New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-22
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S WTDOW.

The sympathy of the nation which has been
too grudgngly given to the widow of Abraham
Lincoln, will certainly no longer be withheld
now that court of justice has declared her
bereft of reason. 1t has long been known to
those nearest to her that her mind never entirely
recovered from the shock of the Presidents as
sassination. 1t would have been brain of
extraordinary force which could have with
stood that night of horrors. Her husband, to
whom, in spite of all gossip to the contrary,
she was devOtedy attached, was shot down
at her side i'm perfect health and
strength. Her dress was stained with
his blood. She passed the long hours of
his agony at his bedside, refusing to believe
the sentence of his surgeons, and in the morn
ing, when all was over, she confronted a loss
such as has been experienced by few women.
For the next few weeks it was doubtful whether
she would ever emerge from the shadow of
death in which she lay. But everything she
did or said in that delirium of despair was
wickedly and shamefuly used against her
afterward.
1t was the duty of the country, out of regard
to its own honor and dignity, to provide for
her future. This Congress for years refused to
do. Not cent was raised for the purpose by
public subscription. When at last Mr. Sumner
forced bill through Congress giving her the
pitiful pension of $4,000, it only passed after
malicious and scurrilOus opposition, in the
course of which her enemies quoted every
utterance and act which had proceeded,
after her troubles, from her disordered brain.
She was entitled to the gentlest and most ten
der consideration from every decent man. But
she was attacked by Congressman and vilified
by portion of the press, as if she had been
an able bodied politician, counting votes and
criticism. There is no doubt that this treat
ment had its effect in preventing her recovery
from the great shock which had shat
tered her life. The death Of her young
boy, whom she idolized, filed up the
measure of her sorrOws, and finished the wreck
of her intellectual faculties. AS long as it was
possible, her son, the worthy inheritor of his
fathers character, bore with touching pa
tience and devotion the consequences of this
misfortune. But it became evident at last that
to prevent worse disasters the unfortunate
lady must be put under restraint, and the pro-
ceedings in court were taken, with which
our readers are familiar. The attempt
upon her own life the next day was
telTlDIe COHulIndllOH VI tHc JuStico
of the decree of the Court We
are sure that the long delayed sympathies of
the country will attend this deeply afflicted
widow to the retreat which has been provided
for her, where a cure for her malady may be
| found which was impossible as long as she
remained in contact with the world. We deem
it not intrusive to say, also, that the only sur
viving son of Mr.. Lincoln deserves in this
calamity the respect and consideration of every
one. He has borne himself always with ire
proachable dignity and decOrum. lie has asked
nothing from the country which was so deeply
indebted 70 big fathsg g2 has gained al an en-
viabe position in his profession and in society
by his own merit and industry. lie is not a
man to give way to misfortune, however sorely
tried. But he ought not to be left to meet this
last affection without the assurance of the re-
spect and good will which his character, no less
than his name, deserves.