New-York tribune., 1896-05-16

coin be wholly sombre. All through these
| memoirs bubble up from perennial spring
those witty sayings and cheerful anecdotes so
characteristic of thc .hartyred President.
Another CHEEKY figure was that Of little Tad,
| for a time the pet of the Nation. whose boyish
| pranks were a constant source of amusement.
! The boy had a turkey TO which he was
I much attached. 1t followed him constantly
about the White House grounds. On the
| day when Lincoln was elected to his Sec
| ond term Tad visited the polls near by,
his turkey following him about in the most
docile fashion. He returned full Of information
about the soldiers voting. Did your turkey
vote?" asked the President. "Oh. no." said
Tad "he Is not CT age" Another incident that
enlivcns the dark page is that of a certain
| tract distributor, who scattered her lttle
printed missives in a hospital where Lincoln
happened to be. The President saw one pa
| tient laughing heartily at the tract which had
fallen on his cot "nfy dear fellow" said he,
"the lady meant to Dc you good. You should
not laugh at her eif.." But he had to laugh
! too when the soldier replied: "Oh, / must
| laugh a little Mr.. President. She has given me
tract on the Sin of Dancing and here am
with both my legs shot on.
| A singular feature Of the times was that work
| on the Washington Monument went right on IN
the midst of the noise and strain OF war Inc
sound Of the workmens tools never ceased upon
the Capitol building either. in spite OF the un-
certainty that was often felt abou; the safety
Of the city A significant fact was that the
statue Of Liberty ordered when Jefferson DAVIS
was Secretary Of War was raised to It's place on
the dome OF the Capitol while Davis himself was
still at the head Of the Confederacy. THESE IT.
cidents symbolized the steady purpose or the
Nation. But at the same time no one could help
observing how hope and despair followed each
other across the Nation. Like the ebb ana How
Of the tide would occur those seasons Of hilarious
rejoicing and Of gloomy desperate sorrow When
defeat was In the air the Peace Faction. led by
c. l.. Vallandigham. Fernando Wood and the
rest of their kind. added by their clamor to the
feeling Of responsibility that weighed upon the
President. On the other hand, the absence and
silence of these birds of ill-omen were addi-
tional joys in moments OF victory. An incident
which aroused the author was one in which the
President was victim. Mr.. Lincoln was visiting
the Army of the Potomac, and went as guest 10
luncheon in the headquarters OF General SickeS.
Among the ladies present was the Princess Salm-
Sam. famous as dashing horsewoman When
the President appeared she swept up TO MIN
with her grandest manner and suddenly kissed
him. AS soon as he recovered from his surprise
he thanked the Princess, but with no great dis
play Of gratitude 1t turned out that the kiss
was inflicted to win wager.
The authors familiarity with the thoughts and
feelings of the President and others enables him
to reproduce the very anxieties and resentments
of each day. 10 speak. He dwells, for in
stance on the escape Of Lee with his army from
Gettysburg, and pictures vividly the chagrin OF
the President and others at the failure to capture
the defeated Confederate host before 1t returned
across the Potomac. The memoirs carry the
reader on to the assassination Of Lincoln and TO
the opening of Johnsons Administration