Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 2 (of 2)Herndon, William Henry
History
Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 2 (of 2)
Herndon, William Henry
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
* He said that one day, as he was passing down Pennsylvania
avenue, a man came running after him, hailed him, and thrust
a bundle of papers in his hands. It angered him not a
little, and he pitched the papers back, saying, "I'm not
going to open shop here."
He said that, if the Government passed through the Rebellion without
dismemberment, there was the strongest danger of its falling a prey
to the rapacity of the office-seeking class. "This human struggle and
scramble for office," were his words, "for a way to live without work,
will finally test the strength of our institutions." A good part of the
day during my stay I would spend with him in his office or waiting-room.
I saw the endless line of callers, and met the scores of dignitaries
one usually meets at the White House, even now; but nothing took place
worthy of special mention here. One day Horace Maynard and Andrew
Johnson, both senators from Tennessee, came in arm-in-arm. They declined
to sit down, but at once set to work to discuss with the President his
recent action in some case in which they were interested. Maynard seemed
very earnest in what he said. "Beware, Mr. President," he said, "and
do not go too fast. There is danger ahead," "I know that," responded
Lincoln, good-naturedly, "but I shall go just so fast and only so fast
as I think I'm right and the people are ready for the step." Hardly
half-a-dozen words followed, when the pair wheeled around and walked
away. The day following I left Washington for home. I separated from Mr.
Lincoln at the White House. He followed me to the rear portico, where I
entered the carriage to ride to the railroad depot. He grasped me warmly
by the hand and bade me a fervent "Good-bye." It was the last time I
ever saw him alive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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