The following incident is related by Mrs. Pickett, widow of General
George E. Pickett, of the Confederate Army, of her first meeting with
President Lincoln after the war:
I was in Richmond when my Soldier fought the awful battle of
Five Forks, Richmond surrendered, and the surging sea of fire
swept the city. The day after the fire, there was a sharp rap at
the door. The servants had all run away. The city was full of
Yankees, and my environment had not taught me to love them. With
my baby on my arm, I opened the door, and looked up at a tall,
gaunt, sad-faced man in ill-fitting clothes. He asked: “Is this
George Pickett’s home?”
With all the courage and dignity I could muster, I replied:
“Yes, and I am his wife, and this is his baby.”
“I am Abraham Lincoln.”
“The President!” I gasped. I had never seen him, but I knew the
intense love and reverence with which my Soldier always spoke of
him. The stranger shook his head and replied:
“No; Abraham Lincoln, George’s old friend.”
The baby pushed away from me and reached out his hands to Mr.
Lincoln, who took him in his arms. As he did so an expression of
rapt, almost divine tenderness and love lighted up the sad face.
It was a look that I have never seen on any other face. The baby
opened his mouth wide and insisted upon giving his father’s
friend a dewy infantile kiss. As Mr. Lincoln gave the little one
back to me, he said:
“Tell your father, the rascal, that I forgive him for the sake
of your bright eyes.”
(2302)
=Pardon through Intercession=--See SACRIFICIAL MEDIATION.
=Parentage=--See LIFE, SOURCE OF.