MRS. MARY TODD LINCOLN.

Ir has ever been the boast of Americans, that the position of "President" has never been bestowed upon any man whose private life was open to calumny.

While the crown heads of the old world veil their infirmities behind the grandeur of hereditary power and wealth, the ruler of the Republic, holding his office by the will of the people, returns it to their keeping, and becomes after his retirement, the untitled citizen. Fortunately for us as a nation and as individuals, all who have served us have been above reproach, have endured the scrutiny of the argus-eyed, hydraheaded world and been dismissed with its thanks and praises.

Seventeen chief magistrates have occupied the nation's home, and seventeen times have they received the approval of their countrymen. All have had their families with them, and in all but a single instance have those families been the pride and boast, not only of a particular party, but of the people, whose house they occupied, and whose servants they were. Never a word of thoughtless unkindness or of merited abuse extended to a President's family, until Mrs. Lincoln's occupation of the Presidential Mansion.

She took possession of it at a time when all the vile influences of selfish strife and sectional bitterness were beginning to develop themselves into the war

which followed. No former experience had been similar to the changing scenes of the present. It was decidedly a new epoch in the nation's history, and the exigencies of the times demanded prompt, decided action to successfully meet the issue forced upon those in public life. Nor can we of this short remove from the conflicts then endured, rightly estimate the characters of those engaged. It has been an occurrence of too recent a date, and personal feelings are still too strong for any American to do simple justice, without impressing the statement made with some personal opinions and decisions.

Miss Harriet Lane retired with her courtly uncle to Wheatland, leaving behind a memory all pleasantness, and a record of untarnished lustre. Her lofty place had not spoiled her, for the nobleness of her inner life recognized no superiority of the external badges of greatness. In its fullest, finest sense, she had been a belle, and withal a very beautiful and good woman. Her sunny heart reflected its own brightness upon all, while the harmony and beauty of her young life lent an irresistible charm to her presence. Open in her professions, and ingenuous in her temper, the frank earnest woman attracted the admiration, and won the regards of the nation.

To supply the place of so popular a person was a difficult matter, and all felt that so charming a hostess could not be found.

She had been fortunate in occupying the position during an administration of peace. Toward the last the clouds of war began to gather, but only to the ob

servant sentinels of the nation's welfare was it percep tible. In the drawing-room, the parlor, and the temples of worship, all things spoke of prosperity and peace, and Miss Lane's successful life as hostess of the White House drew to a triumphant close

From the opposite end of the land was to come the next "Lady of the White House," and public expecta tion was at its height to see the wife of the Western rail-splitter. So exaggerated were the stories concerning the new President, and so unfounded were the tales of his former hard life, although he had served in both branches of Congress, that many prepared themselves for amusement in anticipation of the figure she would cut in the position occupied by her predecessor. The absolute ignorance, unpardonable in enlightened communities, exhibited by many in regard to the public career of Mr. Lincoln, was not more deplorable than their estimate of Mrs. Lincoln's early advantages. She was a Kentuckian by birth, and a member of the good old Todd family, of Lexington. Her younger years were spent in that homely town of beautiful surroundings, with an aunt who reared her, she being an orphan. Childhood and youth were passed in comfort and comparative luxury, nor did she ever know poverty; but her restless nature found but little happiness. in the society of her elders, and she went when just merging into womanhood, to reside with her sister in Springfield. The attractions of this, then small place, was greatly augmented by the society of the young people, and Mary Todd passed the pleasantest years of her life in her sister's western home. On the 4th

of November, 1842, at the age of twenty-one, she was married to Abraham Lincoln, a prominent lawyer, of Illinois. A letter written the following May, to Mr. Speed, of Louisville, Kentucky, by Mr. Lincoln, contains the following mention of his domestic life: "We are not keeping house," he says, "but boarding at the Globe Tavern, which is very well kept now by a widow lady, of the name of Beck. Our rooms are the same Dr. Wallace occupied there, and boarding only costs four dollars a week. I most heartily wish you and your Fanny will not fail to come. Just let us know the time, a week in advance, and we will have a room prepared for you, and we will all be merry together for a while." The excellent spirits in which the husband wrote, must have argued well for the happy mar ried life they were leading. Although much in public life, Mr. Lincoln was holding no office at the time of his marriage, but four years later, he was elected to Congress, and took his seat December 6th, 1847. Mrs. Lincoln did not accompany her husband to Washing ton, but remained at her home. It was a season of war, and general disturbance through the country, and while her husband attended his duties at the Capital, Mrs. Lincoln remained with her children in Springfield. In August, he returned to enter upon the duties of his profession, and to "devote himself to them through a series of years, less disturbed by diversions into State and National politics than he had been during any previous period of his business life. It was to him a time of rest, of reading, of social happiness, and of profes sional prosperity. He was already a father, and took