who were supposed to have precedence in calling upon the President. Nevertheless, I requested him to give the President the card which indicated that I had dispatches from Sherman's army. "The messenger returned within a few minutes and invited me in. First, we entered a room occupied by the President's secretaries, and there I saw one or two senators in waiting, and passing through this room I was ushered into a smaller room, where I saw President Lincoln standing at a glass shaving himself. He paused a moment, came to me with a droll look, heightened no doubt by the half-lathered, half-shaved face, gave me his hand, and asked me to take a seat on the sofa, saying, as he returned to the mirror: "I could not even wait till I had finished shaving when an officer from Sherman's army has come.' "Of course the youthful staff-officer was somewhat abashed in coming into the presence of the President of the United States, his Commander-in-chief, and the now world-renowned Abraham Lincoln. But the President's frank and cordial manner when, on the completion of his toilet, he came and took the right hand of his visitor between both of his large hands and then sat down beside him on the sofa immediately put him at his ease. "Naturally, the President had many questions to ask concerning the 'March to the Sea.' It was apparent he had been very anxious, as no doubt had the entire North, during the thirty days or more when nothing was heard from the vanished army. He was interested to know in detail of the daily operations. Actually, the first word indicating the approach to the coast came by a small scouting party sent down the Ogeechee River by Major-General Howard, commanding Sherman's right wing. An officer and two scouts had made their way in a dug-out down the river, moving by night and resting by day, past the Rebel pickets, past Fort McAlister-then armed with heavy guns, and fully manned-out into the open bay, and had communicated with the naval blockading fleet, and the admiral had sent General Howard's dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy at Washington. This news was not only the first to advise President Lincoln of the safety and success of Sherman's army, but had been flashed over the country, bringing good cheer to 65,000 homes which had representatives in that army." TAD'S REBEL FLAG. ONE of the prettiest incidents in the closing days of the Civil War occurred when the troops, "marching home again," passed, in grand form, if with well-worn uniforms and tattered bunting, before the White House, in Washington City. Naturally, an immense crowd had assembled on the streets, the lawns, porches, balconies, and windows, even those of the Executive mansion itself being crowded to excess. A central figure was that of the President, Abraham Lincoln, who, with bared head, unfurled and waved our Nation's flag in the midst of lusty cheers. Suddenly there was an unexpected sight. A small boy leaned forward, and sent streaming to the air the banner of the boys in gray. It was an old flag which had been captured from the Confederates, and which the urchin, the President's second son, Tad, had obtained possession of, and considered an additional token of triumph to unfurl on this all-important day. Vainly did the servant who had followed him to the window plead with him to desist. No. No. Master Tad, the pet of the White House, was not to be prevented from adding to the loyal demonstration of the hour. To his sur prise, however, the crowd viewed it differently. Had it floated from any other window in the capital that day, no doubt it would have been the target of contempt and abuse; but when the President, understanding what had happened, turned, with a smile on his grand, plain face, and showed his approval by a gesture and expression, cheer after cheer rent the air. It was, surely enough, the expression of peace and goodwill which, of all our commanders, none was better pleased to promote than the Commander-in-chief. A WOODCHOPPER'S SON. "TAD" LINCOLN was his father's idol and constant companion. Scarcely a day but he could be seen trudging along the country roads near their summer home, or in the city itself, his small figure in comical contrast to the President's tall, lank form. In these walks they had chats which were to the boy as precious memories. An incident, which Tad himself related, occurred a day or two after his entering, temporarily, a foreign school. A rather snobbish young gentleman of rank, not knowing who young Lincoln was, inquired, as boys will of each other, who his father was. Tad, with the slow, reflective smile which was his sole point of resem And blance to his father, answered: "A woodchopper." "O, indeed!" was the rather sneering answer. for a day or two the high-born lad turned the coldshoulder to the "new boy." Very soon the American lad's prestige became known to all the school, and he found that he had made himself ridiculous. LAST PUBLIC UTTERANCE. MR. LINCOLN's last public utterance was addressed to Schuyler Colfax, April 14, 1865: "I want you to take a message from me to the miners whom you visit. Tell the miners for me that I shall promote their interests to the utmost of my ability, because their prosperity is the prosperity of the Nation; and we shall prove, in a very few years, that we are indeed the treasury of the world." MY CAPTAIN. O CAPTAIN! my captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weathered every rock, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But, O heart! heart! heart! Leave you not the little spot, Where on the deck my captain lies, O captain! my captain! rise up and hear the bells; a-crowding; For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning: O captain! dear father; This arm I push beneath you; It is some dream that on the deck You've fallen cold and dead. My captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; and done; From fearful trip, the victor ship comes in with object won. Exult, O shore, and ring, O bells! 215 But I, with silent tread, Walk the spot my captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. -WALT WHITMAN, on the Death of Lincoln. |