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"Mr. General,' he replied, 'there are already too many weeping widows in the United States. For God's sake, don't ask me to add to the number, for I won't do it.""

As Dr. Holland intimates, President Lincoln was deeply impressed by deeds of daring, and he never lost sight of officer or private who distinguished himself in raid or battle. At a time when he was very much depressed in consequence of defeats, instead of victories, to the national arms, the news of successes in the Department of the West was brought to him. The battle of Chickamauga had been fought, and the bravery and exploits of General Garfield were rehearsed to him, such as his daring ride from General Rosecrans to General Thomas, and bringing supplies up the Big Sandy to his hungry soldiers.

"How is it," inquired Mr. Lincoln of an army officer who was present at the time, "that Garfield did in two weeks what would have taken one of your regular officers two months to accomplish?"

"Because he was not educated at West Point, as I was," replied the officer, laughingly, thinking the President designed to slur West Point graduates.

"No, that was not the reason," retorted Mr. Lincoln. "It was because, when he was a boy, he had to work for a living."

He made Garfield a major-general for his courage, tact, and efficiency; and when, a few months later, Ohio proposed to transfer him to Congress, and Garfield objected, the President said :

"By all means, send him here. We need just such a man of military experience and skill in Congress."

He was often moved by the tales of sacrifice on the part of parents, wives, and sisters. He seemed to enter really into the feelings of patriotic mothers and wives,

who cheerfully parted with their dear ones for the sake of their country. He was told of a mother in Boston who had lost five sons in battle, and he immediately sat down and wrote the following letter to her :

"EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Nov. 21st, 1864. "DEAR MADAM,-I have been shown, in the files of the War Department, a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons, who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save, I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

"Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

"ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

"To Mrs. BIXBY, Boston, Massachusetts."

His deep interest in the Union army caused him to hail every organization in behalf of the sick and wounded soldiers. The Sanitary Commission, the Christian Commission, and all soldiers' aid societies, won his heart. Any measure or enterprise that would carry comfort to the "boys" commanded his undivided support. In a speech at the close of a very successful fair in Washington, for the benefit of soldiers, he said :

"In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former wars; and among these manifestations nothing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering soldiers and their families, And the chief agents in these fairs are the

women of America. I am not accustomed to the use of the language of eulogy; I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that, if all that has been said by orators and poets, since the creation of the world, in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of America ! "

He was invited to preside at a meeting of the Christian Commission in Washington, but a pressure. of duties prevented even his attendance. He wrote, however, to the chairman of the committee:

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While, for reasons which I deem sufficient, I must decline to preside, I cannot withhold my approval of the meeting, and its worthy objects. Whatever shall be, sincerely and in God's name, devised for the good of the soldiers and seamen in their hard spheres of duty, can scarcely fail to be blessed. And whatever shall turn our thoughts from the unreasoning and uncharitable passions, prejudices, and jealousies incident to a great national trouble such as ours, and serve to fix them on the vast and long-enduring consequences, for weal or for woe, which are to result from the trouble, and especially to strengthen our reliance on the Supreme Being for the final triumph of the right, cannot but be well for us all."

These earnest words voice not only his abiding interest in the loyal army, but also his equally abiding confidence that God would give final victory to the right.

For the purpose of emphasizing his sympathy with the boys at the front, he attended soldiers' fairs in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Three years before he was obliged to pass through the former city in disguise to escape assassination. In its streets the Massachusetts Sixth had met with a bloody reception, on its way to protect Washington, and left some of its heroic members

dead. The city was then a hot-bed of treason.

But a great change had been wrought there, and the chief attraction of the Soldiers' Fair was the presence of Mr. Lincoln. Alluding to the remarkable change that had been wrought he said, in his address,

"Calling to mind that we are in Baltimore, we cannot fail to note that the world moves. Looking upon the many people I see assembled here to serve as they best may the soldiers of the Union, it occurs to me that three years ago those soldiers could not pass through Baltimore. I would say, blessings upon the men who have wrought these changes, and the women who have assisted them!"

In both these places he spoke of the loyalty and sufferings of the "boys" with fatherly tenderness, and eulogized the women of the land for their self-denying and philanthropic labours in their behalf.

The proceeds of the Fair at Philadelphia amounted to one million three hundred thousand dollars, a result over which the President became enthusiastic. When he was told that the fairs in eleven cities netted nearly FIVE MILLION DOLLARS he exclaimed :

"Was there ever such a country for patriotism and liberality? How much suffering will be prevented among the brave boys!"

When he was told that the Sanitary Commission, within ten days after the terrible battle of Antietam, sent 28,763 pieces of dry goods, shirts, towels, bed-ticks, pillows, etc.; 30 barrels of old linen, bandages, and lint; 3,188 pounds of farina; 2,620 pounds of condensed milk; 5,000 pounds of beef-stock and canned meats; several tons of lemons and other fruit, crackers, tea, sugar, rubber-cloth, tin-cups, and 4,000 sets of hospital clothing; all of which was tenderly distributed among the wounded by the scores of volunteer agents of the

Christian Commission, language was not an ample vehicle to convey his overflowing gratitude; his unbidden tears told how full of joy his heart was.

We have said that Mr. Lincoln was opposed to the war-rule of retaliation; but the suffering of our soldiers in Libby Prison, at Andersonville, Belle Isle, and at other points in the South, caused him to modify his views, and declare for retaliation, at least, under certain circumstances.

The investigation of the Congressional Committee on the "Conduct of the War," confirmed the most harrowing reports from rebel prisons, over which Mr. Lincoln's heart bled, and his indignation was aroused. Speaker Colfax said of him, "I doubt if his most intimate associate ever heard him utter bitter or vindictive language. He seemed wholly free from malignity or revenge, from ill-will or injustice." But the barbarous treatment of his "boys," who were prisoners in Southern stockades, came very near, upsetting his famous motto, "With malice towards none; with charity for all." He could endure censure and even insult, and "attacked ever so sharply, never answered railing for railing," but his whole soul was stirred over the treatment of Union soldiers by their captors.

The letter of Surgeon Chapel, who had charge of the "West's Buildings Hospital," Baltimore, to which many of our soldiers were sent, on returning from Southern prisons, caused him to weep, as if the sufferers were members of his own family. The letter was addressed to the Chairman of the Congressional Committee, and was as follows:

"DEAR SIR, I have the honour to enclose the photograph of John Breiring, with the desired information written upon it. I am very sorry your committee could not have seen these cases when first received. No one, from these pictures, can form a

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