Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-12-23
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.



New York World of Nay ioth, 1859
The following Is . portion OF letter
from George Alfred Townsend SGath 70
the New York World printed May 2Vth,
1865. II Is interesting as graphite pen
picture o. the White House just atter
President Lineoln's death, and as contain
ipu the first pnblio announcement OF the
i.Iife az Lincoln" by hlessrH. Nicolay
and Hay. the publication of which has
inst been begun in tbs Century, after III
wears of preparation by its authors
"WAsHrSaToN, May IA, 1865. IL am
sitting in the Presidents office. he was
here very lately, but will not return
| to dispossesss me Of his this high-baeked
chair he filled go lopg, nor resume his
daily work at the table where ! am
writing.
There are here only Major Hay and
| the friend who accompanies me' briSht-
faced boy rms in and ont. darkly rttirod'
40 that his fob chain of gold ia the only
Irlif TO his mourning Anrb. lbs is
Ii ii Tad, the pet o. tho White Honse.
| That great death, with which the World
rings has mnda upon him only The light
impression when all thinfs make On
| childhood. He will 1--we 10 b. man
| pointed out everywhere for his fathers
sake and M folks lolwk at him tue tableau
/ of the murder will seem To enclrcle hiili'
The room il long und high, and 50
thickly hung with maps that the color OF
| the wall cannot be disoerned. The Pres
| ident's table, al which am seated, adj
| Joins window at the fartheHt corner, and
70 the left of my chair, as l recline in II,
/ there is longer table before IN empty
Srate, around which there are many
chairs, where the Cabinet used to assem-
BILE. The carpet is trodden thin, and the
brilliance of the dyes is lost. The turni-
| ture is Of the formal cabinet class, stately
and semi. comfortable; there are book
cases, sprinkled with the sparse library Of
q country lawyer, but lately plethoric, like
| the thin body which has departed in its
| ooffiu. They are taking away Mr. Lin
coins private effects TO deposit them
wheresoeyer his family may reside, and
the emptiness of the place, on this sunny
Sunday, revives that feeling of dtsolation
| from which the land hasscArce recovered.
/ rise from my seat and examine the
maps, they are from the coast survey and
the engineer departments, and exhibit all
the contested ground of the war; there
are pencil lines upon them, where some
one has traced the route of armies, and
planned the strategic circumference of
campaigns. Was il the dead President
who so followed the march of empire, and
dotted the sites of shock and overthrow
"There is but one picture on the
marble mantel over the cold CRATE John
Bright--a photograph. But as
to his biography, it is TO be written by
Colonel Nieolay aud Major Hay. They
are to go to Paris together, one as attacht
of legation, the other as consul and
while there will undertake the labor
They are the only men who know his life
we'll enough to exhaust it, having followed
his official tasks rs closely az they shareC
his social hours.
Major Hay is gentleman of literary
force. Colonel NicUlay has fine judg
ment of character and pu5lic measures
Together they should satisfy both curiosity
and history"