CHAPTER XVII.

PLOTS AND ASSASSINATION.

The fact that we have in this country a literature of assassination,

"voluminous and vast," suggests a melancholy reflection on the

disordered spirit of the times through which we have passed, and on the

woful perversity of human nature even under conditions most favorable to

intellectual progress and Christian civilization. It is hurtful to our

pride as Americans to confess that our history is marred by records so

repugnant to the spirit of our liberal institutions, and to the good

fellowship which ought to characterize both individual and national life

in a free republic. But the appalling fact remains that two of our Chief

Magistrates, within as many decades, were murdered in cold blood, and

that bulky volumes have been filled with circumstantial accounts of

plots and conspiracies by and against men born upon our soil and

enjoying the full protection of our laws; and yet, voluminous and

extensive as these records are, they are by no means complete.

One most daring attempt upon the life of Mr. Lincoln--the boldest of all

attempts of that character, and one which approached shockingly near to

a murderous success--was never made public. For prudential reasons

details were withheld from the press; but as the motives which imposed

silence respecting a strange freak of homicidal frenzy no longer exist,

it is perhaps a matter of duty to make public the story, together with

certain documents which show in what deadly peril Mr. Lincoln stood

during the ceremonies attending his second inauguration at the Capitol

in March, 1865. A glance at prior conspiracies will lead to a better

understanding of the event to which these documents relate.

The first conspiracy, from motives of policy, had for its object the

abduction of President Buchanan. There was intense disgust on the part

of certain fiery and ferocious leaders in the secession movement with

the conservative temper of the Executive and of the ruling members of

his Cabinet. After fruitless attempts to bully the Administration into a

change of policy in harmony with his revolutionary scheme, Mr. Wigfall,

some time in the month of December, 1860, formed a plan for kidnapping

Mr. Buchanan. A number of desperate men were banded together by him at

Washington, and the details of the plot were discussed and agreed upon.

The plan was to spirit Mr. Buchanan away, install Mr. Breckenridge in

the White House, and hold the captive President as a hostage until terms

of compromise could be proposed to conservative Democrats and

Republicans in the North. Mr. Wigfall and other choice spirits had no

doubt that their plan of accommodation could be enforced through the _ad

interim_ Executive. The scheme, however, could not be executed, in its

first stage, without the concurrence and co-operation of Mr. Floyd, who

threw Wigfall into a paroxysm of explosive wrath by flatly refusing to

have anything to do with the enterprise. It was accordingly abandoned,

so far as Mr. Buchanan was concerned.

When Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, in March, 1861, the organization of

plotters was still intact; but no plan of assassination had, as yet,

received the sanction of the conspirators as a body. It was their

purpose to kidnap Mr. Lincoln and hold him in captivity, without injury

to his person, until such concessions were made to the Southern leaders

as their plan of compromise rendered necessary. This second scheme of

abduction, having proved as abortive as the first, was abandoned in

favor of a more deadly purpose. Some of the more desperate among the

conspirators, exasperated by repeated failures, resolved to dispose of

Mr. Lincoln by the swifter and surer means afforded by the dagger or the

bullet.

Circumstances, in a surprising way, seemed to favor their murderous

designs. Against the protest of his friends, who by detective means had

obtained from the plotters many of their secrets, Mr. Lincoln made the

Soldiers' Home his summer residence. The conspirators thought that

either abduction or assassination could be accomplished without

difficulty. They resolved upon the latter. They would dispatch him

during one of his lonely rides after nightfall from the White House to

his summer retreat. The attempt was made.

In the spring and early summer of 1862 I persistently urged upon Mr.

Lincoln the necessity of a military escort to accompany him to and from

his residence and place of business, and he as persistently opposed my

proposition, always saying, when the subject was referred to, that there

was not the slightest occasion for such precaution. One morning,

however, in the month of August he came riding up to the White House

steps, where I met him, with a merry twinkle in his eye that presaged

fun of some kind. Before he alighted he said, "I have something to tell

you!" and after we had entered his office he locked the doors, sat down,

and commenced his narration. (At this distance of time I will not

pretend to give the exact words of this interview, but will state it

according to my best recollection.) He said: "You know I have always

told you I thought you an _idiot_ that ought to be put in a strait

jacket for your apprehensions of my personal danger from assassination.

You also know that the way we skulked into this city, in the first

place, has been a source of shame and regret to me, for it did look so

cowardly!"

To all of which I simply assented, saying, "Yes, go on."

"Well," said he, "I don't now propose to make you my father-confessor

and acknowledge a change of heart, yet I am free to admit that just now

I don't know what to think: I am staggered. Understand me, I do not want

to oppose my pride of opinion against light and reason, but I am in such

a state of 'betweenity' in my conclusions that I can't say that the

judgment of _this court_ is prepared to proclaim a reliable 'decision

upon the facts presented.'"

He paused; I requested him to go on, for I was in painful suspense. He

then proceeded.

"Last night, about 11 o'clock, I went out to the Soldiers' Home alone,

riding _Old Abe_, as you call him [a horse he delighted in riding], and

when I arrived at the foot of the hill on the road leading to the

entrance of the Home grounds, I was jogging along at a slow gait,

immersed in deep thought, contemplating what was next to happen in the

unsettled state of affairs, when suddenly I was aroused--I may say the

arousement lifted me out of my saddle as well as out of my wits--by the

report of a rifle, and seemingly the gunner was not fifty yards from

where my contemplations ended and my accelerated transit began. My

erratic namesake, with little warning, gave proof of decided

dissatisfaction at the racket, and with one reckless bound he

unceremoniously separated me from my eight-dollar plug-hat, with which I

parted company without any assent, expressed or implied, upon my part.

At a break-neck speed we soon arrived in a haven of safety. Meanwhile I

was left in doubt whether death was more desirable from being thrown

from a runaway federal horse, or as the tragic result of a rifle-ball

fired by a disloyal bushwhacker in the middle of the night."

This was all told in a spirit of levity; he seemed unwilling, even in

appearance, to attach that importance to the event which I was disposed

to give to it. He seemed to want to believe it a joke. "Now," said he,

"in the face of this testimony in favor of your theory of danger to me,

personally, I can't bring myself to believe that any one has shot or

will deliberately shoot at me with the purpose of killing me; although I

must acknowledge that I heard this fellow's bullet whistle at an

uncomfortably short distance from these headquarters of mine. I have

about concluded that the shot was the result of accident. It may be that

some one on his return from a day's hunt, regardless of the course of

his discharge, fired off his gun as a precautionary measure of safety to

his family after reaching his house." This was said with much

seriousness.

He then playfully proceeded: "I tell you there is no time on record

equal to that made by the two Old Abes on that occasion. The historic

ride of John Gilpin, and Henry Wilson's memorable display of bareback

equestrianship on the stray army mule from the scenes of the battle of

Bull Run, a year ago, are nothing in comparison to mine, either in point

of time made or in ludicrous pageantry. My only advantage over these

worthies was in having no observers. I can truthfully say that one of

the Abes was frightened on this occasion, but modesty forbids my

mentioning which of us is entitled to that distinguished honor. This

whole thing seems farcical. No good can result at this time from giving

it publicity. It does seem to me that I am in more danger from the

augmentation of imaginary peril than from a judicious silence, be the

danger ever so great; and, moreover, I do not want it understood that I

share your apprehensions. I never have."

At this time Mr. Lincoln was to me a study. It would seem that he was

always prepared for the inevitable, and singularly indifferent as to his

personal safety. He was then still suffering from his terrible domestic

affliction, the death of his favorite son Willie. He doubtless at times

acted an unnatural part in his endeavors to banish from his memory the

disturbing recollections of his lost idol. I often recur with mingled

feelings of admiration and sadness to the wonderful simplicity and

perfect faith exemplified in his narration of the hazardous experience

above described. He said: "I am determined to borrow no trouble. I

believe in _the right_, and that it will ultimately prevail; and I

believe it is the inalienable right of man, unimpaired even by this

dreadful distraction of our country, to be _happy_ or _miserable_ at his

own election, and I for one make choice of the former alternative."

"Yes," said I, "but it is a devil of a poor protection against a

shot-gun in time of war; for that fellow on the road-side last night was

just such a philosopher as yourself, although acting from a different

standpoint. He exercised one of his supposed inalienable rights to make

himself happy and the country miserable by attempting to kill you; and

unless you are more careful and discreet, and will be governed by wiser

counsels than you derive from your own obstinate persistency in

recklessness, in less than a week you'll have neither inalienable nor

any other rights, and we shall have no Lincoln. The time, I fear, may

not be far distant when this republic will be minus a pretty respectable

President."

It was impossible, however, to induce him to forego these lonely and

dangerous journeys between the Executive Mansion and the Soldiers' Home.

A stranger to fear, he often eluded our vigilance; and before his

absence could be noted he would be well on his way to his summer

residence, alone, and many times at night.

Another occasion when the vigilance and anxiety of his friends were

exercised will appear in the following extract from a memorandum written

by Robert Lamon, who was deputy marshal of the District of Columbia at

the time:--

In the early part of the night my brother came to me and asked me

to join him in the search for Mr. Lincoln. He was greatly

disturbed. We drove rapidly to the Soldiers' Home, and as we neared

the entrance to the grounds we met a carriage. Behind it we could

see in the darkness a man on horseback. My brother, who seemed

unusually suspicious, commanded the party to halt. His order was

instantly obeyed. "Who are you?" he demanded, in the same

peremptory tone. A voice from within the carriage responded, "Why

do you ask?" The speakers recognized each other. The one in the

carriage was Secretary Stanton, and the man behind it was one of

his orderlies. "Where is Mr. Lincoln?" asked Stanton. "I have been

to the Soldiers' Home and he is not there. I am exceedingly uneasy

about him. He is not at the White House?" "No," said my brother,

"he is not there. I have looked for him everywhere." We hurried

back to the city. Arriving at the White House before Mr. Stanton,

we found Mr. Lincoln walking across the lawn. My brother went with

him to the War Department, and from there took him to his [Lamon's]

house, where Mr. Lincoln slept that night and the three or four

nights following, Mrs. Lincoln being at that time in New York.

(Signed) ROBT. LAMON.

My anxiety about Mr. Lincoln that evening grew out of a report of an

alarming character made to me by one of my detectives. Stanton had

threatening news also, and was therefore excited about Mr. Lincoln's

safety. He told me that he never had so great a scare in his life as he

had that night. The brusque Secretary thought the deputy marshal and I

were assassins. The incident provoked much merriment among the parties

concerned, no one enjoying the serio-comic part of it more than Mr.

Lincoln himself.

Meanwhile the conspirators, becoming alarmed for their own safety,

observed a stricter caution. Their movements were embarrassed by the

escort of cavalry which Mr. Lincoln was finally induced to accept, after

prolonged importunities by those who had certain knowledge of the

dangers to which he was exposed. Lost opportunities, baffled hopes,

exasperating defeats, served however only to heighten the deadly

determination of the plotters; and so matters drifted on until the day

of Mr. Lincoln's second inauguration. A tragedy was planned for that day

which has no parallel in the history of criminal audacity, if considered

as nothing more than a crime intended.

Everybody knows what throngs assemble at the Capitol to witness the

imposing ceremonies attending the inauguration of a President of the

United States. It is amazing that any human being could have seriously

entertained the thought of assassinating Mr. Lincoln in the presence of

such a concourse of citizens. And yet there was such a man in the

assemblage. He was there for the single purpose of murdering the

illustrious leader who for the second time was about to assume the

burden of the Presidency. That man was John Wilkes Booth. Proof of his

identity, and a detailed account of his movements while attempting to

reach the platform where Mr. Lincoln stood, will be found in many

affidavits, of which the following is a specimen:--

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,}

COUNTY OF WSHINGTON, } _ss_:

Robert Strong, a citizen of said County and District, being duly

sworn, says that he was a policeman at the Capitol on the day of

the second inauguration of President Lincoln, and was stationed at

the east door of the rotunda, with Commissioner B. B. French, at

the time the President, accompanied by the judges and others,

passed out to the platform where the ceremonies of inauguration

were about to begin, when a man in a very determined and excited

manner broke through the line of policemen which had been formed to

keep the crowd out. Lieutenant Westfall immediately seized the

stranger, and a considerable scuffle ensued. The stranger seemed

determined to get to the platform where the President and his party

were, but Lieutenant Westfall called for assistance. The

Commissioner closed the door, or had it closed, and the intruder

was finally thrust from the passage leading to the platform which

was reserved for the President's party. After the President was

assassinated, the singular conduct of this stranger on that day

was frequently talked of by the policemen who observed it.

Lieutenant Westfall procured a photograph of the assassin Booth

soon after the death of the President, and showed it to

Commissioner French in my presence and in the presence of several

other policemen, and asked him if he had ever met that man. The

commissioner examined it attentively and said: "Yes, I would know

that face among ten thousand. That is the man you had a scuffle

with on inauguration day. That is the same man." Affiant also

recognized the photograph. Lieutenant Westfall then said: "This is

the picture of J. Wilkes Booth." Major French exclaimed: "My God!

what a fearful risk we ran that day!"

ROBERT STRONG.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 20th day of March, 1876.

JAMES A. TAIT,

[SEAL] _Notary Public_.

From this sworn statement it will be seen that Booth's plan was one of

phenomenal audacity. So frenzied was the homicide that he determined to

take the President's life at the inevitable sacrifice of his own; for

nothing can be more certain than that the murder of Mr. Lincoln on that

public occasion, in the presence of a vast concourse of admiring

citizens, would have been instantly avenged. The infuriated populace

would have torn the assassin to pieces, and this the desperate man

doubtless knew.

It is a curious fact, that, although Mr. Lincoln believed that his

career would be cut short by violence, he was incorrigibly skeptical as

to the agency in the expected tragedy, with one solitary exception.

Elderly residents of Washington will remember one Gurowski, a Polish

exile, as many believed. He was an accomplished linguist, a

revolutionist by nature, restless, revengeful, and of a fiery and

ungovernable temper. He had been employed in the State Department as a

translator, I believe, but had quarrelled with Mr. Seward and was

discharged. This caused him to pursue Lincoln, Seward, and Sumner with

bitter hatred. The curious will find in a published diary of his a

fantastic classification of his enemies. The President he rated as

"third-class," according to his estimate of statesmanlike qualities.

From this man Gurowski, and from him alone, Mr. Lincoln really

apprehended danger by a violent assault, although he knew not what the

sense of fear was like. Mr. Lincoln more than once said to me: "So far

as my personal safety is concerned, Gurowski is the only man who has

given me a serious thought of a personal nature. From the known

disposition of the man, he is dangerous wherever he may be. I have

sometimes thought that he might try to take my life. It would be just

like him to do such a thing."

The following letter was written one night when I was much annoyed at

what seemed to me Mr. Lincoln's carelessness in this matter:--

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Dec. 10, 1864, 1.30 o'clock, A. M.

_Hon. A. Lincoln_:

SIR,--I regret that you do not appreciate what I have repeatedly

said to you in regard to the proper police arrangements connected

with your household and your own personal safety. _You are in

danger._ I have nothing to ask, and I flatter myself that you will

at least believe that I am honest. If, however, you have been

impressed differently, do me and the country the justice to dispose

at once of all suspected officers, and accept my resignation of the

marshalship, which is hereby tendered. I will give you further

reasons which have impelled me to this course. To-night, as you

have done on several previous occasions, you went unattended to the

theatre. When I say unattended, I mean that you went alone with

Charles Sumner and a foreign minister, neither of whom could defend

himself against an assault from any able-bodied woman in this city.

And you know, or ought to know, that your life is sought after, and

will be taken unless you and your friends are cautious; for you

have many enemies within our lines. You certainly know that I have

provided men at your mansion to perform all necessary police duty,

and I am always ready myself to perform any duty that will properly

conduce to your interest or your safety.

God knows that I am unselfish in this matter; and I do think that I

have played low comedy long enough, and at my time of life I think

I ought at least to attempt to play star engagements.

I have the honor to be

Your obedient servant,

WARD H. LAMON.

Mr. Lincoln had in his great heart no place for uncharitableness or

suspicion; which accounts for his singular indifference to the

numberless cautions so earnestly and persistently pressed upon him by

friends who knew the danger to which he was hourly exposed. He had a

sublime faith in human nature; and in that faith he lived until the

fatal moment when the nations of the earth were startled by a tragedy

whose mournful consequences no man can measure.

An unwonted interest attaches to the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, not

alone from the peculiarly dramatic incidents by which it was attended,

but also from the controlling influence he would unquestionably have

exerted, if his life had been spared, in modifying and facilitating the

solution of perhaps the greatest social and political problem of modern

times. This problem, after being committed to the solemn arbitrament of

the sword, and passing through its ordeal, had now reached an ulterior

stage of development which demanded, in the council chamber, the

exercise of even higher administrative qualities than those which had

hitherto directed its general conduct in the field. These attributes, it

was generally recognized and conceded, were possessed by Mr. Lincoln in

a pre-eminent degree. To a constancy of purpose and tenacity of will, of

which conspicuous evidence had been presented in the final triumph of

the Union cause, he united a conciliatory disposition, and the

gentleness, sensibility, and simplicity of a child.

Frequent reference has already been made to the humane and generous

promptings of Mr. Lincoln's great soul, in all the varied relations of

his life, as well private as official, and to instances of patriotism

and of self-sacrifice almost unparalleled in the annals of history.

With a more enlarged experience of the violence of party passion and of

internecine strife, and of the excesses to which they sometimes

unhappily lead, it seems almost incredible that the apprehensions of

danger to Mr. Lincoln should have been shared by so few, when one thinks

of the simplicity of his domestic habits, the facilities at all times

afforded for a near approach to his presence, and the entire absence of

all safeguards for the protection of his person, save the watchfulness

of one or two of his most immediate friends; and this, too, at a period

of such unprecedented party excitement and sectional strife and

animosity. But the truth is, the crime of assassination was so abhorrent

to the genius of Anglo-Saxon civilization, so foreign to the spirit and

practice of our republican institutions, that little danger was

apprehended of an outrage against society at large, the recollection of

which even now suffices to tinge with a blush of shame the cheek of

every true American, whether of Northern or of Southern birth.

In 1880, after the nomination of General Garfield for President, General

Grant visited Boulder, Col., where I was at that time residing. We had a

long conversation on the assassination of Mr. Lincoln; and he told me

that about the period of the surrender of General Lee no subject gave

him deeper concern than the personal safety of the President. He stated

that while no special cause existed for this apprehension, as the war

was manifestly and inevitably drawing to a conclusion, he had been

harassed by almost constant fears and anxieties for Mr. Lincoln's life.

"I learned," said he, "that your own apprehensions were excited from the

very outbreak of the war; in fact, before war was declared. It seems

unaccountable to me now, in reviewing the situation, that more persons

were not so impressed. I was aware, during all the latter part of the

war, of your own fears, and of what you had done and were doing for his

safety and protection."

I read a communication addressed to the "St. Louis Democrat," in July,

1886, by Mr. R. C. Laverty, General Grant's telegraph operator, in which

he states that at the time of the surrender, "General Grant reported

every day regularly to Washington, and was in constant communication at

that time with the capital, because he was extremely anxious about the

personal safety of the President."

Upon the assassination of Mr. Lincoln being communicated to General

Grant he exclaimed: "This is the darkest day of my life! I do not know

what it means. Here was the Rebellion put down in the field, and it is

reasserting itself in the gutter. We had fought it as war, we have now

to fight it as murder." Continuing his observations he said: "I was busy

sending off orders to stop recruiting and the purchase of supplies, and

to muster out the army. Mr. Lincoln had promised to go to the theatre

that evening and wanted me to accompany him. While I was with the

President a note was received by me from Mrs. Grant, saying that she was

desirous of leaving Washington on the same evening on a visit to her

daughter at Burlington. Some incidents of a trivial character had

influenced this determination, and she decided to leave by an evening

train. I was not disinclined to meet her wishes, not caring

particularly to go to the theatre. I therefore made my excuses to the

President, and at the hour determined upon we left home for the railway

station. As we were driving along Pennsylvania Avenue, a horseman rode

rapidly past us at a gallop, and wheeling his horse, rode back, peering

into our carriage as he again passed us. Mrs. Grant, with a perceptible

shade of concern in her voice and manner, remarked to me: 'That is the

very man who sat near us at lunch to-day with some others, and tried to

overhear our conversation. He was so rude, you remember, as to cause us

to leave the dining-room. Here he is again, riding after us!' For myself

I thought it was only idle curiosity, but learned afterward that the

horseman was Booth. It seemed that I was also to have been attacked, and

Mrs. Grant's sudden determination to leave Washington deranged the plan.

Only a few days afterwards I received an anonymous letter stating that

the writer had been detailed to assassinate me; that he rode in my train

as far as Havre de Grace, and as my car was locked he failed to get in.

He now thanked God he had so failed. I remember very well that the

conductor locked our car door; but how far the letter was genuine I am

unable to say. I was advised of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln in

passing through Philadelphia, and immediately returned to Washington by

a special train."

When the dreadful tragedy occurred I was out of the city, having gone to

Richmond two days before on business for Mr. Lincoln connected with the

call of a convention for reconstruction, about which there had arisen

some complications. I have preserved the pass Mr. Lincoln gave me to go

through to Richmond, of which the following is a fac-simile:--[12]

[12] Page 275, line 5, after the word "fac-simile."

Apropos of passes to Richmond once when a man called upon the President

and solicited a pass to Richmond. Mr. Lincoln said: "Well, I would be

very happy to oblige, if my passes were respected; but the fact is, sir,

I have, within the past two years, given passes to 250,000 men to go to

Richmond and not one has got there yet."

[Illustration: hand written note--

Allow the bearer, W. H. Lemon & friend, with o* any baggage to pass

from Washington to Richmond and return--

A. Lincoln

April 11, 1865]

This was perhaps the last passport ever written or authorized by Abraham

Lincoln.

On the eve of my departure I urged upon Mr. Usher, the Secretary of the

Interior, to persuade Mr. Lincoln to exercise extreme caution, and to go

out as little as possible while I was absent. Mr. Usher went with me to

see Mr. Lincoln; and when about to leave, I asked him if he would make

me a promise. He asked what it was, and said that he thought he could

venture to say he would. I wanted him to promise me that he would not go

out after night while I was gone, _particularly to the theatre_. He

turned to Mr. Usher and said:--

"Usher, this boy is a monomaniac on the subject of my safety. I can hear

him or hear of his being around, at all times of the night, to prevent

somebody from murdering me. He thinks I shall be killed; and we think he

is going crazy." He then added: "What does any one want to assassinate

me for? If any one wants to do so, he can do it any day or night, if he

is ready to give his life for mine. It is nonsense."

Mr. Usher then said: "Mr. Lincoln, it is well to listen and give heed to

Lamon. He is thrown among people that give him opportunities to know

more about such matters than we can know."

I then renewed my request, standing with my hat in my hand, ready to

start.

"Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "I promise to do the best I can towards it."

He then shook me cordially by the hand, and said, "Good-bye. God bless

you, Hill!"

This was the last time I ever saw my friend.

[Illustration: Then----

Green Room

Admit the Bearer to the

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

On WEDNESDAY, the

19th of April, 1865.]

[Illustration: "Passing out of the State House, Philadelphia, April 23d,

1865"]

[Illustration: "At Philadelphia"]

[Illustration: "Head of Funeral Train"]

[Illustration: "Funeral Car that carried Mr. Lincoln's Remains to

Springfield"]

[Illustration: "Springfield, May 4th, 1865"]

APRIL 14

Mr. Lincoln, accompanied by his wife, Miss Harris and Maj. Rathbone, of

Albany, New York, was occupying a box at Ford's Theatre, in the city of

Washington. The play was "Our American Cousin," with the elder Sothern

in the principal role. Mr. Lincoln was enjoying it greatly. Lee had

surrendered on the 9th; on the 13th the war was everywhere regarded as

ended, and upon that day Secretary Stanton had telegraphed to Gen. Dix,

Governor of New York, requesting him to stop the draft. Sothern as _Lord

Dundreary_ was at his best. Lincoln was delighted. The lines which care

and responsibility had so deeply graven on his brow, were now scarcely

visible. His people had just passed through the greatest civil war known

in the history of nations and he had become well convinced that now, the

cause of strife being destroyed, the government over which he was ruling

would be made stronger, greater and better by the crucial test through

which it has passed. Before leaving for the theatre he had pronounced it

the happiest day of his life. He looked, indeed, as if he now fully

realized the consummation of the long cherished and fondest aspiration

of his heart. He was at length the undisputed Chief Magistrate of a

confederation of States, constituting the freest and most powerful

commonwealth of modern times.

At some part of the performance Sothern appeared on the stage with Miss

Meridith, the heroine, on one arm and a wrap or shawl carelessly thrown

over the other. The latter seats herself upon a garden lounge placed on

the stage near the box occupied by the President on this occasion. Lord

Dundreary retires a few paces distant from the rustic seat when Miss

Meridith, glancing languidly at his lordship, exclaims: "Me lord, will

you kindly throw my shawl over my shoulders--there appears to be a

draught here." Sothern, at once complying with her request, advanced

with the mincing step that immortalized him; and with a merry twinkle of

the eye, and a significant glance directed at Mr. Lincoln, responded in

the happy impromptu: "You are mistaken, Miss Mary, the draft has already

been stopped by order of the President!" This sally caused Mr. Lincoln

to laugh, as few except himself could laugh, and an outburst of

merriment resounded from all parts of the house. It was Mr. Lincoln's

last laugh!

NOTES.

APPENDIX.

LINCOLN IN A LAW CASE.

Mr. Lincoln believed that: "He who knows only his own side of a case

knows little of that." The first illustration of his peculiar mental

operations which led him always to study the opposite side of every

disputed question more exhaustively than his own, was on his first

appearance before the Supreme Court of Illinois when he actually opened

his argument by telling the court that after diligent search he had not

found a single decision in favor of his case but several against it,

which he then cited, and submitted his case. This may have been what Mr.

Lincoln alluded to when he told Thurlow Weed that the people used to

say, without disturbing his self-respect, that he was not lawyer enough

to hurt him.

The most important case Mr. Lincoln ever argued before the Supreme Court

was the celebrated case of the Illinois Central Railroad Company vs.

McLean County.

The case was argued twice before this tribunal; one brief of which is

among the forty pages of legal manuscript written by Mr. Lincoln in the

writer's possession. While its four pages may have more historic value

than a will case argued in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County, still

the latter is chosen to illustrate the period of Mr. Lincoln's mature

practice and to show his analytical methods, his original reasoning, and

his keen sense of justice.

The case is one wherein land has been left to three sons and a grandson

and the personal estate to be divided among three daughters after the

death of the widow. Mr. Lincoln is employed to defend the will against

the three daughters and their husbands.

The brief consists of fifteen pages of legal cap paper only four of

which are here given.

It is said that he wrote few papers, less perhaps than any other man at

the bar; therefore this memorandum in his own hand is also valuable as

an example of the notes he so rarely made.

[Illustration:

Correll & others }

vs } Will Case--

M. Daniel & others }

1 General remarks on the law of Wills--

2. Answer the particular points and objections made by the other

side--See notes taken while they were speaking--

3. Read from the authorities and settle on a +definition+ of "Sound mind

and memory"--

4 Show that in this case, the Testator had such "+Sound mind and

memory+" at the time of making the Will--

1 By his asking D^r Randall to write his Will.

2. His reply to M^{rs} Herron*, when she saw* he was too sick & weak to

make Wills.

3. His saying his Will was already made, and getting roll of blank

paper--

4 His getting the package of title papers--

5 His making first provision for his wife; and charge upon Sutcliff for

her and his sisters--

6 His deciding correctly, as to the "+long-way+* of the land*

7 His providing that James should pay rent to his mother.

8 His decision as to what was to be done with the home place--

9 His reply when Correll proposed that all should leave the house--

10 His calling for Robert's widow; and +so+ +asking+ the land to be

given to her children.

10-1/2 His recollection of his enmity to Correll & M. Lutiro*.

11 His objection that any of his own family should be Administrator.

12. His suggesting of Hamm* for Administrator

13 His asking Cyrus Correll & Samuel Havener to witness the Will--

Add to all this his long settled purpose to make, substantially, such a

Will--Quote authorities--

His eagerness about it the night before, & on the day the Will was

made--his being reminded of it the day +after+--and still remaining

quiet till his death--

The Will is unquestionably as it would have been, if it had been made

before his sickness.]

Then a copy of the will and the evidence of sixteen witnesses, after

which the following page of authorities:--

Illustration: The declarations of the Testator long before his

sickness, to make such a Will as he finally did make, are admissable,

and weighty evidence in support of the Will

7 Ala. 55

5 Strob. 167

7 Humph. 320

7 Ala. 519

6 Geo. 324.

Where an influence is acquired+ over a testator, by kind offices, or

persuasion, unconnected with fraud, the Will made under such influence,

would not be set aside--

2 N. J. 117

5 Strob. 167

3 Strob. 44. 552.

6 Geo. 324.

3 Denis 37.

1 Rich. 80

. Cheve, 37.

2 J.J. Mav. 340.

3 SvR. 267

1 Hanrig* 454.

2 Do. 375

A lower degree of of intellect is requisite to make a Will than to make

a contract.

21 Vt. 168

9 Iren. 99

6 Geo 324

7 B Mon. 655

3 Denis 37

9 Conn. 102. (over, on the start*)

On "+Sound mind and memory+" and also on "+opinions+" of witnesses, see.

Sowe vs Williamson 1 Green's Ch. 82

Stoan vs Maxwell 2 Green's Ch. 563.

Hunt's heirs vs Hunt 3. B. Mon. 575

M. Daniel's Will 2. J.J. Mar 331

Note--Hunt's heirs vs Hunt, above cited, contains an excellent form of

an instruction to be given to a jury, as to the weight and to the

opinions of the witnesses--][M]

[M] This was evidently written twice by Mr. Lincoln for it seems to be

the corrected page of one in the Collection of General Orendorff. This

corrected page has not the first allegation found in the rough draft:

"The widow of the testator is not a competent witness. II Hump. 565."

One of the opposing attorneys in the case was Mr. Lincoln's former law

partner, Judge Stephen T. Logan, who was the acknowledged leader of the

Illinois Bar for many years and from whom Mr. Lincoln derived more

benefit than from any other.[N]

[N] Mr. Lincoln's first partner, John T. Stuart, enjoyed telling of his

own arrival in Springfield in 1828 from Kentucky; how the next morning

he was standing in front of the village store wondering how to introduce

himself to the community, when a well-dressed old gentleman approached

him, who, interesting himself in his welfare, inquired after his history

and business. "I am from Kentucky," answered Mr. Stuart, "and my

profession is that of a lawyer, sir. What is the prospect here?"

Throwing back his head and closing his left eye the old gentleman

reflected a moment, then replied: "Young man, d---- slim chance for that

kind of a combination here."

That there was a chance for that combination in Springfield has been

most conclusively proven. Lincoln's three law partners at that place as

well as himself were all from Kentucky, to say nothing of other

prominent members of the bar of Springfield who came from the Blue Grass

state.

[Illustration: +Judge Logan+ resumes after dinner.

Wants the jury to watch me +very closely+.

Says some Judges decide one way, and some another, in Will cases--

Comments on what passed between Testator & Mrs Herron, the day +after+

the Will was made--

Jonathan M. Daniel--"how* sixteen feet high"--

Comments on what is "a sound memory"

Comments on the fact that the Will was not in strict conformity to his

long expressed points* now*.

Comments on fact of several of the boys having died--

Jew's notion* that names* be perpetuated* on the land

Older* arguments of last term, as to new purpose to make all equal "to

stand on judgment"--

Comments on the +real+ inequality of the distribution of the property.]

Was Mr. Lincoln's experience at the bar a mere episode in his wonderful

career, or was it the foundation upon which rested the whole structure

of that career? He said himself that "Law is the greatest science of

man. It is the best profession to develop the logical faculty and the

highest platform on which man can exhibit his powers of well trained

manhood."

[Illustration:

Chicago, March 28_ 1860

Hon. W. H. Lamon.

My dear Sir:

Yours about motion to quash an indictment, was received yesterday.

I think I have* no authority but the Statute when I wrote the

Indictment--In fact, I remember but little about it. I think yet

there is no necessity for setting out the latter per +haec verba+.

Our Statute, as I think, relaxes* the high degree of **** certainty

formerly required--

I am so busy with our case on that heir, that I can not examine

authorities near as freely as you can there--

If after all, the indictment shall be quashed, it will only prove

that my _forte_ is as a Statesman, rather than as a Prosecutor*

Yours, as ever

A. Lincoln.]

MR. LINCOLN'S VIEWS OF THE AMERICAN OR KNOW-NOTHING PARTY.

That Mr. Lincoln found in the Declaration of Independence his perfect

standard of political truth is perhaps in none of his utterances more

conclusively shown than in a private letter to his old friend Joshua F.

Speed, written in 1855, in which he says: "You enquire where I now

stand. That is a disputed point. I think I am a Whig; but others say

there are no Whigs, and that I am an Abolitionist. I am not a

Know-Nothing! that is certain. How could I be? How can anyone who abhors

the oppression of negroes be in favor of degrading classes of white

people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As

a nation we began by declaring that '_All men are created equal_.' We

now practically read it, 'All men are created equal except negroes.'

When the Know-Nothings get control it will read, 'All men are created

equal, except negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to

this, I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no

pretence of loving liberty,--where despotism can be taken pure, and

without the base alloy of hypocrisy."

ACCOUNT OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH.

NEW YORK, March 20, 1872.

MY DEAR SIR,--....I send you for such use as you may deem proper

the following letter written by me when at "Old Orchard Beach" a

few years ago, giving the "truth of history" in relation to the

address of Mr. Lincoln at the Cooper Institute in this City on the

27th of February, 1860....

... We, the world, and all the coming generation of mankind down

the long line of ages, cannot know too much about Abraham Lincoln,

our martyr President.

Yours truly,

(Signed) JAMES A. BRIGGS.

MR. WARD H. LAMON,

WASHINGTON, D. C.

"In October, 1859, Messrs. Joseph H. Richards, J. M. Pettingill, and S.

W. Tubbs called on me at the office of the Ohio State Agency, 25 William

Street, and requested me to write to the Hon. Thomas Corwin, of Ohio,

and the Hon. Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and invite them to lecture in

a course of lectures these young gentlemen proposed for the winter in

Plymouth Church, Brooklyn.

"I wrote the letters as requested, and offered as compensation for each

lecture, as I was authorized, the sum of two hundred dollars. The

proposition to lecture was accepted by Messrs. Corwin and Lincoln. Mr.

Corwin delivered his lecture in Plymouth Church as he was on his way to

Washington to attend Congress. Mr. Lincoln could not lecture until late

in the season, and a proposition was agreed to by the gentlemen named,

and accepted by Mr. Lincoln, as the following letter will show:--

DANVILLE, ILL., November 13, 1859.

JAMES A. BRIGGS, Esq.:

DEAR SIR,--Yours of the 1st, closing with my proposition for

compromise, was duly received. I will be on hand, and in due time

will notify you of the exact day. I believe, after all, I shall

make a political speech of it. You have no objection?

I would like to know in advance, whether I am also to speak or

lecture in New York.

Very, very glad your election went right.

Yours truly,

A. LINCOLN.

P. S. I am here at court, but my address is still at Springfield,

Ill.

"In due time Mr. Lincoln wrote me that he would deliver the lecture, a

political one, on the evening of the 27th of February, 1860. This was

rather late in the season for a lecture, and the young gentlemen who

were responsible were doubtful about its success, as the expenses were

large. It was stipulated that the lecture was to be in Plymouth Church,

Brooklyn. I requested and urged that the lecture should be delivered at

the Cooper Institute. They were fearful it would not pay expenses--three

hundred and fifty dollars. I thought it would.

"In order to relieve Messrs. Richards, Pettingill, and Tubbs of all

responsibility, I called upon some of the officers of the 'Young Men's

Republican Union' and proposed that they should take Mr. Lincoln, and

that the lecture should be delivered under their auspices. They

respectfully declined.

"I next called upon Mr. Simeon Draper, then President of 'The Draper

Republican Union Club of New York,' and proposed to him that his 'Union'

take Mr. Lincoln and the lecture, and assume the responsibility of the

expenses. Mr. Draper and his friends declined, and Mr. Lincoln was left

in the hands of 'the original Jacobs.'

"After considerable discussion, it was agreed on the part of the young

gentlemen that the lecture should be delivered in the Cooper Institute,

if I would agree to share the expenses, if the sale of tickets

(twenty-five cents each) for the lecture did not meet the outlay. To

this I assented, and the lecture was advertised to be delivered in the

Cooper Institute on the evening of the 27th of February, 1860.

"Mr. Lincoln read the notice of the lecture in the papers and, without

any knowledge of the arrangement, was somewhat surprised to learn that

he was first to make his appearance before a New York instead of a

'Plymouth Church' audience. A notice of the proposed lecture appeared in

the New York papers, and the 'Times' spoke of him 'as a lawyer who had

some local reputation in Illinois.'

"At my personal solicitation Mr. William Cullen Bryant presided as

chairman of the meeting, and introduced Mr. Lincoln for the first time

to a New York audience.

"The lecture was over, all the expenses were paid, I was handed by the

gentlemen interested the sum of $4.25 as my share of the profits, as

they would have called on me if there had been a deficiency in the

receipts to meet expenses."

[Mr. Briggs received as his share of the profits $4.25. What the country

profited by this, Mr. Lincoln's first triumph outside of his own state,

has never been computed.]

[Illustration: Colonel Ellsworth, Mr. Herndon, and Colonel Lamon

accompanied Mr. Lincoln to the polls when he cast his vote for this

ticket. He voted only for the State and County officers, feeling that a

Presidential candidate ought not to vote for his own electors.]

[Illustration: Decorative--head of Lincoln and rail fence]

THE RAIL-SPLITTER.

It has been said that the term "rail-splitter" which became a leading

feature of the campaign in 1860 originated at the Chicago convention

when Mr. Deland of Ohio, who seconded the nomination of Mr. Lincoln,

said: "I desire to second the nomination of a man who can split rails

and maul Democrats."

Mr. Delano not only seconded the nomination, but "seconded" the campaign

"cry."

Gov. Oglesby one week before at the State Convention at Decatur

introduced into the assemblage John Hanks, who bore on his shoulder two

small rails surmounted by a banner with this inscription: "Two rails

from a lot made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks in the Sangamon Bottom

in the year 1830."

For six months Rail-splitter was heard everywhere and rails were to be

seen on nearly everything, even on stationery. One of the Lincoln

delegates said: "These rails represent the issue between labor free and

labor slave, between democracy and aristocracy."

The Democrats disliked to hear so much about "honest Old Abe," "the

rail-splitter" the "flatboatman," "the pioneer." These cries had an

ominous sound in their ears. Just after the State Convention which named

Lincoln as first choice of the Republicans of Illinois, an old man,

devoted to the principles of Democracy and much annoyed by the

demonstration in progress, approached Mr. Lincoln and said, "So you're

Abe Lincoln?"--"That's my name, sir," answered Mr. Lincoln. "They say

you're a self-made man," said the Democrat. "Well, yes," said Lincoln,

"what there is of me is self-made."--"Well, all I've got to say,"

observed the old man after a careful survey of the statesman before him,

"is that it was a ---- bad job."

TEMPERANCE.

On the temperance question Mr. Lincoln has been quoted by the adherents

of both sides. He had no taste for spirituous liquors and when he took

them it was a punishment to him, not an indulgence. In a temperance

lecture delivered in 1842 Mr. Lincoln said:--"In my judgment such of us

as have never fallen victims have been spared more from the absence of

appetite than from any mental or moral superiority over those who have.

Indeed, I believe if we take habitual drunkards as a class their heads

and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any

other class."

None of his nearest associates ever saw Mr. Lincoln voluntarily call for

a drink but many times they saw him take whiskey with a little sugar in

it to avoid the appearance of discountenancing it to his friends. If he

could have avoided it without giving offence he would gladly have done

so. He was a conformist to the conventionalities of the surroundings in

which he was placed.

Whether Mr. Lincoln sold liquor by the dram over the counter of the

grocery store kept by himself and Berry will forever remain an

undetermined question. When Douglas revived the story in one of his

debates, Mr. Lincoln replied that even if it were true, there was but

little difference between them, for while he figured on one side of the

counter Douglas figured on the other.

Mr. Lincoln disliked sumptuary laws and would not prescribe by statute

what other men should eat or drink. When the temperance men ran to the

Legislature to invoke the power of the state, his voice--the most

eloquent among them--was silent. He did not oppose them, but quietly

withdrew from the cause and left others to manage it.

In 1854 he was induced to join the order called Sons of Temperance, but

never attended a single meeting after the one at which he was initiated.

Judge Douglas once undertook to ridicule Mr. Lincoln on not drinking.

"What, are you a temperance man?" he inquired. "No," replied Lincoln, "I

am not a temperance man but I am temperate in this, to wit: I don't

drink."

He often used to say that drinking spirits was to him like thinking of

spiritualism, he wanted to steer clear of both evils; by frequent

indulgence he might acquire a dangerous taste for the spirit and land in

a drunkard's grave; by frequent thought of spiritualism he might become

a confirmed believer in it and land in a lunatic asylum.

In 1889 Miss Kate Field wrote W. H. Lamon saying:--

Will you kindly settle a dispute about Lincoln? Lately in

Pennsylvania I quoted Lincoln to strengthen my argument against

Prohibition, and now the W. C. T. U. quote him for the other side.

What is the truth?

... As you are the best of authority on the subject of Abraham

Lincoln, can you explain why he is quoted on the Prohibition side?

Did he at any time make speeches that could be construed with total

abstinence?

To this Lamon replied:--

You ask my recollection of Mr. Lincoln's views on the question of

Temperance and Prohibition. I looked upon him as one of the safest

temperance men I ever knew. He seemed on this subject, as he was on

most others, unique in profession as well as in practice. He was

neither what might be called a drinking man, a total abstainer, nor

a Prohibitionist. My acquaintance with him commenced in 1847. He

was then and afterwards a politician. He mixed much and well with

the people. Believed what the people believed to be right was

right.

Society in Illinois at that early day was as crude as the country

was uncultivated. People then were tenacious of their natural as

well as their acquired rights and this state of things existed

until Mr. Lincoln left the State to assume the duties of President.

The people of Illinois firmly believed it was one of their

inalienable rights to manufacture, sell, and drink whiskey as it

was the sacred right of the southern man to rear, work, and whip

his own nigger,--and woe be unto him who attempted to interfere

with these rights--(as the sequel afterwards showed when Mr.

Lincoln and his friends tried to prevent the southern man from

whipping his own nigger in the territories).

I heard Mr. Lincoln deliver several temperance lectures. One

evening in Danville, Ill., he happened in at a temperance meeting,

the "Old Washingtonian Society," I think, and was called on to make

a speech. He got through it well, after which he and other members

of the Bar who were present were invited to an entertainment at the

house of Dr. Scott. Wine and cake were handed around. Mrs. Scott,

in handing Mr. Lincoln a glass of homemade wine, said, "I hope you

are not a teetotaler, Mr. Lincoln, if you are a temperance

lecturer." "By no means, my dear madam," he replied; "for I do

assure you (with a humorous smile) I am very fond of my 'Todd' (a

play upon his wife's maiden name). I by no means oppose the use of

wine. I only regret that it is not more in universal use. I firmly

believe if our people were to habitually drink wine, there would be

little drunkenness in the country." In the conversation which

afterward became general, Judge David Davis, Hon. Leonard Swett,

and others present joining in the discussion, I recollect his

making this remark: "I am an apostle of temperance only to the

extent of coercing moderate indulgence and prohibiting excesses by

all the moral influences I can bring to bear."

LINCOLN'S SHREWDNESS.

Perhaps no act of Mr. Lincoln's administration showed his political

shrewdness more clearly than the permission he gave for the rebel

legislature of Virginia to meet for the purpose of recalling the state

troops from General Lee's Army. This permission was given in a note to

General Weitzel. Mr. Lincoln told Governor Francis H. Pierpont that "its

composition occupied five hours of intense mental activity." Governor

Pierpont says he was the loyal Governor of Virginia at the time, and Mr.

Lincoln deemed it necessary to say something to him about so

extraordinary a measure as permitting the rebel legislature to assemble

when a loyal legislature with a loyal governor was in existence and was

recognized by the federal government. Mr. Lincoln's note to General

Weitzel read:--

"It has been intimated to me that the gentlemen who have acted as the

legislature of Virginia in support of the rebellion may now desire to

assemble at Richmond and take measures to withdraw the Virginia troops

and other support from resistance to the general government. If they

attempt it, give them permission and protection until, if at all, they

attempt some action hostile to the United States, in which case you will

notify them, give them reasonable time to leave, and at the end of which

time arrest any who remain. Allow Judge Campbell to see this, but do not

make it public."

To write this note occupied all Mr. Lincoln's time from 9 P. M. till 2

A. M.--"five hours of uninterrupted stillness."

Mr. Lincoln foresaw that an attempt would be made to construe his

permission into a virtual recognition of the authority of the rebel

legislature. He steered clear of this recognition by not speaking of

them "as a legislature," but as, "the gentlemen who have acted as the

legislature of Virginia in support of rebellion," and explained

afterward when it was misconstrued, that he "did this on purpose to

exclude the assumption that I was recognizing them as a rightful body. I

dealt with them as men having power de facto to do a specific thing."

LETTERS.

FAIRFIELD, CONN., Jan. 9, 1861.

W. H. LAMON, Esq.:

DEAR SIR,--Yours of December 26th duly received. Connecticut is

death on secession. I regard it the duty of the Government to

uphold its authority in the courts as effectually south as it has

done north if it can, and to hold its forts and public grounds at

whatever cost and collect the revenue ditto. There is but one

feeling here, I believe, though in the city of New York there are

those who sustain her actions, that secession is _disgraceful_ as

well as ruinous on the part of South Carolina. I glory in Lincoln

now for I feel that he is the most suitable man of our party for

this terrible ordeal through which he has to pass. I rely with

entire confidence upon his urbanity, gentleness, goodness, and

ability to convince his enemies of his perfect uprightness as well

as his firmness and courage. I do not expect him to be as warlike

as Jackson, but I look for the calm courage befitting a Judge on

the bench. With Lincoln as President and Scott as

Lieutenant-General, I have no fears but the dignity of the

Government will be sustained after the 4th of March. What is being

done to protect Lincoln personally at Washington before and after

Inauguration? Is there not a propriety in some of his friends

making it their especial business to escort him without even his

knowing it? You know these Southern men better than I do. If there

is propriety in such a thing, or need for it, rather, I would meet

you at Washington when he goes on and stay with you while it is

needed.

Yours truly,

BRONSON MURRAY.

NEWARK, OHIO, Feby. 14, 1861.

FRIEND LAMON,--I concluded to drop you this note, on learning

that you in company with our mutual friend Judge Davis were with

the President Elect on his tour to the Seat of Government. I was

led to this through fear of the failure of some correspondence to

reach your eye, the drift of it was to secure the appointment of

postmaster at this city for your humble servant. Now if you have

not been bored to death already by friends who are your _humble

servants_, say a kind word for me. I have asked for the Post Office

here for some good reasons. Poor enough to ask it and capable to

fill it ... and have my second papers for being _Black_ Republican.

I might add that the Citizens would not look upon my appointment as

an overt _act_ against this City. I was removed from the Post

Office Dept. in 1855 for opposition to Judge Douglas for removing

the Missouri Compromise.... I would beg to be remembered to Messrs.

Lincoln and Davis. Wishing you all a pleasant trip, safe arrival

and a smooth sea in the future.

Yours very truly,

JAS. H. SMITH.

The following letter may be of interest as showing the impression made

at a time when opinions of Mr. Lincoln were in the formative state. New

York City, as a whole, was unfriendly to Lincoln. Written when Lincoln

was in New York on his way to Washington.

NEW YORK, Feby. 20, 1861.

DEAR LAMON,--I was glad today to recognize you; and drop you a

line instead of a call when you must be so weary.

Just before we met, my father and old Ald^{n} Purdy (both

wheel-horses in the Dem^{t} party here) were canvassing matters

politic. Purdy said he had seen Lincoln and liked the man; said he

was much better looking and a finer man than he expected to see;

and that he kept aloof from old politicians here and seemed to have

a mind of his own. Old Judge Benson too (who was with us) is a

Democrat and was equally pleased with Lincoln. He says Lincoln has

an eye that shows power of mind and will, and he thinks he will

carry us safely.

I repeat these comments, because they came from behind the scenes

of the popular apprehensions whence at present our friend Lincoln

is excluded, and I feel sure he will be pleased to know how

favorable an impression he makes....

Tell Lincoln to use his _own_ judgment and be bold and firm. The

_people_ of all parties here are prepared to sustain _him_. But he

may beware of all old politicians of both parties.

Because he is a fresh man and an able one he was taken up. Let his

freshness enter his policy also

Your friend,

BRONSON MURRAY.

SPRINGFIELD, Feb. 22, 1861.

HILL,--This is Dick Gilmer of Pike--he is to that neck of _Woods_

what you or Dick Oglesby are to this region of Country.... Do what

you can consistently for him--and oblige

Your friend,

O. M. HATCH.

BLOOMINGTON (ILL.), Feby. 25, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Nothing of moment has occurred since your departure.

Do write me immediately explaining the cause of your mysterious

transit through Maryland.

Here let me say a word about Washington. It is the worst place in

the world to judge correctly of anything. A ship might as well

learn its bearings in the Norway Maelstrom, as for you people to

undertake to judge anything correctly upon your arrival there.

You are the subject of every artful and selfish appliance. You

breathe an air pregnant with panic. You have to decide before you

can discover the secret springs of the action presented to you.

There is but one rule and that is to stand by and adopt the

judgment you formed before you arrived there.

The atmosphere of Washington and the country are as unlike as the

atmosphere of Greenland and the tropics.

The country is moved and moves by its judgment--Washington by its

artificial life. The country really knows nothing of Washington and

Washington knows nothing of the country. Washington is drunk, the

Country is sober and the appeal from your judgment there to your

home judgment is simply an appeal from Philip drunk to Philip

sober.

Please give these ideas in better language than I have done to Mr.

Lincoln. I know his sound home judgment, the only thing I fear is

the bewilderment of that city of rumors. I do ache to have him do

well.

Yours truly,

LEONARD SWETT.

WASHINGTON, March 2, 1861.

DEAR SIR,--I have received your request and shall take great

pleasure to do what you wish in respect to Delaware.

Very truly your friend,

WINFIELD SCOTT.

WARD H. LAMON, Esq.

DANVILLE, ILL., March 5, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Have just read Lincoln's inaugural.--It is just right

and pleases us much. Not a word too much or too little. He assumes

the tone and temper of a statesman of the olden time. God bless

him--and keep him safely to the end.--Are you coming home to see us

ere you depart hence? You could unfold to us a chapter that would

be spicy, rich and rare.

We were at first disposed to regret Lincoln's hasty trip from

Harrisburgh. But the action of the crowd at Baltimore convinces us

that it was the most prudent course to pursue....

O. F. HARMON.

ON BOARD STEAMER WARSAW, March 8, 1861.

DEAR LAMON,--I got home a week ago. I have heard a good many

things said pro and con about the new administration, and as far as

I have heard the mass of the people have confidence in Mr. Lincoln,

and this applies to the people of the border slave states as well

as the free states. But it is not worth while to disguise the fact

that a large majority of the free states in the Northwest are

opposed to _Ultra measures_ and the people of the slave states are

almost unanimous against coercion. Many appointments that have been

made by the new administration were unfortunate. It must

necessarily be so with all administrations, and Mr. Lincoln has had

more than his share of trouble in making his selection. I fear that

a majority of the Senators on our side care but little for his

success further than it can contribute to their own glory, and they

have had such men appointed to office as they felt would serve

their own purpose without any reference to Mr. Lincoln and but

little for the party....

As far as I could see when at Washington, to have been an original

friend of Mr. Lincoln was an unpardonable offence with Members of

Congress....

I have the utmost confidence in the success of Mr. Lincoln but I

do not expect his support to come from the radical element of our

party....

Your true friend,

HAWKINS TAYLOR.

HON. W. H. LAMON.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

SECRETARY'S OFFICE,

SPRINGFIELD, March, 18, 1861.

WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--My brother is foolish enough to desire an

office.--When you see him, and this, if he still _insists_ that he

has as good right to a place as anybody else, I want you to do for

him, what you would for me. No more, no less--...

Your friend,

O. M. HATCH.

March 19, 1861.

MY DEAR COLONEL,--When I left Washington I handed to Judge Davis

a letter setting forth what I wished him to do for me in Washington

if it met his views.

I desired to be detailed as acting Inspector General of the Army in

place of Emory promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the Cavalry. This

appointment needs only an order of the Secretary of War. Mr.

Cameron promised Judge Davis to attend to it at once, but I presume

he has overlooked it. Will you do me the favor to see Cameron on

the subject? He knows all about it and precisely what to do.

I hope you are having a good time in Washington. I presume you are

as you seem to have very much enjoyed the excitement along the road

and in Washington. I shall always cherish a most pleasant

remembrance of our journey and of the agreeable acquaintances and

friends I made on the road. Among the last I have rated you and

Judge Davis with peculiar satisfaction and I hope you will always

believe that I shall cherish the warmest personal regard for you.

Very truly your friend,

JOHN POPE.

MARCH 23, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--The public mind is prepared to hear of the evacuation

of Sumter, but it is a great humiliation. Still if Mr. Lincoln

gives the order you may swear that such is the public confidence in

him it will be at once taken as a necessity of the situation.

W. H. HANNA.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL., March 30, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--I saw the "Telegraphic Announcement" of your

prospective trip to Charleston before your kind and cordial letter

was received. Yesterday, the "Telegraph" announced your return to

Washington, which gratified us all. The papers represent you as

quite a Lion. I have no doubt you bear your honors meekly....

I am anxious about the country. Are we to be divided as a nation?

The thought is terrible. I never entertained a question of your

success in getting to and from Charleston.

How do things look at Washington? Are the appointments

satisfactory? No foreign appointments for the border slave states?

Is this policy a wise one? Off here it does not look so to me.

Did Hawkins Taylor of Iowa get anything?...

Your friend,

D. DAVIS.

URBANA, Apr. 6, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--The Judge and I are now attending Court at this

place, the only wreck of that troupe which was once the life and

soul of professional life in this country. I see Judge McLean has

departed this life. The question is who shall succeed to the ermin

so worthily worn by him. Why should not David Davis who was so

instrumental in giving position to him who now holds the matter in

the hollow of his hand? Dear Hill, if retribution, justice, and

gratitude are to be respected, Lincoln can do nothing less than to

tender the position to Judge Davis. I want you to suggest it to

Lincoln.... Of course you will. I know your noble nature too well

to believe that you would not think of a suggestion of this kind as

soon as myself. Write me.

Yours,

L. WELDON.

BLOOMINGTON, Apr. 7, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Why don't you write. Tell us something.

By the way, since McLean's death the friends of Judge Davis think

Lincoln ought to put him on Supreme Bench. Now I want you to find

out when this appointment will be made. Also tell Lincoln that

Judge Davis will be an applicant, so that he may not ignore the

fact or act without that knowledge. I wish, too, _you_ would

_without fail_ go immediately to Cameron, Caleb B. Smith, and Gov.

Seward and tell them Davis will be an applicant. Tell Smith what I

know, that it was through the Illinois fight and Judge Davis that

Judd went out and he went in, and we think we ought to be

remembered for it. Now, Hill, I know you are bored to death, but

our mutual regard for the Judge must make us doubly industrious and

persistent in this case.

Write immediately what the chances are, how Lincoln feels about it,

and what we ought to do.

Yours truly,

LEONARD SWETT.

WASHINGTON, April 8, 1861.

HON. WARD H. LAMON:

MY DEAR SIR,--I cannot deny the request of the Reverend Mr.

Wright, so far as to enclose the within letter. I do not know the

person recommended personally; but the Reverend gentleman who

writes the letter is a most estimable and worthy man, whom I should

be delighted to gratify if I felt at liberty to recommend any one,

which I do not under existing circumstances.

I am very respectfully your obedient servant,

S. A. DOUGLAS.

ST. LOUIS, MO., April 11, 1861.

COL. WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR SIR,--On the 30th of July last I was assaulted by

twenty-five outlaws in Texas--with but one _fighting_ friend to

stand by me. I gave an honorable compromise, and came forth from my

stronghold, in the presence of my would-be hangmen, a daring

Republican and a fearless Lincoln man. But it afterwards became

necessary for me to leave Texas or be _suspended_. As I preferred

dying in a horizontal position, _I left_, came to St. Louis and am

now at the service of Mr. Lincoln and _our_ country. If war is made

I want a showing in Texas. There are many true and loyal men there.

A few thousand soldiers thrown in there to form a nucleus around

which the Houston Union men can rally will soon form a barrier to

rebellion in the Southwest. When the "ball" opens I would like to

be authorized to raise five hundred men to occupy a position on Red

River at the mouth of Bogy Creek.

What can you do to assist me in doing something of the kind. I will

look for a reply to this in a few days.

Yours truly,

J. E. LEMON.

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, April 16, 1861.

COL. W. H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--I send you the result of a public meeting here last

night. We are, thank God, all right....

Secession, disunion and even fault finding is done with in this

City. We shall all stand firmly by the administration and fight it

out.

On last Monday we had a few fights, for just at that time we could

not and would not allow a single word of fault found with the

administration; the result was that three Democrats got thrashed.

Just then we were hearing the news of Fort Sumter, now we are all

on one side.

I write this that you may know the exact truth about us. If there

is any service I can render the government--count me always on hand

to do it. Write me if you can get time.

Your friend,

W. H. HANNA.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, April 19, 1861.

DEAR SIR,--Sufficient companies have been formed in Indiana or

nearly so to fill the six Regiments of our state. They of course

contain all classes of persons, but many of them are our _best_ and

_dearest_ youths with whom it has cost many a sigh and burning tear

to part. Thousands more will soon be made ready to join. We are

now of course intensely anxious about the Commandants and suppose

that the President will have the appointment of those officers, and

my object in writing this is to request you _without fail_ to see

the President and General Cameron and say to them that we are all

sensitive upon the appointments of the Brigadier General of this

state, and say to them that the appointment of a mere civilian will

give extreme dissatisfaction not only to the troops but to their

friends.

I name no person of that character who is an aspirant but I regret

to say that there are some of that character here. From the

appointment of one of whom, may God in his infinite mercy save us.

I believe every man in our State will arm, and those who refuse

will be hung and their property confiscated. There is a feeling all

through the State of the most intense character, wholly

indescribable. I can do nothing of business. I am now helping our

200 men off, encouraging and counselling them what I can. Unless

some change in my feelings now strained to the utmost pitch, I

shall not be far behind them.

Our boys are taking the oath in the Hall of the House, and the

telegraph brings intelligence of the fighting at Baltimore and the

burning of Harper's Ferry. The boys take the oath with a look of

determination to do or die.

All our fears now are for Washington. May God preserve you until

succor comes.

Ever yours,

J. P. USHER.

I am so excited that I can scarcely write legibly, but say to the

President that the _entire power_ of Indiana with all its men,

women and children, money and goods, will be sacrificed if

necessary to sustain the government; the treachery of Virginia only

intensifies the feeling.

J. P. U.

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, May 5, 1861.

W. H. LAMON, Esq.:

DEAR SIR,--Since I wrote to you on the 19th ult. I have been at

Indianapolis endeavoring to aid the Governor in such way as I

could. My desire has been to prevent rash counsels from being

followed and from incurring unnecessary expense, and I think I have

had some influence in keeping down extravagance. We are appalled

every day by some new development of the dreadful conspiracy which

has been formed for the entire overthrow of the Government. I hope

its worst has now been realized and that whatever may occur

hereafter will be for the better. Of one thing the President may

rest perfectly satisfied, that the entire voice of Indiana is for

the most vigorous prosecution of the War. I have no doubt but that

50,000 men could be raised in a month. All business has been

suspended and the people do not expect to do anything until the war

is ended. My desire is that it be pushed as fast as it possibly

can, not rashly, but rapidly accompanied by such necessary severity

as will be a terror to evil-doing. We have nothing to expect from

Kentucky or Missouri, they remain partly quiet because of their

proximity to the free states. My opinion is that they will not

revolt now, or if they do, it will be in that partial way to avoid

any entire destruction for the industrial interests of those

states. However that may be, they refuse to answer to the call of

the President for volunteers and I am totally opposed to their

being suffered to remain in the attitude like cow-boys of the

Revolution. I am for suspending all trade with them, if they will

not furnish their quota of troops.

If you please, and think it will not be deemed to be too

impertinent in me, say to the President that my opinion is that the

troops at Cairo should stop all boats of every kind passing down

the river and that no provisions whatever should be permitted to be

shipped to any state refusing to furnish their quota of troops. It

will prevent violence here: throughout Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois

most of the people think that trade of all kinds with the rebels

should cease, and that can only be accomplished by the proclamation

of the President. I hope he will make the proclamation. Our people

want it, but his advisers there and his own wisdom, in which I have

all confidence, will control. The people of the West expect him,

nay all the civilized world expects him to press forward with

undeviating firmness until the rebellion is crushed. We possess

nothing too valuable for the sacrifice. Let us not be rash, but to

the best advantage let us put the lives and worldly goods of us all

upon the altar for the sacrifice, for the preservation of the

government. Neither life nor goods will be valuable or worth

preservation if the Constitution is to be overthrown. No villainy

like this has ever occurred in the history of man, or one that

deserves such terrible punishment. I believe it is said in history,

though fabulous, that no spear of grass ever grew where Attila

stepped his foot. I do most religiously hope that there will be a

foot heavy enough to let down upon old Virginia to stop the growth

of grass for a time. The evil must be met, and we were never in a

better condition to test our patriotism.

Western Virginia has a Convention on the 14th; how will it do for

Indiana to send a Commissioner? I think I could get Governor Morton

to send R. W. Thompson. Suppose you ask Lincoln what he thinks of

it. Thompson has been taking great interest in the war, making

speeches and putting the people right. I have no doubt he will be

much flattered at an appointment to the loyal Virginians, and if it

is thought best at Washington, I think I can have it done. I shall

be at Indianapolis for a day or two, when I shall return and be at

the Charleston and Danville, Illinois, Courts for the next two

weeks. Don't you wish you could be there?

Most truly yours,

J. P. USHER.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL., May 6, 1861.

DEAR HILL,--Your anxious and harassing state at Washington during

those perilous times has so occupied your time and attention that

you have not had any leisure to write. I have not heard from you

for three weeks. For the last three weeks I have been holding court

in Lincoln. The excitement about enlisting nearly broke the court

up for two weeks. I was at Springfield two days week before last

and found everything astir. I need not say that you were missed at

Lincoln by me and everybody else. Your absence was regretted by

everyone and yet everyone thought you deserved your good fortune.

I found Trumbull very unpopular with the members of the Legislature

and other parties at Springfield. Douglas is in the topmost wave.

Douglas would beat Trumbull before this legislature. My course last

summer in using my best endeavors to elect Trumbull does not meet

with my own approbation.

This war and its dreadful consequences affects my spirits.... It is

very lonely going round the circuit without you.

DAVID DAVIS.

DEAR HILL,--I have written you about every week since I left

Urbana. Dan Voorhees has been here for two days. He is a devoted

friend of yours. He feels badly about the state of the country but

is for the maintenance of the Government....

Mr. [Joseph G.] Cannon the new Prosecutor is a pleasant, unassuming

gentleman and will in time make a good Prosecutor.[O]

[O] This prophecy was certainly fulfilled.

I need not tell you that it is lonesome here--on account of your

absence. This is my last court here and no lawyer is practising

here who was practising here when I held my first court. This is

emphatically a world of change.

Your friend as ever,

DAVID DAVIS.

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 4, 1861.

COLONEL LAMON:

MY DEAR SIR,--I would be obliged to you to procure for me that

Presidential interview as soon as practicable. I do not wish to

trouble you, but I am in a considerable hurry. I wish to say some

things to the President about matters in North Carolina. There are

some Union men there yet.

Respectfully yours,

CHAS. HENRY FOSTER.

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, August 25, 1861.

COL. WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--We are making great preparations for war in this

State, and will have twenty thousand men in camp, besides those

already in Missouri, in a very short time. There is a universal

demand for the removal of Mr. Cameron, and I think after all, the

sooner it is done the better. Mr. Lincoln certainly has no idea of

the universal disposition of the whole people on this subject. I

feel that Cameron wants to render the war unpopular by

mismanagement, for they all know that if this war is successfully

prosecuted that all the scoundrels cannot keep Mr. Lincoln from

being re-elected President.

Do tell Mr. Lincoln this thing, tell him also that he has the

confidence of all parties, except the traitors....

I know Lincoln well enough to know that he will make no mistakes,

if he will consult his own will and act up to it bravely and

without hesitation. It is the best time in the world to be

President, but he must be all President. Halfway measures will only

now tend to our ruin and disgrace.

I fear Trumbull is a rascal,--the idea of his being unprepared in

the Senate to vote for the resolution approving the act of the

President, has killed him off. I will bet you a bottle of wine that

he sees the day he will want to exchange that little speech....

I am perhaps too impatient, and I am besides under some personal

obligations to Mr. Cameron, but in this fight I care nothing about

obligations of friendship in opposition to the welfare of the

country. No one man nor any number of men can in my estimation be

allowed for one moment to stand in the way of good government.

Excuse me for all this and believe me in everything. I am,

Your friend,

W. A. HANNA.

The city is full of soldiers and we are all marching left foot

foremost.

W. H. H.

WILLARD'S HOTEL, 7 P. M. Aug. 30, 1861.

DEAR SIR,--General Scott notified me that if I would make an

arrangement with the President to receive the Fort Sumter Garrison

at some definite time, he would be most happy to be present at the

reception. My men are at leisure either to-morrow or Monday, or in

fact any time during the next week. Will you have the kindness to

arrange it and let me know the result? I will call at this hotel

for your answer.

Yours very truly,

A. DOUBLEDAY.

TO COL. WARD H. LAMON.

FORT LAFAYETTE, Oct. 24, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR,--It is nearly _three months_ since I have been

seized and held as a close prisoner by the Government of the United

States. No charge ever has--none can be--preferred against me,--and

yet I am robbed of my liberty--separated from my family and home,

and have been subjected to irreparable pecuniary loss. Is it

possible that your friend Mr. Lincoln can permit such acts to be

done in his name and under his administration? It is not possible

for me to give you in a brief letter a just view of my relations to

the Government or of its conduct to me, but I ask you to get the

President in company with yourself to examine my correspondence

with the War and State Departments, commencing on the nineteenth of

September. After their perusal I think you will agree with me, that

no man has ever within the limits of the United States been more

unjustly deprived of his liberty. In truth, the President and

yourself will reach the conclusion that the _honor_ and _good

faith_ of the Government demand my release.

Yours truly,

CHAS. J. FAULKNER.

In 1862 Hawkins Taylor wrote:--

Thinking back to the Presidential Campaign I cannot help but think

how _strange_ things have turned. I was an original Lincoln man,

worked for him before, at, and in the State Convention for the

nomination of Delegates to the Chicago Convention. Grimes scouted

the idea of such a country lawyer being President. When the Chicago

Convention came off Colonel Warren, knowing that I was scarce of

funds and knowing my anxiety for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln,

sent me a ticket to Chicago and back. I pledged a watch that cost

me $128 for money to pay expenses there and to our State

Convention.

Colonel Warren also went to Chicago, and to _my own certain

knowledge, rendered most important services to Mr. Lincoln_. At the

State Convention he was put at the head of the electoral ticket,

canvassed the entire state, made more than _one hundred speeches_,

spent his money by the hundreds. While Grimes made two or three

speeches, _grumbled_ privately at the nomination, damned the

President upon all occasions since he took his seat. Yet Grimes has

controlled the entire patronage of the State of Iowa to the

exclusion of Colonel Warren and all his friends. How can Mr.

Lincoln expect friends in Iowa under this state of things?

ILLINOIS, Feb. 12, 1862.

... By the bye I do not care how soon you come back to Illinois

provided always that I should hate for Hale Grimes & Co. to have

their way in driving off every one who does not believe in negro

stealing.... Yet I feel a good deal like they profess to feel. I

should be glad to see the poor negroes free and provided for, but

the abolition leaders seem to me to entertain more hatred to the

owners than love for the negroes, and to be willing to sacrifice

Whites, Negroes, Country and Constitution to the gratification of

their ambition and malignity.

I feel very glad at the progress the war is now making as I do hope

the present prospect of speedy success will enable Lincoln and

other conservative Republicans and Democrats to set at defiance the

ravings of the abolitionists and universal confiscation men. If

their mouths can be stopped I have now good hope that the union can

soon be restored and that a few months will bring daylight out of

the troubles of the Country....

Yours respectfully,

S. T. LOGAN.

OFFICE CHIEF QUARTER-MASTER

DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 8, 1862.

DEAR HILL,--I have given both our Representatives from here

letters of introduction to you. Messrs. Flanders and Hahn. You will

find Flanders old enough to take care of himself, but I desire that

you be especially attentive to Hahn as I want him to defend Mr.

Lincoln. He is very popular here and has very considerable

influence and can do Mr. Lincoln a great deal of good. See that he

falls into the right hands,--men who support the policy of the

administration. Both men are now right and I depend on our friends

to keep them right. Let me hear from you.

As ever your friend,

J. WILSON SHAFFER.

Quietly say to Lincoln to cultivate these men as they both desire

to find out what he wants and they will do it.

J. W. S.

12 NORTH A STREET, Feb. 26, 1863.

MY DEAR SIR,--Mr. J. N. Carpenter, who is a pay-master in the

Navy, has always borne and does now bear the character of a

truthfully upright and veracious man. I am requested to say this of

him to you and I give my testimony accordingly without knowing what

the object may be of getting it. He is a member of the true church

which believes in the ancient gospel, and you are related by

marriage to the same establishment. If you can do any good for Mr.

C. you will recollect that it is done unto them of the household of

faith and you will no doubt do it with the more alacrity when you

remember that Satan also takes care of his own.

I am most respectfully yours, &c.,

HON. W. H. LAMON. J. S. BLACK.

DECATUR, ILL., March 24, 1863.

COLONEL WARD,--Received a letter yesterday from Judge Davis who

informs me that you and Swett joined him heartily in efforts to

secure my promotion, that this was all done without my knowledge or

encouragement, from pure motives of personal attachment and kind

old remembrances. Allow me, Sir, to thank you kindly for this

disinterested and zealous effort to benefit and honor me. I did not

deserve the honor. I will try to do my best, however, and save my

friends and self from disgrace. I learn you are prospering and are

unchangeably the same. I hope some day to meet you again when our

Country will allow us all once more to feel happy and at rest.

I go to the field to-day, although I am far from well....

Do not forget to remember me to the President cordially. May God

spare his life many years yet. I hope he never despairs or falters

under his heavy burden.

Most respectfully

Your friend,

R. J. OGLESBY.

WARD H. LAMON,

Marshal of D. C.

NASHVILLE, January 10, 1865.

TO WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR SIR,--I am anxious to have a young Philadelphia lawyer made

captain of the regular army, and I know of no one so likely to

present the matter directly to Mr. Stanton or the President as

yourself. Will you oblige me by attending to the matter? I am

suffering from a fall and unable to get to Washington.

Most respectfully your obedient servant,

J. CATRON.

KENTUCKY, January 23, 1865.

WARD H. LAMON, Esq.:

MY DEAR SIR,--....Please remember me to Mr. Lincoln and thank him

for his great kindness shown me during my last visit to your city.

I do hope and pray that he may stand firm to the end of this wicked

Rebellion, and while he administers mercy so freely that he will

not forget _justice_. I am in favor of _mercy_, but never at the

expense of _justice_. I know he is magnanimous. He is too much so

sometimes, I fear. But I had rather trust him in this great crisis

than any other man living. May God give him wisdom to direct, mercy

to temper, and justice to balance the mighty interests of humanity

that tremble in the balance!

I should be happy to hear from you at an early date.

With kindest wishes for your health and prosperity,

I am, dear Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

D. P. HENDERSON.

CHICAGO, February 10, 1865.

DEAR SIR,--Enclosed is a letter which I wish you to place in the

hands of President Lincoln in person.

I fear it will not get to him until action is had.

I am very sorry to trouble him, but my friends demand it of me. I

told them that you would put it in his hands yourself.

Your obedient servant,

JNO. WENTWORTH.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL., April 4, 1865.[P]

[P] Only ten days before the Assassination.

COL. WARD H. LAMON:

DEAR HILL,--....I am going with Governor Oglesby to visit the

armies of Grant and Sherman, and shall call on you in passing.

We have glorious news, and am feeling happy over it.

I hope the President will keep out of danger; the chivalry are a

greater set of scoundrels than he thinks them to be.

Mr. Lincoln's personal safety is of such vast importance to the

country at this time, that his friends feel more or less solicitous

when they read of his "going to the front." But he has made a

glorious trip this time.

Your friend,

W. H. HANNA.

RELIGION.

January 31, 1874.

REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER:

MY DEAR SIR,--My attention has been directed to a "Review of the

Life of Lincoln" which appeared in the "Christian Union." This

paper was by many attributed to your pen; it certainly must have

received your editorial sanction.

I do not conceal the fact that some of its criticisms touched me

sharply; but I determined, after no little deliberation, that it

was better to submit in silence to whatever might be said or

written of that biography. It happens, however, that certain

lectures delivered by Mr. Herndon of Illinois have renewed the

discussion of Mr. Lincoln's unbelief, and incident to that

discussion some of the bitterest enemies of my own have taken

occasion to renew their assaults upon me for what my honest duty as

a biographer made it necessary for me to record in regard to so

important an element in Mr. Lincoln's character.

Many of these self-appointed critics I know, and have long known.

Their motives need no interpretation. Their hostility to me is very

great, but it fails to equal the treachery with which they betrayed

Mr. Lincoln while living, or the hypocrisy with which they chant

his eulogies when dead.

Their malignment of the lamented President during the most anxious

and trying period of his administration was so outrageous and

vindictive that if Booth had wrapped his bullet in a shred of their

correspondence he might have lodged a vindication of his crime in

the brain of his victim. But these men could have no connection

with this letter were it not that in this assault upon my character

they have claimed the authority of the "Union" to sustain one of

their unjust charges. I trust you will pardon the earnestness with

which I protest against your conclusions as to myself, both because

of their intrinsic injustice, and the sanction they have since

given to the expression of others who can know nothing of the

dignity and impartiality which belongs to honest criticism.

When the life of Lincoln was written it was my honest purpose to

give to the world a candid, truthful statement of all facts and

incidents of his life of which I was possessed, or could, by

diligent investigation, procure, so as to give a true history of

that wonderful man. I was well aware from the first that by

pursuing such a course I would give offence to some; for who that

ever had courage enough to write or utter great truths, since the

commencement of the Christian era to the present time, has not been

held up to public scorn and derision for his independence? Knowing

this and yet believing that I knew Mr. Lincoln as well, and knew as

much about him as any man living, I undertook to furnish biography,

facts, truth, history--not eulogy--believing then, as I believe

now, that the whole truth might be told of him and yet he would

appear a purer, better, and greater man than there is left living.

But he was human, composed of flesh and blood, and to him, as to

others, belonged amiable weaknesses and some of the small sins

incident to men. He was not perfect as a man, yet with all his

humanity he was better than any other man I ever knew or expect to

know. He was not a Christian in the orthodox sense of the term, yet

he was as conscientiously religious as any man. I think I am

justified in saying that had Mr. Lincoln been called upon to

indicate in what manner the biography of him should be written, he

would have preferred that no incident or event of his life should

be omitted; that every incident and event of his history and every

characteristic of his nature should be presented with photographic

accuracy. He would have been content that the veil of obscurity

should be withdrawn from his early life. All that was rude in it

could detract nothing from the career which he afterwards so

wonderfully accomplished. The higher elements of his character, as

they were developed and wrought their effect, could have lost

nothing in the world's judgment by a contrast, however strong, with

the weaker and cruder elements of his nature. His life was a type

of the society in which he lived, and with the progress and

development of that society, advanced and expanded with a

civilization which changed the unpeopled West to a land of churches

and cities, wealth and civilization.

In your comment upon that part of the biography which treats of Mr.

Lincoln's religion you say:--"A certain doubt is cast upon his

argument by the heartlessness of it. We cannot avoid an impression

that an anti-Christian animus inspires him." And you further say,

"He does not know what Lincoln was, nor what religion is." That I

did not know what Mr. Lincoln was, I must take leave to contradict

with some emphasis; that I do not know what religion is, in the

presence of so many illustrious failures to comprehend its true

character, I may be permitted to doubt. Speaking of Mr. Lincoln in

reference to this feature of his character, I express the decided

opinion that he was an eminently moral man. Regarding him as a

moral man, with my views upon the relations existing between the

two characteristics, I have no difficulty in believing him a

religious man! Yet he was not a Christian. He possessed, it is

true, a system of faith and worship, but it was one which Orthodox

Christianity stigmatizes as a false religion.

It surely cannot be a difficult matter to determine whether a man

who lived so recently and so famously was a Christian or not. If he

was a Christian he must have been sincere, for sincerity is one of

the first of Christian virtues, and if sincere he must have availed

himself of the promises of our Lord by a public profession of His

faith, baptism in His name and membership of His church. Did Mr.

Lincoln do this? No one pretends that he did, and those who

maintain that he was nevertheless a Christian must hold that he may

follow Jesus and yet deny Him; that he may be ashamed to own his

Redeemer and yet claim His intercession; that he may serve Him

acceptably, forsaking nothing, acknowledging nothing, repenting

nothing.

When it is established by the testimony of the Christian Ministry

that sinners may enter Heaven by a broad back gate like this, few

will think it worth while to continue in the straight and narrow

path prescribed by the Word of God. They who would canonize Mr.

Lincoln as a saint should pause and reflect a brief moment upon the

incalculable injury they do the cause which most of them profess to

love. It would certainly have been pleasant to me to have closed

without touching upon his religious opinions; but such an omission

would have violated the fundamental principle upon which every line

of the book is traced. Had it been possible to have truthfully

asserted that he was a member of the Church of Christ or that he

believed in the teachings of the New Testament, the facts would

have been proclaimed with a glow of earnest and unfeigned

satisfaction.

In conclusion I may say that my friendship for Mr. Lincoln was of

no recent hot-house growth. Unlike that of many who have made me

the subject of hostile criticism, it antedates the beginning of his

presidential term and the dawn of his political triumphs. I had the

good fortune to be in intimate association with his private life

when it was humble and obscure, and I was near him too in the

darkest hour of his executive responsibility, until, indeed, the

first rays of God-given peace broke upon the land. I can say, with

truth that none can assail, that I retained his confidence unshaken

as he retained my affections unbroken until his life was offered up

as a crowning sacrifice to domestic discord at the very threshold

of his and the nation's triumph. Is it, therefore, likely that

words of mine, written or spoken, should do purposed injustice to

his memory? With the most profound respect, I am

Very truly your obedient servant,

WARD H. LAMON.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Page xxv: The date 1661 has been changed to 1861.

Page 24: "at Harrisburg to chose one companion"--"chose" has been

replaced with "choose".

The following line of the Table of Contents has been moved from the first

heading in CHAPTER II to the end of CHAPTER I:

"Time between Election and Departure for Washington 28".