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.

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THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

wllich held the woe of Lear and the tragedy of Hamlet would have
troken, had it not also had the humor oftlhe Merry Wives of Windsor
and the merriment of the Midsummer Night's Dream." This is.s
true of Mr. Lincoln as it was of Shakspeare. The capacity to tell
and enjoy a good anecdote no doubt prolonged his life. I have often
heard this asserted by one of his most intimate friends. And the
public impression of his fecundity in this respect was not exaggerated.
Mr. Beeclier once observed to me of his own wealth of illustration, that
lie " thought in figures," or, in other words, that an argument habitually took on that form in his mind. This was pre-leninently true of
Mr. Lincoln. The " points" of his argument were driven home in this
way as they could be in no other. In the social circle chis characteristic had full play. I never knew him to sit down with a friend for a
five minutes' chat, without being "reminded" of one or more incidents about somebody alluded to in the course of the conversation.
In a corner of his desk he kept a copy of the latest humorous work;
and it was frequently his habit, when greatly fatigued, annoyed, or
depressed, to take this up and read a chapter, with great relief
The Saturday evening before he left Washington to go to the.front,
just,previous to the capture of Riclllond, I was with him from seven
o'clock till nearly twelve. It had been one of his most trying days.
The pressure of office-seekers was greater at this juncture than I ever
knew it to be, and he was almost worn out. Among the callers that
evening was a party composed of two senators, a representative, an
ex-lieutenant-(rovernor of a Western State, and several private citizens.
'They had business of great importance, involving the necessity of the
President's examination of voluminous documents. Pushing every
thing aside, he said to one of the party, "Have you seen the Nasby
papers?" "No, I have not," was the answer; "who is Nasby?"
"There is a chap out in Ohio," returned the President, " who has been
writing a series of letters in the newspapers over the signature of Petroleum V. Nasby. Some one sent me a pamphlet collection of them
the other day. I am going to write to 'Petroleum' to come down
here, and I intend to tell him if he will communicate his talent to me,
I will swap places with him!" Thereupon he arose, went to a drawer
in his desk, and, taking out the "Letters," sat down and read one
to the company, finding in their enjoyment of it the temporary excitement and relief which another man would have found in a glass
of wine. The instant he had ceased, the book was thrown aside, his
countenance relapsed into its habitual serious expression, and the business was entered upon with the utmost earnestness.