The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-10
By WINFIELD M. THOMPSON.


Federal ships anchored in the wide river.
He seemed absorbed in meditation.
Duncan II In His Grave"
Next morning the Presidents steamer,
having rounded Fortress Monroe. was in
the Potomac. steaming northward for
Washington. 1t was Palm Sunday. fall
ing on q date great in the annals of
render.
Lincoln. in one Of those strange revela-
tons Of his many-sided nature. seemed
on this day to put thoughts Of the war
out Of his mind. Most Of his day was
spent in the company Of Charles Sumner
and the Marquis de Chambrun in the
discussion o: literary topics. 1t was an
oddly contrasted group thus engaged on
the deck Of the steamer on the wide Po-
tomac in tho hours Of the closing scene
at Appomattox. Lincoln. the great, SYM
pathetic. rough son OF the prairie. I'M
skilled in social finesse, limited in edu-
cation. yet a master mind Of the ages;
Charles Sumner. a cold man, the fin
ished product Of the relatively older civil
lization and the higher educational stand
ards Of Massachusetts, and the titled
Frenchman. the ally Of royalty, to whom
the ideals and antecedentS Of both Lin
coin and Sumner were alike foreign
three more sharply dissimilar men prob
ably could not have been brought to-
gether by arrangement in such a place.
Their discussion turned to poetry, and
Lincoln produced a quarto volume Of
Shakespeare. Of whom he never tired as
a companion in his leisure time. and
turning to the tragedy Of Macbeth he
read aloud a number Of its finer pas
sages.
At the conclusion of reading the lines
describing the remorse Of Macbeth after
the murder Of Duncan. the President
paused and spoke Of how true the de-
scription Of the murderer was. when.
his dark deed achieved, in his torture he
envied the sleep Of his victim.
As II impressed with the beauty of the
lines, or by some unuttered PRESENT.
ment. Lincoln read over q second time
this passage:
Duncan 10 in his nave:
After life's ftful fever he sleeps well.
Treason has done his worst: nor Steel nor poison,
Malice domestic foreign levy, nothing.
Can touch him further.
After Lincoln's assassination persons
who heard of his strange reading Of
Macbeth on the last Sunday Of his life,
recalled these lines from the play, so
applicable to the tragedy in which he
was the Duncan:
besides this, Duncan
Hath bone his faculties 90 meek hath been
So clear in his great office. that his virtues
viii plead like angels trumpst-tongued asainst
The deep daunation Of his taking-o6;
And pity. like . naked newborn BABE.
striding the blast. or Heavens chsrubn horned
Upon the sightlro couriers Of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every cyc
That tears shall. drown the wind
Not to Think Of Enenies.
AS the steamer was passing Mount Yer
non, the Frenchman turned a compli-
ment by saying to the President: Mount
Vernon and Springfield. the memories Of
Washington and your own. those Of the
Revolutionary and civil wars; these are
the spots and names America shall one
day equally honor"
To this Lincoln responded: Spring
field! How happy. four years hence will
be to return there in peace and tran
quillity.'
As the steamer approached Washing
ton Mrs. Lincoln. looking at its roofs and
spires. topped by the great white dome
of the Capitol, exclaimed: 1.-The hateful
city; 1t is full of our enemies!"
Lincoln replied. in a soothing manner:
That Is not so-now. We must never
think OF that"
At that moment the man who in five
days was to take Lincoln's life. John
Wilkes Booth, was lodged at a hotel not
a mile from the White House, impa-
tently waiting the hour when he might
strike down the nations head.
At, the dock the Presidents guests
went their several ways.
As Lincoln's carriage was driven to-
ward tho White House its occ,,na nts
noticed an air Of unwonted excitement
among the people in the streets. Bon
fires were seen at various points and
people were Laughing and cheering.
Young Tad" became so excited that
the carriage was stopped and the Presi-
dents personal guard asked a. citizen:
What Is the natter" The man looked
at him In astonishment and said: why.
where have you been? Lee has sur
tC6pyrsht. 1915. by Winfield NJ. h@pson)
TomorrOw-BoOth's plot to Kid.