""Madam, have you been to see the Post Surgeon at Alexandria about this matter?"
""Yes sir; but we could do nothing with him."
""Well, we put him there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose that he knows better what should be done under the circ.u.mstances than I do. See here; you say you live in Alexandria; probably you own property there. How much will you give to a.s.sist in building a hospital?"
""You know, Mr. Lincoln, our property is very much embara.s.sed by the war;--so, really, I could hardly afford to give much for such a purpose."
""Well, madam, I expect we shall have another fight soon; and my opinion is, G.o.d wants that church for poor wounded Union soldiers as much as he does for secesh people to worship in." Turning to his table he said, quite abruptly: "You will excuse me; I can do nothing for you. Good day, madam.""
A DOUBTFUL ABUTMENT.
In Abbott"s "History of the Civil War," the following story is told as one of Lincoln"s "hardest hits:"
"I once knew," said Lincoln, "a sound churchman by the name of Brown, who was a member of a very sober and pious committee having in charge the erection of a bridge over a dangerous and rapid river. Several architects failed, and at last Brown said he had a friend named Jones, who had built several bridges and undoubtedly could build that one. So Mr. Jones was called in.
""Can you build this bridge?" inquired the committee.
""Yes," replied Jones, "or any other. I could build a bridge to the infernal regions if necessary!"
"The committee was shocked, and Brown felt called upon to defend his friend. "I know Jones so well," said he, "and he is so honest a man and so good an architect, that if he states soberly and positively that he can build a bridge to--to--why, I believe it; but I feel bound to say that I have my doubts about the abutment on the infernal side."
"So," said Mr. Lincoln, "when politicians told me that the northern and southern wings of the Democracy could be harmonized, why, I believed them, of course; but I always had my doubts about the "abutment" on the other side."
SIGNING EMANc.i.p.aTION PROCLAMATION.
"The Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln at noon on the first day of January, 1863, by Secretary Seward and Frederick, his son.
As it lay unrolled before him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held it for a moment, and then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little hesitation he again took up the pen and went through the same movement as before. Mr.
Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward, and said:
""I have been shaking hands since nine o"clock this morning, and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who examine the doc.u.ment hereafter will say, "He hesitated."
"He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, slowly and firmly wrote "Abraham Lincoln," with which the whole world is now familiar. He then looked up, smiled and said: "That will do.""
MR. LINCOLN"S ENDURANCE.
"On the Monday before the a.s.sa.s.sination, when the President was on his return from Richmond, he stopped at City Point. Calling upon the head surgeon at that place, Mr. Lincoln told him he wished to visit all the hospitals under his charge, and shake hands with every soldier. The surgeon asked him if he knew what he was undertaking, there being five or six thousand soldiers at that place, and it would be quite a tax upon his strength to visit all the wards and shake hands with every soldier.
Mr. Lincoln answered, with a smile, he "guessed he was equal to the task; at any rate he would try, and go as far as he could; he should never, probably, see the boys again, and he wanted them to know that he appreciated what they had done for their country."
"Finding it useless to try to dissuade him, the surgeon began his rounds with the President, who walked from bed to bed, extending his hand to all, saying a few words of sympathy to some, making kind inquiries of others, and welcomed by all with the heartiest cordiality.
"As they pa.s.sed along they came to a ward in which lay a rebel who had been wounded and was then a prisoner. As the tall figure of the kindly visitor appeared in sight, he was recognized by the rebel soldier who, raising himself on his elbow in bed, watched Mr. Lincoln as he approached and, extending his hand, exclaimed while tears ran down his cheeks:
""Mr. Lincoln, I have long wanted to see you, to ask your forgiveness for ever raising my hand against the old flag."
"Mr. Lincoln was moved to tears. He heartily shook the hand of the repentant rebel, and a.s.sured him of his good-will, and with a few words of kind advice pa.s.sed on. After some hours the tour of the various hospitals was made, and Mr. Lincoln returned with the surgeon to his office. They had scarcely entered, however, when a messenger boy came, saying that one ward had been omitted, and "the boys" wanted to see the President. The surgeon who was thoroughly tired and knew Mr. Lincoln must be, tried to dissuade him from going; but the good man said he must go back; he would not knowingly omit any one; "the boys" would be so disappointed. So he went with the messenger, accompanied by the surgeon, and shook hands with the gratified soldiers, and then returned again to his office.
"The surgeon expressed the fear that the President"s arm would be lamed with so much hand-shaking, saying that it certainly must ache. Mr.
Lincoln smiled, and saying something about his "strong muscles," stepped out at the open door, took up a very large, heavy axe which lay there by a log of wood, and chopped vigorously for a few moments, sending the chips flying in all directions; and then pausing, he extended his right arm to its full length, holding the axe out horizontally, without its even quivering as he held it. Strong men who looked on--men accustomed to manual labor--could not hold that same axe in that position for a moment. Returning to the office, he took a gla.s.s of lemonade, for he would take no stronger beverage; and while he was within, the chips he had chopped were gathered up and safely cared for by the hospital steward, because they were "the chips that Abraham Lincoln chopped.""
GENERAL FISK"S SWEARING STORY.
"General Fisk, attending the reception at the White House, on one occasion saw, waiting in the ante-room, a poor old man from Tennessee.
Sitting down beside him, he inquired his errand, and learned that he had been waiting three or four days to get an audience, he said that on seeing Mr. Lincoln probably depended the life of his son, who was under sentence of death for some military offense.
"General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card, and sent it in, with a special request that the President would see the man. In a moment the order came; and past senators, governors and generals, waiting impatiently, the old man went into the President"s presence.
"He showed Mr. Lincoln his papers, and he, on taking them, said he would look into the case and give him the result on the following day.
""To-morrow may be too late! My son is under sentence of death! The decision ought to be made now!" and the streaming tears told how much he was moved.
""Come," said Mr. Lincoln, "wait a bit, and I"ll tell you a story;" and then he told the old man General Fisk"s story about the swearing driver, as follows:
""The General had begun his military life as a Colonel, and, as he was a religious man, he proposed to his men that he should do all the swearing of the regiment. They a.s.sented; and for months no instance was known of the violation of this promise. The Colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were not always the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper and his tongue. John happened to be driving a mule-team through a series of mud holes a little worse than usual, when, unable to restrain himself any longer, he burst forth into a volley of energetic oaths. The Colonel took notice of the offense, and brought John to an account."
""John," said he, "didn"t you promise to let me do all the swearing of the regiment?"
""Yes I did, Colonel," he replied, "but the fact was the swearing had to be done then or not at all, and you were not there to do it."
"As he told the story, the old man forgot his boy, and both the President and his listener had a hearty laugh together at its conclusion. Then he wrote a few words which the old man read, and in which he found new occasion for tears; but these tears were tears of joy, for the words saved the life of his son."
GETTING RID OF A BORE.
President Lincoln was quite ill one winter at Washington, 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 those blotches?" "That"s variloid, or mild small-pox," said the doctor. "They"re all over me. It is contagious, I believe?" said 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, making towards the door. "Do sir," said the President. "Some people said they could not take very well to my proclamation, but now I have something everybody can take." By this time the visitor was quite out of sight.
LITTLE INFLUENCE WITH ADMINISTRATION.