National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-05-24
The Case Of Mrs. Lincoln.


We refer to this case with no purpose of
grieving the friends of the lady or of pander-
ing to curiosity, but simply TO explain that in
all the painful proceedings Mrs. Lincoln has
been treated in the kindest and gentlest man.
ner by her own persona! friends, and that from
the beginning to the end she maintained her
dignity and character as q lady. Fer several
wears after the assassination of her husband
Mrs. Lincoln was pursued by mental picture
Of the dreadful scene. She could not shake 1t
off. She courted solitude, denied herself to all
visitors and friends, and became a victim to
hysteria, accompanied by various apprehen-
sions, of which destitution, poverty, and alb
solute want were the more violent. A gentle
man of this city, one of the warmest personal
friends of her husband, succeeded in obtaining
an interview, and then free access to her at all
times. During period Of mort than year,
during which he visited her mainly at her
special request, she never failed to begin the
interview with a minute detail of the events
Of that fatal Friday on which her husband
was murdered. This same story was re-
peated at every interview, and almost in the
exact words each time. 1t had engrossed her
mind to the exclusion of all other things past
and present, except the gloomy apprehension
that she was reduced to want.
At last, he proposed that she leave the hotel
and buy house, furnish 1t, and receive friends,
and have some cares to divert her mind. She
atlast consented, and he states that during the
few months in which the house was purchased,
and she was engaged in purchasing it, and
thus had active employment, she was compar-
atiyely happy, and had shaken of the terror
and wretchedness which had previously af-
ficted her. But when this business was COM
pleted, when there was nothing more to be
done, her home again became a sort of prison.
and she relapsed into all the old gloom, de-
spOndency, and terror. Acting under these
combined influences she did many things which
were surprising, If not peinful, to her friends.
She had an aversion for companionship and ac-
quaintance; she closed all means OF social ap-
proach; she lived within the seclusion of her
rooms, suffering and enduring the ever present
horror of the one terrible event. At times she
would grow restless, and suddenly change her
residence; but wherever she went the relief
was temporary, the relapse inevitable. Under
this intense strain, her mind gradually became
unbalanced, and year after year she has re-
quired more and more the yigilant care OF her
friends.
Her condition and what was TO be done for
her have been long and carefully considered,
and her mental weakness and eccentricities
during the last few months became so alarm
ing that some preventive action became nsces-
sary. She had, among other things, become
possessed of the idea that Chicago was on fire,
and she had withdrawn the bonds and other
securities in which her funds were invested
ON the vaults of the Fidelity Deposit Com
pany, and carried them on her person, feeling
thus prepared for instant flight. There was
reason to apprehend that in her restless,
troubled state of mind she might receive per-
sonal injury, and, at last, when longer delay
would really be cruelty and neglect of duty,
her son was compelled to the painful proceed
ing which, under the laws of this State, must
precede any detention or restraint for insanity.
All the old personal trends of Mr.. Lincoln
were consulted. The Hon. Isaac N. Arnold
was appointed her counsel. The Hon. Leon
ard SWEET assumed the even more delicate
task of representing the sheriff and executing
the process OF the court. 1t is needless to say