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BRAHAM LINCOLN is one of the most com

manding figures in history. That his elevation to the Presidency was at first viewed with aversion by a large and influential body of his countrymen there can be no question. But events vindicated the wisdom of the choice. The world has confirmed and history has recorded it. When he died it was as a conqueror. Like Wolfe, at Quebec, Abraham Lincoln expired in the arms of victory.

SaverAdams Drake

MELROSE, 1882.

FOR

OR the fame of Lincoln it is only necessary to say that he was contemporary with the permanent establishment of human freedom in the United States, and identified with its final accomplishment.

Кита

ando Hooy

NEW YORK, 1880.

DAVID D. PORTER.

399

T would be a difficult matter for any one to give a proper idea of Abraham Lincoln and his services during the years he was engaged in the most stupendous labor that has perhaps fallen to the lot of a statesman. He can be better judged by his works than by anything I could say. I was intimately associated with Mr. Lincoln during a period of two or three weeks when the war of the rebellion was drawing to a close, and my remembrance of him is of a man whose mind was oppressed with care and whose body was almost broken down with the magnitude of his labors; whose days and nights were passed in sleepless anxiety for the preservation and welfare of the Union. I knew nothing, personally, of Mr. Lincoln's trials in the Cabinet, where I am sure he had much to contend with, or of the dissensions with politicians who, amid the ruins of their country, were working for their own aggrandizement. I only knew the President as an honest, faithful worker in his country's cause, who did the best he could to bring the war to a speedy close, while at the same time he showed a determined spirit to yield nothing that would militate against the Republic of which he was the head. Although painted by his enemies in the blackest colors, President Lincoln had a heart capable of the greatest sympathy and the keenest emotions for the carnage and destruction he saw going on in every direction, and if necessary he would have sacrificed his life to avert these horrors. If Mr. Lincoln had never done more than the one act of abolishing slavery and wiping out that blot on our civilization, it would have been enough to immortalize him;

but if his biography is publicly written when prejudices are laid aside, so that the man can be seen in his greatness and integrity, no nobler character will adorn the pages of American history. The last days of President Lincoln's life, except the two final ones, were passed in my company and mostly on board my flag-ship, and I take great satisfaction in the knowledge that he considered them the happiest days of his administration. He came to City Point, unaccompanied by any of his Cabinet, to witness what he knew was about to take place in the downfall of the Confederate stronghold. He was anxious for peace and was willing to extend the most liberal terms to those who had made war upon us. I kept from the President all those who would have annoyed him or disturbed the tranquillity he enjoyed on ship-board, and I think he was grateful for my consideration. It would take a large volume to contain a true story of Lincoln's administration. He was the central figure in the Cabinet, and without him it would have been nothing. He was the opposing power against political schemers who wished to put this or that general at the head of our armies, and when left to his own judgment he always selected the right man. Take him altogether, Abraham Lincoln was one of the most remarkable men this country has produced, and will be revered in the future more than any other President except Washington. The two names will go down together to posterity.

Dann Porte

WASHINGTON.

NAVY GROUP OF STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT.

Representing a scene on the deck of a ship of war. The mortar is properly poised, the gunner has rolled up a shell ready to be elevated into the mortar, the boy, whose duty it is to carry cartridges to the piece, and who in nautical phrase is called the powder monkey, has elevated himself to the bighest position. The two latter believing they are about to enter upon an engagement, are peering into the distance with manifest indications of excitement. The Commander, however, having taken an observation through his telescope, finds there is no cause to apprehend danger, and is calmly meditating.