a great many curious books sent to him, and it seemed to be one of the special delights of his life to open those books at a time when his boy could stand beside him, and they could talk as he turned over the pages, the father thus giving to the son a portion of that care and attention of which he was ordinarily deprived by the heavy duties pressing upon him.”  Tad lived to be eighteen years old, dying in Chicago in 1871.  It was well said of him that he “gave to the sad and solemn White House the only comic relief it knew.”

When President Lincoln visited General Hooker’s headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, just before the battle of Chancellorsville, little Tad went with him, and rode with his father and General Hooker through the grand reviews that were held.  “Over hill and dale,” says a member of the Presidential party, “dashed the brilliant cavalcade of the General-in-Chief, surrounded by a company of officers in gay attire and sparkling with gold lace, the party being escorted by the Philadelphia Lancers, a showy troop of soldiers.  In the midst, or at the head, rose and fell, as the horses galloped afar, the form of Lincoln, conspicuous by his height and his tall black hat.  And ever on the flanks of the hurrying column flew, like a flag or banneret, Tad’s little gray riding-cloak.  The soldiers soon learned of Tad’s presence in the army, and wherever he went on horseback he easily divided the honors with his father.  The men cheered and shouted and waved their hats when they saw the dear face and tall figure of the good President, then the best-beloved man in the world; but to these men of war, far away from home and children, the sight of that fresh-faced and laughing boy seemed an inspiration.  They cheered like mad.”

There were various phases of Lincoln’s character, as manifested during his life in the White House, that afford material for an interesting study.  It has been said of him that he lacked imagination.  This was certainly not one of the faculties of his mind which had been largely cultivated.  He relied more upon the exercise of reason and logic, in all his intellectual processes, than upon fancy or imagination.  Still, there are often striking figures of speech to be met with in his writings, and he had a great fondness for poetry and music.  He had studied Shakespeare diligently in his youth, and portions of the plays he repeated with singular accuracy.  He had a special liking for the minor poems of Thomas Hood and of Oliver Wendell Holmes.  Dr. Holmes, writing in July, 1885, says that of all the tributes received by him, the one of which he was most proud was from “good Abraham Lincoln,” who had a great liking for the poem of “The Last Leaf,” and “repeated it from memory to Governor Andrew, as the Governor himself told me.”  Mr. Arnold says:  “He had a great love for poetry and eloquence, and his taste and judgment were excellent.  Next to Shakespeare among the poets, his favorite was Burns.  There was a lecture of his upon Burns