Before beginning this story Lincoln had been deeply depressed. When it was finished he laughed as heartily as did his auditor, and seemed instantly to recover his wonted spirits. "Pardon me, Mr. President," said the Governor, prompted by this change of mood, "but is not this story-telling habit of yours a sort of safety valve for you?" "You have hit it, Curtin," was the quick reply. "If I could not tell these stories I think I should die." [Illustration: 018] |Plate Number Eighteen--This cartoon, published in _Harper's Weekly_, on January 10, 1863, also reflects the resentment provoked by the Fredericksburg fiasco, for which General Halleck and Secretary Stanton were at first held responsible in the popular mind. Lincoln is shown holding these officials over the side of the Ship of State. "Universal Advice to Abraham--Drop'Em," was the significant legend appended to this cartoon. [Illustration: 019] |Plate Number Nineteen--This cartoon, "Scene from the American Tempest," published in _Punch_, on January 24, 1863, was prompted by the final Proclamation of Emancipation, issued on the first day of that year. The President, clad in the uniform of a Union soldier, hands a copy of his proclamation to a grinning negro, who points to a glowering Confederate in his rear and says: "You beat him'nough, Massa! Berry little time, I'll beat him too." [Illustration: 020] |Plate Number Twenty--This cartoon, without title, was published in _Harper's Weekly_, on May 16, 1863. It deals with the underlying cause of England's unfriendly attitude toward the Union--the sudden shutting off of the supply of raw material for her cotton mills. Lincoln leans on a cannon and confronts John Bull in plaintive mood. "Hi want my cotton bought at fi'pence a pound," pleads the Briton. "Don't know anything about it, my dear sir," is the curt reply. "Your friends the rebels are burning all the cotton they find, and I confiscate the rest. Good morning, John." [Illustration: 021] |Plate Number Twenty-one--This cartoon, "Right at last," was published in _Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper_, on June 13, 1863. Grant was still hammering at the defences of Vicksburg, with the outcome of his campaign in doubt, and the people of the North impatient and distrustful. The editor of the _Tribune_ was especially earnest and insistent in the demand that his work should be given into other hands. The President, who holds in his hand a broom bearing Grant's name, is made to say: "Greeley be hanged! I want no more new brooms. I begin to think that the worst thing about my old ones was in not being handled right." [Illustration: 022]