and  the  last  three  years  especially 
had  rendered  him  an  adept  in  that  stern  philosophy. 
But  he  was  thoroughly  human,  and  deep  down  in  his 
nature  was  a  craving  for  human  sympathy  and  sup 
port.  Knowing  that  he  had  done  his  best  and  was 
entitled  to  the  full  approval  of  his  countrymen,  he  no 
doubt  felt  that  it  would  be  a  pleasant  thing  to  receive 
that  approval  by  being  called  to  serve  them  for  an 
other  term.  To  one  friend  he  remarked,  using  his  old 
figure  of  "  the  people's  attorney,"  "  If  the  people  think 
I  have  managed  their  case  for  them  well  enough  to  trust 
me  to  carry  it  up  to  the  next  term,  I  am  sure  I  shall 
be  glad  to  take  it."  He  evidently  dreaded  the  rebuke 
that  would  be  implied  in  a  failure  to  be  renominated; 
yet  it  seemed  unbecoming  to  him,  in  the  critical  condi 
tion  of  the  country,  to  make  any  personal  effort  to 
that  end.  To  these  considerations  were  added  his  ex 
treme  weariness  and  longing  for  release  from  his  op 
pressive  burdens.  He  was  also,  as  Mr.  Welles  records 
in  his  Diary,  "  greatly  importuned  and  pressed  by 
cunning  intrigues."
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     531 
From  these  various  complications,  Lincoln's  embar 
rassment  and  perplexity  as  the  time  for  holding  the 
Republican  Convention  drew  near  were  extreme.  A 
journalistic  friend  (Mr.  J.  M.  Winchell),  who  had  a 
lengthy  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject,  gives 
what  is  no  doubt  a  correct  idea  of  his  state  of  mind  at 
that  period.  "  Mr.  Lincoln  received  me,"  says  Mr. 
Winchell,  "  kindly  and  courteously ;  but  his  manner 
was  quite  changed.  It  was  not  now  the  country  about 
which  his  anxiety  prevailed,  but  himself.  There  was 
an  embarrassment  about  him  which  he  could  not  quite 
conceal.  I  thought  it  proper  to  state  in  the  outset 
that  I  wished  simply  to  know  whatever  he  was  free  to 
tell  me  in  regard  to  his  own  willingness  or  unwilling 
ness  to  accept  a  renomination.  The  reply  was  a  mono 
logue  of  an  hour's  duration,  and  one  that  wholly  ab 
sorbed  me,  as  it  seemed  to  absorb  himself.  He  remained 
seated  nearly  all  the  time.  He  was  restless,  often 
changing  position,  and  occasionally,  in  some  intense 
moment,  wheeling  his  body  around  in  his  chair  and 
throwing  a  leg  over  the  arm.  This  was  the  only  gro 
tesque  thing  I  recollect  about  him;  his  voice  and  man 
ner  were  very  earnest,  and  he  uttered  no  jokes  and  told 
no  anecdotes.  He  began  by  saying  that  as  yet  he  was 
not  a  candidate  for  renomination.  He  distinctly  denied 
that  he  was  a  party  to  any  effort  to  that  end,  not 
withstanding  I  knew  that  there  were  movements  in  his 
favor  in  all  parts  of  the  Northern  States.  These 
movements  were,  of  course,  without  his  prompting,  as 
he  positively  assured  me  that  with  one  or  two  excep 
tions  he  had  scarcely  conversed  on  the  subject  with 
his  most  intimate  friends.  He  was  not  quite  sure 
whether  he  desired  a  renomination.  Such  had  been  the 
responsibility  of  the  office  —  so  oppressive  had  he 
found  its  cares,  so  terrible  its  perplexities  —  that  he 
felt  as  though  the  moment  when  he  could  relinquish
532     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
the  burden  and  retire  to  private  life  would  be  the 
sweetest  he  could  possibly  experience.  But,  he  said, 
he  would  not  deny  that  a  re-election  would  also  have 
its  gratification  to  his  feelings.  He  did  not  seek  it, 
nor  would  he  do  so ;  he  did  not  desire  it  for  any 
ambitious  or  selfish  purpose;  but  after  the  crisis  the 
country  was  passing  through  under  his  Presidency,  and 
the  efforts  he  had  made  conscientiously  to  discharge 
the  duties  imposed  upon  him,  it  would  be  a  very  sweet 
satisfaction  to  him  to  know  that  he  had  secured  the 
approval  of  his  fellow  citizens  and  earned  the  highest 
testimonial  of  confidence  they  could  bestow.  This  was 
the  gist  of  the  hour's  monologue ;  and  I  believe  he 
spoke  sincerely.  His  voice,  his  manner,  gave  his  modest 
and  sensible  words  a  power  of  conviction.  He  seldom 
looked  me  in  the  face  while  he  was  talking;  he  seemed 
almost  to  be  gazing  into  the  future.  I  am  sure  it  was 
not  a  pleasant  thing  for  him  to  seem  to  be  speaking 
in  his  own  behalf.  For  himself,  he  affirmed  that  he 
should  make  no  promises  of  office  to  anyone  as  an 
inducement  for  support.  If  nominated  and  elected, 
he  should  be  grateful  to  his  friends;  but  the  interests 
of  the  country  must  always  be  first  considered." 
The  principal  candidates  talked  of  as  successors  to 
Lincoln  were  Secretary  Chase,  General  Fremont,  and 
General  Grant.  Of  the  latter,  Lincoln  said,  with  char 
acteristic  frankness  and  generosity :  "  If  he  could  be 
more  useful  as  President  in  putting  down  the  rebellion, 
I  would  be  content.  He  is  pledged  to  our  policy  of 
emancipation  and  the  employment  of  negro  soldiers ; 
and  if  this  policy  is  carried  out,  it  will  not  make  much 
difference  who  is  President."  But  General  Grant's 
good  sense  prevailed  over  his  injudicious  advisers,  and 
he  promptly  refused  to  allow  his  name  to  be  presented 
to  the  convention. 
The  most  formidable  candidate  for  the  Republican
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     533 
nomination  was  Secretary  Chase.  The  relations  be 
tween  him  and  the  President  had  not  latterly  been  very 
harmonious ;  and  the  breach  was  greatly  widened  by  a 
bitter  personal  assault  on  Mr.  Chase  by  General  F.  P. 
Blair,  a  newly  elected  Congressman  from  Missouri, 
made  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  about  the  middle  of 
April,  under  circumstances  which  led  Mr.  Chase  to 
believe  that  the  President  inspired,  or  at  least  ap 
proved,  the  attack.  Mr.  Chase  was  very  angry,  and 
an  open  rupture  between  his  friends  and  those  of  the 
President  was  narrowly  averted.  Mr.  Riddle,  Con 
gressman  from  Mr.  Chase's  State  (Ohio),  relates  that 
on  the  evening  after  General  Blair's  offensive  speech 
he  was  to  accompany  Mr.  Chase  on  a  visit  to  Balti 
more.  "  I  was  shown,"  says  Mr.  Riddle,  "  to  the 
Secretary's  private  car,  where  I  found  him  alone  and 
in  a  frenzy  of  rage.  A  copy  of  Blair's  speech  had 
been  shown  him  at  the  station,  and  I  was  the  sole  wit 
ness  of  his  Achillean  wrath.  He  threatened  to  leave 
the  train  at  once  and  send  the  President  his  resignation ; 
but  was  persuaded  to  go  on  to  Baltimore.  He  wished 
to  forward  his  resignation  from  there,  but  concluded  to 
withhold  it  till  his  return  to  Washington  the  next  day. 
At  Baltimore,"  continues  Mr.  Riddle,  "  I  excused  my 
self,  and  took  the  return  train  for  Washington.  I 
did  not  overestimate  the  danger  to  the  Union  cause. 
It  would  be  a  fatal  error  to  defeat  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the 
Baltimore  Convention ;  yet  how  could  he  succeed,  with 
the  angry  resignation  of  Mr.  Chase,  and  the  defection 
of  his  friends  —  the  powerful  and  aggressive  radicals? 
Reaching  Washington,  I  went  to  the  White  House 
direct.  I  kne,w  the  President  could  not  have  been  a 
party  to  Blair's  assault,  and  I  wanted  his  personal 
assurances  to  communicate  to  Mr.  Chase  at  the  earliest 
moment.  I  was  accompanied  by  Judge  Spaulding,  an 
eminent  member  of  the  House,  fully  sharing  Mr.
534     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
Chase's  confidence,  and  somewhat  cool  toward  the 
President.  We  found  Mr.  Lincoln  drawn  up  behind 
his  table,  with  papers  before  him,  quite  grim,  evidently 
prepared  for  the  battle  which  he  supposed  awaited 
him.  Without  taking  a  seat,  hat  in  hand,  I  stated 
frankly,  not  without  emotion,  the  condition  of  affairs, 
—  the  public  danger,  my  entire  confidence  in  him,  my 
sole  purpose  there,  the  reason  of  Judge  Spaulding's 
presence,  and  that  we  were  there  in  no  way  as  repre 
sentatives  of  Mr.  Chase.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  visibly 
affected.  The  tones  of  confidence,  sympathy,  personal 
regard,  were  strangers  to  him  at  that  time.  Softening, 
almost  melting,  he  came  round  to  us,  shook  our  hands 
again  and  again,  returned  to  his  place,  and  standing 
there,  took  up  and  opened  out,  from  their  remote 
origin,  the  whole  web  of  matters  connected  with  the 
present  complication.  He  spoke  an  hour  —  calm,  clear, 
direct,  simple.  He  reprehended  Blair  severely,  and 
stated  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  his  speech  until 
after  Blair  left  Washington.  We  were  permitted  to 
communicate  this  to  Mr.  Chase.  He  was  satisfied  with 
the  President's  explanation,  and  at  the  Baltimore  Con 
vention  my  large  acquaintance  enabled  me  to  open  the 
way  for  Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio  to  become  its  pre 
siding  officer.  All  recognized  the  good  effect  of  the 
organization  of  that  body  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Chase." 
The  National  Republican  Convention  which  met  at 
Baltimore  on  the  8th  of  June  adopted  resolutions 
heartily  approving  the  course  of  the  administration 
and  especially  the  policy  of  emancipation,  and  com 
pleted  its  good  work  by  nominating  Abraham  Lincoln 
as  its  candidate  for  President  for  another  term. 
Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  was  nominated  for  Vice- 
President.  That  Lincoln  was  gratified  at  this  proof 
of  confidence  and  esteem  there  can  be  no  doubt.  In  his 
acceptance  of  the  nomination,  he  said,  with  the  most
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     535 
delicate  modesty :  "  I  view  this  call  to  a  second  term 
as  in  no  wise  more  flattering  to  myself  than  as  an 
expression  of  the  public  judgment  that  I  may  better 
finish  a  difficult  work  than  could  one  less  severely 
schooled  to  the  task."  And  with  characteristic  humor, 
he  thanked  a  visiting  delegation  for  their  good  opinion 
of  him,  saying,  "  I  have  not  permitted  myself  to  con 
clude  that  I  am  the  best  man  in  the  country ;  but  I 
am  reminded  of  the  old  Dutch  farmer  who  remarked 
to  a  companion  that  it  was  not  best  to  swap  horses 
while  crossing  a  stream." 
In  July,  1864,  great  excitement  and  alarm  were  occa 
sioned  in  Washington  by  a  body  of  Confederate  cavalry 
under  General  Early,  who  actually  attacked  the  forti 
fications  of  the  city,  cut  off  its  railroad  communication 
with  the  North,  and  ravaged  the  country  about  with 
fire  and  sword.  For  several  days  skirmishing  was  go 
ing  on  between  the  raiders  and  the  troops  in  our 
fortifications.  The  fact  that  the  President  himself 
was  under  fire  from  the  enemy  on  this  occasion  gave 
the  episode  a  decided  -thrill  of  realism.  He,  with  other 
government  officials  —  largely,  no  doubt,  from  motives 
of  curiosity  —  visited  the  scene  of  the  disturbance  and 
witnessed  the  miniature  but  sometimes  spirited  engage 
ments.  Among  these  visitors  was  Secretary  Welles, 
who  thus  records  his  experiences  (Diary,  July  12, 
1864)  :  "  Rode  out  today  to  Fort  Stevens.  Looking 
out  over  the  valley  below,  where  the  continual  popping 
of  pickets  was  going  on,  I  saw  a  line  of  our  men  lying 
close  near  the  bottom  of  the  valley.  Senator  Wade 
came  up  beside  me.  We  went  into  the  Fort,  where  we 
found  the  President,  who  was  sitting  in  the  shade,  his 
back  against  the  parapet  toward  the  enemy.  ...  As 
the  firing  from  the  Fort  ceased,  our  men  ran  to  the 
charge  and  the  Rebels  fled.  We  could  see  them  run 
ning  across  the  fields,  seeking  the  woods  on  the  brow
536     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
of  the  opposite  hills.  Below,  we  could  see  here  and 
there  some  of  our  own  men  bearing  away  their  wounded 
comrades.  Occasionally  a  bullet  from  some  long-range 
rifle  passed  over  our  heads.  It  was  an  interesting  and 
exciting  spectacle."!/  Another  account  says:  "Presi 
dent  Lincoln  visited/the  lines  in  person,  and  refused  to 
retire,  although  urged  to  do  so.  He  exposed  himself 
freely  at  Fort  Stevens,  and  a  surgeon  standing  along 
side  of  him  was  wounded  by  a  ball  which  struck  a  gun 
and  glanced."  j  A  gentleman  named  Neill,  who  lived  in 
the  country,  about  twelve  miles  from  the  city,  gives  a 
vivid  conception  of  the  imminence  of  the  danger. 
"  After  breakfast,  on  Tuesday,  July  12,"  says  Mr. 
Neill,  "  I  went  as  usual  in  a  railway  car  to  the  city, 
and  before  noon  my  house  was  surrounded  by  General 
Bradley  Johnson's  insurgent  cavalry,  who  had  made 
an  attempt  to  capture  the  New  York  express  train, 
and  had  robbed  the  country  store  near  by  of  its  con 
tents.  The  presence  of  the  cavalry  stopped  all  travel 
by  railroad;  and  Senator  Ramsey  of  Minnesota,  who 
happened  to  be  in  Washington,  could  find  no  way  to 
the  North  except  by  descending  the  Potomac  to  its 
mouth  and  then  ascending  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Balti 
more.  While  the  cavalry  was  in  the  fields  around  my 
home,  the  enemy's  infantry  was  marching  toward  the 
capital  by  what  was  called  the  Seventh  Street  road, 
and  they  set  fire  to  the  residence  of  Hon.  Montgomery 
Blair,  who  had  been  Postmaster-General.  As  I  sat  in 
my  room  at  the  President's,  the  smoke  of  the  burning 
mansion  was  visible;  but  business  was  transacted  with 
as  much  quietness  as  if  the  foe  were  hundreds  of  miles 
distant.  Mr.  Fox,  the  assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
had  in  a  private  note  informed  the  President  that  if 
there  should  be  a  necessity  for  him  to  leave  the  city 
he  would  find  a  steamer  in  readiness  at  the  wharf  at 
the  foot  of  Sixth  Street.  About  one  o'clock  in  the
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     537 
afternoon  of  each  day  of  the  skirmishing,  the  President 
would  enter  his  carriage,  and  drive  to  the  forts,  in  the 
suburbs,  and  watch  the  soldiers  repulse  the  invaders." 
For  several  days  Washington  was  in  great  danger  of 
capture.  Nearly  all  the  forces  had  been  sent  forward 
to  reinforce  Grant,  and  the  city  was  comparatively 
defenseless.  But  its  slender  garrison,  mostly  raw  re 
cruits,  held  out  gallantly  under  the  encouragement  of 
the  President,  until  Grant  sent  a  column  to  attack 
Early,  who  promptly  withdrew,  and  the  crisis  was 
over.  This  was  the  last  time  the  enemy  threatened 
the  national  capital.  From  that  time  he  had  enough 
to  do  to  defend  Richmond. 
Lincoln  labored  under  deep  depression  during  the 
summer  of  1864.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  achieved 
apparently  very  little  in  return  for  its  enormous  ex 
penditure  of  blood  and  treasure.  Until  the  victories 
of  Farragut  in  Mobile  Bay,  late  in  August,  and  Sher 
man  at  Atlanta  a  few  days  later,  the  gloom  was  unre 
lieved.  The  people  were  restless  and  impatient,  and 
vented  their  displeasure  upon  the  administration,  hold 
ing  it  responsible  for  all  reverses  and  disappointments, 
and  giving  grudging  praise  for  success  at  any  point. 
The  popular  displeasure  was  increased  by  the  Presi 
dent's  call  for  500,000  additional  troops,  made  July 
18,  —  a  measure  which  some  of  his  strongest  friends 
deprecated,  as  likely  to  jeopardize  his  re-election  in 
November.  "  It  is  not  a  personal  question  at  all," 
said  Lincoln.  "  It  matters  not  what  becomes  of  me. 
We  must  have  the  men.  If  I  go  down,  I  intend  to  go 
like  the  Cumberland,  with  my  colors  flying."  To  the 
question,  When  is  the  war  to  end?  he  said,  "  Surely  I 
feel  as  deep  an  interest  in  this  question  as  any  other 
can;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  name  a  day,  a  month,  or  a 
year,  when  it  is  to  end.  We  accepted  this  war  for  an 
object  —  a  worthy  object;  and  the  war  will  end  when
538     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
that  object  is  attained.  Under  God,  I  hope  it  never 
will  end  until  that  time." 
The  President's  mind  seemed  constantly  weighted 
with  anxiety  as  to  the  movements  and  fortunes  of  our 
armies  in  the  field.  He  could  not  sleep  at  night  under 
this  crushing  load.  Secretary  Welles's  Diary  gives 
frequent  instances  of  this.  Once,  after  an  engagement 
between  the  Western  armies,  the  President,  says  Mr. 
Welles,  "  came  to  me  with  the  latest  news.  He  was 
feeling  badly.  Tells  me  a  despatch  was  sent  to  him 
at  the  Soldiers'  Home  last  night  shortly  after  he  got 
asleep,  and  so  disturbed  him  that  he  had  no  more  rest, 
but  arose  and  came  to  the  city  and  passed  the  re 
mainder  of  the  night  awake  and  watchful."  At  another 
time,  after  a  desperate  battle  between  Grant  and  Lee, 
Mr.  Welles  says :  "  The  President  came  into  my  room 
about  one  p.  M.  and  told  me  he  had  slept  none  last 
night.  He  lay  down  for  a  short  time  on  the  sofa  in 
my  room,  and  detailed  all  the  news  he  had  gathered." 
Ex-Governor  Bross  of  Illinois  furnishes  an  account 
of  an  interview  with  Lincoln  during  this  dark  period: 
"  The  last  time  I  saw  Mr.  Lincoln,  till,  as  a  pall 
bearer,  I  accompanied  his  remains  to  their  last  resting- 
place,  was  in  the  early  part  of  August,  1864.  It  was 
directly  after  the  frightful  disaster  at  Petersburg,  and 
I  was  on  my  way  to  the  front,  to  recover,  if  possible, 
the  body  of  my  brother,  Colonel  John  A.  Bross,  who 
fell  there  at  the  head  of  his  regiment.  I  found  the 
President  with  a  large  pile  of  documents  before  him. 
He  laid  down  his  pen  and  gave  me  a  cordial  but  rather 
melancholy  welcome,  asking  anxiously  for  news  from 
the  West.  Neither  of  us  could  shut  our  eyes  to  the 
gloom  which  hung  over  the  entire  country.  The  terri 
ble  losses  of  the  Wilderness,  and  the  awful  disaster  at 
Petersburg,  weighed  heavily  upon  our  spirits.  To  a 
question,  I  answered  that  the  people  expected  a  still
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     539 
more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war;  more  troops 
and  needful  appliances  would,  if  called  for,  be  forth 
coming.  '  I  will  tell  you  what  the  people  want,'  said 
the  President,  '  they  want,  and  must  have,  success. 
But  whether  that  come  or  not,  I  shall  stay  right  here 
and  do  my  duty.  Here  I  shall  be;  and  they  may 
come  and  hang  me  on  that  tree  '  (pointing  out  of  the 
window  to  one),  'but,  God  helping  me,  I  shall  never 
desert  my  post.'  This  was  said  in  a  way  that  assured 
me  that  these  were  the  sentiments  of  his  inmost  soul." 
The  President,  about  this  time,  was  greatly  worried 
by  Horace  Greeley  and  others,  who  importuned  him 
to  receive  negotiations  for  peace  from  the  Confederate 
authorities.  He  at  length  said  to  Mr.  Greeley,  "  I  not 
only  intend  a  sincere  effort  for  peace,  but  you  shall  be 
a  personal  witness  that  it  is  made."  On  the  same  day 
that  the  call  for  additional  troops  was  made,  the 
President  issued,  through  Mr.  Greeley,  the  famous  let 
ter,  "  To  Whom  It  May  Concern,"  promising  safe  con 
duct  to  any  person  or  persons  authorized  to  present 
"  any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restoration  of 
peace,  the  integrity  of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  aban 
donment  of  slavery"  Nothing  came  of  the  proposed 
negotiations,  except  to  stop  for  a  time  the  mischievous 
fault-finding;  which  was,  of  course,  the  result  aimed 
at  by  Lincoln.  The  act  was  severely  condemned  by 
many  Republicans ;  but  Lincoln  only  said,  "  It  is 
hardly  fair  for  them  to  say  the  letter  amounts  to 
nothing.  It  will  shut  up  Greeley,  and  satisfy  the 
people  who  are  clamoring  for  peace.  That's  some 
thing,  anyhow !  " 
So  much  blame  was  heaped  upon  the  Government, 
and  so  great  was  the  dissatisfaction  at  the  North,  that 
Lincoln  looked  upon  the  election  of  his  competitor, 
General  McClellan,  and  his  own  retirement,  as  not  im 
probable.  An  incident  in  evidence  of  his  discourage-
540     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
taent  is  related  by  Secretary  Welles.  Entering  the 
Executive  office  one  day,  Mr.  Welles  was  asked  to 
write  his  name  across  the  back  of  a  sealed  paper  which 
the  President  handed  him.  The  names  of  several  other 
members  of  the  Cabinet  were  already  on  the  paper, 
with  the  dates  of  signature.  After  the  election,  Lincoln 
opened  the  document  in  the  presence  of  his  Cabinet  and 
read  to  them  its  contents,  as  follows : 
EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON, 
August  23,  1864. 
This  morning,  as  for  some  days  past,  it  seems  ex 
ceedingly  probable  that  this  administration  will  not  be 
re-elected.  Then  it  will  be  my  duty  to  co-operate  with 
the  President-elect  so  as  to  save  the  Union  between  the 
election  and  the  inauguration.  A.  LINCOLN. 
By  this  careful  prevision  had  Lincoln  pledged  himself 
to  give  to  his  successor  that  unselfish  and  patriotic 
assistance  of  which  he  himself  had  stood  so  sorely 
in  need. 
As  the  desperation  of  the  South  and  the  opposition 
to  Lincoln  at  the  North  increased,  fears  were  enter 
tained  by  his  friends  that  an  attempt  might  be  made 
upon  his  life.  Lincoln  himself  paid  but  little  heed  to 
these  forebodings  of  evil.  He  said,  philosophically: 
"  I  long  ago  made  up  my  mind  that  if  anybody  wants 
to  kill  me,  he  will  do  it.  If  I  wore  a  shirt  of  mail  and 
kept  myself  surrounded  by  a  bodyguard,  it  would  be 
all  the  same.  There  are  a  thousand  ways  of  getting 
at  a  man  if  it  is  desired  that  he  should  be  killed.  Be 
sides,  in  this  case,  it  seems  to  me,  the  man  who  would 
succeed  me  would  be  just  as  objectionable  to  my  ene 
mies  —  if  I  have  any."  One  dark  night,  as  he  was 
going  out  with  a  friend,  he  took  along  a  heavy  cane, 
remarking  good-humoredly  that  "  mother  "  (Mrs.  Lin 
coln)  had  "  got  a  notion  into  her  head  that  I  shall  be
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     541 
assassinated,  and  to  please  her  I  take  a  cane  when  I 
go  over  to  the  War  Department  at  nights  —  when  I 
don't  forget  it." 
It  is  probable  that  the  attempts  upon  the  life  of 
President  Lincoln  were  more  numerous  than  is  gen 
erally  known.  An  incident  of  a  very  thrilling  char 
acter,  which  might  easily  have  involved  a  shocking 
tragedy,  is  related  by  Mr.  John  W.  Nichols,  who  from 
the  summer  of  1862  until  1865  was  one  of  the  Presi 
dent's  body-guard.  "  One  night,  about  the  middle  of 
August,  1864,"  says  Mr.  Nichols,  "I  was  doing  senti 
nel  duty  at  the  large  gate  through  which  entrance  was 
had  to  the  grounds  of  the  Soldiers'  Home,  near  Wash 
ington,  where  Mr.  Lincoln  spent  much  time  in  summer. 
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,  and  I  recognized  the  belated  President. 
The  horse  he  rode  was  a  very  spirited  one,  and  was 
Mr.  Lincoln's  favorite  saddle-horse.  As  horse  and  rider 
approached  the  gate,  I  noticed  that  the  President  was 
bareheaded.  As  soon  as  I  had  assisted  him  in  check 
ing  his  steed,  the  President  said  to  me :  '  He  came 
pretty  near  getting  away  with  me,  didn't  he?  He 
got  the  bit  in  his  teeth  before  I  could  draw  the  rein.' 
I  then  asked  him  where  his  hat  was;  and  he  replied 
that  somebody  had  fired  a  gun  off  down  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  and  that  his  horse  had  become  scared  and 
had  jerked  his  hat  off.  I  led  the  animal  to  the  Ex 
ecutive  Cottage,  and  the  President  dismounted  and 
entered.  Thinking  the  affair  rather  strange,  a  corporal 
and  myself  started  off  to  investigate.  When  we 
reached  the  place  whence  the  sound  of  the  shot  had 
come  —  a  point  where  the  driveway  intersects  with  the 
main  road  —  we  found  the  President's  hat.  It  was  a 
plain  silk  hat,  and  upon  examination  we  discovered  a
542     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
bullet-hole  through  the  crown.  We  searched  the  lo 
cality  thoroughly,  but  without  avail.  Next  day  I  gave 
Mr.  Lincoln  his  hat,  and  called  his  attention  to  the 
bullet-hole.  He  made  some  humorous  remark,  to  the 
effect  that  it  was  made  by  some  foolish  marksman  and 
was  not  intended  for  him;  but  added  that  he  wished 
nothing  said  about  the  matter.  We  all  felt  confident 
it  was  an  attempt  to  kill  the  President,  and  after  that 
he  never  rode  alone." 
Amidst  his  terrible  trials,  Lincoln  often  exhibited  a 
forced  and  sorrowful  serenity,  which  many  mistook  for 
apathy.  Even  his  oldest  and  best  friends  were  some 
times  deceived  in  this  way.  Hon.  Leonard  Swett  re 
lates  a  touching  instance:  "In  the  summer  of  1864, 
when  Grant  was  pounding  his  way  toward  Richmond 
in  those  terrible  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  myself  and 
wife  were  in  Washington  trying  to  do  what  little  two 
persons  could  do  toward  alleviating  the  sufferings  of 
the  maimed  and  dying  in  the  vast  hospitals  of  that 
city.  We  tried  to  be  thorough  and  systematic.  We 
took  the  first  man  we  came  to,  brought  him  delicacies, 
wrote  letters  to  his  friends,  or  did  for  him  whatever 
else  he  most  needed;  then  the  next  man,  and  so  on. 
Day  after  day  cars  and  ambulances  were  coming  in, 
laden  with  untold  sorrows  for  thousands  of  homes. 
After  weeks  of  this  kind  of  experience  my  feelings 
became  so  wrought  up  that  I  said  to  myself:  The 
country  cannot  long  endure  this  sacrifice.  In  mercy, 
both  to  North  and  South,  every  man  capable  of  bearing 
arms  must  be  hurried  forward  to  Grant  to  end  this 
fearful  slaughter  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  I 
went  to  President  Lincoln  at  the  White  House,  and 
poured  myself  out  to  him.  He  was  sitting  by  an  open 
window ;  and  as  I  paused,  a  bird  lit  upon  a  branch  just 
outside  and  was  twittering  and  singing  most  joyously. 
Mr.  Lincoln,  imitating  the  bird,  said:  *  Tweet,  tweet,
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     543 
tweet;  is  n't  he  singing  sweetly?  '  I  felt  as  if  my  legs 
had  been  cut  from  under  me.  I  rose,  took  my  hat, 
and  said,  '  I  see  the  country  is  safer  than  I  thought.' 
As  I  moved  toward  the  door,  Mr.  Lincoln  called  out, 
in  his  hearty,  familiar  way,  '  Here,  Swett,  come  back 
and  sit  down.'  Then  he  went  on :  *  It  is  impossible 
for  a  man  in  my  position  not  to  have  thought  of  all 
those  things.  Weeks  ago  every  man  capable  of  bearing 
arms  was  ordered  to  the  front,  and  everything  you  have 
suggested  has  been  done.' ' 
The  burdens  borne  by  Lincoln  seemed  never  to  tell 
so  seriously  on  his  strength  and  vitality  as  in  this 
terrible  battle-summer  of  1864.  For  him  there  had 
been  no  respite,  no  holiday.  Others  left  the  heat  and 
dust  of  Washington  for  rest  and  recuperation;  but 
he  remained  at  his  post.  The  demands  upon  him  were 
incessant;  one  anxiety  and  excitement  followed  an 
other,  and  under  the  relentless  strain  even  his  sturdy 
strength  began  to  give  way.  "  I  sometimes  fancy," 
said  he,  with  pathetic  good-humor,  "  that  every  one 
of  the  numerous  grist  ground  through  here  daily,  from 
a  Senator  seeking  a  war  with  France  down  to  a  poor 
woman  after  a  place  in  the  Treasury  Department, 
darted  at  me  with  thumb  and  finger,  picked  out  their 
especial  piece  of  my  vitality,  and  carried  it  off.  When 
I  get  through  with  such  a  day's  work  there  is  only  one 
word  which  can  express  my  condition,  and  that  is 
flabbiness"  Once  Mr.  Brooks  "  found  him  sitting  in 
his  chair  so  collapsed  and  weary  that  he  did  not  look 
up  or  speak  when  I  addressed  him.  He  put  out  his 
hand,  mechanically,  as  if  to  shake  hands,  when  I  told 
him  I  had  come  at  his  bidding.  Presently  he  roused 
a  little,  and  remarked  that  he  had  had  *  «,  mighty  hard 
day.'  '  Mr.  Riddle,  who  saw  him  at  this  period,  after 
some  months'  absence,  says  he  was  shocked,  on  gaining 
admission  to  the  President,  "  by  his  appearance  —  that
544     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
of  a  baited,  cornered  man,  always  on  the  defense  against 
attacks  that  he  could  not  openly  meet  and  defy  or 
punish."  Mr.  Carpenter,  an  inmate  of  the  White 
House,  says :  "  Absorbed  in  his  papers,  he  would  be 
come  unconscious  of  my  presence,  while  I  intently 
studied  every  line  and  shade  of  expression  in  that  fur 
rowed  face.  There  were  days  when  I  could  scarcely 
look  into  it  without  crying.  During  the  first  week  of 
the  battles  of  the  Wilderness  he  scarcely  slept  at  all. 
Passing  through  the  main  hall  of  the  domestic  apart 
ment  on  one  of  these  days,  I  met  him,  clad  in  a  long 
morning  wrapper,  pacing  back  and  forth  a  narrow 
passage  leading  to  one  of  the  windows,  his  hands  be 
hind  him,  great  black  rings  under  his  eyes,  his  head 
bent  forward  upon  his  breast,  —  altogether  such  a 
picture  of  the  effects  of  sorrow,  care,  and  anxiety  as 
would  have  melted  the  hearts  of  the  worst  of  his 
adversaries,  who  so  mistakenly  applied  to  him  the 
epithets  of  tyrant  and  usurper." 
Mr.  Edward  Dicey,  the  English  historian,  says: 
"  Never  in  my  knowledge  have  I  seen  a  sadder  face 
than  that  of  the  late  President'  during  the  time  his 
features  were  familiar  to  me.  It  is  so  easy  to  be  wise 
after  the  'event ;  but  it  seems  to  me  now  that  one  ought 
somehow  to  have  foreseen  that  the  stamp  of  a  sad  end 
was  impressed  by  nature  on  that  rugged,  haggard  face. 
The  exceeding  sadness  of  the  eyes  and  their  strange 
sweetness  were  the  one  redeeming  feature  in  a  face  of 
unusual  plainness,  and  there  was  about  them  that  odd, 
weird  look,  which  some  eyes  possess,  of  seeming  to  see 
more  than  the  outer  objects  of  the  world  around." 
Lincoln's  family  and  friends  strove  to  beguile  him 
of  his  melancholy.  They  took  him  to  places  of  amuse 
ment;  they  walked  and  drove  with  him  in  the  pleas- 
antest  scenes  about  the  capital;  and  above  all,  they 
talked  with  him  of  times  past,  seeking  to  divert  his
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     545 
mind  from  its  present  distress  by  reviving  memories 
of  more  joyous  days.  His  old  friends  were,  as  Mr. 
Arnold  states,  "  shocked  with  the  change  in  his  ap 
pearance.  They  had  known  him  at  his  home,  and  at 
the  courts  in  Illinois,  with  a  frame  of  iron  and  nerves 
of  steel;  as  a  man  who  hardly  knew  what  illness  was, 
ever  genial  and  sparkling  with  frolic  and  fun,  nearly 
always  cheery  and  bright.  Now  they  saw  the  wrinkles 
on  his  face  and  forehead  deepen  into  furrows ;  the 
laugh  of  old  days  was  less  frequent,  and  it  did  not 
seem  to  come  from  the  heart.  Anxiety,  responsibility, 
care,  thought,  disasters,  defeats,  the  injustice  of 
friends,  wore  upon  his  giant  frame,  and  his  nerves  of 
steel  became  at  times  irritable.  He  said  one  day, 
with  a  pathos  which  language  cannot  describe,  '  I  feel 
as  though  I  shall  never  be  glad  again.9 ' 
Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax  repeats  a  similarly  pathetic 
expression  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  afflicted 
President.  "  One  morning,"  says  Mr.  Colfax,  "  calling 
upon  him  on  business,  I  found  him  looking  more  than 
usually  pale  and  careworn,  and  inquired  the  reason. 
He  replied  with  the  bad  news  he  had  received  at  a  late 
hour  the  previous  night,  which  had  not  yet  been  com 
municated  to  the  press,  adding  that  he  had  not  closed 
his  eyes  or  breakfasted;  and,  with  an  expression  I 
shall  never  forget,  he  exclaimed,  '  How  willingly  would 
I  exchange  places  today  with  the  soldier  who  sleeps  on 
the  ground  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac !  ' 
A  lady  who  saw  Lincoln  in  the  summer  of  1864 
for  the  first  time,  and  who  had  expected  to  see  "  a  very 
homely  man,"  says :  "  I  was  totally  unprepared  for  the 
impression  instantly  made  upon  me.  So  bowed  and 
sorrow-laden  was  his  whole  person,  expressing  such 
weariness  of  mind  and  body,  as  he  dropped  himself 
heavily  from  step  to  step  down  to  the  ground.  But 
his  face!  —  oh,  the  pathos  of  it!  —  haggard,  drawn
546     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
into  fixed  lines  of  unutterable  sadness,  with  a  look  of 
loneliness,  as  of  a  soul  whose  depth  of  sorrow  and 
bitterness  no  human  sympathy  could  ever  reach.  I  was 
so  penetrated  with  the  anguish  and  settled  grief  in 
every  feature,  that  I  gazed  at  him  through  tears,  and 
felt  I  had  stepped  upon  the  threshold  of  a  sanctuary 
too  sacred  for  human  feet.  The  impression  I  carried 
away  was  that  I  had  seen,  not  so  much  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  as  the  saddest  man  in  the  world." 
The  changes  in  Lincoln's  appearance  were  noted  in 
the  subdued,  refined,  purified  expression  of  his  face,  as 
of  one  struggling  almost  against  hope,  but  still  pa 
tiently  enduring.  Mr.  Brooks  says,  "  I  have  known 
impressionable  women,  touched  by  his  sad  face  and  his 
gentle  bearing,  to  go  away  in  tears."  Another  ob 
server,  Rev.  C.  B.  Crane,  wrote  at  the  time :  "  The 
President  looks  thin  and  careworn.  His  form  is  bowed 
as  by  a  crushing  load;  his  flesh  is  wasted  as  by  in 
cessant  solicitude ;  and  his  face  is  thin  and  furrowed 
and  pale,  as  though  it  had  become  spiritualized  by  the 
vicarious  pain  which  he  endured  in  bearing  on  himself 
all  the  calamities  of  his  country."  Truly  it  might  be 
said  of  him,  in  the  words  of  Matthew  Arnold: 
With  aching  hands  and  bleeding  feet 
We  dig  and  heap,  lay  stone  on  stone; 
We  bear  the  burden  and  the  heat 
Of  the  long  day,  and  wish  't  were  done. 
Not  till  the  hours  of  light  return 
All  we  have  built  do  we  discern. 
In  the  tragic  experiences  of  Lincoln  in  these  dark 
days,  the  outlook  was  less  gloomy  than  it  had  seemed 
to  his  tortured  soul.  He  was  even  then,  as  Mr.  John 
Bigelow  puts  it,  "  making  for  himself  a  larger  place 
in  history  than  he  had  any  idea  of."  He  "  builded 
better  than  he  knew  " ;  and  the  "  hours  of  light  "  were
EVERY-DAY   LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     547 
soon  to  come  when  he  would  know  what  he  had  built 
and  see  the  signs  that  promised  better  things.  The 
Presidential  election  of  1864  demonstrated  the  abiding 
confidence  of  the  people  in  him  and  his  administration. 
Every  loyal  State  but  three  —  New  Jersey,  Delaware, 
and  Kentucky  —  gave  him  its  electoral  vote ;  and  his 
popular  majority  over  McClellan,  the  Democratic 
candidate,  was  upwards  of  400,000.  Lincoln  was 
cheered  but  not  exultant  at  the  news.  Late  in  the 
evening  of  election  day  (November  8,  1864)  he  said, 
in  response  to  public  congratulations :  "  I  am  thankful 
to  God  for  this  approval  of  the  people.  But  while 
deeply  grateful  for  this  mark  of  their  confidence  in  me, 
if  I  know  my  own  heart  my  gratitude  is  free  from  any 
taint  of  personal  triumph.  It  is  not  in  my  nature  to 
triumph  over  anyone;  but  I  give  thanks  to  Almighty 
God  for  this  evidence  of  the  people's  resolution  to  stand 
by  free  government  and  the  rights  of  humanity." 
While  the  election  returns  were  coming  in,  early  in 
the  evening,  Lincoln  was  at  the  War  Department  with 
a  little  group  assembled  to  hear  them  read.  How  dif 
ferent  the  scene  from  that  in  the  quiet  country  town 
where  he  had  waited  for  the  returns  on  a  similar  occa 
sion  four  years  before !  Then  all  was  peace  —  the  lull 
before  the  storm.  Now  the  storm  had  broken,  and  its 
greatest  fury  was  raging  about  that  patient  and  de 
voted  man  who  waited  to  hear  the  decision  of  the  na 
tion's  supreme  tribunal  —  the  voice  of  the  people  whose 
decree  would  settle  the  fate  of  himself  and  of  the 
country.  Mr.  Charles  A.  Dana,  Assistant  Secretary 
of  War,  who  was  in  the  group,  gives  this  description 
of  the  scene :  "  General  Eckert  was  coming  in  continu 
ally  with  telegrams  containing  election  returns.  Mr. 
Stanton  would  read  them,  and  the  President  would  look 
at  them  and  comment  upon  them.  Presently  there  came 
a  lull  in  the  returns,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  called  me  up
548     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
to  a  place  by  his  side.  '  Dana,'  said  he,  '  have  you 
ever  read  any  of  the  writings  of  Petroleum  V.  Nasby?  ' 
'  No,  sir,'  I  said,  '  I  have  only  looked  at  some  of  them, 
and  they  seemed  to  me  funny.'  *  Well,'  said  he,  '  let 
me  read  you  a  specimen,'  and  pulling  out  a  thin  yellow- 
covered  pamphlet  from  his  breast  pocket  he  began  to 
read  aloud.  Mr.  Stanton  viewed  this  proceeding  with 
great  impatience,  as  I  could  see;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  paid 
no  attention  to  that.  He  would  read  a  page  or  a  story, 
pause  to  con  a  new  election  telegram,  and  then  open 
the  book  again  and  go  ahead  with  a  new  passage. 
Finally  Mr.  Chase  came  in;  and  presently  Mr.  White- 
law  Reid,  and  then  the  reading  was  interrupted.  Mr. 
Stanton  went  to  the  door  and  beckoned  me  into  the 
next  room.  I  shall  never  forget  his  indignation  at 
what  seemed  to  him  disgusting  nonsense." 
The  morning  following  the  election  one  of  his  private 
secretaries,  Mr.  Neill,  coming  to  the  Executive  office 
earlier  than  usual,  found  Lincoln  at  his  table  engaged 
in  his  regular  routine  of  official  work.  "  Entering  the 
room,"  says  Mr.  Neill,  "  I  took  a  seat  by  his  side, 
extended  my  hand,  and  congratulated  him  upon  the 
vote,  for  the  country's  sake  and  for  his  own  sake. 
Turning  away  from  the  papers  which  had  been  occupy 
ing  his  attention,  he  spoke  kindly  of  his  competitor, 
the  calm,  prudent  General,  and  great  organizer." 
The  importance  of  Lincoln's  re-election,  to  the  coun 
try  and  to  himself,  is  forcibly  stated  by  General  Grant 
and  Secretary  Seward.  The  former  telegraphed  from 
City  Point,  the  day  following:  "The  victory  is  worth 
more  to  the  country  than  a  battle  won."  And  the 
same  evening,  at  a  public  gathering  held  to  celebrate 
the  event,  Mr.  Seward  said :  "  The  election  has  placed 
our  President  beyond  the  pale  of  human  envy  or  human 
harm,  as  he  is  above  the  pale  of  human  ambition. 
Henceforth  all  men  will  come  to  see  him  as  we  have
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     549 
seen  him  —  a  true,  loyal,  patient,  patriotic,  and  benevo 
lent  man.  Having  no  longer  any  motive  to  malign  or 
injure  him,  detraction  will  cease,  and  Abraham  Lincoln 
will  take  his  place  with  Washington  and  Franklin  and 
Jefferson  and  Adams  and  Jackson  —  among  the  bene 
factors  of  the  country  and  of  the  human  race." 
Lincoln  evidently  felt  greatly  reassured  by  the  result 
of  what  had  seemed  to  him  a  very  doubtful  contest ;  but 
with  the  return  of  cheerfulness  came  also  the  dread  of 
continuing  his  official  labors.  He  began  to  long  and 
plan  for  that  happy  period  at  the  end  of  the  second 
term  when  he  should  be  free  from  public  burdens. 
"  Mrs.  Lincoln  desired  to  go  to  Europe  for  a  long  tour 
of  pleasure,"  says  Mr.  Brooks.  "  The  President  was 
disposed  to  gratify  her  wish;  but  he  fixed  his  eyes  on 
California  as  a  place  of  permanent  residence.  He  had 
heard  so  much  of  the  delightful  climate  and  the  abun 
dant  natural  productions  of  California  that  he  had 
become  possessed  of  a  strong  desire  to  visit  the  State 
and  remain  there  if  he  were  satisfied  with  the  results 
of  his  observations.  '  When  we  leave  this  place,'  he 
said,  one  day,  *  we  shall  have  enough,  I  think,  to  take 
care  of  us  old  people.  The  boys  must  look  out  for 
themselves.  I  guess  mother  will  be  satisfied  with  six 
months  or  so  in  Europe.  After  that  I  should  really 
like  to  go  to  California  and  take  a  look  at  the  Pacific 
coast.'  " 
After  the  Baltimore  Convention,  Mr.  Chase  pro 
posed  to  resign  his  position  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  but  he  was  persuaded  by  influential  friends  of 
himself  and  Lincoln  to  reconsider  his  determination. 
Chief  among  these  friends  was  Hon.  John  Brough,  the 
sturdy  "  War  Governor  "  of  Ohio.  Later  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1864  the  relations  between  the  President  and 
Secretary  Chase  again  became  inharmonious;  the  lat 
ter  determined  a  second  time  to  resign,  and  communi-
550     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
cated  that  fact  in  a  confidential  letter  to  Governor 
Brough.  Hon.  Wm.  Henry  Smith,  at  that  time  Ohio's 
Secretary  of  State,  and  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
circumstances  as  they  occurred,  says :  "  Mr.  Brough 
went  directly  to  Washington  to  bring  about  another 
reconciliation.  After  talking  the  matter  over  with  Mr. 
Chase  and  Mr.  Stanton,  he  called  on  the  President  and 
urged  a  settlement  that  would  retain  the  services  of 
Mr.  Chase  in  the  Treasury  Department.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  very  kind,  and  admitted  the  force  of  all  that  was 
urged;  but  finally  said,  with  a  quiet  but  impressive 
firmness,  '  Brough,  I  think  you  had  better  give  up  the 
job  this  time.'  And  thereupon  he  gave  reasons  why 
it  was  unwise  for  Mr.  Chase  to  continue  longer  in  the 
Cabinet." 
In  the  autumn,  the  Chief-Justiceship  became  vacant 
by  the  death  of  Judge  R.  B.  Taney  (October  11,  1864), 
and  the  friends  of  Mr.  Chase,  who  was  then  in  retire 
ment,  desired  his  elevation  to  that  honorable  seat. 
Congressman  Riddle,  who  was  designated  to  present  the 
matter  to  the  President,  says :  "  After  hearing  what  I 
had  to  say,  Mr.  Lincoln  asked,  '  Will  this  content  Mr. 
Chase?  '  *  It  is  said  that  those  bitten  of  the  Presidency 
die  of  it,'  I  replied.  His  smile  showed  he  would  not 
take  that  answer.  I  added :  '  Mr.  Chase  is  conscious  of 
ability  to  serve  the  country  as  President.  We  should 
expect  the  greatest  from  him.'  '  He  would  not  dis 
appoint  you,  were  it  in  his  reach.  But  I  should  be 
sorry  to  see  a  Chief-Justice  anxious  to  swap  for  it.' 
I  said  then  what  I  had  already  said  to  Mr.  Chase: 
that  I  would  rather  be  the  Chief-Justice  than  the 
President.  I  urged  that  the  purity  and  elevation  of 
Mr.  Chase's  character  guaranteed  the  dignity  of  the 
station  from  all  compromise ;  that  momentous  ques 
tions  must  arise,  involving  recent  exercises  of  power, 
without  precedents  to  guide  the  court;  that  the  honor
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     551 
of  the  Government  would  be  safe  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Chase.  *  Would  you  pack  the  Supreme  Court?'  he 
asked,  a  little  sharply.  '  Would  you  have  a  Judge 
with  no  preconceived  notions  of  law?  '  was  my  response. 
*  True,  true,'  was  his  laughing  reply ;  '  how  could  I 
find  anyone,  fit  for  the  place,  who  has  not  some  definite 
notions  on  all  questions  likely  to  arise?  '  " 
The  proposed  appointment  of  Mr.  Chase  as  Chief- 
Justice  was  severely  criticized  by  certain  friends  of 
Lincoln,  who  believed  Mr.  Chase  was  personally  hostile 
to  the  President,  and  could  not  understand  the  latter's 
magnanimity  in  thus  ignoring  personal  considerations. 
When  told  of  these  criticisms,  Lincoln  said :  "  My 
friends  all  over  the  country  are  trying  to  put  up  the 
bars  between  me  and  Governor  Chase.  I  have  a  vast 
number  of  messages  and  letters  from  men  who  think 
they  are  my  friends,  imploring  and  warning  me  not  to 
appoint  him.  Now  I  know  more  about  Governor 
Chase's  hostility  to  me  than  any  of  these  men  can  tell 
me ;  but  /  am  going  to  nominate  him."  Which  he  did, 
and  Chase  became  Chief- Justice  in  December,  1864. 
The  withdrawal  of  Secretary  Chase  from  the  Cabinet 
was  soon  followed  by  that  of  Postmaster-General  Blair, 
who  was  succeeded  by  ex-Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio. 
Blair  received,  says  Mr.  Welles  in  his  Diary,  a  let 
ter  from  the  President,  which,  though  friendly  in  tone, 
informed  him  that  the  time  had  arrived  when  it  seemed 
best  that  he  should  retire,  and  requesting  his  resigna 
tion,  which  was  promptly  given.  Mr.  Welles  says 
that  the  President  subsequently  informed  him  that 
"  Mr.  Chase  had  many  friends  who  felt  wounded  that 
he  should  have  left  the  Cabinet,  and  left  alone.  The 
friends  of  Blair  had  been  his  assailants,  and  the  Presi 
dent  thought  that  if  he  also  left  the  Cabinet  Chase 
and  his  friends  would  be  satisfied  and  the  administra 
tion  would  be  relieved  of  irritating  bickerings.  The
552     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
relations  of  Blair  with  Stanton  also  were  such  that ; 
it  was  difficult  for  the  two  to  remain."  "A  little  later 
came  the  resignation  of  Attorney-General  Bates,  which, 
says  Mr.  Welles,  "  has  initiated  more  intrigues.  A 
host  of  candidates  are  thrust  forward  —  Evarts,  Holt, 
Gushing,  Whiting,  and  the  Lord  knows  who,  are  all 
candidates."  This  gives  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  em 
barrassments  and  dissensions  among  Lincoln's  friends 
and  official  advisers,  and  of  the  ceaseless  efforts  and 
infinite  tact  that  were  needed  to  maintain  a  decent  de 
gree  of  harmony  among  them. 
Early  in  December  the  President  submitted  to  Con 
gress  his  fourth  annual  message  —  a  brief  and  business 
like  statement  of  the  prospects  and  purposes  of  the 
Government.  Its  first  sentence  is :  "  The  most  remark 
able  feature  in  the  military  operations  of  the  year  is 
General  Sherman's  attempted  march  of  three  hundred 
miles  directly  through  the  insurgent  region."  Then 
follows  a  reference  to  the  important  movements  that 
had  occurred  during  the  year,  "  to  the  effect  of  mould 
ing  society  for  durability  in  the  Union."  The  docu 
ment  closes  with  the  following  explicit  statement :  "  In 
presenting  the  abandonment  of  armed  resistance  to  the 
national  authority,  on  the  part  of  the  insurgents,  as  the 
only  indispensable  condition  to  ending  the  war  on  the 
part  of  the  Government,  I  retract  nothing  heretofore 
said  as  to  slavery.  If  the  people  should,  by  whatever 
mode  or  means,  make  it  an  executive  duty  to  re-enslave 
such  persons,  another,  and  not  /,  must  be  their  instru 
ment  to  perform  it.  In  stating  a  single  condition  of 
peace,  I  mean  simply  to  say  that  the  war  will  cease  on 
the  part  of  the  Government  whenever  it  shall  have 
ceased  on  the  part  of  those  who  began  it." 
New  Year's  day,  1865,  was  marked  by  a  memorable 
incident.  Among  the  crowds  gathered  in  the  White 
House  grounds  stood  groups  of  colored  people,  watch-
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     553 
ing  with  eager  eyes  the  tide  of  people  flowing  in  at  the 
open  door  to  exchange  salutations  with  the  President. 
It  was  a  privilege  heretofore  reserved  for  the  white 
race;  but  now,  as  the  line  of  visitors  thinned,  showing 
that  the  reception  was  nearly  over,  the  boldest  of  the 
colored  men  drew  near  the  door  with  faltering  step. 
Some  were  in  conventional  attire,  others  in  fantastic 
dress,  and  others  again  in  laborers'  garb.  The  novel 
procession  moved  into  the  vestibule  and  on  into  the 
room  where  the  President  was  holding  the  republican 
court.  Timid  and  doubting,  though  determined,  they 
ventured  where  their  oppressed  and  down-trodden  race 
had  never  appeared  before,  and  with  the  keen,  anxious, 
inquiring  look  on  their  dark  faces,  seemed  like  a  herd 
of  wild  creatures  from  the  woods,  in  a  strange  and 
dangerous  place.  The  reception  had  been  unusually 
well  attended,  and  the  President  was  nearly  overcome 
with  weariness ;  but  when  he  saw  the  dusky  faces  of 
his  unwonted  visitors,  he  rallied  from  his  fatigue  and 
gave  them  a  hearty  welcome.  They  were  wild  with  joy. 
Thronging  about  him,  they  pressed  and  kissed  his  hand, 
laughing  and  weeping  at  once,  and  exclaiming,  "  God 
bless  Massa  Linkum !  "  It  was  a  scene  not  easy  to 
forget :  the  thanks  and  adoration  of  a  race  paid  to 
their  deliverer. 
Ever  since  issuing  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
Lincoln  had  earnestly  desired  that  that  measure  should 
be  perfected  by  a  Constitutional  amendment  forever 
prohibiting  slavery  in  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.  He  had  discussed  the  matter  fully  with  his 
friends  in  Congress,  and  repeatedly  urged  them  to  press 
it  to  an  issue.  Just  before  the  Baltimore  Convention, 
he  urged  Senator  Morgan  of  New  York,  chairman  of 
the  National  Republican  Committee,  to  have  the  pro 
posed  amendment  made  the  "  key-note  of  the  speeches 
and  the  key-note  of  the  platform."  Congressman
554     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
Rollins  of  Missouri  relates  that  the  President  said  to 
him,  "  The  passage  of  the  amendment  will  clinch  the 
whole  matter."  The  subject  was  already  definitely  be 
fore  Congress.  In  December,  1863,  joint  resolutions 
for  this  great  end  had  been  introduced  in  the  House 
by  Hon.  James  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio,  and  in  the  Senate 
by  Hon.  Charles  Sumner  of  Massachusetts  and  Hon. 
J.  B.  Henderson  of  Missouri.  Senator  Trumbull  of 
the  Judiciary  Committee,  to  whom  the  Senate  resolu 
tions  were  referred,  reported  a  substitute  for  the  amend 
ment,  which,  in  April, ^1864,  passed  the  Senate  by  a 
vote  of  thirty-eight  to  six;  but  reaching  the  House, 
June  15,  it  failed  to  get  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote 
and  was  defeated.  At  the  next  session  of  Congress  the 
resolutions  were  again  presented  to  the  House,  and 
after  a  protracted  debate  were  passed  (January  13, 
1865)  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen  to  fifty- 
six.  Illinois  was  the  first  State  to  ratify  the  amend 
ment;  and  others  promptly  followed.  Lincoln  was 
grateful  and  delighted.  He  remarked,  "  This  ends  the 
j  ob  " ;  adding,  "  I  feel  proud  that  Illinois  is  a  little 
ahead." 
Overtures  having  been  made,  through  General  Grant, 
for  a  meeting  between  the  President  and  certain  "  peace 
commissioners  "  representing  the  belligerents,  Lincoln, 
anxious  that  nothing  should  be  left  undone  that  might 
evidence  his  desire  to  bring  the  war  to  a  close,  con 
sented  to  the  interview.  On  the  morning  of  February 
2,  1865,  he  left  Washington,  quite  privately,  in  order 
to  accomplish  his  mission  without  awakening  the  gossip 
and  criticism  which  publicity  would  excite.  At  Fortress 
Monroe  he  was  joined  by  Secretary  Seward,  who  seems 
to  have  been  the  only  member  of  the  Cabinet  who  knew 
of  the  President's  intention  to  meet  the  Southern  Com 
missioners.  Lincoln  took  the  full  responsibility,  as  he 
often  did  when  dealing  with  risky  or  unpopular
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     555 
measures.  "  None  of  the  Cabinet  were  advised  of  this 
move,  and  without  exception  I  think  it  struck  them 
unfavorably  that  the  Chief  Magistrate  should  have 
gone  on  such  a  mission,"  is  the  comment  of  Secretary 
Welles,  —  although  he  adds,  "  The  discussion  will  be 
likely  to  tend  to  peace." 
The  next  morning  (February  3)  the  President  and 
Mr.  Seward  received  the  Southern  Commissioners  — 
Stephens,  Hunter,  and  Campbell  —  on  board  the  U.  S. 
steam  transport  "  River  Queen  "  in  Hampton  Roads. 
The  conference,  says  Mr.  Seward,  "  was  altogether  in 
formal.  There  was  no  attendance  of  secretaries,  clerks, 
or  other  witnesses.  Nothing  was  written  or  read.  The 
conversation,  although  earnest  and  free,  was  calm  and 
courteous  and  kind  on  both  sides.  The  Richmond 
party  approached  the  subject  rather  indirectly,  and  at 
no  time  did  they  either  make  categorical  demands  or 
tender  formal  stipulations  or  absolute  refusals.  Never 
theless,  during  the  conference,  which  lasted  four  hours, 
the  several  points  at  issue  between  the  Government  and 
the  insurgents  were  distinctly  raised  and  discussed, 
fully,  intelligently,  and  in  an  amicable  spirit." 
The  meeting  was  fruitless.  The  commissioners  asked, 
as  a  preliminary  step,  the  recognition  of  Jefferson 
Davis  as  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
Lincoln  declined,  stating  that  "  the  only  ground  on 
which  he  could  rest  the  justice  of  the  war  —  either  with 
his  own  people  or  with  foreign  powers  —  was  that  it 
was  not  a  war  of  conquest,  for  the  States  had  never  been 
separated  from  the  Union.  Consequently  he  could  not 
recognize  another  government  inside  of  the  one  of 
which  he  alone  was  President,  nor  admit  the  separate 
independence  of  States  that  were  yet  a  part  of  the 
Union.  '  That,'  said  he,  '  would  be  doing  what  you 
have  so  long  asked  Europe  to  do  in  vain,  and  be  re 
signing  the  only  thing  the  armies  of  the  Union  have
556     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
been  fighting  for.'  Mr.  Hunter,  one  of  the  commission 
ers,  made  a  long  reply  to  this,  insisting  that  the  recog 
nition  of  Davis's  power  to  make  a  treaty  was  the  first 
and  indispensable  step  to  peace,  and  referred  to  the 
correspondence  between  King  Charles  I.  and  his  Par 
liament  as  a  trustworthy  precedent  of  a  constitutional 
ruler  treating  with  rebels.  Lincoln's  face  then  wore 
that  indescribable  expression  which  generally  preceded 
his  hardest  hits,  as  he  remarked :  '  Upon  questions  of 
history  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr.  Seward,  for  he  is 
posted  in  such  things,  and  I  don't  pretend  to  be.  My 
only  distinct  recollection  of  the  matter  is  that  Charles 
lost  his  head.9  ' 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  one  of  the  commissioners  at 
the  meeting  on  board  the  "  River  Queen,"  and  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  waning  Confederacy,  was  a  very  small 
man  physically,  with  a  complexion  so  yellow  as  to  sug 
gest  an  ear  of  ripe  corn.  Lincoln  gave  the  following 
humorous  account  of  the  meeting  with  him :  "  Mr. 
Stephens  had  on  an  overcoat  about  three  sizes  too  big 
for  him,  with  an  old-fashioned  high  collar.  The  cabin 
soon  began  to  get  pretty  warm,  and  after  a  while  he 
stood  up  and  pulled  off  his  big  coat.  He  slipped  it 
off  just  about  as  you  would  husk  an  ear  of  corn.  I 
could  n't  help  thinking,  as  I  looked  first  at  the  overcoat 
and  then  at  the  man,  '  Well,  that 's  the  biggest  sliuc'k 
and  the  smallest  nubbin  I  ever  laid  eyes  on.' ' 
So  strongly  were  Lincoln's  hopes  fixed  on  finding 
some  possible  basis  for  a  peaceful  restoration  of  the 
Union  that  a  few  days  after  his  return  from  his  meeting 
with  the  Southern  Peace  Commissioners  he  presented  to 
the  Cabinet  (February  5,  1865)  a  scheme  for  paying 
to  the  Southern  States  a  partial  compensation  for  the 
loss  of  their  slaves,  provided  they  would  at  once  dis 
continue  armed  resistance  to  the  Federal  Government. 
It  was,  says  Mr.  Welles,  who  was  present  at  the  meet-
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     557 
ing  referred  to,  as  "  a  proposition  for  paying  the  ex 
penses  of  the  war  for  two  hundred  days,  or  four  hun 
dred  millions  of  dollars,  to  the  rebellious  States,  to  be 
for  the  extinguishment  of  slavery.  The  scheme  did  not 
meet  with  favor,  and  was  dropped."  But  it  showed, 
adds  Mr.  Welles,  "  the  earnest  desire  of  the  President 
to  conciliate  and  effect  peace." 
The  evening  of  March  3,  1865,  the  President  had 
remained  with  his  Cabinet  at  the  Capitol  until  a  late 
hour,  finishing  the  business  pertaining  to  the  last  acts 
of  the  old  Congress.  His  face  had  the  ineffaceable 
care-worn  look,  yet  his  manner  was  cheerful,  and  he 
appeared  to  be  occupied  with  the  work  of  the  moment, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  thoughts  of  the  future  or  of  the 
great  event  of  the  morrow. 
Rain  prevailed  during  the  morning  of  inauguration 
day,  but  before  noon  it  had  ceased  falling.  The  new 
Senate,  convened  for  a  special  session,  was  organized, 
and  Andrew  Johnson  was  sworn  in  its  presence  into  the 
office  of  Vice-President.  Shortly  after  twelve  o'clock, 
Lincoln  entered  the  chamber  and  joined  the  august 
procession,  which  then  moved  to  the  eastern  portico. 
As  Lincoln  stepped  forward  to  take  the  oath  of  office, 
a  flood  of  sunlight  suddenly  burst  from  the  clouds, 
illuminating  his  face  and  form  as  he  bowed  to  the 
acclamations  of  the  people.  Speaking  of  this  incident 
next  day,  he  said,  "  Did  you  notice  that  sunburst?  It 
made  my  heart  jump."  CMeers  and  shouts  rent  the  air 
as  the  President  prepared  to  speak  his  inaugural.  He 
raised  his  arm,  and  the  crowd  hushed  to  catch  his  open 
ing  words.  He  paused,  as  though  thronging  memories 
impeded  utterance ;  then,  in  a  voice  clear  and  strong, 
but  touched  with  pathos,  he  read  that  eloquent  and  im 
perishable  composition,  the  Second  Inaugural  Address. 
Fellow-Countrymen:  At  this  second  appearing  to 
take  the  oath  of  the  Presidential  office,  there  is  less
558     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
occasion  for  an  extended  address  than  there  was  at  the 
first.  Then  a  statement,  somewhat  in  detail,  of  a 
course  to  be  pursued,  seemed  fitting  and  proper.  Now, 
at  the  expiration  of  four  years,  during  which  public 
declarations  have  been  constantly  called  forth  on  every 
point  and  phase  of  the  great  contest  which  still  absorbs 
the  attention  and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  Nation, 
little  that  is  new  could  be  presented.  The  progress  of 
our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly  depends,  is  as  well 
known  to  the  public  as  to  myself;  and  it  is,  I  trust, 
reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging  to  all.  With 
high  hope  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in  regard  to  it 
is  ventured. 
On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this,  four  years 
ago,  all  thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  im 
pending  civil  war.  All  dreaded  it,  all  sought  to  avoid 
it.  While  the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered 
from  this  place,  devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union 
without  war,  insurgent  agents  were  in  the  city,  seeking 
to  destroy  it  with  war,  —  seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union, 
and  divide  the  effects  by  negotiation.  Both  parties 
deprecated  war,  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather 
than  let  the  Nation  survive,  and  the  other  would  accept 
war  rather  than  let  it  perish ;  and  the  war  came.  One- 
eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored  slaves,  not 
distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but  localized  in 
the  southern  part  of  it.  These  slaves  constituted  a 
peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew  that  this 
interest  was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war.  To 
strengthen,  perpetuate,  anoj.,  extend  this  interest  was 
the  object  for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the 
Union  by  war,  while  the  Government  claimed  no  right 
to  do  more  than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement 
of  it. 
Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude 
or  the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither 
anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease 
when,  or  even  before  the  conflict  itself  should  cease. 
Each  looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     559 
fundamental  and  astounding.  Both  read  the  same 
Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same  God,  and  each  invokes  His 
aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any 
men  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in 
wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's 
faces;  but  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged. 
The  prayer  of  both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of 
neither  has  been  answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  his 
own  purposes.  "  Woe  unto  the  world  because  of 
offenses,  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses  come,  but 
woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh."  If  we 
shall  suppose  that  American  slavery  is  one  of  those 
offenses,  which,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  must  needs 
come,  but  which,  having  continued  through  His  ap 
pointed  time,  He  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  He  gives 
to  North  and  South  this  terrible  war,  as  the  woe  due 
to  those  by  whom  the  offense  came,  shall  we  discern 
therein  any  departure  from  those  Divine  attributes 
which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to 
Him?  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that 
this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away. 
Yet  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth 
piled  by  the  bondman's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of 
unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of 
blood  drawn  by  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn 
with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago, 
so  still  it  must  be  said:  "  The  judgments  of  the  Lord 
are  true  and  righteous  altogether." 
With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  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  for  his  orphan ; 
to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and 
lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations. 
This  address  was  probably,  next  to  the  Gettysburg 
oration,  Lincoln's  most  eloquent  and  touching  public 
appeal.  Gladstone  of  England  said  of  it :  "  I  am  taken
560     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
captive  by  so  striking  an  utterance  as  this.  I  see  in  it 
the  effect  of  sharp  trial,  when  rightly  borne,  to  raise 
men  to  a  higher  level  of  thought  and  action.  It  is  by 
cruel  suffering  that  nations  are  sometimes  born  to  a 
better  life.  So  it  is  with  individual  men.  Lincoln's 
words  show  that  upon  him  anxiety  and  sorrow  have 
wrought  their  true  effect." 
As  the  procession  moved  from  the  Capitol  to  the 
White  House,  at  the  close  of  the  inaugural  ceremonies, 
a  bright  star  was  visible  in  the  heavens.  The  crowds 
gazing  upon  the  unwonted  phenomenon  noted  it  as  an 
auspicious  omen,  like  the  baptism  of  sunshine  which 
had  seemed  to  consecrate  the  President  anew  to  his 
exalted  office.
CHAPTER    XXVIII 
Close  of  the  Civil  War  —  Last  Acts  in  the  Great  Tragedy  —  Lincoln  at 
the  Front  —  A  Memorable  Meeting  —  Lincoln,  Grant,  Sherman, 
and  Porter  —  Life  on  Shipboard  —  Visit  to  Petersburg  —  Lincoln 
and  the  Prisoners  —  Lincoln  in  Richmond  —  The  Negroes  Wel 
coming  their  "Great  Messiah"  —  A  Warm  Reception  —  Lee's  Sur 
render  —  Lincoln  Receives  the  News  —  Universal  Rejoicing  —  Lin 
coln's  Last  Speech  to  the  Public  —  His  Feelings  and  Intentions 
toward  the  South  —  His  Desire  for  Reconciliation. 
GREAT  events  crowded  upon  each  other  in  the 
last  few  weeks  of  the  Civil  War;  and  we  must 
pass  rapidly  over  them,  giving  special  prominence  only 
to  those  with  which  President  Lincoln  was  personally 
connected.  ^The  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  Grant, 
which  for  nearly  a  year  had  been  incessantly  engaged 
with  the  army  of  General  Lee,  had  forced  the  latter, 
fighting  desperately  at  every  step,  back  through  the 
Wilderness,  into  the  defenses  about  Richmond;  and 
Lee's  early  surrender  or  retreat  southward  seemed  the 
only  remaining  alternatives.  But  the  latter  course, 
disastrous  as  it  would  have  been  for  the  Confederacy, 
was  rendered  impracticable  by  the  comprehensive  plan 
of  operations  that  had  been  adopted  a  year  before. 
Interposed  between  Richmond  and  the  South  was  now 
the  powerful  army  of  General  Sherman.  This  daring 
and  self-reliant  officer,  after  his  brilliant  triumph  at 
Atlanta  the  previous  fall,  had  pushed  on  to  Savannah 
and  captured  that  city  also;  then  turning  his  veteran 
columns  northward,  he  had  swept  like  a  dread  meteor 
through  South  Carolina,  destroying  the  proud  city  of 
Charleston,  and  then  Columbia,  the  State  capital. 
General  Johnston,  with  a  strong  force,  vainly  tried  to
562     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
stay  his  progress  through  North  Carolina;  but  after 
a  desperate  though  unsuccessful  battle  at  Bentonville 
(March  20,  1865),  the  opposition  gave  way,  and  the 
Union  troops  occupied  Goldsboro,  an  important  point 
a  hundred  miles  south  of  Richmond,  commanding  the 
Southern  railway  communications  of  the  Confederate 
capital.  The  situation  was  singularly  dramatic  and 
impressive.  In  this  narrow  theatre  of  war  were  now 
being  rendered,  with  all  the  leading  actors  on  the  stage, 
the  closing  scenes  of  that  great  and  bloody  tragedy. 
Grant  on  the  north  and  Sherman  on  the  south  were 
grinding  Lee  and  Johnston  between  them  like  upper 
and  nether  millstones. 
The  last  days  of  March  brought  unmistakable  signs 
of  the  speedy  breaking-up  of  the  rebellion.  Lincoln, 
filled  with  anticipation  not  unmixed  with  anxiety,  wished 
to  be  at  the  front.  "  When  we  came  to  the  end  of  the 
War  and  the  breaking-up  of  things,"  says  General 
Grant,  "  one  of  Lincoln's  friends  said  to  me,  '  I  think 
Lincoln  would  like  to  come  down  and  spend  a  few  days 
at  City  Point,  but  he  is  afraid  if  he  does  come  it  might 
look  like  interfering  with  the  movements  of  the  army, 
and  after  all  that  has  been  said  about  other  Generals 
he  hesitates.'  I  was  told  that  if  Lincoln  had  a  hint 
from  me  that  he  would  be  welcome  he  would  come  by 
the  first  boat.  Of  course  I  sent  word  that  the  Presi 
dent  could  do  me  no  greater  honor  than  to  come  down 
and  be  my  guest.  He  came  down,  and  we  spent  several 
days  riding  around  the  lines.  He  was  a  fine  horseman. 
He  talked,  and  talked,  and  talked;  he  seemed  to  enjoy 
it,  and  said,  *  How  grateful  I  feel  to  be  with  the  boys 
and  see  what  is  being  done  at  Richmond ! '  He  never 
asked  a  question  about  the  movements.  He  would  say, 
6  Tell  me  what  has  been  done ;  not  what  is  to  be  done.' 
He  would  sit  for  hours  tilted  back  in  his  chair,  with 
his  hand  shading  his  eyes,  watching  the  movements
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     563 
of  the  men  with  the  greatest  interest."  Another  ac 
count  says :  "  Lincoln  made  many  visits  with  Grant  to 
the  lines  around  Richmond  and  Petersburg.  On  such 
occasions  he  usually  rode  one  of  the  General's  fine  bay 
horses,  called  '  Cincinnati.'  He  was  a  good  horseman, 
and  made  his  way  through  swamps  and  over  corduroy 
roads  as  well  as  the  best  trooper  in  the  command.  The 
soldiers  invariably  recognized  him,  and  greeted  him, 
wherever  he  appeared  amongst  them,  with  cheers  that 
were  no  lip  service,  but  came  from  the  depth  of  their 
hearts.  He  always  had  a  pleasant  salute  or  a  friendly 
word  for  the  men  in  the  ranks." 
Aside  from  the  President's  desire  to  be  at  the  front 
at  this  critical  time,  he  had  an  almost  feverish  anxiety 
to  escape  from  the  petty  concerns  and  details  of  official 
life  in  Washington.  In  Welles's  Diary  is  this  entry 
(March  23,  1865)  :  "  The  President  has  gone  to  the 
front,  partly  to  get  rid  of  the  throng  [office-seekers, 
politicians,  etc.]  that  is  pressing  on  him.  The  more 
he  yields,  the  greater  the  pressure.  It  has  now  become 
such  that  he  is  compelled  to  flee.  There  is  no  doubt 
he  is  much  worn  down.  Besides,  he  wishes  the  war 
terminated,  and,  to  this  end,  that  severe  terms  shall 
not  be  exacted  of  the  Rebels." 
Much  of  the  time  during  the  President's  visit  to  the 
army  he  had  his  quarters  on  the  steamer  "  River 
Queen,"  lying  in  the  James  river  at  City  Point.  It 
was  the  same  vessel  on  which  he  had  received  the 
Southern  peace  commissioners  a  month  before,  and 
the  one  on  which  he  had  made  the  journey  from 
Washington.  On  the  27th  of  March  a  memorable  in 
terview  occurred  in  the  cabin  of  this  vessel,  between 
President  Lincoln,  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman,  and 
Admiral  Porter.  General  Sherman  thus  describes  the 
interview :  "  I  left  Goldsboro  on  the  25th  of  March 
and  reached  City  Point  on  the  afternoon  of  the  27th.
564     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
I  found  General  Grant  and  staff  occupying  a  neat  set 
of  log  huts,  on  a  bluff  overlooking  the  James  river. 
The  General's  family  was  with  him.  We  had  quite  a 
long  and  friendly  talk,  when  Grant  remarked  that  the 
President  was  near  by  in  a  steamer  lying  at  the  dock, 
and  he  proposed  that  we  should  call  at  once.  We  did 
so,  and  found  Mr.  Lincoln  on  board  the  '  River  Queen.' 
We  had  met  in  the  early  part  of  the  war;  he  recog 
nized  me,  and  received  me  with  a  warmth  of  manner 
and  expression  that  was  most  grateful.  We  sat  some 
time  in  the  after-cabin,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  made  many 
inquiries  about  the  events  which  attended  the  march 
from  Savannah  to  Goldsboro,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the 
humorous  stories  about  '  our  bummers,'  of  which  he 
had  heard  much.  When  in  lively  conversation  his  face 
brightened  wonderfully,  but  if  the  conversation  flagged 
it  assumed  a  sad  and  sorrowful  expression.  General 
Grant  and  I  explained  to  him  that  my  next  move  from 
Goldsboro  would  bring  my  army,  increased  to  80,000 
men  by  Schofield's  and  Terry's  reinforcements,  in  close 
communication  with  Grant's  army  then  investing  Lee 
and  Richmond;  and  that  unless  Lee  could  effect  his 
escape  and  make  junction  with  Johnston  in  North 
Carolina,  he  would  soon  be  shut  up  in  Richmond  with 
no  possibility  of  supplies,  and  would  have  to  surrender. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  extremely  interested  in  this  view  of 
the  case,  and  we  explained  that  Lee's  only  chance  was 
to  escape,  join  Johnston,  and,  being  then  between  me 
in  North  Carolina  and  Grant  in  Virginia,  he  could 
choose  which  to  fight.  Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  impressed 
with  this;  but  General  Grant  explained  that  at  the 
very  moment  of  our  conversation  General  Sheridan  was 
pressing  his  cavalry  across  James  River  from  the  north 
to  the  south,  that  with  this  cavalry  he  would  so  extend 
his  left  below  Petersburg  as  to  meet  the  South  Shore 
Road,  and  that  if  Lee  should  (  let  go  '  his  fortified
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     565 
lines  he  (Grant)  would  follow  him  so  close  that  he 
could  not  possibly  fall  on  me  alone  in  North  Carolina. 
I  in  like  manner  expressed  the  fullest  confidence  that 
my  army  in  North  Carolina  was  willing  to  cope  with 
Lee  and  Johnston  combined,  till  Grant  could  come  up. 
But  we  both  agreed  that  one  more  bloody  battle  was 
likely  to  occur  before  the  close  of  the  war.  Mr.  Lin 
coln  repeatedly  inquired  as  to  General  Schofield's  ability 
to  maintain  his  position  in  my  absence,  and  seemed 
anxious  that  I  should  return  to  North  Carolina.  More 
than  once  he  exclaimed,  '  Must  more  blood  be  shed? 
Cannot  this  last  bloody  battle  be  avoided?  '  We  ex 
plained  that  we  had  to  presume  that  General  Lee  was 
a  real  general ;  that  he  must  see  that  Johnston  alone 
was  no  barrier  to  my  progress,  and  that  if  my  army 
of  80,000  veterans  should  reach  Burksville  he  was  lost 
in  Richmond ;  and  that  we  were  forced  to  believe  he 
would  not  await  that  inevitable  conclusion,  but  would 
make  one  more  desperate  effort." 
General  Sherman  adds  this  personal  tribute  to  Lin 
coln  to  the  account  of  the  interview  on  board  the 
"  River  Queen  " :  "  When  I  left  Mr.  Lincoln  I  was 
more  than  ever  impressed  by  his  kindly  nature,  his 
deep  and  earnest  sympathy  with  the  afflictions  of  the 
whole  people,  resulting  from  the  war,  and  by  the  march 
of  hostile  armies  through  the  South.  I  felt  that  his 
earnest  desire  was  to  end  the  war  speedily,  without 
more  bloodshed  or  devastation,  and  to  restore  all  the 
men  of  both  sections  to  their  homes.  In  the  language 
of  his  second  inaugural  address,  he  seemed  to  have 
*  charity  for  all,  malice  toward  none,'  and  above  all  an 
absolute  faith  in  the  courage,  manliness,  and  integrity 
of  the  armies  in  the  field.  When  at  rest  or  listening, 
his  legs  and  arms  seemed  to  hang  almost  lifeless,  and 
his  face  was  careworn  and  haggard;  but  the  moment 
he  began  to  talk  his  face  lightened  up,  his  tall  form,
566     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
as  it  were,  unfolded,  and  he  was  the  very  impersona 
tion  of  good  humor  and  fellowship.  The  last  words 
I  recall  as  addressed  to  me  were  that  he  would  feel 
better  when  I  was  back  at  Goldsboro.  We  parted  at 
the  gangway  of  the  '  River  Queen,'  about  noon  of 
March  28,  and  I  never  saw  him  again.  Of  all  the 
men  I  ever  met,  he  seemed  to  possess  more  of  the  ele 
ments  of  greatness,  combined  with  goodness,  than  any 
other." 
A  few  days  after  the  interview  described  by  General 
Sherman,  the  President  changed  his  quarters  to  the 
cabin  of  the  "  Malvern,"  Admiral  Porter's  flagship. 
The  Admiral  says :  "  The  '  Malvern  '  was  a  small  vessel 
with  poor  accommodations,  and  not  at  all  fitted  to 
receive  high  personages.  She  was  a  captured  blockade- 
runner,  and  had  been  given  to  me  as  a  flag-ship.  I 
offered  the  President  my  bed,  but  he  positively  de 
clined  it,  and  elected  to  sleep  in  a  small  state-room 
outside  of  the  cabin  occupied  by  my  secretary.  It  was 
the  smallest  kind  of  a  room,  six  feet  long  by  four  and 
a  half  feet  wide  —  a  small  kind  of  a  room  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to  be  domiciled  in ;  but 
Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  pleased  with  it.  When  he  came 
to  breakfast  the  next  morning,  I  inquired  how  he  had 
slept :  '  I  slept  well,'  he  answered,  *  but  you  can't  put 
a  long  sword  into  a  short  scabbard.  I  was  too  long 
for  that  berth.'  Then  I  remembered  he  was  over  six 
feet  four  inches,  while  the  berth  was  only  six  feet. 
That  day,  while  we  were  out  of  the  ship,  all  the  car 
penters  were  put  to  work;  the  state-room  was  taken 
down  and  increased  in  size  to  eight  feet  by  six  and  a 
half  feet.  The  mattress  was  widened  to  suit  a  berth 
of  four  feet  width,  and  the  entire  state-room  remodelled. 
Nothing  was  said  to  the  President  about  the  change 
in  his  quarters  when  he  went  to  bed ;  but  next  morning 
he  came  out  smiling,  and  said :  '  A  miracle  happened
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     567 
last  night;  I  shrank  six  inches  in  length  and  about  a 
foot  sideways.  I  got  somebody  else's  big  pillow,  and 
slept  in  a  better  bed  than  I  did  on  the  "  River  Queen."  ' 
He  enjoyed  it  greatly;  but  I  do  think  if  I  had  given 
him  two  fence-rails  to  sleep  on  he  would  not  have 
found  fault.  That  was  Abraham  Lincoln  in  all  things 
relating  to  his  own  comfort.  He  would  never  permit 
people  to  put  themselves  out  for  him  under  any 
circumstances." 
On  the  2d  of  April  the  stronghold  of  Petersburg  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Union  troops.  Lincoln,  accom 
panied  by  Admiral  Porter,  visited  the  city.  They 
joined  General  Grant,  and  sat  with  him  for  nearly 
two  hours  upon  the  porch  of  a  comfortable  little  house 
with  a  small  yard  in  front.  Crowds  of  citizens  soon 
gathered  at  the  fence  to  gaze  upon  these  remarkable 
men  of  whom  they  had  heard  so  much.  The  Presi 
dent's  heart  was  filled  with  joy,  for  he  felt  that  this 
was  "  the  beginning  of  the  end."  Admiral  Porter  says : 
"  Several  regiments  passed  us  en  route,  and  they  all 
seemed  to  recognize  the  President  at  once.  '  Three 
cheers  for  Uncle  Abe ! '  passed  along  among  them,  and 
the  cheers  were  given  with  a  vim  which  showed  the 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  soldiers.  That 
evening,"  continues  Admiral  Porter,  "  the  sailors  and 
marines  were  sent  out  to  guard  and  escort  in  some 
prisoners,  who  were  placed  on  board  a  large  transport 
lying  in  the  stream.  There  were  about  a  thousand 
prisoners,  more  or  less.  The  President  expressed  a 
desire  to  go  on  shore.  I  ordered  the  barge  and  went 
with  him.  We  had  to  pass  the  transport  with  the 
prisoners.  They  all  rushed  to  the  side  with  eager 
curiosity.  All  wanted  to  see  the  Northern  President. 
They  were  perfectly  content.  Every  man  had  a  chunk 
of  meat  and  a  piece  of  bread  in  his  hand,  and  was 
doing  his  best  to  dispose  of  it.  *  That 's  Old  Abe,'
568     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
said  one,  in  a  low  voice.  *  Give  the  old  fellow  three 
cheers,'  said  another ;  while  a  third  called  out,  '  Hello, 
Abe,  your  bread  and  meat 's  better  than  pop-corn ! ' 
It  was  all  good-natured,  and  not  meant  in  unkindness. 
I  could  see  no  difference  between  them  and  our  own 
men,  except  that  they  were  ragged  and  attenuated  for 
want  of  wholesome  food.  They  were  as  happy  a 
set  of  men  as  ever  I  saw.  They  could  see  their  homes 
looming  up  before  them  in  the  distance,  and  knew  that 
the  war  was  over.  '  They  will  never  shoulder  a  musket 
again  in  anger,'  said  the  President,  '  and  if  Grant  is 
wise  he  will  leave  them  their  guns  to  shoot  crows  with. 
It  would  do  no  harm.' ' 
The  next  day  (April  3)  the  Union  advance,  under 
General  Weitzel,  reached  and  occupied  Richmond. 
Lee  was  in  retreat,  with  Grant  in  close  pursuit.  When 
the  news  of  the  downfall  of  the  Confederate  capital 
reached  Lincoln  on  board  the  "  Malvern,"  he  exclaimed 
fervently :  "  Thank  God  that  I  have  lived  to  see  this ! 
It  seems  to  me  I  have  been  dreaming  a  horrid  dream 
for  four  years,  and  now  the  nightmare  is  gone.  I 
want  to  see  Richmond." 
The  vessel  started  up  the  river,  but  found  it  ex 
tremely  difficult  to  proceed,  as  the  channel  was  filled 
with  torpedoes  and  obstructions,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  wait  until  a  passage  could  be  cleared.  Admiral 
Porter  thus  describes  what  followed :  "  When  the  chan 
nel  was  reported  clear  of  torpedoes  (a  large  number 
of  which  were  taken  up),  I  proceeded  up  to  Richmond 
in  the  '  Malvern,'  with  President  Lincoln.  Every 
vessel  that  got  through  the  obstructions  wished  to  be 
the  first  one  up,  and  pushed  ahead  with  all  steam; 
but  they  grounded,  one  after  another,  the  '  Malvern  ' 
passing  them  all,  until  she  also  took  the  ground.  Not 
to  be  delayed,  I  took  the  President  in  my  barge,  and 
with  a  tug  ahead  with  a  file  of  marines  on  board  we
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     569 
continued  on  up  to  the  city.  There  was  a  large  bridge 
across  the  James  about  a  mile  below  the  landing,  and 
under  this  a  party  in  a  small  steamer  were  caught 
and  held  by  the  current,  with  no  prospect  of  release 
without  assistance.  I  ordered  the  tug  to  cast  off  and 
help  them,  leaving  us  in  the  barge  to  go  on  alone. 
Here  we  were  in  a  solitary  boat,  after  having  set  out 
with  a  number  of  vessels  flying  flags  at  every  mast 
head,  hoping  to  enter  the  conquered  capital  in  a  man 
ner  befitting  the  rank  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  with  a  further  intention  of  firing  a  national 
salute  in  honor  of  the  happy  result.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
cheerful,  and  had  his  '  little  story '  ready  for  the  oc 
casion.  '  Admiral,  this  brings  to  my  mind  a  fellow 
who  once  came  to  me  to  ask  for  an  appointment  as 
minister  abroad.  Finding  he  could  not  get  that,  he 
came  down  to  some  more  modest  position.  Finally 
he  asked  to  be  made  a  tide-waiter.  When  he  saw  he 
could  not  get  that,  he  asked  me  for  an  old  pair  of 
trousers.  It  is  sometimes  well  to  be  humble.9 
"  I  had  never  been  to  Richmond  before  by  that 
route,"  continues  Admiral  Porter,  "  and  did  not  know 
where  the  landing  was;  neither  did  the  cockswain  nor 
any  of  the  barge's  crew.  We  pulled  on,  hoping  to  see 
someone  of  whom  we  could  inquire,  but  no  one  was  in 
sight.  The  street  along  the  river-front  was  as  de 
serted  as  if  this  had  been  a  city  of  the  dead.  The, 
troops  had  been  in  possession  some  hours,  but  not  a 
soldier  was  to  be  seen.  The  current  was  now  rushing 
past  us  over  and  among  rocks,  on  one  of  which  we 
finally  stuck;  but  I  backed  out  and  pointed  for  the 
nearest  landing.  There  was  a  small  house  on  this 
landing,  and  behind  it  were  some  twelve  negroes  dig 
ging  with  spades.  The  leader  of  them  was  an  old 
man  sixty  years  of  age.  He  raised  himself  to  an  up 
right  position  as  we  landed,  and  put  his  hands  up  to
570     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
his  eyes.  Then  he  dropped  his  spade  and  sprang  for 
ward.  '  Bress  de  Lord,'  he  said,  '  dere  is  de  great 
Messiah!  I  knowed  him  as  soon  as  I  seed  him.  He  's 
bin  in  my  heart  fo'  long  yeahs,  an'  he  's  cum  at  las' 
to  free  his  chillun  from  deir  bondage !  Glory,  Halle 
lujah!'  And  he  fell  upon  his  knees  before  the  Presi 
dent  and  kissed  his  feet.  The  others  followed  his 
example,  and  in  a  minute  Mr.  Lincoln  was  surrounded 
by  these  people,  who  had  treasured  up  the  recollection 
of  him  caught  from  a  photograph,  and  had  looked  up 
to  him  for  four  years  as  the  one  who  was  to  lead  them 
out  of  captivity.  It  was  a  touching  sight  —  that  aged 
negro  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  the  tall,  gaunt-looking 
man  who  seemed  in  himself  to  be  bearing  all  the  grief 
of  the  nation,  and  whose  sad  face  seemed  to  say,  '  I 
suffer  for  you  all,  but  will  do  all  I  can  to  help  you.' 
Mr.  Lincoln  looked  down  on  the  poor  creatures  at 
his  feet.  He  was  much  embarrassed  at  his  position. 
'  Don't  kneel  to  me,'  he  said,  '  that  is  not  right.  You 
must  kneel  to  God  only,  and  thank  Him  for  the  liberty 
you  will  hereafter  enjoy.  I  am  but  God's  humble 
instrument;  but  you  may  rest  assured  that  as  long 
as  I  live  no  one  shall  put  a  shackle  on  your  limbs,  and 
you  shall  have  all  the  rights  which  God  has  given  to 
every  other  free  citizen  of  this  Republic.'  It  was  a 
minute  or  two  before  I  could  get  the  negroes  to  rise 
and  leave  the  President.  The  scene  was  so  touching 
that  I  hated  to  disturb  it,  yet  we  could  not  stay  there 
all  day;  we  had  to  move  on;  so  I  requested  the  pa 
triarch  to  withdraw  from  about  the  President  with  his 
companions,  and  let  us  pass  on.  '  Yes,  Mars,'  said 
the  old  man,  'but  after  bein'  so  many  yeahs  in  de 
desert  widout  water,  it  's  mighty  pleasant  to  be  lookin' 
at  las'  on  our  spring  of  life.  'Scuse  us,  sir ;  we  means 
no  disrepec'  to  Mars  Lincoln;  we  means  all  love  and 
gratitude.'  And  then,  joining  hands  together  in  a
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     571 
ring,  the  negroes  sang  a  hymn,  with  the  melodious  and 
touching  voices  possessed  only  by  the  negroes  of  the 
South.  The  President  and  all  of  us  listened  respect 
fully  while  the  hymn  was  being  sung.  Four  minutes 
at  most  had  passed  away  since  we  first  landed  at  a 
point  where,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  the  streets 
were  entirely  deserted ;  but  now  what  a  different  scene 
appeared  as  that  hymn  went  forth  from  the  negroes' 
lips !  The  streets  seemed  to  be  suddenly  alive  with  the 
colored  race.  They  seemed  to  spring  from  the  earth. 
They  came  tumbling  and  shouting,  from  over  the  hills 
and  from  the  water-side,  where  no  one  was  seen  as  we 
had  passed.  The  crowd  immediately  became  very  op 
pressive.  We  needed  our  marines  to  keep  them  off.  I 
ordered  twelve  of  the  boat's  crew  to  fix  bayonets  to 
their  rifles  and  surround  the  President,  all  of  which 
was  quickly  done ;  but  the  crowd  poured  in  so  fearfully 
that  I  thought  we  all  stood  a  chance  of  being  crushed 
to  death.  At  length  the  President  spoke.  He  could 
not  move  for  the  mass  of  people  —  he  had  to  do  some 
thing.  '  My  poor  friends,'  he  said,  *  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.  Lib 
erty  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 
works.  Don't  let  your  joy  carry  you  into  excesses. 
Learn  the  laws  and  obey  them;  obey  God's  command 
ments  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 
capital,  and  must  return  at  once  to  Washington  to 
secure  to  you  that  liberty  which  you  seem  to  prize  so 
highly.'  The  crowd  shouted  and  screeched  as  if  they;
572     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
would  split  the  firmament,  though  while  the  President 
was  speaking  you  might  have  heard  a  pin  drop."* 
Presently  the  little  party  was  able  to  move  on. 
"  It  never  struck  me,"  says  Admiral  Porter,  "  there 
was  anyone  in  that  multitude  who  would  injure  Mr. 
Lincoln;  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  had  an  army  of 
supporters  there  who  could  and  would  defend  him 
against  all  the  world.  Our  progress  was  very  slow; 
we  did  not  move  a  mile  an  hour,  and  the  crowd  was 
still  increasing.  It  was  a  warm  day,  and  the  streets 
were  dusty,  owing  to  the  immense  gathering  which 
covered  every  part  of  them,  kicking  up  the  dirt.  The 
atmosphere  was  suffocating;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  could 
be  seen  plainly  by  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  tower 
ing  head  and  shoulders  above  that  crowd;  he  over 
topped  every  man  there.  He  carried  his  hat  in  his 
hand,  fanning  his  face,  from  which  the  perspiration 
was  pouring.  He  looked  as  if  he  would  have  given  his 
Presidency  for  a  glass  of  water  —  I  would  have  given 
my  commission  for  half  that. 
"  Now  came  another  phase  in  the  procession.  As 
we  entered  the  city  every  window  flew  up,  from  ground 
to  roof,  and  every  one  was  filled  with  eager,  peering 
faces,  which  turned  one  to  another,  and  seemed  to 
ask,  '  Is  this  large  man,  with  soft  eyes,  and  kind,  be 
nevolent  face,  the  one  who  has  been  held  up  to  us 
as  the  incarnation  of  wickedness,  the  destroyer  of  the 
South?  '  There  was  nothing  like  taunt  or  defiance  in 
the  faces  of  those  who  were  gazing  from  the  windows 
or  craning  their  necks  from  the  sidewalks  to  catch 
a  view  of  the  President.  The  look  of  every  one  was 
that  of  eager  curiosity  —  nothing  more.  In  a  short 
time  we  reached  the  mansion  of  Mr.  Davis,  President 
of  the  Confederacy,  occupied  after  the  evacuation  as 
the  headquarters  of  General  Weitzel  and  Shepley. 
There  was  great  cheering  going  on.  Hundreds  of
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     573 
civilians  —  I  don't  know  who  they  were  —  assembled 
at  the  front  of  the  house  to  welcome  Mr.  Lincoln.  Gen 
eral  Shepley  made  a  speech  and  gave  us  a  lunch,  after 
which  we  entered  a  carriage  and  visited  the  State 
House  —  the  late  seat  of  the  Confederate  Congress. 
It  was  in  dreadful  disorder,  betokening  a  sudden  and 
unexpected  flight ;  members'  tables  were  upset,  bales 
of  Confederate  scrip  were  lying  about  the  floor,  and 
many  official  documents  of  some  value  were  scattered 
about. 
"  After  this  inspection  I  urged  the  President  to  go 
on  board  the  '  Malvern.'  I  began  to  feel  more  heavily 
the  responsibility  resting  upon  me  through  the  care 
of  his  person.  The  evening  was  approaching,  and  we 
were  in  a  carriage  open  on  all  sides.  He  was  glad  to 
go ;  he  was  tired  out,  and  wanted  the  quiet  of  the 
flag-ship.  I  was  oppressed  with  uneasiness  until  we 
got  on  board  and  stood  on  the  deck  with  the  President 
safe;  then  there  was  not  a  happier  man  anywhere 
than  myself." 
On  Sunday,  April  9,  the  President  returned  to 
Washington;  and  there  he  heard  the  thrilling  news 
that  Lee,  with  his  whole  army,  had  that  day  surren 
dered  to  Grant  at  Appomattox.  Lincoln's  first  visit, 
after  reaching  the  capital,  was  to  the  house  of  Secre 
tary  Seward,  who  had  met  with  a  severe  accident  dur 
ing  his  absence,  and  was  a  prisoner  in  a  sick  room. 
Lincoln's  heart  was  full  of  joy,  and  he  entered  im 
mediately  upon  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Richmond 
and  the  glorious  successes  of  the  Union  army ;  "  throw 
ing  himself,"  as  Mr.  Carpenter  says,  "in  his  almost 
boyish  exultation,  at  full  length  across  the  bed,  sup 
porting  his  head  upon  one  hand,  and  in  this  manner 
reciting  the  story  of  the  collapse  of  the  Rebellion. 
Concluding,  he  lifted  himself  up  and  said,  *  And  now 
for  a  day  of  Thanksgiving ! '
574     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
In  Washington,  as  in  every  city  and  town  in  the 
loyal  States,  there  was  the  wildest  enthusiasm  over 
the  good  news  from  the  army.  Flags  were  flying  every 
where,  cannon  were  sounding,  business  was  suspended, 
and  the  people  gave  themselves  up  to  the  impulses 
of  joy  and  thanksgiving.  Monday  afternoon  the  work 
men  of  the  navy-yard  marched  to  the  White  House, 
joining  the  thousands  already  there,  and  with  bands 
playing  and  a  tumult  of  rejoicing,  called  persistently 
for  the  President.  After  some  delay  Lincoln  appeared 
at  the  window  above  the  main  entrance,  and  was  greeted 
with  loud  and  prolonged  cheers  and  demonstrations 
of  love  and  respect.  He  declined  to  make  a  formal 
speech,  saying  to  the  excited  throng  beneath: 
I  am  very  greatly  rejoiced  that  an  occasion  has 
occurred  so  pleasurable  that  the  people  can't  restrain 
themselves.  I  suppose  that  arrangements  are  being 
made  for  some  sort  of  formal  demonstration,  perhaps 
this  evening  or  to-morrow  night.  If  there  should  be 
such  a  demonstration,  I,  of  course,  shall  have  to  respond 
to  it,  and  I  shall  have  nothing  to  say  if  I  dribble  it  out 
before.  I  see  you  have  a  band.  I  propose  now  closing 
up  by  requesting  you  to  play  a  certain  air  or  tune.  I 
have  always  thought  "  Dixie  "  one  of  the  best  tunes  I 
ever  heard.  I  have  heard  that  our  adversaries  over  the 
way  have  attempted  to  appropriate  it  as  a  national  air. 
I  insisted  yesterday  that  we  had  fairly  captured  it.  I 
presented  the  question  to  the  Attorney-General,  and  he 
gave  his  opinion  that  it  is  our  lawful  prize.  I  ask  the 
band  to  give  us  a  good  turn  upon  it. 
The  band  did  give  "  a  good  turn "  not  only  to 
"  Dixie,"  but  to  the  whimsical  tune  of  "  Yankee 
Doodle,"  after  which  Lincoln  proposed  three  cheers 
for  General  Grant  and  all  under  his  command;  and 
then  "  three  more  cheers  for  our  gallant  navy,"  at  the 
close  of  which  he  bowed  and  retired  amid  the  inspiring
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     575 
strains  of  "  Hail  Columbia  "  discoursed  with  vigor  by 
the  patriotic  musicians. 
As  additional  despatches  were  received  from  ithe 
army,  the  joyful  excitement  in  Washington  increased. 
Tuesday  evening,  April  11,  the  President's  mansion, 
the  Executive  Departments,  and  many  of  the  business 
places  and  private  residences,  were  illuminated,  bon 
fires  were  kindled,  and  fireworks  sent  off,  in  celebration 
of  the  great  event  which  stirred  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  A  vast  mass  of  citizens  crowded  about  the 
White  House,  as  Lincoln  appeared  at  the  historic  East 
window  and  made  his  last  speech  to  the  American 
public.  It  was  a  somewhat  lengthy  address,  and  had 
been  prepared  and  written  out  for  the  occasion.  "  We 
meet  this  evening,  not  in  sorrow  but  in  gladness  of 
heart,"  began  the  President.  "  No  part  of  the  honor 
or  praise  is  mine.  To  General  Grant,  his  skilful  offi 
cers  and  brave  men,  all  belongs."  Mr.  Brooks,  who 
was  in  the  White  House  during  the  delivery  of  this 
address,  gives  the  following  glimpses  behind  the  scenes : 
"  As  Lincoln  spoke,  the  multitude  was  as  silent  as  if 
the  court-yard  had  been  deserted.  Then,  as  his  speech 
was  written  on  loose  sheets,  and  the  candles  placed  for 
him  were  too  low,  he  took  a  light  in  his  hand  and  went 
on  with  his  reading.  Soon  coming  to  the  end  of  a 
page,  he  found  some  difficulty  in  handling  the  manu 
script  and  holding  the  candlestick.  A  friend  who  stood 
behind  the  drapery  of  the  window  reached  out  and 
took  the  candle,  and  held  it  until  the  end  of  the  speech, 
and  the  President  let  the  loose  pages  fall  on  the  floor, 
one  by  one,  as  fast  as  he  was  through  with  them. 
Presently  Tad,  having  refreshed  himself  at  the  dinner- 
table,  came  back  in  search  of  amusement.  He  gathered 
up  the  scattered  sheets  of  the  President's  speech,  and 
then  amused  himself  by  chasing  the  leaves  as  they 
fluttered  from  the  speaker's  hand.  Growing  impatient
576     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
at  his  father's  delay  to  drop  another  page,  Tad  whis 
pered,  *  Come,  give  me  another ! '  The  President  made 
a  queer  motion  with  his  foot  toward  the  boy,  but  other 
wise  showed  no  sign  that  he  had  other  thoughts  than 
those  which  he  was  dropping  to  the  listeners  beneath. 
Without  was  a  vast  sea  of  upturned  faces,  each  eye 
fixed  on  the  form  of  the  President.  Around  the  tall 
white  pillars  of  the  portico  flowed  an  undulating  sur 
face  of  human  beings,  stirred  by  emotion  and  lighted 
with  the  fantastic  colors  of  fireworks.  At  the  window, 
his  face  irradiated  with  patriotic  joy,  was  the  much- 
beloved  Lincoln,  reading  the  speech  that  was  to  be  his 
last  to  the  people.  Behind  him  crept  back  and  forth, 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  the  boy  of  the  White  House, 
gathering  up  his  father's  carefully  written  pages,  and 
occasionally  lifting  up  his  eager  face  waiting  for  more. 
It  was  before  and  behind  the  scenes.  Sometimes  I 
wonder,  when  I  recall  that  night,  how  much  of  a  father's 
love  and  thought  of  his  boy  might  have  been  mingled 
in  Lincoln's  last  speech  to  the  eager  multitude." 
The  President's  speech  on  this  occasion  was  largely 
devoted  to  the  impending  problem  of  Reconstruction 
in  the  South.  The  problem  was  complex  and  difficult, 
with  no  recognized  principles  or  precedent  for  guidance. 
Said  Lincoln :  "  Unlike  the  case  of  a  war  between 
independent  nations,  there  is  no  authorized  organiza 
tion  for  us  to  treat  with.  No  one  man  has  authority 
to  give  up  the  rebellion  for  any  other  man.  We 
simply  must  begin  with  and  mould  from  disorganized 
and  discordant  elements.  Nor  is  it  a  small  additional 
embarrassment,  that  we,  the  loyal  people,  differ 
amongst  ourselves  as  to  the  mode,  manner,  and 
measure  of  reconstruction.  Let  us  all  join  in  doing 
the  acts  necessary  to  restoring  the  proper  practical 
relations  between  these  States  and  the  Union."  The 
problem  thus  touched  upon  was  one  that  had  long
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     577 
occupied  the  thoughts  of  Lincoln,  especially  since  the 
downfall  of  the  Confederacy  had  been  imminent.  His 
practical  and  far-seeing  mind  was  already  addressing 
itself  to  the  new  issues,  duties,  and  responsibilities, 
which  he  saw  opening  before  him,  and  which  he  well 
knew  would  demand  all  of  his  wisdom,  firmness,  and 
political  sagacity.  As  was  to  be  expected,  a  great 
diversity  of  views  prevailed.  A  powerful  faction  in 
Congress,  sympathized  with  by  some  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  was  for  "  making  treason  odious  "  and  deal 
ing  with  the  insurgent  States  as  conquered  provinces 
that  had  forfeited  all  rights  once  held  under  the  Con 
stitution  and  were  entitled  only  to  such  treatment  as 
the  Government  chose  to  give  them.  Lincoln's  ideas 
were  very  different.  His  mind  was  occupied  with  for 
mulating  a  policy  having  for  its  object  the  welfare 
of  the  Southern  people  and  the  restoration  of  the 
rebellious  States  to  the  Union.  His  broad  and  states 
manlike  views  were  outlined,  the  day  after  the  public 
address  just  referred  to,  in  discussing  Secretary 
Welles's  plans  for  convening  the  legislature  of  Virginia. 
Says  Mr.  Welles  in  his  Diary :  "  His  idea  was  that  the 
members  of  the  legislature,  comprising  the  prominent 
and  influential  men  of  their  respective  counties,  had 
better  come  together  and  undo  their  own  work.  Civil 
government  must  be  reestablished,  he  said,  as  soon  as 
possible;  there  must  be  courts,  and  law  and  order,  or 
society  would  be  broken  up,  the  disbanded  armies  would 
turn  into  robber  bands  and  guerillas,  which  we  must 
strive  to  prevent.  These  were  the  reasons  why  he 
wished  prominent  Virginians  who  had  the  confidence 
of  the  people  to  come  together  and  turn  themselves  and 
their  neighbors  into  good  Union  men."  Lincoln  had 
no  thought  of  leaving  any  of  these  questions  to  the 
military  authorities.  In  March  he  had  directed  a 
despatch  from  Stanton  to  Grant,  saying:  "  The  Presi-
578     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
dent  wishes  you  to  have  no  conference  with  General 
Lee,  unless  it  be  for  the  capitulation  of  his  army,  or 
on  some  other  minor  and  purely  military  matter.  He 
instructs  me  to  say  that  you  are  not  to  decide,  discuss, 
or  confer  upon  any  political  question.  Such  questions 
the  President  holds  in  his  own  hands,  and  will  submit 
them  to  no  military  conferences  or  conventions."  Dur 
ing  his  meeting  with  Grant  at  Petersburg  the  President 
revealed  to  the  General  many  of  his  plans  for  the 
rehabilitation  of  the  South,  and  it  could  easily  be  seen 
that  a  spirit  of  magnanimity  was  uppermost  in  his 
heart.  And  at  the  conference  with  Grant,  Sherman, 
and  Porter,  on  board  the  "  River  Queen,"  the  same 
subject  was  broached.  "  Though  I  cannot  attempt  to 
recall  the  words  spoken  by  any  one  of  the  persons 
present  on  that  occasion,"  says  General  Sherman,  "  I 
know  we  talked  generally  about  what  was  to  be  done 
when  Lee's  and  Johnston's  armies  were  beaten  and  dis 
persed.  On  this  point  Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  full.  He 
said  that  he  had  long  thought  of  it,  that  he  hoped  this 
end  could  be  reached  without  more  bloodshed,  but  in 
any  event  he  wanted  us  to  get  the  men  of  the  Southern 
armies  disarmed  and  back  to  their  homes;  that  he 
contemplated  no  revenge,  no  harsh  measures,  but  quite 
the  contrary,  and  that  their  suffering  and  hardships 
during  the  war  would  make  them  the  more  submissive 
to  law."  Says  Hon.  George  Bancroft :  "  It  was  the 
nature  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  forgive.  When  hostilities 
ceased  he  who  had  always  sent  forth  the  flag  with 
every  one  of  its  stars  in  the  field  was  eager  to  receive 
back  his  returning  countrymen." 
One  of  the  last  stories  of  personal  interviews  with 
President  Lincoln  relates  to  his  feeling  of  clemency 
for  the  men  lately  in  rebellion.  It  is  told  by  Senator 
Henderson  of  Missouri.  "  About  the  middle  of  March, 
1865,"  says  Senator  Henderson,  "  I  went  to  the  White
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     579 
House  to  ask  the  President  to  pardon  a  number  of 
men  who  had  been  languishing  in  Missouri  prisons  for 
various  offenses,  all  political.  Some  of  them  had  been 
my  schoolmates,  and  their  mothers  and  sisters  and 
sweethearts  had  persisted  in  appeals  that  I  should  use 
my  influence  for  their  release.  Since  it  was  evident 
to  me  that  the  Confederacy  was  in  its  last  throes,  I 
felt  that  the  pardon  of  most  of  these  prisoners  would 
do  more  good  than  harm.  I  had  separated  them,  ac 
cording  to  the  gravity  of  their  offenses,  into  three 
classes ;  and  handing  the  first  list  to  him,  I  said,  '  Mr. 
President,  the  session  of  the  Senate  is  closed,  and  I  am 
about  to  start  for  home.  The  war  is  virtually  over. 
Grant  is  pretty  certain  to  get  Lee  and  his  army,  and 
Sherman  is  plainly  able  to  take  care  of  Johnston.  In 
my  opinion  the  best  way  to  prevent  guerilla  warfare 
at  the  end  of  organized  resistance  will  be  to  show 
clemency  to  these  Southern  sympathizers.'  Lincoln 
shook  his  head  and  said,  '  Henderson,  I  am  deeply  in 
debted  to  you,  and  I  want  to  show  it;  but  don't  ask 
me  at  this  time  to  pardon  rebels.  I  can't  do  it. 
People  are  continually  blaming  me  for  being  too  lenient. 
Don't  encourage  such  fellows  by  inducing  me  to  turn 
loose  a  lot  of  men  who  perhaps  ought  to  be  hanged.' 
I  answered,  '  Mr.  President,  these  prisoners  and  their 
friends  tell  me  that  for  them  the  war  is  over;  and  it 
will  surely  have  a  good  influence  now  to  let  them  go.' 
He  replied,  '  Henderson,  my  conscience  tells  me  that 
I  must  not  do  it.'  But  I  persisted.  '  Mr.  President, 
you  should  do  it.  It  is  necessary  for  good  feeling  in 
Missouri  that  these  people  be  released.'  '  If  I  sign 
this  list  as  a  whole,  will  you  be  responsible  for  the 
future  good  behavior  of  these  men?  '  he  asked.  'Yes,' 
I  replied,  *  I  will.'  <  Then  I  '11  take  the  risk.'  He  wrote 
the  word  Pardoned,  signed  the  order  of  release,  and 
returned  the  paper  to  me.  *  Thank  you,  Mr.  Presi-
580     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
dent,'  I  said,  '  but  that  is  not  all.  I  have  another  list.' 
*  You  're  not  going  to  make  me  let  loose  another  lot ! ' 
he  exclaimed.  '  Yes,'  I  answered,  '  and  my  argument 
is  the  same  as  before.  The  guilt  of  these  men  is  doubt 
ful.  Mercy  must  be  the  policy  of  peace.'  With  the 
only  words  approaching  profanity  that  I  ever  heard 
him  utter,  he  exclaimed,  *  /  'II  be  durned  if  I  don't  sign 
it!  Now,  Henderson,'  he  said,  as  he  handed  me  the  list, 
'  remember  that  you  are  responsible  to  me  for  these 
men,  and  if  they  don't  behave  /  'II  put  you  in  prison 
•for  their  sins.9 ' 
Lincoln's  whole  feeling  toward  the  vanquished  South 
ern  people  was  one  of  peace  and  magnanimity.  While 
many  were  clamoring  for  the  execution  of  the  Southern 
leaders,  and  especially  Jefferson  Davis,  Lincoln  said, 
only  a  day  or  two  before  his  death :  "  This  talk  about 
Mr.  Davis  wearies  me.  I  hope  he  will  mount  a  fleet 
horse,  reach  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  ride 
50  far  into  its  waters  that  we  shall  never  see  him  again." 
And  then  he  told  a  pat  story  —  perhaps  his  last  — 
of  a  boy  in  Springfield,  "  who  saved  up  his  money  and 
bought  a  '  coon,'  which,  after  the  novelty  wore  off, 
became  a  great  nuisance.  He  was  one  day  leading  him 
through  the  streets,  and  had  his  hands  full  to  keep 
clear  of  the  little  vixen,  who  had  torn  his  clothes  half 
off  him.  At  length  he  sat  down  on  the  curb-stone, 
completely  fagged  out.  A  man  passing  was  stopped 
by  the  lad's  disconsolate  appearance,  and  asked  the 
matter.  '  Oh,'  was  the  only  reply,  '  this  coon  is  such 
a  trouble  to  me ! '  *  Why  don't  you  get  rid  of  him, 
then?'  said  the  gentleman.  '  Hush!  '  said  the  boy, 
6  don't  you  see  he  is  gnawing  his  rope  off?  I  am  going 
to  let  him  do  it,  and  then  I  will  go  home  and  tell  the 
folks  that  he  got  away  -from  me.'  ' 
At  the  last  Cabinet  meeting  ever  attended  by  Lin 
coln,  held  in  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  he  was
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     581 
shot,  the  subject  of  Reconstruction  was  again  upper 
most,  and  various  plans  were  presented  and  discussed. 
Secretary  Stanton  brought,  forward  a  plan  or  ordi 
nance  which  he'  said  he  had  prepared  with  much  care 
and  after  a  great  deal  of  reflection.  It  was  arranged 
that  a  copy  of  this  should  be  furnished  to  each  mem 
ber  of  the  Cabinet,  for  criticism  and  suggestion,  "  In 
the  meantime,"  says  Secretary  Welles,  "  we  were  re 
quested  by  the  President  to  deliberate  and  carefully 
consider  the  proposition.  He  remarked  that  this  was 
the  great  question  now  before  us,  and  we  must  soon 
begin  to  act."  What  that  action  would  have  been  had 
Lincoln  lived  —  what  wrong  and  misery  would  have 
been  spared  to  the  South  and  shame  and  dishonor  to 
the  North  —  no  one  can  doubt  who  comprehends  the 
fibre  of  that  kindly,  just,  and  indomitable  soul.
CHAPTER    XXIX 
The  Last  of  Earth  —  Events  of  the  Last  Day  of  Lincoln's  Life  —  The 
Last  Cabinet  Meeting  —  The  Last  Drive  with  Mrs.  Lincoln  — 
Incidents  of  the  Afternoon  —  Riddance  to  Jacob  Thompson  —  A 
Final  Act  of  Pardon  —  The  Fatal  Evening  —  The  Visit  to  the  The 
atre  —  The  Assassin's  Shot  —  A  Scene  of  Horror  —  Particulars  of 
the  Crime  —  The  Dying  President  —  A  Nation's  Grief  —  Funeral 
Obsequies  —  The  Return  to  Illinois  —  At  Rest  in  Oak  Ridge 
Cemetery. 
IT  
is  something  to  be  ever  gratefully  remembered, 
that  the  last  day  of  Lincoln's  life  was  filled  with 
sunshine.     His  cares  and  burdens  slipped  from  him  like 
a  garment,  and  his  spirit  was  filled  with  a  blessed  and 
benignant  peace. 
On  the  morning  of  that  fatal  Friday,  the  14th  day 
of  April,  the  President  had  a  long  conversation  at 
breakfast  with  his  son  Robert,  then  a  member  of  Grant's 
staff,  who  had  just  arrived  from  the  front  with  addi 
tional  particulars  of  Lee's  surrender,  of  which  event 
he  had  been  a  witness.  The  President  listened  with 
close  attention  to  the  interesting  recital;  then,  taking 
up  a  portrait  of  General  Lee,  which  his  son  had  brought 
him,  he  placed  it  on  the  table  before  him,  where  he 
scanned  it  long  and  thoughtfully.  Presently  he  said: 
"  It  is  a  good  face.  It  is  the  face  of  a  noble,  brave 
man.  I  am  glad  that  the  war  is  over  at  last."  Look 
ing  upon  Robert,  he  continued :  "  Well,  my  son,  you 
have  returned  safely  from  the  front.  The  war  is  now 
closed,  and  we  will  soon  live  in  peace  with  the  brave 
men  who  have  been  fighting  against  us.  I  trust  that 
the  era  of  good  feeling  has  returned,  and  that  hence 
forth  we  shall  live  in  harmony  together."
EVERY-DAY   LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     583 
After  breakfast  the  President  received  Speaker  Col- 
fax,  spending  an  hour  or  more  in  discussing  his  plans 
regarding  the  adjustment  of  matters  in  the  South. 
This  was  followed  by  an  interview  with  Hon.  John  P. 
Hale,  the  newly  appointed  Minister  to  Spain,  and  by 
calls  of  congratulation  from  members  of  Congress  and 
old  friends  from  Illinois.  Afterwards  he  took  a  short 
drive  with  General  Grant,  who  had  just  come  to  the 
city  to  consult  regarding  the  disbandment  of  the  army 
and  the  parole  of  prisoners.  The  people  were  wild 
with  enthusiasm,  and  wherever  the  President  and  Gen 
eral  Grant  appeared  they  were  greeted  with  cheers, 
the  clapping  of  hands,  waving  of  handkerchiefs,  and 
every  possible  demonstration  of  delight. 
At  the  Cabinet  meeting  held  at  noon  the  President 
was  accompanied  by  General  Grant.  The  meeting  is 
thus  described  by  one  who  was  present,  Secretary 
Welles :  "  Congratulations  were  interchanged,  and  ear 
nest  inquiry  was  made  whether  any  information  had 
been  received  from  General  Sherman.  General  Grant, 
who  was  invited  to  remain,  said  he  was  expecting  hourly 
to  hear  from  Sherman,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  anxiety 
on  the  subject.  The  President  remarked  that  the  news 
would  come  soon  and  come  favorably,  he  had  no  doubt, 
for  he  had  last  night  his  usual  dream  which  had  pre 
ceded  nearly  every  important  event  of  the  war.  I 
inquired  the  particulars  of  this  remarkable  dream.  He 
said  it  was  in  my  department  —  it  related  to  the 
water ;  that  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  singular  and  inde 
scribable  vessel,  but  always  the  same,  and  that  he  was 
moving  with  great  rapidity  toward  a  dark  and  in 
definite  shore;  that  he  had  had  this  singular  dream 
preceding  the  firing  on  Sumter,  the  battles  of  Bull 
Run,  Antietam,  Gettysburg,  Stone  River,  Vicksburg, 
Wilmington,  etc.  General  Grant  remarked,  with  some 
emphasis  and  asperity,  that  Stone  River  was  no  vie-
584     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
tory  —  that  a  few  such  victories  would  have  ruined  the 
country,  and  he  knew  of  no  important  results  from 
it.  The  President  said  that  perhaps  he  should  not 
altogether  agree  with  him,  but  whatever  might  be  the 
facts  his  singular  dream  preceded  that  fight.  Victory 
did  not  always  follow  his  dream,  but  the  event  and 
results  were  important.  He  had  no  doubt  that  a 
battle  had  taken  place  or  was  about  being  fought,  '  and 
Johnston  will  be  beaten,  for  I  had  this  strange  dream 
again  last  night.  It  must  relate  to  Sherman;  my 
thoughts  are  in  that  direction,  and  /  know  of  no  other 
very  important  event  which  is  likely  just  now  to 
occur.9  "  "  Great  events,"  adds  Mr.  Welles  in  his 
Diary,  "  did  indeed  follow ;  for  within  a  few  hours  the 
good  and  gentle  as  well  as  truly  great  man  who  nar 
rated  his  dream  closed  forever  his  earthly  career." 
After  the  Cabinet  meeting  the  President  took  a  drive 
with  Mrs.  Lincoln,  expressing  a  wish  that  no  one 
should  accompany  them.  His  heart  was  filled  with  a 
solemn  joy,  which  awoke  memories  of  the  past  to 
mingle  with  hopes  for  the  future;  and  in  this  subdued 
moment  he  desired  to  be  alone  with  the  one  who  stood 
nearest  to  him  in  human  relationship.  In  the  course 
of  their  talk  together,  he  said :  "  Mary,  we  have  had 
a  hard  time  of  it  since  we  came  to  Washington;  but 
the  war  is  over,  and  with  God's  blessing  we  may  hope 
for  four  years  of  peace  and  happiness,  and  then  we 
will  go  back  to  Illinois  and  pass  the  rest  of  our  lives 
in  quiet."  He  spoke,  says  Mr.  Arnold,  "  of  his  old 
Springfield  home;  and  recollections  of  his  early  days, 
his  little  brown  cottage,  the  law  office,  the  court  room, 
the  green  bag  for  his  briefs  and  law  papers,  his  ad 
ventures  when  riding  the  circuit,  came  thronging  back 
to  him.  The  tension  under  which  he  had  for  so  long 
been  kept  was  removed,  and  he  was  like  a  boy  out  of 
school.  '  We  have  laid  by,'  said  he  to  his  wife,  '  some
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     585 
money,  and  during  this  term  we  will  try  and  save  up 
more,  but  shall  not  have  enough  to  support  us.  We 
will  go  back  to  Illinois,  and  I  will  open  a  law  office 
at  Springfield  or  Chicago,  and  practise  law,  and  at 
least  do  enough  to  help  give  us  a  livelihood.'  Such 
were  the  dreams,  the  day-dreams  of  Lincoln,  on  the 
last  day  of  his  earthly  life." 
Mr.  Neill,  the  President's  private  secretary,  states 
that  between  three  and  four  o'clock  of  this  day  he  had 
occasion  to  seek  the  President  to  procure  his  signature 
to  a  paper.  "  I  found,"  says  Mr.  Neill,  "  that  he  had 
retired  to  the  private  parlor  of  the  house  for  lunch. 
While  I  was  looking  over  the  papers  on  his  table,  to 
see  if  I  could  find  the  desired  commission,  he  came 
back,  eating  an  apple.  I  told  him  what  I  was  looking 
for,  and  as  I  talked  he  placed  his  hand  upon  the  bell- 
pull.  I  said:  'For  whom  are  you  going  to  ring?' 
Placing  his  hand  upon  my  coat,  he  spoke  but  two 
words :  '  Andrew  Johnson.'  '  Then,'  I  said,  '  I  will 
come  in  again.'  As  I  was  leaving  the  room,  the  Vice- 
President  had  been  ushered  in,  and  the  President  ad 
vanced  and  took  him  by  the  hand." 
Charles  A.  Dana,  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 
says  that  his  last  recollections  of  President  Lincoln 
are  indelibly  associated  with  the  seditious  Jacob  Thomp 
son.  "  Late  in  the  afternoon,"  says  Mr.  Dana,  "  a 
despatch  was  received  at  the  War  Department  from 
the  provost  marshal  of  Portland,  Maine,  saying  that 
he  had  received  information  that  Jacob  Thompson 
would  arrive  in  Portland  during  that  night,  in  order 
to  take  there  the  Canadian  steamer  which  was  to  sail 
for  Liverpool.  On  reading  this  despatch  to  Mr.  Stan- 
ton,  the  latter  said,  '  Order  him  to  be  arrested  —  but 
no ;  you  had  better  take  it  over  to  the  President.'  I 
found  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  inner  room  of  his  business 
office  at  the  White  House,  with  his  coat  off,  washing
586     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
his  hands  preparatory  to  a  drive.  '  Hello,'  said  he, 
6  what  is  it?  '  Listening  to  the  despatch,  he  asked, 
4  What  does  Stanton  say?'  'He  thinks  he  ought  to 
be  arrested,'  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.'  " 
During  the  afternoon  the  President  signed  a  pardon 
for  a  soldier  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  desertion;  re 
marking,  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  tak 
ing  the  oath  of  allegiance,  of  a  Southern  prisoner,  on 
whose  petition  he  wrote,  "  Let  it  be  done."  This  act 
of  mercy  was  his  last  official  order. 
It  had  been  decided  early  in  the  day  that  the  Presi 
dent  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  attend  Ford's  Theatre 
in  the  evening,  to  witness  the  play  of  "  The  American 
Cousin."  Lincoln  had  invited  General  Grant  to  ac 
company  his  party  to  the  theatre,  saying  that  the 
people  would  expect  to  see  him  and  should  not  be 
disappointed.  But  the  General  had  declined,  as  Mrs. 
Grant  wras  anxious  to  start  that  afternoon  to  visit 
their  children,  who  were  at  school  in  Burlington,  New 
Jersey. 
As  the  hour  approached  for  leaving  for  the  theatre, 
the  President  was  engaged  in  a  conversation  with  two 
friends  —  Speaker  Colfax  and  Hon.  George  Ashmun 
of  Massachusetts.  The  business  on  which  they  had 
met  not  being  concluded,  the  President  gave  Mr.  Ash 
mun  a  card  on  which  he  had  written  these  words : 
"  Allow  Mr.  Ashmun  and  friend  to  come  in  at  9  A.  M. 
to-morrow — A.  Lincoln."  He  then  turned  to  Mr. 
Colfax,  saying,  "  You  are  going  with  Mrs.  Lincoln 
and  me  to  the  theatre,  I  hope."  Mr.  Colfax  pleaded 
other  engagements,  when  Lincoln  remarked :  "  Mr.  Sum-
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     587 
ner  has  the  gavel  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  which 
he  got  at  Richmond  to  hand  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 
But  I  insisted  then  that  he  must  give  it  to  you;  and 
you  tell  him  for  me  to  hand  it  over."  He  then  rose, 
but  seemed  reluctant  to  go,  expressing  a  half-determina 
tion  to  delay  a  while  longer.  It  was  undoubtedly  to 
avoid  disappointing  the  audience,  to  whom  his  presence 
had  been  promised,  that  he  went  to  the  play-house 
that  night.  At  the  door  he  stopped  and  said  to 
Speaker  Colfax,  who  was  about  to  leave  for  the  Pacific 
coast,  "  Colfax,  do  not  forget  to  tell  the  people  in  the 
mining  regions,  as  you  pass  through,  what  I  told  you 
this  morning  about  the  development  when  peace  comes. 
I  will  telegraph  you  at  San  Francisco." 
It  was  nine  o'clock  when  the  Presidential  party 
reached  the  theatre.  The  place  was  crowded ;  "  many 
ladies  in  rich  and  gay  costumes,  officers  in  their  uni 
forms,  many  well-known  citizens,  young  folks,  the 
usual  clusters  of  gaslights,  the  usual  magnetism  of 
so  many  people,  cheerful,  with  perfumes,  music  of 
violins  and  flutes  —  and  over  all,  and  saturating  all, 
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  perfumes." 
As  the  President  entered  he  was  greeted  with  tremen 
dous  cheers,  to  which  he  responded  with  genial  cour 
tesy.  The  box  reserved  for  him,  at  the  right  of  the 
stage,  a  little  above  the  floor,  was  draped  and  festooned 
with  flags.  As  the  party  were  seated,  the  daughter 
of  Senator  Harris  of  New  York  occupied  the  corner 
nearest  the  stage ;  next  her  was  Mrs.  Lincoln ;  and 
behind  them  sat  the  President  and  Major  Rathbone, 
the  former  being  nearest  the  door. 
In  his  quiet  chair  he  sate, 
Pure  of  malice  or  guile,
588     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
Stainless  of  fear  or  hate; 
And  there  played  a  pleasant  smile 
On  the  rough  and  careworn  face,  — 
For  his  heart  was  all  the  while 
On  means  of  mercy  and  grace. 
The  brave  old  flag  drooped  o'er  him, — 
A  fold  in  the  hard  hand  lay; 
He  looked  perchance  on  the  play,  — 
But  the  scene  was  a  shadow  before  him, 
For  his  thoughts  were  far  away. 
It  was  half-past  ten  o'clock,  and  the  audience  was 
absorbed  in  the  progress  of  the  play,  when  suddenly 
a  pistol  shot,  loud  and  sharp,  rang  through  the  theatre. 
All  eyes  were  instantly  directed  toward  the  President's 
box,  whence  the  report  proceeded.  A  moment  later, 
the  figure  of  a  man,  holding  a  smoking  pistol  in  one 
hand  and  a  dagger  in  the  other,  appeared  at  the  front 
of  the  President's  box,  and  sprang  to  the  stage,  some 
eight  or  ten  feet  below,  shouting  as  he  did  so,  "  Sic 
semper  tyrannis!  "  He  fell  as  he  struck  the  stage;  but 
quickly  recovering  himself,  sprang  through  the  side- 
wings  and  escaped  from  the  theatre  by  a  rear  door. 
At  the  moment  of  the  assassination  a  single  actor, 
Mr.  Hawk,  was  on  the  stage.  In  his  account  of  the 
tragical  event  he  says :  "  When  I  heard  the  shot  fired, 
I  turned,  looked  up  at  the  President's  box,  heard  the 
man  exclaim,  *  Sic  semper  tyrannis!  '  saw  him  jump 
from  the  box,  seize  the  flag  on  the  staff,  and  drop  to 
the  stage.  He  slipped  when  he  struck  the  stage,  but 
got  upon  his  feet  in  a  moment,  brandished  a  large 
knife,  crying,  '  The  South  shall  be  free,'  turned  his 
face  in  the  direction  where  I  stood,  and  I  recognized 
him  as  John  Wilkes  Booth.  He  ran  towards  me,  and 
I,  seeing  the  knife,  thought  I  was  the  one  he  was  after, 
and  ran  off  the  stage  and  up  a  flight  of  stairs.  He
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     589 
made  his  escape  out  of  a  door  directly  in  the  rear 
of  the  theatre,  mounted  a  horse,  and  rode  off.  The 
above  all  occurred  in  the  space  of  a  quarter  of  a 
minute,  and  at  the  time  I  did  not  know  the  President 
was  shot." 
Scarcely  had  the  horror-stricken  audience  witnessed 
the  leap  and  flight  of  the  asassin  when  a  woman's 
shriek  pierced  through  the  theatre,  recalling  all  eyes 
to  the  President's  box.  The  scene  that  ensued  is  de 
scribed  with  singular  vividness  by  the  poet  Walt  Whit 
man,  who  was  present :  "  A  moment's  hush  —  a  scream 
—  the  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,  incredu 
lous  suspense  —  and  then  the  deluge  !  —  then  that  mix 
ture  of  horror,  noises,  uncertainty  —  (the  sound,  some 
where  back,  of  a  horse's  hoofs  clattering  with  speed) 
• —  the  people  burst  through  chairs  and  railing,  and 
break  them  up  —  that  noise  adds  to  the  queerness  of 
the  scene  —  there  is  inextricable  confusion  and  terror 
—  women  faint  —  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. 
Amidst  all  this,  a  party  of  soldiers,  two  hundred  or 
more,  hearing  what   is   done,   suddenly   appear;    they 
storm  the  house,  inflamed  with  fury,  literally  charging 
the  audience  with  fixed  bayonets,  muskets,  and  pistols,
590     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
shouting,  '  Clear  out !  clear  out !  '  .  .  .  And  in  the 
midst  of  that  pandemonium  of  senseless  haste  —  the  in 
furiated  soldiers,  the  audience,  the  stage,  its  actors 
and  actresses,  its  paints  and  spangles  and  gaslights,  — 
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." 
It  appears  that  Booth,  the  assassin,  had  long  been 
plotting  the  murder  of  the  President,  and  was  await 
ing  a  favorable  moment  for  its  execution.  He  had 
visited  the  theatre  at  half-past  eleven  on  the  morning 
of  the  14th,  and  learned  that  a  box  had  been  taken 
for  the  President  that  evening.  He  engaged  a  fleet 
horse  for  a  saddle-ride  in  the  afternoon,  and  left  it  at 
a  convenient  place.  In  the  evening  he  rode  to  the 
theatre,  and,  leaving  the  animal  in  charge  of  an  ac 
complice,  entered  the  house.  Making  his  way  to  the 
door  of  the  President's  box,  and  taking  a  small  Der 
ringer  pistol  in  one  hand  and  a  double-edged  dagger 
in  the  other,  he  thrust  his  arm  into  the  entrance,  where 
the  President,  sitting  in  an  arm-chair,  presented  to  his 
view  the  back  and  side  of  his  head.  A  flash,  a  sharp 
report,  a  puff  of  smoke,  and  the  fatal  bullet  had  en 
tered  the  President's  brain. 
Major  Rathbone,  who  occupied  a  seat  in  the  Presi 
dent's  box,  testifies  that  he  was  sitting  with  his  back 
toward  the  door,  when  he  heard  the  discharge  of  a 
pistol  behind  him,  and  looking  around  saw  through  the 
smoke  a  man  between  the  door  and  the  President. 
Major  Rathbone  instantly  sprang  toward  him  and 
seized  him ;  the  man  wrested  himself  from  his  grasp, 
and  made  a  violent  thrust  at  the  Major's  breast  with 
a  large  knife.  The  Major  parried  the  blow  by  striking 
it  up,  and  received  a  wound  in  his  left  arm.  The  man 
rushed  to  the  front  of  the  box,  and  the  Major  en 
deavored  to  seize  him  again,  but  only  caught  his  clothes
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     591 
as  he  was  leaping  over  the  railing  of  the  box.  Major 
Rathbone  then  turned  to  the  President.  His  position 
was  not  changed;  his  head  was  slightly  bent  forward, 
and  his  eyes  were  closed. 
As  soon  as  the  surgeons  who  had  been  summoned 
completed  their  hasty  examination,  the  unconscious 
form  of  the  President  was  borne  from  the  theatre  to 
a  house  across  the  street,  and  laid  upon  his  death-bed. 
Around  him  were  gathered  Surgeon-General  Barnes, 
Vice-President  Johnson,  Senator  Sumner,  Secretaries 
Stanton  and  Welles,  Generals  Halleck  and  Meigs, 
Attorney-General  Speed,  Postmaster-General  Denni- 
son,  Mr.  McCulloch,  Speaker  Colfax,  and  other  inti 
mate  friends  who  had  been  hastily  summoned.  Mrs. 
Lincoln  sat  in  an  adjoining  room,  prostrate  and  over 
whelmed,  with  her  son  Robert.  The  examination  of 
the  surgeons  had  left  no  room  for  hope.  The  watchers 
remained  through  the  night  by  the  bedside  of  the 
stricken  man,  who  showed  no  signs  of  consciousness ; 
and  a  little  after  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning —  Satur 
day  the  15th  of  April  —  he  breathed  his  last. 
A  vivid  account  of  the  death-bed  scene,  together  with 
particulars  of  the  attacks  upon  Secretary  Seward  and 
his  son  Frederick  a  half-hour  later  than  the  attack 
upon  the  President,  is  furnished  in  the  contemporane 
ous  record  of  Secretary  Welles,  a  singularly  cool  ob 
server  and  clear  narrator.  "  I  had  retired  to  bed  about 
half-past  ten  on  the  evening  of  the  14th  of  April," 
writes  Mr.  Welles,  "  and  was  just  getting  asleep  when 
Mrs.  Welles,  my  wife,  said  some  one  was  at  our 
door.  ...  I  arose  at  once  and  raised  a  window,  when 
my  messenger,  James  Smith,  called  to  me  that  Mr. 
Lincoln,  the  President,  had  been  shot;  and  said  Secre 
tary  Seward  and  his  son,  Assistant  Secretary  Frederick 
Seward,  were  assassinated.  ...  I  immediately  dressed 
myself,  and,  against  the  earnest  remonstrance  and  ap-
592     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
peals  of  my  wife,  went  directly  to  Mr.  Seward's,  whose 
residence  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  square,  mine  being 
on  the  north.  .  .  .  Entering  the  house,  I  found  the 
lower  hall  and  office  full  of  persons,  and  among  them 
most  of  the  foreign  legations,  all  anxiously  inquiring 
what  truth  there  was  in  the  horrible  rumors  afloat.  .  .  . 
At  the  head  of  the  first  stairs  I  met  the  elder  Mrs. 
Seward,  who  was  scarcely  able  to  speak,  but  desired  me 
to  proceed  up  to  Mr.  Seward's  room.  ...  As  I  entered, 
I  met  Miss  Fanny  Seward,  with  whom  I  exchanged  a 
single  word,  and  proceeded  to  the  foot  of  the  bed. 
Dr.  Verdi,  and,  I  think,  two  others,  were  there.  The 
bed  was  saturated  with  blood.  The  Secretary  was 
lying  on  his  back,  the  upper  part  of  his  head  covered 
by  a  cloth,  which  extended  down  over  his  eyes.  His 
mouth  was  open,  the  lower  jaw  dropping  down.  I 
exchanged  a  few  whispered  words  with  Dr.  Verdi. 
Secretary  Stanton,  who  came  after  but  almost  simul 
taneously  with  me,  made  inquiries  in  a  louder  tone  till 
admonished  by  a  word  from  one  of  the  physicians.  We 
almost  immediately  withdrew  and  went  into  the  ad 
joining  front  room,  where  lay  Frederick  Seward.  His 
eyes  were  open,  but  he  did  not  move  them,  nor  a  limb, 
nor  did  he  speak.  Doctor  White,  who  was  in  attend 
ance,  told  me  he  was  unconscious  and  more  danger 
ously  injured  than  his  father.  .  .  .  As  we  descended 
the  stairs,  I  asked  Stanton  what  he  had  heard  in  re 
gard  to  the  President  that  was  reliable.  He  said  the 
President  was  shot  at  Ford's  Theatre,  that  he  had  seen 
a  man  who  was  present  and  witnessed  the  occurrence. 
I  said  I  would  go  immediately  to  the  White  House. 
Stanton  told  me  the  President  was  not  there  but  was 
at  the  theatre.  '  Then,'  said  I,  '  let  us  go  immediately 
there.'  .  .  .  The  President  had  been  carried  across  the 
street  from  the  theatre,  to  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Peterson. 
We  entered  by  ascending  a  flight  of  steps  above  the
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     593 
basement  and  passing  through  a  long  hall  to  the  rear, 
where  the  President  lay  extended  on  a  bed,  breathing 
heavily.  Several  surgeons  were  present,  at  least  six, 
I  should  think  more.  Among  them  I  was  glad  to  ob 
serve  Dr.  Hall,  who,  however,  soon  left.  I  inquired 
of  Dr.  H.,  as  I  entered,  the  true  condition  of  the  Presi 
dent.  He  replied  the  President  was  dead  to  all  in 
tents,  although  he  might  live  three  hours  or  perhaps 
longer.  .  .  .  The  giant  sufferer  lay  extended  diago 
nally  across  the  bed,  which  was  not  long  enough  for 
him.  He  had  been  stripped  of  his  clothes.  His  large 
arms,  which  were  occasionally  exposed,  were  of  a  size 
which  one  would  scarce  have  expected  from  his  spare 
appearance.  His  slow,  full  respiration  lifted  the 
clothes  with  each  breath  that  he  took.  His  features 
were  calm  and  striking.  I  had  never  seen  them  appear 
to  better  advantage  than  for  the  first  hour,  perhaps, 
that  I  was  there.  After  that,  his  right  eye  began  to 
swell  and  that  part  of  his  face  became  discolored.  .  .  . 
Senator  Sumner  was  there,  I  think,  when  I  entered. 
If  not,  he  came  in  soon  after,  as  did  Speaker  Colfax, 
Mr.  Secretary  McCulloch,  and  the  other  members  of 
the  Cabinet,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Seward.  A 
double  guard  was  stationed  at  the  door  and  on  the 
sidewalk,  to  repress  the  crowd,  which  was  of  course 
highly  excited  and  anxious.  The  room  was  small  and 
overcrowded.  The  surgeons  and  members  of  the  Cabi 
net  were  as  many  as  should  have  been  in  the  room, 
but  there  were  many  more,  and  the  hall  and  other 
rooms  in  the  front  or  main  house  were  full.  One  of 
these  rooms  was  occupied  by  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her  at 
tendants,  with  Miss  Harris.  Mrs,  Dixon  and  Mrs. 
Kinney  came  to  her  about  twelve  o'clock.  About  once 
an  hour  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  repair  to  the  bedside  of 
her  dying  husband  and  with  lamentations  and  tears 
remain  until  overcome  by  emotion.  ...  A  door  which
594     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
opened  upon  a  porch  or  gallery,  and  also  the  windows, 
were  kept  open  for  fresh  air.  The  night  was  dark, 
cloudy,  and  damp,  and  about  six  it  began  to  rain.  I 
remained  in  the  room  until  then  without  sitting  or 
leaving  it,  when,  there  being  a  vacant  chair  which  some 
one  left  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  I  occupied  it  for  nearly 
two  hours,  listening  to  the  heavy  groans,  and  witness 
ing  the  wasting  life  of  the  good  and  great  man  who 
was  expiring  before  me.  ...  A  little  before  seven  in 
the  morning  I  re-entered  the  room  where  the  dying 
President  was  rapidly  drawing  near  the  closing  mo 
ments.  His  wife  soon  after  made  her  last  visit  to 
him.  The  death-struggle  had  begun.  Robert,  his  son, 
stood  with  several  others  at  the  head  of  the  bed.  The 
respiration  of  the  President  became  suspended  at  in 
tervals,  and  at  last  entirely  ceased  at  twenty-two 
minutes  past  seven  o'clock." 
The  news  of  the  President's  assassination  flashed 
rapidly  over  the  country,  everywhere  causing  the  great 
est  consternation  and  grief.  The  revulsion  from  the 
joy  which  had  filled  all  loyal  hearts  at  the  prospects 
of  peace  was  sudden  and  profound.  All  business  ceased, 
and  gave  way  to  mourning  and  lamentation.  The  flags, 
so  lately  unfurled  in  exultation,  were  now  dropped  at 
half-mast,  and  emblems  of  sorrow  were  hung  from 
every  door  and  window.  Men  walked  with  a  dejected 
air.  They  gathered  together  in  groups  in  the  street, 
and  spoke  of  the  murder  of  the  President  as  of  a 
personal  calamity.  The  nation's  heart  was  smitten 
sorely,  and  signs  of  woe  were  in  every  face  and 
movement. 
A  scene  which  transpired  in  Philadelphia,  the  morn 
ing  after  the  murder,  reflects  the  picture  presented  in 
every  city  and  town  in  the  United  States.  "  We  had 
taken  our  seats,"  says  the  delineator,  "  in  the  early 
car  to  ride  down  town,  men  and  boys  going  to  work.
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     595 
The  morning  papers  had  come  up  from  town  as  usual, 
and  the  men  unrolled  them  to  read  as  the  car  started. 
The  eye  fell  on  the  black  border  and  ominous  column- 
lines.  Before  we  could  speak,  a  good  Quaker  at  the 
head  of  the  car  broke  out  in  horror :  *  My  God ! 
What's  this?  Lincoln  is  assassinated.'  The  driver 
stopped  the  car,  and  came  in  to  hear  the  awful  tidings. 
There  stood  the  car,  mid-street,  as  the  heavy  news  was 
read  in  the  gray  dawn  of  that  ill-fated  day.  Men 
bowed  their  faces  in  their  hands,  and  on  the  straw- 
covered  floor  hot  tears  fell  fast.  Silently  the  driver 
took  the  bells  from  his  horses,  and  we  started  like  a 
hearse  cityward.  What  a  changed  city  since  the  day 
before!  Then  all  was  joy  over  the  end  of  the  war; 
now  we  were  plunged  in  a  deeper  gulf  of  woe.  The 
sun  rose  on  a  city  smitten  and  weeping.  All  traffic 
stood  still;  the  icy  hand  of  death  lay  flat  on  the  heart 
of  commerce,  and  it  gave  not  a  throb.  Men  stood  by 
their  open  stores  saying,  with  hands  on  each  other's 
shoulders,  '  Our  President  is  dead.'  Over  and  over,  in 
a  dazed  way,  they  said  the  fateful  syllables,  as  if  the 
bullet  that  tore  through  the  weary  brain  at  Washing 
ton  had  palsied  the  nation.  The  mute  news-boy  on  the 
corner  said  never  a  word  as  he  handed  to  the  speech 
less  buyers  the  damp  sheets  from  the  press ;  only  he 
brushed,  with  mrwashed  hand,  the  tears  from  his  dirty 
cheeks.  Groups  stood  listening  on  the  pavement  with 
faces  to  the  earth,  while  one,  in  choking  voice,  read 
the  telegrams ;  then  with  a  look  they  departed  in  un- 
worded  woe,  each  cursing  bitterly  in  his  breast  the 
'  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off.'  Mill  operatives, 
clerks,  workers,  school  children,  all  came  home,  the 
faltering  voice  of  the  teacher  telling  the  wondering 
children  to  '  go  home,  there  will  be  no  school  to-day.' 
The  housewife  looked  up  amazed  to  see  husband  and 
children  coming  home  so  soon.  The  father's  face
596     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
frightened  her  and  she  cried,  '  What  is  wrong,  hus 
band?  '  He  could  not  speak  the  news,  but  the  wee 
girl  with  the  school-books  said,  '  Mamma,  they  've  killed 
the  President.'  Ere  noon  every  house  wore  crape; 
it  was  as  if  there  lay  a  dead  son  in  every  home.  For 
hours  a  sad  group  hung  around  the  bulletins,  hoping 
against  hope;  then,  when  the  last  hope  died,  turned 
sullenly  homeward,  saying,  '  When  all  was  won,  and 
all  was  done,  then  to  strike  him  down ! '  The  flags 
in  the  harbor  fell  to  half-mast;  the  streets  were  rivers 
of  inky  streamers;  from  door-knobs  floated  crape; 
and  even  the  unbelled  car-horses  seemed  to  draw  the 
black-robed  cars  more  quietly  than  before." 
On  Saturday  the  remains  were  borne  to  the  White 
House,  where  they  were  embalmed  and  placed  on  a 
grand  catafalque  in  the  East  Room.  Little  "  Tad  " 
was  overcome  with  grief.  All  day  Saturday  he  was 
inconsolable,  but  on  Sunday  morning  the  sun  rose 
bright  and  beautiful  and  into  his  childish  heart  came 
the  thought  that  all  was  well  with  his  father.  He  said 
to  a  gentleman  who  called  upon  Mrs.  Lincoln,  "  Do 
you  think,  sir,  that  my  father  has  gone  to  heaven?" 
"  I  have  not  a  doubt  of  it,"  was  the  reply.  "  Then," 
said  the  little  fellow  in  broken  voice,  "  I  am  glad  he 
has  gone  there,  for  he  was  never  happy  after  he  came 
here.  This  was  not  a  good  place  for  him !  "  Tuesday 
the  White  House  was  thrown  open  to  admit  friends  who 
desired  to  look  upon  the  still  form  as  it  lay  in  death. 
Wednesday,  the  19th,  the  funeral  services  took  place. 
Mrs.  Lincoln  was  too  ill  to  be  present ;  but  her  two 
sons  sat  near  the  coffin  in  the  East  Room.  Next  in 
order  were  ranged  Andrew  Johnson  (now  President) 
and  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  and  after  them  the 
foreign  representatives,  the  chief  men  of  the  nation, 
and  a  large  body  of  mourning  citizens.  The  services 
were  conducted  jointly  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hall,  Bishop
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     597 
Simpson,  Dr.  Gray,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  the 
latter  delivering  the  discourse.  At  two  o'clock  the 
funeral  cortege  started  for  the  Capitol,  where  the  re 
mains  were  to  lie  in  state  until  the  following  morning. 
The  procession  was  long  and  imposing.  "  There  were 
no  truer  mourners,"  says  Secretary  Welles,  "  than  the 
poor  colored  people  who  crowded  the  streets,  joined 
the  procession,  and  exhibited  their  woe,  bewailing  the 
loss  of  him  whom  they  regarded  as  a  benefactor  and 
father.  Women  as  well  as  men,  with  their  little  chil 
dren,  thronged  the  streets,  sorrow  and  trouble  and 
distress  depicted  on  their  countenances  and  in  their 
bearing.  The  vacant  holiday  expression  had  given  way 
to  real  grief."  The  body  was  borne  into  the  rotunda, 
amidst  funeral  dirges  and  military  salutes;  and  the 
religious  exercises  of  the  occasion  were  concluded.  A 
guard  was  stationed  near  the  coffin,  and  the  public 
were  again  admitted  to  take  their  farewell  of  the  dead. 
While  these  obsequies  were  being  performed  at 
Washington,  similar  ceremonies  were  observed  in  every 
part  of  the  country.  It  had  been  decided  to  convey 
the  remains  of  Lincoln  to  the  home  which  he  left 
four  years  before  with  such  solemn  and  affectionate 
words  of  parting.  The  funeral  train  left  Washington 
on  the  21st.  Its  passage  through  the  principal  East 
ern  States  and  cities  of  the  Union  was  a  most  mournful 
and  impressive  spectacle.  The  heavily  craped  train, 
its  sombre  engine  swathed  in  black,  moved  through 
the  land  like  an  eclipse.  At  every  point  vast  crowds 
assembled  to  gain  a  tearful  glimpse  as  it  sped  past. 
Over  the  breast  of  the  spring,  the  land,  amid  cities, 
Amid  lanes  and  through  old  woods,  where  lately  the 
violets   peep'd   from   the   ground,   spotting  the 
gray  debris, 
Amid  the  grass  in  the  fields  each  side  of  the  lanes, 
passing  the  endless  grass,
598     EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN 
Passing  the  yellow-spear'd  wheat,  every  grain  from 
its  shroud  in  the  dark-brown  fields  uprisen, 
Passing  the  apple-tree  blows  of  white  and  pink  in  the 
orchards, 
Carrying  a  corpse  to  where  it  shall  rest  in  the  grave, 
Night  and  day  journeys  a  coffin. 
Coffin  that  passes  through  lanes  and  streets, 
Through  day  and  night  with  the  great  cloud  darken 
ing  the  land, 
With  the  pomp  of  the  inloop'd  flags,  with  the  cities 
draped  in  black, 
With  the  show  of  the  States  themselves  as  of  crape- 
veil'd  women  standing, 
With  processions  long  and  winding  and  the  flambeaus 
of  the  night, 
With  the  countless  torches  lit,  with  the  silent  sea  of 
faces  and  the  unbared  heads, 
With  the  waiting  depot,  the  arriving  coffin,  and  the 
sombre  faces, 
With  dirges  through  the  night,  with  the  thousand 
voices  rising  strong  and  solemn, 
With  all  the  mournful  voices  of  the  dirges  pour'd 
around  the  coffin, 
The  dim-lit  churches  and  the  shuddering  organs  — 
With  the  tolling,  tolling  bells'  perpetual  clang. 
At  the  principal  cities  delays  were  made  to  enable 
the  people  to  pay  their  tribute  of  respect  to  the  re 
mains  of  their  beloved  President.  Through  Baltimore, 
Harrisburg,  Philadelphia,  the  train  passed  to  New 
York  City,  where  a  magnificent  funeral  was  held ; 
thence  along  the  shore  of  the  Hudson  river  to  Albany, 
thence  westward  through  the  principal  cities  of  New 
York,  Ohio,  and  Northern  Indiana,  the  cortege  wended 
its  solemn  way,  reaching,  on  the  1st  of  May,  the  city 
of  Chicago.  Here  very  extensive  preparations  for 
funeral  obsequies  had  been  made  by  the  thousands  who
EVERY-DAY    LIFE    OF    LINCOLN     599 
had  known  him  in  his  life,  and  other  thousands  who 
had  learned  to  love  him  and  now  mourned  his  death. 
On  the  3d  of  May  the  funeral  train  reached  Spring 
field,  where  old  friends  and  neighbors  tenderly  re 
ceived  the  dust  of  their  beloved  dead.  Funeral  services 
were  held,  and  for  twenty-four  hours  the  catafalque 
remained  in  the  hall  of  the  House,  where  thousands  of 
tear-dimmed  eyes  gazed  for  the  last  time  upon  the 
familiar  face.  Then,  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of 
May,  a  sorrowing  procession  escorted  the  remains  to 
the  beautiful  grounds  of  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  to  rest 
at  last  from  the  care  and  tumult  of  a  troubled  life. 
To  this  hallowed  spot  have  come  the  gray-haired  sol 
diers  of  that  stormy  war,  reverently  to  salute  their 
great  commander's  tomb.  Here  shall  long  be  paid  the 
loving  homage  of  the  dusky  race  that  he  redeemed. 
And  pilgrims  from  every  land,  who  value  human  worth 
and  human  liberty,  bring  here  their  tributes  of  respect. 
And  here,  while  the  Government  that  he  saved  endures, 
shall  throng  his  patriot  countrymen,  not  idly  to  lament 
his  loss,  but  to  resolve  that  -from  this  honored  dead 
they  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which 
he  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  the 
dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain;  that  the  nation,  under 
God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom;  and  that 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 
shall  not  perish  from  the  earth.
INDEX 
[The  abbreviation  "L."  as  used  in  this  index,  refers  in  every  case  to  the  subject  of 
this  biography.] 
Abolitionists,  Bloomington  convention, 
165-169;  crusade  against  slavery,  244- 
245;  "Boston  set"  visits  L.,  482-484 
Adams,  Charles  Francis,  343 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  100,  549 
Agassiz,  Louis,  visits  L.,  475-476 
Alabama,  secedes,  261 
Allen,  Robert,  L's  letter  to,  59 
Ames,  Dr.,  232 
Ames,  Oakes,  482 
Anderson,  Robert,  meetings  with  L.,  39- 
40;  holds  Fort  Sumter,  262 
Andrew,  John  A.,  mentioned,  234,  342,  466; 
impression  of  L.,  235 
Anecdotes  of  L.,  Aaron's  commission  from 
the  Lord,  477;  Abolitionist  call  for  a  con 
vention,  165-166;  About  his  wealth,  216; 
Actor  who  wanted  consulship,  470;  An 
derson  and  L's  good  memory,  39-40; 
Anxiety  during  summer  of  1864,  542- 
546;  Artemus  Ward,  reading  of,  332- 
333;  Attorney  for  the  people,  459;  Au 
thenticity  of,  32;  Baker  rescued  from 
opponents,  91;  "Biggest  shuck  and 
smallest  nubbin,"  556;  Birds  restored  to 
nest,  76;  Black  Hawk  War,  37,  38,  40; 
Bob  Lewis  and  the  Mormon  lands,  334- 
335;  Booth's  acting,  469;  Bores,  getting 
rid  of,  460;  Breach  of  promise  suit,  81- 
82;  Bread  and  butter  dinner,  255; 
Bullet-hole  through  L's  hat,  541-542; 
Burnside's  brigadiers,  promoted,  385; 
Butterfield's  son,  appointment,  107; 
"Cabinet  a-sittin',"  330;  Call  for  addi 
tional  troops  "not  a  personal  question," 
537;  Cashiered  officer,  censured,  477- 
478;  Challenge  to  work  in  field  for  votes, 
48;  "Charles  I.  lost  his  head,"  556; 
Chase's  appointment  as  chief-justice, 
550-551;  Client's  fee  divided  with  de 
fendant,  128-129;  Cogdal  note  returned 
byL.,  136;  Confederate  soldiers  greeting 
at  Petersburg,  567-568;  Congress,  first 
speech  in,  101 ;  Credits  of  troops,  Stanton 
overmatched,  376;  Coward,  "If  any 
man  calls  me  coward  let  him  test  it,"  38; 
Darkey  arithmetic,  357-358;  Dennis 
Hanks'  recollections,  6-9;  Douglas  re 
proved,  203;  Dreams  significant,  583- 
584;  DuPont's  slowness,  457-458; 
Earning  the  first  dollar,  17-18;  Editor 
who  nominated  L.,  460-461;  Election 
clerk,  first  official  act,  32;  Five  Points 
Sunday  School  visit,  225-226;  Forced 
serenity  deceptive,  542;  Free-soil  party, 
prediction,  172-174;  Gavel  of  Confeder 
ate  congress,  586-587;  Gettysburg  bat 
tle,  L's  anxiety  during,  499-500;  "  Give 
and  take"  rule  for  office-seekers,  295- 
296;  Government  on  a  tight  rope,  484; 
Grant  accused  of  drunkenness,  524; 
Grant  invited  to  dinner,  520-521 ;  Grant's 
ability  to  manage  the  army,  526-527; 
Grant's  political  aspirations,  523; 
Greeley's  criticism,  429;  Gunboat  advice 
to  New  Yorkers,  338;  Herndon's  con 
victions  on  slavery,  166-167;  Hooker's 
appointment,  487-488;  Hooker's  self- 
confidence,  491-492;  Horsemanship 
tested  by  McClellan,  415-416;  Horses 
captured  by  guerillas,  399;  Horse- 
trading,  140;  Ignorance  of  Latin  ad 
mitted,  468-469;  Impromptu  speeches 
written,  471;  Inaugural  message,  loss  of, 
283;  Indian  protected  by  L.,  37;  Jack- 
knife  given  him  because  of  ugliness,  83; 
Jacob  Thompson,  proposed  arrest,  585- 
586;  Jefferson  Davis  and  the  trouble 
some  coon  story,  580;  Johnnie  Konga- 
pod,  81;  Joseph  Jefferson  and  his  players, 
79;  Kerr's  papers  enjoyed,  334;  Kind 
ness  to  birds,  76;  Kindness  to  old  colored 
woman,  128;  Kindness  to  old  John 
Burns,  515;  Last  drive  with  wife,  584- 
585;  Law  cases  refused  on  moral  grounds, 
137-138;  Lawsuits,  gaining  advantage 
in,  80-82;  Lee,  attitude  of  L.  toward, 
582;  Lightning  rod  and  Forquer,  56-57; 
Logan  and  his  shirt,  139-140;  "Long 
sword  in  a  short  scabbard,"  566-567; 
Loyalty  to  old  friends,  Hubbard,  458- 
459;  McClellan's  body-guard,  417-418; 
McClellan's  fatigued  horses,  416;  Mc 
Clellan's  pass  to  Richmond,  454;  McCor-
604 
INDEX 
mick  reaper  case,  173-175;  McCullough 
thanked  by  L.,  489-470;  Major-generals 
and  hard  tack,  400;  Manners,  first  lesson, 
13;  Measuring  backs  with  Sumner,  336; 
Measuring  height  with  Ab  McElrath, 
274-275;  Measuring  height  with  a 
Southerner,  247;  Measuring  height  with 
a  young  "Sucker,"  254;  Meeting  with 
Smoot,  29-30;  Mrs.  White,  southern 
sympathizer,  453;  "Monarch  of  all  you 
survey,"  47;  Name  refused  for  commer 
cial  use,  452;  Negroes  at  White  House 
reception,  552-553;  Negroes  welcome 
their  "Great  Messiah,"  569-571;  Noisy 
and  boastful  fighter,  189;  Office-seeker 
from  Wisconsin  repulsed,  353;  Office- 
seeker,  unfit,  307;  Old  sign, "  Lincoln  and 
Herndon,"  264-265;  Old  woman  and  the 
bread  and  milk,  255;  One-legged  soldier, 
lack  of  credentials,  451-452;  Oratorical 
success  discussed  with  Gulliver,  222-223; 
Pardon  for  deserters,  397;  Pardon  for 
young  soldier,  396-397;  Pardoning 
prisoners  of  war,  578-580;  Pass  given 
Laura  Jones,  Southerner,  453;  Pay 
master,  appointment,  377-378;  Phila 
delphia  receives  news  of  L's  death,  594- 
596;  Pig  rescued  from  a  pit,  76-77; 
Pigeon  holes  versus  letter  files,  474; 
Powder  sample,  testing,  383-384;  Quaker 
demand  for  emancipation,  425-427; 
Quakers  sent  home,  398;  Rail  making, 
230-231 ;  Reading  Nasby  during  election 
returns,  548;  Rebel  mail  examined,  354- 
355;  Rebels  number  twelve  hundred 
thousand,  454;  Revolutionary  War  de 
fended,  77-78;  Sandwich  Islands, 
commissioner,  applicants,  339;  School 
of  events,  suggestion,  475;  Scott's  re 
quest  concerning  wife's  body,  408-410; 
Scott  "unable  as  a  politician,"  337; 
Sherman  and  the  officer,  328-329; 
Sherman  after  Bull  Run,  327-329; 
Sherman's  visit  from  Louisiana,  299; 
Sitting  for  life-mask,  237-243;  Skunks, 
shooting,  373-374;  Slave  girl  sold,  147; 
Slavery  speech  criticised  by  Long,  181- 
182;  Soldiers' humor,  399,  400;  "Some 
thing  everybody  can  take,"  460;  South 
Carolina  lady's  visit,  297-298;  Stanton 
calls  L.  a  d— d  fool,  378;  "Stoning 
Stephen,"  204;  Storekeeper  in  New 
Salem,  43;  Strength,  physical,  92-93; 
Stump  speech,  first  appearance,  41;  Sun 
doesn't  set,  20;  Swapping  horses  mid 
stream,  535;  Sykes's  yellow dog,525-526; 
Tad  and  the  scattered  pages  of  L's 
speech,  575-576;  Tad's  grief  over  death 
of  father,  596;  "  Taking  the  wind  out  of 
his  sails,"  88;  Talking  against  time,  80; 
Taylor's  fine  clothes,  57-58;  Thrashing 
a  bully,  28-29;  "To  whom  it  may  con 
cern,"  539;  Trousers  requested  by  office- 
seeker,  569;  Trust  in  God,  351-352; 
Use  of  old-fashioned  words,  139;  Used 
on  adversaries,  86;  Verses  written  from 
memory,  356;  Vicksburg,  joy  of  L.,  501; 
Wade's  effort  to  remove  Grant,  503; 
Weem's  life  of  Washington,  15;  Whigs 
all  dead,  157;  Wood-craft  knowledge, 
474-475;  Wrestling  match  with  Jack 
Armstrong,  28 
Antietam,  battle  of,  414,  437;  L's  dream, 
583 
Appomattox,  Lee's  surrender  at,  573 
Armstrong,  Hannah,  133-135 
Armstrong,  Hugh,  30 
Armstrong,  Jack,  trial  of  strength,  28; 
early  friend,  133 
Armstrong,  John,  quoted,  178 
Armstrong,  William  D.,  defended  by  L., 
133-135 
Arnold,  Isaac  N.,  quoted,  3,  14,  19,  31,  56, 
59,  72,  150,  153S  185,  190,  205,  232,  244, 
297-298,  299-301,  332-333,  422-423, 
466-467,  468,  545,  584-585;  interview 
with  L.,  422-423;  mentioned,  237 
Arnold,  Matthew,  quoted,  546 
Ashley,  Hon.  James  M.,  constitutional 
amendment  introduced  by,  554 
Ashmore,  Congressman,  of  South  Carolina, 
quoted,  431 
Ashmun,  George,  mentioned,  241-243,  586 
Austin,  G.  L.,  quoted,  136 
Baker,  Edward  D.,  mentioned,  74,  186; 
refuses  to  defend  slaves,  77;  Whig  de 
bater,  89;  personal  and  political  friend 
of  L.,  91;  elected  congressman,  97;  killed 
at  Balls'  Bluff,  131;  magnanimity  of  L. 
towards,  159;  introduced  L.  at  inaugura 
tion,  284 
Balch,  George  B.,  quoted,  21-23 
Baltimore,  republican  convention  at,  1864, 
534 
Bancroft,  George,  contrasted  with  L.,  217; 
quoted,  578 
Banks,  Nathaniel  P.,  501 
Barnes,  Surgeon-General,  591 
Barrett,  J.  H.,  quoted,  23-£4,  26 
Bateman,  Newton,  quoted,  202-203,  245- 
247 
Bates,  Edward,  candidate  for  president, 
231;  made  attorney  general,  293,  294; 
characterized,  366;  visits  army  with  L., 
490;  resignation,  552 
Beckwith,  H.  W.,  81 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  abolition  sermons 
read  by  L.,  166;  invites  L.  to  speak  in 
his  church,  214;  eloquent  abolitionist, 
245 
Bell,  John,  nominated  for  president,  251
INDEX 
605 
Bennett,  John,  impressions  of  L.,  67-68 
Bible,  L's  knowledge  of,   118;    L.  quotes 
from,  473;  L's  opinion  of,  478 
Bigelow,  John,  quoted,  303-304,  345,  359- 
361,  363-364,  513,  514,  546-547 
Bird,  Francis,  W.,  482 
Birney,  Zachariah,  L's  school-master,  11 
Bissell,  William  H.,  mentioned,  74-209 
Bixby,  Mrs.,  397-398 
Black  Hawk  War,  L's  military  experience 
in,  35-40 
Blaine,  James  G.,  compares  Lincoln  and 
Douglas,  183-185 
Blair,  F.  P.,  attacks  Chase,  533;    repre 
hended  by  L.,  534 
Blair,     Montgomery,     made     postmaster 
general,  293-294;   arming  of  negroes  de 
precated  by,  436;    residence  fired,  536; 
resignation,  551 
Bloomington  Convention,  165-169 
Bonham,  Jeriah,  quoted,  180,  197,  203 
Boone,  Daniel,  2 
Booneville,  Ind.,  L.  attends  court,  9,  19 
Booth,  Edwin,  L's  enjoyment  of  his  acting, 
469 
Booth,  John  Wilkes,  assassination  of  L., 
588-590 
Boston   delegation,    conference    with    L., 
482 
Boutwell,  George  S.,  quoted,  437 
Bowles,  Samuel,  quoted,  206 
Brainard  and  Knott,  quoted,  220 
Breckenridge,  John  A.,  early  influence  on 
L.,  9,  19 
Breckenridge,    John    C.,    nominated    for 
president,  250 
Breese,  Sidney,  dignity,  84;  quoted,  141 
Brewster,  Father,  204 
Bright,  John,  357 
Brooklyn,  L's  lecture  trip,  214-215 
Brooks,   Senator,   knocks    down   Sumner, 
245;  quoted,  192 
Brooks,  Noah  P.,  470;    quoted,  171-173, 
462-463,  466-467,  471,  474,  490,  491- 
492,  493,  543,  546;    describes  L's  last 
speech,  575-576 
Brooks,  Phillips,  quoted,  478-479 
Bross,  John  A.,  538 
Bross,  William,  first  meeting  with  L.,  170; 
interview  with  L.,  265,  538-539 
Brough,  John,  victorious  governor  of  Ohio, 
510;    effort  to  reconcile  L.  and  Chase, 
549 
Brown,  John,  485 
Browne,     Francis     Fisher,     biographical 
sketch,  v-vii 
Browning,    O.    H.,    mentioned,    74-186; 
Whig    debater,    89;     inaugural    party, 
member  of,  266,  275 
Browning    Robert,   L's   fondness   for   his 
poetry,  387 
Bryan,  Thomas  B.,  purchases  MS.  of 
emancipation  proclamation,  445 
Bryan,  William  J.,  on  L.  as  an  orator,  473 
Bryant,  William  Cullen,  presided  over 
Cooper  Institute  meeting,  217;  aboli 
tionist,  245;  favored  L.  for  presidency, 
247-248 
Buchanan,  James,  mentioned,  294,  295; 
treachery  during  his  administration,  261— 
262;  escorts  L.  to  Capitol,  284-286; 
characterized,  291;  escorts  L.  to  White 
House,  292 
Bull  Run,  battle  of,  depression  after,  326- 
437;  L's  dream,  583,  second  battle,  411 
Bulwer-Lytton,  mentioned,  469 
Burns,  John,  515 
Burns,  Robert,  L's  fondness  for  his  poetry, 
466 
Burnside,  Ambrose  E.,  Fredericksburg 
repulse,  368,  487,  488;  victories  in  N.  C., 
385;  unpopularity,  404;  replaces  Mc- 
Clellan,  417;  L's  opinion  of,  487 
Bushnell,  C.  S.,  agent  for  Ericsson,  345, 
346 
Butler,  William,  L.  boards  with,  in  Spring 
field,  70 
Butterfield,  Daniel,  493 
Butterfield,  Justin,  mentioned,  74;  ap 
pointed  commissioner  of  land  office,  106; 
son  of,  desires  appointment,  107 
Byron,  Lord,  L's  fondness  for  his  poetry, 
132;  quoted,  350 
Cabinet,  L's  political  rivals  chosen,  256; 
L's  non-partisan  ideas,  256,  259;  make 
up  discussed  with  Weed,  257-259;  with 
'  Riddle,  275;  Banks  considered,  283; 
final  appointments  and  how  decided, 
293;  changes  during  administration, 
294;  meetings  enlivened  by  stories,  336; 
L's  relations  with,  363;  misconceptions 
of  rights  and  duties,  364;  unfriendly 
feeling  between  members,  365;  earliest 
meetings  informal,  365-366;  attitude 
toward  the  war,  366-367;  personal  dis 
sensions,  367-370;  Seward's  removal 
demanded,  368;  Chase  and  Seward  resig 
nations,  368-370;  Stanton  the  master 
mind,  370-371;  Cameron's  relations 
with  L.,  371-373;  Stanton  succeeds 
Cameron,  372-373;  Senators  advise 
reconstruction  of,  373-374;  Stanton's 
relations  with  L.,  374-379;  opposes  L's 
reinstatement  of  McClellan,  412-413; 
attitude  toward  emancipation,  432;  pre 
liminary  proclamation  discussed,  L's 
own  account,  436-438;  second  draft 
discussed,  437-439,  444;  disposal  of 
freedmen  discussed,  439-440;  Chase 
finally  disposed  of,  549-550;  Blair  suc 
ceeded  by  Dennison,  551;  Bates  resigns,
606 
INDEX 
552;  ignored  by  L.,  555;  last  meeting 
attended  by  L.,  580-581,  583-584 
Calhoun,  John  C.,  mentioned,  186;  ap 
points  L.  deputy  surveyor,  47;  demo 
cratic  debater,  89;  congressman,  100 
California,  L.'s  desire  to  live  in,  549 
Cameron,  Simon,  mentioned,  506;  con 
gressman,  100;  presidential  candidate, 
231;  cabinet  possibility,  275;  secretary 
of  war,  293,  294,  298;  retirement  from 
the  cabinet,  371-373;  advocates  arming 
the  blacks,  447 
Campbell,  Major,  rescues  fugitive  slaves, 
248 
Campbell,  John  A.,  Southern  peace  com 
missioner,  555 
Canada,  rebel  agents  in,  352-353 
Capital  and  labor.     See  Labor  and  capital 
Carpenter,  Francis  B.,  mentioned,  469; 
quoted,  234,  436-437,  461-465,  544,  573 
Cartwright,  Peter,  99 
Cass,  Lewis,  mentioned,  100;  ridiculed  by 
L.,  102-104 
Caton,  John  Dean,  first  meeting  with  L., 
60-61;  opinion  of  L.  as  lawyer,  141-142; 
fugitive  slave  decision,  248;  advice  on 
war  policy,  255-256 
Chancellorsville,  battle  of,  492-494,  496- 
497,  506 
Chandler,  Zack,  aids  L.  in  Schofield  matter, 
456;  quoted,  498-499;  lack  of  military 
judgment,  505 
Clianning,  William  Henry,  abolitionist, 
245;  conversation  with  L.  on  slavery, 
427-428 
Chapman,  Colonel,  quoted,  263-264 
Chapman,  Mrs.,  263;   quoted,  113 
Charleston,  L's  opinion  of  situation,  490- 
491 
Chase,  Salmon  P.,  mentioned,  185,  501, 
548;  opposes  Nebraska  bill,  153;  presi 
dential  candidate,  231-233,  532;  logic  of, 
245;  cabinet  possibility,  258-275,  371; 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  293,  294,  297; 
rivalry  with  Seward,  366-370;  upholds 
Stan  ton,  368;  resignation  and  with 
drawal,  369-370;  consulted  about  Stan- 
ton,  373;  opposes  negro  enlistment,  373; 
visits  Fortress  Monroe  with  L.,  386-392; 
opinion  of  emancipation  proclamation, 
436;  contribution  to  emancipation  proc 
lamation,  444;  rupture  with  Lincoln, 
532-534;  second  resignation  offered,  549; 
accepted,  550;  appointed  Chief  Justice, 
550-551;  quoted,  367 
Chattanooga,  Grant's  success,  516 
Chicago,  L.  visits  N.  B.  Judd,  117-118; 
national  republican  convention,  231-237; 
memorial  on  emancipation,  427;  North 
western  fair,  445;  funeral  services  for  L., 
Chicago  Historical  Society,  owned  emanci 
pation  proclamation  MS.,  445 
Cincinnati,  L's  first  visit,  173-176;  L's 
second  visit,  213;  visits  on  inaugural 
journey,  270-273 
City  Point,  visited  by  L.,  562-566 
Civil  War,  L's  peace  pleas  before  war, 
extract,  158,  270;  L.  foresees  coming 
struggle,  255-256;  L.  promises  to  pro 
mote  peace,  268;  workingmen  offer 
support  for  freedom,  271-273;  L's  re 
luctance  to  express  opinion,  272-273; 
L's  peace  plea  in  inaugural  speech,  287- 
291;  Washington  swarms  with  rebels, 
292;  desperate  condition  of  treasury, 
292;  secession  a  political  issue,  292-293; 
Stanton's  loyalty  to  Union,  295;  faith 
less  officials  in  departments,  295;  L's 
conquest  of  a  South  Carolinian,  297-298; 
Louisiana's  war  preparations,  299; 
Sumter  attack,  312;  call  for  volunteers, 
312-314;  Massachusetts  first  in  field, 
314;  Baltimore  attack,  315;  Douglas 
stands  by  government,  315-316;  Wash 
ington  thrills  over  Sumter,  316;  blockade 
of  Southern  ports,  proclamation,  316- 
318;  Key  West,  Tortugas,  and  Santa 
Rosa  proclamation,  318;  Virginia  asks 
expression  of  federal  policy,  318;  L  's 
reply,  319-320;  L's  hope  for  Union,  320; 
L's  desire  to  retain  Kentucky,  320-321; 
Kentucky  saved  to  Union,  321-322; 
special  session  of  Congress,  322;  L's 
appeal  for  funds  and  men,  323-325; 
preparations,  325-326;  review  of  N.  Y. 
troops,  326;  Bull  Run,  326;  L.  visits 
army  in  Virginia,  327-329;  L's  anxiety 
after  Bull  Run,  329-331;  Harper's 
Ferry,  333-334;  fleet  urged  to  draw 
rebels  from  Washington,  337;  L.  refuses 
gun-boat  to  New  Yorkers,  338;  Trent 
affair,  Mason  and  Slidell,  340-345; 
English  neutrality  established,  343;  Eng 
lish  controversies,  344-345;  Ericsson's 
"  Monitor,"  345-347;  Ross's  mission 
to  Canada,  352-355;  L's  reply  .on  num 
ber  of  losses,  357-358;  friction  concern 
ing  direction,  366-368;  negro  enlistment, 
recommended,  373;  Sabin's  appoint 
ment,  377-378;  inertia  of  proceedings, 
380-381;  L.  develops  military  sagacity, 
381-385;  brightening  prospects,  proc 
lamation,  385-386;  L.  visits  Fortress 
Monroe,  386-392;  Merrimac  and  Moni 
tor,  390-391;  Norfolk  captured,  391- 
392;  L's  letter  to  McClellan  on  over- 
cautiousness,  392-395;  L's  sympathy 
for  soldiers,  395-402;  visits  hospitals, 
400-401;  L's  letter  to  McClellan  con 
cerning  route  to  Richmond,  405-407; 
impatience  over  approach  to  Richmond,