under the influence of liquor, but I never learned of his being at any other time as nearly maudlin drunk as upon that occasion. For some weeks preceding that day Mr. Johnson had been ill with ague at his home in Tennessee and was weak and nervous when he arrived at the Vice-President's room in the Capitol building for his induction into office. Stating his condition to the retiring Vice-President, Hannibal Hamlin, he asked for a glass of brandy, which Mr. Hamlin by sending out secured. According to Mr. Hamlin's statement, Mr. Johnson drank about one-third of the brandy at once, and a little later a like amount, and finally took the remainder in the glass as they passed out of the room to the senate chamber. A considerable amount of time was occupied by the proceedings in the senate before the oath of office was administered to the newly elected Vice-President, and when Mr. Johnson arose to speak he was thoroughly befuddled; and instead of giving the able and dignified address he was rightfully expected to deliver he compelled that large assembly of the world's able and distinguished representatives to listen for an extended period to his senseless and incoherent gibberish. It was an unspeakably pitiful and humiliating spectacle. Mr. Johnson had risen from ignorance, poverty and obscurity by his own heroic and persistent efforts until he had attained nation-wide distinction, and had been chosen by his loyal countrymen to the second office in the nation. He had stood heroically for right and honor and had courageously denounced treason and rebellion with unsparing severity and effectiveness. And on that fateful 4th of March he stood triumphant at the zenith of his highest known aspirations, enshrined in the affections of the nation and with every prospect of a distinguished future career. But from that eminence he fell; fell ignobly, fell by his own folly never again to rise to the heights of esteem and honor upon which he stood when he walked into that senate chamber which for years had been the arena of his contests with the forces of disloyalty. He fell just as he had reached the high

station from which he was destined very soon to pass into the most exalted position of authority in the world, as successor to Abraham Lincoln in the office of chief magistrate of the United States. And in falling he lost the popular esteem and confidence which would have been of priceless value in aiding him successfully to meet the requirements of that position. He fell because he voluntarily invited that disaster.

A little boy when told that he had fallen out of bed because he had lain too near where he got in, promptly replied, "No, I fell out of bed because I laid too near where I fell out." Andrew Johnson fell because he walked too near the precipice over which he made that headlong plunge. He was not drunk because he was a habitual drunkard, for that he was not; but because he was a habitual "moderate drinker." Had he been a total abstainer, as was Abraham Lincoln, and as was his noble and worthy predecessor, Hannibal Hamlin, the nation would not have been humiliated in the eyes of the world as it never had been before by the unseemly and illtimed exhibition of ignoble weakness on the part of one of its most distinguished representatives.

So exasperated was President Lincoln by the incident that as he was passing out of the senate chamber he said to those in charge of the inaugural proceedings: "Do not permit Johnson to speak a word during the exercises that are now to follow."

One feature of that inauguration which afforded Mr. Lincoln special delight was the large attendance of colored people, and the presence of a company of colored soldiers as a military guard. Nothing of the kind had ever before occurred, and it was at that time especially suitable because it was not only, as already stated, the first Presidential inauguration beneath the great bronze statue of the Goddess of Liberty, but it was also the first Presidential inauguration of the nation free from slavery.

During the afternoon of that day I saw groups of people

at several widely separated points in the city all gazing toward the heavens, and at length I, too, paused and looked, and to my unspeakable surprise I saw a bright and beautiful star shining with undimmed splendor in close proximity to the unclouded king of day. It was about three o'clock, and the star was at the point which the sun had seemed to occupy about one hour before. I have never heard of any scientific explanation of this strange phenomenon, but I could not refrain from regarding it, as did many others who saw it, as an omen of good. It has been stated that President Lincoln and his attendants saw the star as they were returning from the Capitol to the White House, and that it gave the President great delight, as did the welcome sunburst at the inauguration. If not an omen from above that star was a beautiful and gladsome symbol of the star of hope which on that good day shone with celestial splendor in the hearts of the loyal people of the nation.

Mr. Lincoln's second inaugural address was prepared by him with painstaking care, and has come to be regarded not only as his literary masterpiece, but as a state paper unexcelled in all human history. From that noonday hour of rifting clouds and dazzling sunshine, on through the starlit afternoon that followed, and down to the present time, that address has steadily advanced in public favor, and in critical appreciation. No one ever has suggested for that address the addition or subtraction of a single word. It seems to be a faultless composite with each of its component parts fully disclosed; and no one is able to show that any one part is dominant. Its rhetoric is perfect; its history is full and complete; its statecraft is profound and far-seeing, and in every part it is illuminated by fitly chosen gems of sacred truth. With exalted majesty it proclaims the sovereignty of God and His inexorable law of righteous retribution, and with pathetic penitence bears witness that His judgments “are true and righteous altogether." In the submissive spirit of Gethsemane it holds up the rod of intercession and dazzles hu

any of his own speeches or literary productions. I cannot call to recollection one instance of his speaking in any degree of commendation concerning any of his speeches or writings save in his brief and modest statement to Thurlow Weed in a letter written eleven days after this address was delivered, in which he expresses his expectation that it will “wear as well as perhaps better than-anything I have produced." All of which tends to show that the man was even greater than his words.

F

II

LINCOLN'S RELIGIOUS FAITH

IRST of all was Abraham Lincoln's marvelous faith in the Bible. Upon that faith as a foundation was built his entire personal superstructure. With that faith as an inspiration all his attitudes and activities were chosen and maintained. "Marvelous" is not too strong a word to use in designating his relation to the sacred Book. The Bible was to him the touchstone by which his judgment on every question was determined. In all his business affairs, in his professional pursuits, in his political affiliations, and in his personal aspirations and endeavors, it was his constant guide. "Owe no man anything but to love one another," was a rule which he sought to obey, not because it was convenient but because it was a Bible admonition. Whatever was condemned by the Bible he stubbornly opposed. Whatever the Bible commended, he heartily approved, steadfastly defended and sought to promote.

Abraham Lincoln first learned to read by slowly tracing the lines of chosen passages of Scripture under his mother's prayerful tuition. That tutelage was painstaking and devout, leaving in his memory sweet and sacred impressions which time could not erase.

"Mrs. Lincoln possessed but one book in the world, the Bible," says Mrs. Trevena Jackson, "and from this book she taught her children daily. Abraham had been to school for two or three months, to such a school as the rude country afforded. Of quick mind and retentive memory, he soon came to know the Bible well-nigh by heart, and to look upon his