was his reply to a deputation of colored people at Baltimore who presented him a Bible. He said: "In regard to the Great Book I have only to say it is the best gift which God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book. But for this Book we could not know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained in it." Other expressions could be given to show the deep religious character of Mr. Lincoln. We refer to only three. One was the noble reply to the remark of a clergyman that he hoped "the Lord was on our side." "I am not concerned about that," replied Lincoln, "for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this Nation should be on the Lord's side." The second was the sentence in his reply to the deputation from the Methodist General Conference of 1864: "God bless the Methodist Churchbless all the Churches-and blessed be God who, in this our great trial, giveth us the Churches." The last was his second inaugural, than which a more sublime speech, or one containing more of the spirit of Christ and his gospel, was never uttered by emperor, king, or ruler, if indeed there be any which can compare with it. No unbeliever could have written it.

"MR.

LINCOLN AND HIS FAMILY.

R. LINCOLN," says Noah Brooks, one of his secretaries, in his "Life of Lincoln," "cared little for the pleasures of the table, and seldom partook of any but the plainest and simplest food, even when a more elaborate repast than usual was spread upon the board. Wine was set on the table when those who used it were guests; but Lincoln only maintained the form of touching it. When engrossed with the cares of his office, which was almost habitually, he ate irregularly, and the family were accustomed to see him come to the table or stay away as it suited his convenience. Even when his anxious wife had sent to his Cabinet, where he was engaged, a tray of food, he was often too busy or too abstracted to touch it. And when Mrs. Lincoln was away from home, as sometimes happened, he neglected his meals altogether, or, as he expressed it, 'browsed around,' eating when his hunger moved, when and how he could most conveniently. His youngest son-Tad,' as he was called-could bring him out of his working or meditative moods more readily than any other

member of the family. When the Lincolns entered the White House in 1861, there were three sons and no other children. The eldest was Robert, eighteen years old; Willie, a little more than ten; and Thomas, or 'Tad,' then nearly eight years old. This little fellow celebrated his eighth birthday in the White House, April 4, 1863. Robert was a student in Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., when his father became President, and he entered Harvard University soon after that time. He was graduated subsequently, studied law, and was appointed Secretary of War several years after his father's death, serving under President Garfield and President Arthur.

"Willie, the second son, died in February, 1862, during the darkest and most gloomy time of the long and oppressive era of the war. Possibly this calamity made Lincoln less strict with his youngest boy than he should have been. He found it wellnigh impossible to deny Tad anything. But the little fellow, always a hearty, happy, and lovable boy, did not abuse his privileges. He roamed the White House at will, a tricksy and restless spirit, as well known to habitual visitors as the President himself. Innumerable stories might be told of the child's native wit, his courage, his adventurousness, and his passionate devotion to his father. He invaded Cabinet councils with his boyish grief or tales

of adventure, climbed on his father's lap when the President was engaged with affairs of state, and doubtless diverted and soothed the troubled mind of the President, who loved his boy with a certain tenderness that was inexpressible. It was Tad, the mercurial and irrepressible boy of the White House, on friendly terms with the great and the lowly, who gave to the Executive mansion almost the only joyous note that echoed through its corridors and stately drawing-rooms in those troublous times. The boy survived his father, dying at the age of eighteen years, after the family had left Washington.

"The President and Mrs. Lincoln usually addressed each other in the old-fashioned manner as 'Father' and 'Mother,' and it was very seldom that Mrs. Lincoln spoke of her husband as 'the President.' And Lincoln, on his part, never, if he could avoid it, spoke of himself as President. If he had occasion to refer to his high office he spoke of it as 'this place.' When the occasion required, however, his native dignity asserted itself, and a certain simple and yet influential grandeur was manifested in his deportment and demeanor. One soon forgot in his immediate presence the native ungainliness of his figure, and felt that he was in the personal atmosphere of one of the world's great men. Although Lincoln was genial and free in his

manner, even with strangers, there was something in his bearing that forbade familiarity. Much has been said about his disregard for dress and personal appearance, but much of this is erroneous. He was neat in his person, scrupulously so, and his garb was that of a gentleman always. If, in the seclusion of his home, he was called out late at night to hear an important message, or decide instantly an affair of great moment, he did not wait to array himself; something was excused to his preoccupation and anxiety."