The life and public services of Abraham Lincoln ... together with his state papers, including his speeches, addresses, messages, letters, and proclamations, and the closing scenes connected with his life and death. By Henry J. Raymond. To which are added anecdotes and personal reminiscences of President Lincoln, by Frank B. Carpenter.

STATE PAPERS OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

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argument. Slowly. and carefully he reviewed the testimony, pointing out
the hitherto unobserved discrepancies in the statements of the principal
witness. That which had seemed plain and plausible he made to appear
crooked as a serpent's path. The witness had stated that the affair took
place at a certain hour in the evening, and that, by the aid of the brightly
shining moon, he saw the prisoner inflict the death-blow with the slungshot. Mr. Lincoln showed that at the hour referred to the moon had not
yet appeared above the horizon, and consequently the whole tale was a
fabrication.
An almost instantaneous change seemed to have been wrought in the
minds of his auditors, and the verdict of "not guilty" was at the end of
every tongue. But the advocate was not content with this intellectual
achievement. His whole being had for months been bound up in this
work of gratitude and mercy, and as the lava of the over charged crater
bursts from its imprisonment, so great thoughts and burning words leaped
forth from the soul of the eloquent Lincoln. He drew a picture of the
perjurer so horrid and ghastly, that the accuser could sit under it no
longer, but reeled and staggered fiom the court-room, whilst the audience
fancied they could see the brand upon his brow. Then in words of thrilling pathos Lincoln appealed to the jurors as fathers of some who might
become fatherless, and as husbands of wives who might be widowed, to
yield to no previous impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, but to do his
client justice; and as he alluded to the debt of gratitude which he owed
the boy's sire, tears were seen to fall from many eyes unused to weep.
It was near night when he concluded, by saying that if justice was
done-as he believed it would be-before the sun should set, it would
shine upon his client a free man. The jury retired, and the court adjourned for the day. Half an hour had not elapsed, when, as the officers
of the court and the volunteer attorney sat at the tea-table of their hotel,
a messenger announced that the jury had returned to their seats. All
repaired immediately to the court-house, and whilst the prisoner was
being brought from the jail, the court-room was filled to overflowing with
citizens from the town. When the prisoner and his mother entered,
silence reigned as completely as though the house were empty. The foreman of the jury, in answer to the usual inquiry from the court, delivered
the verdict of "Not Guilty I" The widow dropped into the arms of her
son, who lifted her up and told her to look upon him as before, free and
innocent. Then, with the words, "Where is Mr. Lincoln?" he rushed
across the room and grasped the hand of his deliverer, whilst his heart
was too full for utterance. Lincoln turned his eyes toward the West,
where the sun still lingered in view, and then, turning to the youth, said:
" It is not yet sundown and you are free." I confess that my cheeks were
not wholly unwet by tears, and I turned from the affecting scene. As I
cast a glance behind, I saw Abraham Lincoln obeying the Divine injuncticn by comforting the widowed and fatherless.