SOCIAL LIFE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
When Congress met in December, 1862, many Republicans were despondent.
The Administration ticket had been defeated in the elections of
the preceding month in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana,
and Illinois, while in other loyal States the majorities had fallen
off--the total returns showing the election of fifty-nine Republican
Representatives against forty Democratic Representatives. This
encouraged the Abolitionists to urge the emancipation of the slaves,
while the conservatives protested against it, but Mr. Lincoln
contented himself by saying: "You must not expect me to give up
the Government without playing my last card."
The Proclamation of Emancipation, issued by President Lincoln on
the 1st of January, 1863, marked an era in the history, not only
of the war, but of the Republic and the civilized world. Four
millions of human beings, who had been kept in slavery under the
protection of the Federal Government, were promised their freedom
by the Commander-in-Chief of the army, as a "military necessity,"
and the pledge was gloriously redeemed. In commemoration of this
event the colossal group entitled "Emancipation," located in Lincoln
Park, was erected by contributions solely from emancipated persons,
and was dedicated April 14th, 1876, Frederick Douglass being the
orator of the occasion. The entire work is twenty-two feet high,
and the bronze work alone cost seventeen thousand dollars.
New Year's Day was fair and the walking dry, which made it an
agreeable task to keep up the Knickerbocker practice of calling on
officials and lady friends. The President, members of the Cabinet,
and other Government functionaries received a large number of
visitors during the day. At eleven o'clock all officers of the
army in the city assembled at the War Department, and, headed by
Adjutant-General Thomas and General Halleck, proceeded to the White
House, where they were severally introduced to the President. The
officers of the navy assembled at the Navy Department at the same
time, and, headed by Secretary Welles and Admiral Foote, also
proceeded to the President's. The display of general officers in
brilliant uniforms was an imposing sight, and attracted large
crowds. The foreign Ministers, in accordance with the usual custom,
also called on the President, and at twelve o'clock the doors were
opened to the public, who marched through the hall and shook hands
with Mr. Lincoln, to the music of the Marine Band, for two or three
hours. Mrs. Lincoln also received ladies in the same parlor with
the President.
With the Emancipation Proclamation Washington was treated to a
volume of the published diary of Count Gurowski, who had been
employed as a translator in the Department of State and as a purveyor
of news for Mr. Greeley. His book was one prolonged growl from
beginning to end. Even those whom its author seemed inclined to
worship at the commencement found their share of abuse before they
finished. Introducing the Blairs, of Missouri, with frequent
complimentary allusions in his opening chapters, about the middle
of his work Gurowski packed them off to Hades with the rest, and
left the reader in despair at the prospects of a nation governed
by such a set of imbeciles and rogues as our public men were
represented to be by the amiable Pole. As he assailed everybody,
those who read the book were sure to find the particular object of
their individual dislike soundly rated with the rest.
The author of this production was a singular-looking old man, small
in stature, stout of figure, ugly in feature, and disfigured by a
pair of green goggles. Gurowski was unsparing in his criticisms.
He set down Seward as writing too much; Sumner as a pompous, verbose
talker; Burnside as a swaggering West Pointer, and Hooker as a
casual hero. He became so offensive to Mr. Sumner that one morning,
after listening to a torrent of his abuse, the Senator arose from
his desk, went to the door of his library, opened it, and said to
the astonished Pole, "Go!" In vain were apologies proffered. Mr.
Sumner, thoroughly incensed, simply repeated the word "Go!" and at
last the astute Gurowski went.
The Army of the Potomac, in comfortable quarters on the north bank
of the Rappahannock, received generous contributions of holiday
cheer. The marching hosts of Israel were jubilant over a supply
of quails, but the Army of the Potomac had showered upon it (by
express, paid) a deluge of turkeys, geese, ducks, mince-pies,
pickles, and preserves. Of course, the inexorable provost marshal
seized all spirituous liquors, but there were ways and means by
which this Maine law was evaded. In many a tent there were
cylindrical glass vessels, the contents of which would have been
pronounced whisky were not that fluid "contraband," with many a
quaintly shaped flask of Rhenish wines.
Nor was it forgotten that there was encircling the metropolis a
score of hospitals, in which thousands and thousands who had fought
the good fight were being nursed into health, or lay tossing on
beds of pain, sooner or later to fall into that sleep that knows
no waking. These brave patients were not forgotten. The same
spirit which prompted the wise men of the East to carry at Christmas-
tide present of "gold, frankincense, and myrrh" to the infant Jesus,
"God's best gift to humanity," inspired the Union men and women at
Washington with a desire to gladden the hearts of the maimed and
scarred and emaciated men who had periled their lives that the
Republic might live. Not only did "maidens fair and matrons grave"
toil that the hospital patients might enjoy holiday cheer, but
Senator Sumner and other leading Republicans used to go from hospital
to hospital, from ward to ward, from bedside to bedside, encouraging
by kind words those who were the martyrs of the war. In the Campbell
Hospital, under the charge of Surgeon J. H. Baxter, of Vermont,
there was a theatre, in which performances were given every night
to cheer those who were convalescent.
Henry Wikoff, having admitted before a Committee of the House of
Representatives that he had filed at the telegraph office, for
transmission to the New York _Herald_, portions of the President's
message, he was asked how he obtained it. This he declined to
state, saying that he was "under an obligation of strict secrecy."
The House accordingly directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to hold Wikoff
in close custody, and he was locked up in a room hastily furnished
for his accommodation. It was generally believed that Mrs. Lincoln
had permitted Wikoff to copy those portions of the message that he
had published, and this opinion was confirmed when General Sickles
appeared as his counsel. The General vibrated between Wikoff's
place of imprisonment, the White House, and the residence of Mrs.
Lincoln's gardener, named Watt. The Committee finally summoned
the General before them, and put some home questions to him. He
replied sharply, and for a few minutes a war of words raged. He
narrowly escaped Wikoff's fate, but finally, after consulting
numerous books of evidence, the Committee concluded not to go to
extremities. While the examination was pending, the Sergeant-at-
Arms appeared with Watt. He testified that he saw the message in
the library, and, being of a literary turn of mind, perused it;
that, however, he did not make a copy, but, having a tenacious
memory, carried portions of it in his mind, and the next day repeated
them word for word to Wikoff. Meanwhile, Mr. Lincoln had visited
the Capitol and urged the Republicans on the Committee to spare
him disgrace, so Watt's improbable story was received and Wikoff
was liberated.
President Lincoln, when a Congressman came to bore him for an
appointment or with a grievance, had a pleasant way of telling a
succession of stories, which left his visitor no chance to state
his case. One day, a Representative, who had been thus silenced,
stated from experience as follows: "I've been trying for the last
four days to get an audience with the President. I have gone to
the White House every morning and waited till dark, but could not
get a chance to speak to him until to-day, when I was admitted to
his presence. I told him what I wanted, and supposed I was going
to get a direct answer, when, what do you think? Why, he started
off with, 'Do you know, I heard a good thing yesterday about the
difference between an Amsterdam Dutchman and any other "dam"
Dutchman.' And then he commenced telling his stories. I was mad
enough to knock the old fellow down. But the worst of the whole
thing was that just as he got through with the last story in came
Secretary Seward, who said he must have a private conference with
him immediately. Mr. Lincoln cooly turned to me and said, 'Mr.
----, can you call again?' Bother his impudence, I say, to keep me
listening to his jokes for two hours, and then ask me to call
again!"
President Lincoln was quite ill that winter, and was not inclined
to listen to all the bores who called at the White House. One day,
just as one of these pests had seated himself for a long interview,
the President's physician happened to enter the room, and Mr.
Lincoln said, holding out his hands: "Doctor, what are these
blotches?" "That's varioloid, or mild small-pox," said the Doctor.
"They're all over me. It is contagious, I believe?" said Mr.
Lincoln. "Very contagious, indeed," replied the Esculapian attendant.
"Well, I can't stop, Mr. Lincoln; I just called to see how you
were," said the visitor. "Oh! don't be in a hurry, sir," placidly
remarked the Executive. "Thank you, sir; I'll call again," replied
the visitor, executing a masterly retreat from a fearful contagion.
"Do, sir," said the President. "Some people said they could not
take very well to my proclamation, but now, I am happy to say, I
have something that everybody can take." By this time the visitor
was making a desperate break for Pennsylvania Avenue, which he
reached on the double-quick and quite out of breath.
On the 2d and 3d of May, 1863, General Hooker was most disastrously
defeated at Chancellorsville. Several weeks later, when General
Lee had moved northward into Pennsylvania, exacting contributions
from towns, and destroying manufacturing establishments, and when
the Army of the Potomac had hurried across Maryland to attack him,
General Hooker resigned almost on the eve of the battle of Gettysburg.
General Meade was placed in command, and his gallant conduct on
that occasion gave great satisfaction to President Lincoln, although
he was sadly disappointed that the invaders had not been followed
and annihilated.
Meanwhile General Grant was besieging Vicksburg, which had been
well called "the Gibraltar of the Mississippi," and the people,
who had become heart-sick of military engineering, began to lose
courage. At one time President Lincoln actually determined to
supersede General Grant by General Banks, but the latter, on arriving
at the scene of hostilities, saw that everything had been done that
could be done, and that the end was near at hand. On the 4th of
July, General Pemberton asked for a proposition of terms, and
General Grant replied: "Unconditional surrender."
On the 26th of November, 1863, President Lincoln, accompanied by
his Cabinet, Vice-President Hamlin, the Governors of several States,
and a brilliant staff of officers, attended the dedication of the
National Cemetery at Gettysburg. The address was delivered by
Edward Everett, whose head was whitened with the snows of seventy
winters, but whose form was as erect, his complexion as clear, and
his voice as musical as it was when he had been a Representative
in Congress years before. He had then said that he would buckle
on his knapsack in defense of slavery; now he eulogized those who
had laid down their lives in the work of its destruction. But his
well memorized and finely rounded sentences were eclipsed by
President Lincoln's few words, read in an unmusical treble voice,
and concluding with the sublime assertion, "that the nation shall,
under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that governments of
the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from
the earth."
[Facsimile]
Geo. G. Meade
GEORGE GORDON MEADE, born December 30th, 1815, at Cadiz, Spain,
where his father was located in the United States service; graduated
at West Point in 1835; entered the artillery service and was engaged
in the Seminole and Mexican Wars, and in August 1861, was made
Brigadier-General of Volunteers; Major-General, 1862; Commander-in-
Chief of the Army of the Potomac, June 28th, 1863; won the Battle
of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863; continued to command the Army of
the Potomac until the close of the war. Died at Philadelphia,
November 6th, 1872.