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67th Congress,) SENATE. f Report 
 
 2d Session. j | No. 754. 
 
 REERECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. 
 
 April 20 (calendar day, June 8), 1922. — Ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. Brandegee, from the Committee on the Library, submitted 
 
 the following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 [To accompany H. J. Res. 127.] 
 
 The Committee on the Library, to which was referred House Joint 
 Resolution 127, to reerect the statue of Abraham Lincoln upon its 
 original site, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
 with the recommendation that the bill do pass with an amendment. 
 The following is submitted in explanation thereof: 
 
 President Lincoln died on April 15, 1865. A few days later, on 
 motion of Mr. N. D. Earner, of the city councils of the^ District of 
 Columbia, a joint committee was appointed to take action in reference 
 to the erection of a monument in the city of Washington to the 
 memory of Abraham Lincoln. This committee met at the mayor's 
 office on the 28th of April, 1865, and formed itself into an association 
 to be called the Lincoln National Monument Association, to carry out 
 the objects proposed by the formation of the committee. Subse- 
 quently the following officers were elected for the association: Presi- 
 dent, Richard Wallach, mayor; secretary, Crosby S. Noyes; treasurer, 
 George W. Riggs; directors, Joseph F. Brown, Asbury Lloyd, John B. 
 Turton, Dr. W. G. H. Newman, George H. Plant, Z. Richards, N. D. 
 Earner, E. C. Carrmgton, John P. Pepper, S. J. Bowen, George F. 
 Gulick, B. B. French, George R. Ruff, Charles C. Morris, John G. 
 Dudley, John H. Semmcs, James Kelle}^, William P. Ferguson, S. P. 
 Brown, Dr. C. H. Nichols, Hemy Addison, William H. Tenney. 
 
 To these were added a number of honorary directors, mostly 
 Members of Congress, one from each State, as it was hoped at that 
 time to secure a national subscription to the end of raising a monu- 
 ment at the National Capital, the most suitable place, properly 
 commemorative of the life and character of the lamented deceased. 
 Owing, however, to the springing up of kindred associations in almost 
 every State and city in the country, this hope was not realized, 
 and with the exception of some contributions from Baltimore, among 
 which was a handsome sum from John T. Ford, Esq., the proceeds of 
 
" ,6 
 
 2 REERECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. .Ij^ ^ 9 Z 
 
 a benefit for the monument fund, given at his Baltimore theater, 
 httle, if anything, was contributed outside of Washington. The 
 money raised was, however, carefully husbanded, and was invested 
 by the treasurer, Mi\ Riggs, in Government registered bonds. The 
 sum raised was, of course, inadequate to erect a monument on any- 
 thing like the scale originally proposed, but was yet sufficient to raise 
 a monument in the shape of a shaft and statue, creditable to the 
 city; and it was determined by the association that this was the best 
 course to pursue. Mr. Lot Flannery, of this city, who had achieved 
 a number of successes in his art, among which is the admired monu- 
 ment over the victims of the arsenal explosion at the Congressional 
 Cemetery, was the successful competitor for the work. 
 
 THE MONUMENT. 
 
 The monument was about 40 feet in height to the top of the statue. 
 It rested on a solid foundation of blue rock, 6 feet in depth. The 
 base was an octagon, 6 feet in height and about 7 feet from side to 
 side, on which the base of the column rests, the lower part corre- 
 sponding with the base, and the upper part with the shaft, being 
 circular and molded. The shaft was 18 feet in height, with an 
 average diameter of .3 feet (tapering), and surmounted by a molded 
 cap, 4 feet square and two feet thick, on which rested the base of the 
 statue, and the statue itself. The figure at this height looked to be 
 about life-size, and stood facing south. It represents Lincoln 
 standing with his left hand resting on the emblem of Union — the 
 Roman facile — his head erect, with a slight inclination forward, and 
 right hand partially open, as in the attitude he was wont to take in 
 addressing an audience. The design was first made in clay by Mr. 
 Flannery and was subsequently cast in plaster. The model attracted 
 much attention as a spirited design and excellent likeness. The 
 encomiums bestowed upon his design induced him to submit it to 
 the managers of the Monument Association, and the result was that 
 it was unanimously selected from the various designs and models 
 before the committee as the best oft'ered. A contract was entered 
 into with him by which he agreed to have the monument ready by 
 the 15th of April, 1868, the anniversary of Mr. Lincoln's death. 
 He devoted himself to the work, and the reproduction in marble 
 was held to be greatly superior to the model. 
 
 The statue was dedicated on the third anniversary of the death 
 of Lincoln. Department business was suspended as well as that of 
 the municipal offices, and the public schools were closed to afford 
 opportunity to all to witness the dedication. Flags were displayed 
 at half-mast, and tlie heavy boom of half-hour guns reminded of the 
 solemnity of the occasion. 
 
 The procession formed at the corner of Ninth and D Streets, and 
 about 1.30 o'clock the line of march was taken up, when some of the 
 members of No. 2 Steam Engine Company commenced to fire a 
 salute from a fieldpiece in front of the engine house. The right of 
 the line was by the Grand Lodge of Masons, with members of the 
 subordinate lo(l";cs, marshaled by A. M. Howard, and headed by the 
 Marino Band. The wSons of Temperance and Good Templars followed, 
 Mr. John S. HoUingshead marshalling the former, assisted by George 
 D. Egleston, of Motropofitan Division, W. H. Gonzalves, W. H. Har- 
 rison, C. H. Frost, J. S. Erly, J. W. Roberts, of Good Samaritan, and 
 W. H. Chase. The ban d of the Twelfth U nited States Infantry 
 
 LI8«AKY dF CONQKE&i 
 
KEEEECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOLISr. 3 
 
 headed the Sons, the Grand Lods!;e having the right of the hne, fol- 
 lowed by delegates of all the sui)ordinate divisions. The beautiful 
 flag of Federal City and line banner of Good Samaritan divisions 
 were in line. 
 
 The Temple of Honor followed, marshaled by J. S. Stokes, 
 The Good Templars came next, the Grand Lodge being at the right 
 of the line, followed by a number of the members of the subordinate 
 lodges, marshaled by W. P. White, C. T. of Harmony Lodge, headed 
 by Heald's Band of 17 pieces. 
 
 The Grand Lodge of the United States of the Knights of Pythias, 
 which was holding a session at Odd Fellows' Hall, Navy Yard, 
 formed at the hall, and with members of the subordinate lodges 
 marched direct to the City Hall, reaching the grounds before the 
 main procession arrived. 
 
 AT THE CITY HALL. 
 
 During the forenoon workmen were busily engaged in erecting a 
 stand between the monument and the curbstone, 52 by IG feet, 
 capable of seating about 400 persons. From the flagstaff on the 
 City Hall the national colors were displayed at half-mast, and the 
 corporation offices were all closed at 12 o'clock. The large derrick 
 had been removed from over the monument, and everything in 
 readiness for the ceremony before 1 o'clock. The crowd began to 
 gather about 12 o'clock, and in less than an hour the steps and 
 portico of the City Hall were densely packed. 
 
 By 2 o'clock the entire space in front of the City Hall was crowded, 
 while the housetops and windows of the houses opposite were filled 
 with human beings. All the sanitary police, under Lieut. Noonan, 
 were on duty. No one was allowed upon the stand except those who 
 had been invited by the committee. About 400 invitations were 
 issued by Mayor Wallach and the committee to Cabinet ministers, 
 heads of bureaus, Army and Navy officers, members of the Diplomatic 
 Corps, and other distinguished persons. Invitations were also issued 
 to the Senate and House of Representatives, but owing to the 
 impeachment trial it was impossible for them to attend. 
 
 Among those present were President Johnson, accompanied by 
 Col. Rives and Mr. Kershaw; Baron Gerolt, Mr. Rangabee, the 
 Grecian Minister; Maj. Gen. Hancock and Gen. Mitchell, Gen. Emory, 
 Col. Capron, commissioner of agriculture; Ambrosio Abeita, Alezan- 
 dro Padilla, governor of the Pueblos of Isleta (one of the 19 villages 
 of the tribe in New Mexico) ; John Ward, agent; Gen. O. O. Howard, 
 Mr. Cantazalli, secretary Italian Legation; Admiral Radford, Assistant 
 Attorney General Binckley, Gen. Charles Thomas and Gen. Morris S. 
 Miller, Gen. Carr, of Gen. Emory's staff; Gen. S. F. Carey, of Ohio; 
 John Hitz, Esq., Dr. John B. Blake. 
 
 Gen. Grant was present, and occupied a position on the sidewalk 
 in front of Mr. Bradley's office, declining to take a seat upon the 
 stand. 
 
 THE CROWD. 
 
 The assemblage was very large, and commenced to assemble in 
 front of the city hall long before the hour for the ceremonies. At 
 2 p. m. the crowd, despite the rain, had so increased as to extend 
 down Four-and-a-half Street below the Presbyterian Church, down 
 Louisiana Avenue, beyond Fifth Street, and an equal distance down 
 
4 BEERECTIOlSr OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Indiana Avenue. The open space at the intersection of these streets 
 was densely packed, and the steps, areas, roof, and windows of the 
 City Hall Building were closely occupied. The roofs and windows 
 of all the buildings in the neighborhood were thronged, and the boys, 
 as usual, secured eligible positions in the tree tops. The attendance 
 of colored people was very large, filling the space in the rear of the 
 stand. There were probably from 15,000 to 20,000 present. It was 
 undoubtedly the largest gathering of people ever assembled in Wash- 
 ington on such an occasion. 
 
 THE PROGRAM. 
 
 The following was the program of the ceremonies : Prayer by Rev. 
 Dr. Hamilton; music, by the Twelfth Infantry Band; dedication of 
 the statue by the Masonic fraternity; music by the Marine Band; 
 address by B. B. French, Esq.; music by Twelfth Infantry Band; 
 unveiling of the statue by the President of the United States; music 
 by the Marine Band; introduction of the artist; benediction. 
 
 THE CEREMONIES. 
 
 After the arrival of the procession on the ground and order had been 
 restored, Mayor Wallacn presiding. Rev. Dr. William Hamilton 
 offered up a fervent prayer. After the band of the Twelfth United 
 States Infantry had performed The Heart Bowed Down from the 
 Bohemian Girl, the dedication ceremonies followed. 
 
 THE MASONIC DEDICATION. 
 
 The Masonic Order proceeded to perform the dedicatory services of 
 the craft, as follows: 
 
 Grand Master (Benjamin B. French). Right Worshipful Junior Grand Warden, 
 what is the jewel of your office? 
 
 Junior Grand Warden (Joseph B. Will). The plumb, Most Worshipful. 
 
 Grand Master. Have you applied the plumb to such parts of the base of this 
 pedestal as should be plumb? 
 
 Junior Grand Warden (applying the plumb). I have, Most Worshipful, and the 
 craftsmen have done their duty. 
 
 Grand Master. Right Worshipful Senior Grand Warden, what is the jewel of 
 your office? 
 
 Senior Grand Warden (John H. Russell). The level, Most Worshipful. 
 
 Grand Master. Have you applied the level to such parts of the base of this ped- 
 estal as should be level? 
 
 Senior Grand Warden (applying the level). I have, Most Worshipful, and the 
 craftsmen have done their duty. 
 
 Grand Master. Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, you will now apply the 
 proper architectural instrument to the base of this pedestal and see if the several 
 angles thereof are duly and properly formed. 
 
 Deputy Grand Master (John Lockie) (applying the bevel). Most Worshipful 
 Grand Master, I have applied the bevel to the several angles of the base of this ped- 
 estal and find that the craftsmen have done their duty. 
 
 Grand Master. As the implements of architecture, in the hands of the skillful 
 operative mason, enable him to prepare and adjust the sundry materials of which 
 the complete structure is composed, so do they, in the hands of enlightened and 
 accepted speculative Masons, teach them to ]M-epare th(>ir minds as living stones 
 for that spiritual building, that ' ' house not made; with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
 
 (The deputy grand master presented the corn.) 
 
 Grand Ma.ster. Brethren, the corn, wine, and oil, which you carry in your pro- 
 cessions and which are the consecrating elements used on occasions like this, are to 
 remind us that in the pilgrimage of life we are to impart a portion of our bread to the 
 hungry, to send a cup of our wine to cheer the sorrowful, and to pour the healing oil 
 
REEEECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. 5 
 
 of consolation into the wounds wliich sickness hath made in the bodies or affliction 
 hath rent in the hearts of our fellow men. 
 
 In placing the corn upon the foundation of this statue I invoke the blessing of 
 plenty on the people of thi." city and upon i he people of our whole country. Especially 
 may they never want for that bread for wliich to eat is life eternal. 
 
 (The senior grand warden presented the wine.) 
 
 Grand Master. In pouring the wine upon it, I do it in the fervent hope that the 
 wine of joy may ever gladden the hearts of the people everywhere. 
 
 (The junior grand warden presented the oil.) 
 
 Grand Master. In pouring oil upon the foundation of this statue, I hope and 
 pray that its healing element may spread all oA'er the face of this land and. like oil 
 upon the troubled waters, calm the waves of discord and be conducive to that peace, 
 harmony, bnitherly love, and sincere affection, assuring hajipiness to all. that we 
 believe would have rejoiced the heart of the good man whose semblance it supports 
 had the will of God been that he should have lived to look once more upon a united 
 people. 
 
 May the consolation of the gospel of the Prince of Peace accompany us all through 
 life and illumine our pathway as we pass through the dark valley of the shadow of 
 death. 
 
 The grand master gave three raps with his gavel on the foundation 
 and made the announcement: "I now pronounce this foundation 
 properly prepared, well laid, true and trusty; and this statue, erected 
 by the citizens of Washington to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, 
 duly and fully dedicated to the American people." [Applause.] 
 
 The Marine Band then performed the Miserere from Trovatore. 
 
 ADDEESS BY B. B. FRENCH, ESQ. 
 
 B. B. French, Esq., the orator of the day, then addressed the 
 assemblage, as follows: 
 
 We have met here this day, my fellow citizens, to dedicate to the people of the 
 United States here, in the central part of their own Capital, the form and semblance 
 of one who tliey dearly loved in life, and whose memory they can never cease to 
 revere; who three years ago this day yielded up his life a martyr to his love of his 
 country, his love of his fellow men, and his unshaken confidence in the affection and 
 reverence for his person of all around him. 
 
 The statue which we now inaugurate is emphatically the offering of the citizens of 
 Washington to the memory of the man whose form and features it represents. 
 
 In April, 1865, the councils of the city adopted a resolution unanimously appoint- 
 ing a committee to consist of the mayor and three members of eacli board for the pur- 
 pose of forming a Washington Lincoln Monument Association. That committee, in 
 conformity with the resolution, elected a large number of their most respectable 
 citizens, who, with the orginal committee, formed the association, with the Hon. 
 Richard Wallach, mayor, as president; C. S. Noyes, Esq., as secretary; and George W. 
 Riggs, Esq., as treasurer. Subscriptions were solicited from the citizens of Washing- 
 ton and a sum sufficient to secure the erection of the statue was obtained. A contract 
 was entered into with Mr. Lot Flannery, of Washington, to furnish the statue, and it 
 now stands before you the work of his hands. 
 
 Who can ever forget that night of horror when the awful intelligence was borne by 
 the telegraphic wires all through the land that Abraham Lincoln had been struck 
 down by the hands of an assassin. 
 
 Oh, night of woe, 
 How are you joined with hell in triple knot. 
 
 And that day of grief which followed, when the messenger of death went forth 
 with the sad tidings that our sfood President was no longer on earth — can it be for- 
 gotten? There is not one within the reach of my voice — and I think I may truly 
 add, there is not one in this broad land — to whom it is not a wonder and a mystery- 
 how the people bore up as they did under so terrible, so appalling a calamity. But 
 they did bear up, and although the President whom they almost adored was dead, 
 the Nation lived. And let me say here, that I believe nothing save the final dis- 
 ruption of "the great globe itself" can destnn- this Nation. The providence of God 
 watches over us, sustains us through all our trials, and will preserve us as a free and 
 independent people tlrrough all time. 
 
6 EEERECTION OF STATUE OF LIjSTCOLH. 
 
 It does not require any monument or any words to perpetuate the memory of that 
 great and good and pure man. Monumental marble may crumble into dust; bronze 
 may melt away; granite may perish from the earth; but the memory of Abraham 
 Lincoln shall live in human bosoms and be perpetuated on the lining pages of his- 
 tory as long as any nation or people shall exist on earth. [Applause.] 
 
 But it is a satisfaction and a pleasure, tinged with melancholy, to look upon that 
 venerated form and to view those features which, whate^-er else they may indicate, 
 if true to the life, will glow with goodness, kindness, and love, and whereon never 
 rested for a moment a single characteristic other than such as gave outward proof of 
 a good and loAdng heart, a conscience void of offense, and charity toward all mankind. 
 Oh, heaven, that such a man should have died in such a time and in such a manner! 
 
 I hardly know, my fellow citizens, where to begin on an occasion like this. Al- 
 though the field is ample it has been thoroughly gleaned by the pen of the historian 
 and tlie harvest has been garnered in the bosoms of a loving people. Still I am aware 
 of your affection for his memory, and that j'^ou never tire in listening to a rehearsal of 
 his ^drtues. [Cries of "'Never."] 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was unlike any other man. He seemed to be born to fill the 
 very station he occupied for the last five years of his life, and the faith that was in us 
 8ta.nds firm to this day that he alone could have carried the country safely through 
 the awful perils that beset it while he filled the responsible and dangerous position of 
 Chief Magistrate. [Cries of "That's so."] We can say of him with as much truth 
 as it was said of one of the greatest and best of English statesmen, he was, indeed — 
 "The pilot weathered the storm." 
 
 Let us attempt to analyze the man. He was possessed of a heart as pure as the 
 snowflake as it falls from above. Although of great simplicity of mind and manner, 
 there was in that mind a penetration which seemed to read the very thoughts of 
 others, and which spoke through the eye in language more powerful than could be 
 uttered in words, a defiance to anyone who sought to deceive him. I have heard it 
 called "shrewdness." It was more than shrewdness, and I hardly know how other- 
 wise to characterize it, but in the strong language of the Apostle, as the "sword of the 
 Spirit, " for as I have myself seen the searching, powerful, inquisitive expression of that 
 remarkable eye when turned upon one whose statement the President had cause to 
 doubt, it has seemed to me to pierce the buckler of deception through and through, ' 
 and that the wearer was conscious of his discomfiture before a word was uttered. 
 
 With a disposition as genial as a bright May morning, with a temper that could hardly 
 be ruffled by the most untoward circumstances, with a soul absolutely beaming 
 through the eyes, with an affection that captivated everyone, he was possessed of a 
 firmness of purpose, in his determination to do right, that could not be overcome. 
 
 Pride of place was unknown to his character. To him that spark of the eternal 
 which gleamed in the bosom of the most humble shone as bright as if it animated the 
 breast of the proudest and highest in the land; and the widow and the fatherless ever 
 found a ready listener to the tale of distress, and never left him without words of con- 
 solation and a( ts which spoke louder than words. 
 
 Even the language he used was as peculiar to him as was any other peculiarity of 
 his nature — terse, pointed, plain; never wandering among the mazes of rhetoric after 
 adornment, but simple as the man himself, and going as straight to the mark at which 
 he aimed as an arrow from the bow of Tell. Solomon, in all the glory of his proverbs, 
 might have envied him had he lived in these days of diffusive writing and still more ' 
 diffusive speaking! 
 
 That single sentence in his last inaugural coming up undefiled from the pure well 
 of his noble heart — "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness 
 in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are 
 in-" — spoke the character of the man, and will live among the sayings of great and good 
 men as long as human lips can speak or types can print; and as we read it now, we 
 can scarcely repress a tear as we reflect how soon after it was said the voice that said 
 it was silenced forever, and the work that he was in was finished. 
 
 The first we know of Abraham Lincoln as a national man is that he came into the 
 House of Representatives of the United States, as a I\Iember from Illinois, at the first 
 session of the Thirtieth Congress on the first Monday of December, 1847. He served 
 through that Congress without any particular distinction, except that he was regarded 
 as an honest, kind hearted, genial, mirth-loving man, popular with all who knew 
 him, and the few speeches he then made indicated a man of no inconsiderable talent. 
 But no one, as I think, mistrusted the hidden mine of ability which existed under 
 the unpretending exterior. 
 
 In the spirited canvass between him and the lamented Douglas, in 1858, he so 
 conducted his part in the controversy, as to convince his eloquent and talented 
 competitor that he had "a foeman woVthy of his steel," and the eyes of the whole 
 people were turned upon him as "the rising man." 
 
PvEEEECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. 7 
 
 WTienever the people be^in really to love a man, when he has fairly stolen away 
 their hearts, they invariably bestow upon him a pet name. I believe I may say that 
 the homelier the name the better the individual is beloved. So we find in the annals 
 of those days that "Honest Old Abe," as a synonym for Abraham Lincoln, began to 
 be a household phrase. There is probably no better indication of the loves of the peo- 
 ple — the real genuine affection of the masses — for men, than in this pet nomenclature 
 that thev give. We can readilv call to mind "The Father of His Country," "The 
 Mill Boy of the Slashes." "Old Hickory." "The Defender of the Constitution," 
 "Old Zack," with his "little more grape Capt. Bragg," "Old Ironsides," and many 
 imore. But we must return to the subject of our remarks. 
 
 In ISfiO, Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republicaii candidate for Presi- 
 dcTit of the United States, and the nomination was hailed throughout the loyal portion 
 of the Union with an enthusiasm that gave assurance that he was truly the candidate 
 of the friends of the Federal Government. He was triumphantly elected: and his 
 election was, as we all know, the signal for the commencement of that dreadful effort 
 to dissolve the Union, that ended in four years of disastrous war, and the final triumph 
 of the old flag, but at a terrible sacrifice of human life, and an immense expense of 
 national treasure. Through this fratricidal war. Abraham IJncoln stood at the head 
 of the Government, calm, cool, firm, and determined. Ever hopeful, in the darkest- 
 hours of the struggle, and never for a moment ceasing to place his trust in that — 
 
 Divinity that shapes our ends, 
 Rough hew them how we wUl. 
 
 But the history of those dreadful years has been so many times written and is eo 
 familiar to you all that it would be a trespass upon your time and patience to repeat 
 it here. I shall therefore content myself bv saving that President Lincoln was found 
 grandly equal to the great trust reposed in him and performed every duty viith a 
 heroic firmness which met the admiration of all his friends. 
 
 But, while I refrain from recapitulating to you the public history' that marked the 
 momentous era of his term of office, I will endeavor to interest you by relations 
 touching his more private life and character, some of which, in consequence of the 
 official relations which for nearly his entire occupancy of the presidential chair 
 existed between us, are probably known to no other person. No week passed that 
 I did not see him, and I was often with him many times a week. This, of course, 
 with a man like him, led to numerous conversations between us and enabled me, 
 with no particular intention of doing so, to observe the peculiar characteristics of 
 Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 I will take the liberty, however, before commencing that part of my address, to 
 give you a brief account of the inauguration ceremonies of March 4, 1861, as written 
 down by myself at the time, I having been honored \^ith the chief marshalship of 
 the occasion: 
 
 I "At a few minutes after 11 the procession, being formed in line in front of the 
 [city hall, wheeled out into column of march and moved toward Willard's. In front 
 of Willard's it again formed into line and so remained until 10 minutes.past 12, where 
 President Buchanan, who had been detained at the Capitol by official duty, arrived. 
 He, mth President Lincoln, Col. Baker, and Mr. Pearce, of the Senate, then t)ok 
 their seats in an open carriage, which was received into the column of march mth a 
 proper salute from the military, music, and the cheering of the populace. The col- 
 umn then moved toward the Capitol. No more imposing or moi'e orderly pageant 
 ever passed along Pennsylvania Avenue. At the north door of the Capitol the Presi- 
 dent and President elect were received and escorted in. In a few minutes they, 
 ■with their attendants, appeared on the platform of the eastern portico, when Mr. 
 Lincoln delivered his inaugural and was sworn into office. * * * 
 
 "The inauguration ceremonies over, we escorted the new President to the Wh^te 
 House, where he received all comers with that cordial welcome that so strongly marks 
 the sincerity of the man. 
 
 "in the procession was a triumphal car splendidly trimmed, ornamented, and 
 arranged, in which rode 34 young girls. On our return the girls all alighted, and I 
 conducted them in and introduced them to the President. He wished to be allowed 
 to kiss them all, and did so. It was a very interesting scene and elicited much 
 applause." 
 
 The kisses bestowed by that good man on those young lips will only be forgotten 
 when death has set his seal upon them. Such was the peaceful inauguration of 
 Abraham Lincoln, which so many had prophesied could never be accomplished 
 without the shedding of human blood. What I shall now say is from memoranda 
 made at the time. 
 
 In August, 1862, just before the second Battle of Bull Run, in a conversation with 
 the President, he asked me my age. I gave it to him, when he remarked, with much 
 
S EEEEECTIOX OF STATUE OF LUSTCOLN. 
 
 emphasif. "10 years older than I am, and 10 years younger." I replied that he must 
 not view hib own years so dii'para'.'intrly, when he repeated, "Yes, Mr. French, I am 
 actually 10 years older than you are, the cares and troubles that are upon me are 
 ag-ins: me rapidly — I feel it, and you will [i\e to see me in my coffin." This was said 
 with deep solemnity, so much so that I felt sad and tried to speak cheering words. 
 Never in all my intercourse with Mr. Lincoln, except on this occasion and upon the 
 death of his son William, did I witness any manifestation in words of despondency or 
 grief. When Willie died, although he bore himself like a man and a Christian, his 
 affections would assume their control over his sterner self at times and nature have 
 her way. 
 
 As an e\idence of Mr. Lincoln's power over his feelings, I will mention that on 
 arriving at the Executive Mansion on Monday evening, March 2, 1863, to attend the- 
 reception then to take place, the President informed me that he had just received the 
 news of the capture of our steam ram Indianola; but, said he, "it is known to no one 
 else here, and as I do not wish it known until the reception is over, please not to 
 mention it." He made some further remarks as to the misfortunes that were befalling 
 us. The visitors commenced arriving, and he stood there shaking hands and convers- 
 ing in his usual cordial and pleasant manner until the reception was over, when he 
 turned to me and said, "I am glad this reception is over; I have been assuming a 
 cheerfulness that I could not feel, for I could not forget that we have lost the Tndianola." 
 
 That President Lincoln was beloved by every loyal heart we all know, but I can 
 not refrain from copying from my own description of the dedication of the national 
 cemetery at Gettysburg the following: 
 
 "As soon as the hymn (the consecration hymn) was sung Marshal Lamon introduced 
 the President of the United States, who, in a few brief but most appropriate words, 
 dedicated the cemetery. Abraham Lincoln is the idol of the American people at this 
 moment. Anyone who saw and heard as I did the hurricane of applause that met 
 his every movement at Gettysburg would know that he lived in every heart. It was 
 no cold, faint shadow of a kind reception; it was a tumultuous oiitpouring of exulta- 
 tion from true and loving hearts at the sight of a man whom everyone knew to be 
 honest and true and sincere in every act of his life and every pulsation of his heart. 
 It was the spontaneous outburst of the heartfelt confidence of the people in their own 
 President." 
 
 Perhaps no living man ever had a keener relish for the ludicrous than Mr. Lincoln, 
 and his power of illustration by story and anecdote was beyond that of anyone with 
 whom I was ever acquainted ; and such was the tendency of his mind to mirth that I 
 have known him. when a grave question was propounded to him, to reply to it by 
 relating some story perfectly illustrative of the answer required, but of such a nature 
 that no one could resist an audible expression of merriment, in which he was certain 
 most heartily to join, and although the surplus electricity of his natTU'e seemed ever 
 ready to pass off in a manner to make all around him innocently happy, he was ever 
 careful to guard against injury to the feelings of any human being. And I think I 
 can give you the assurance that not one in a himdred of the gross stories that are 
 now imputed to him were ever even heard of by him. 
 
 To recall any of the illustrations that I have heard from his lips would be out of 
 place here; but I can not refrain from stating one of his quaint and humorous pieces 
 of ad^-ice to me, which you will all appreciate. The basement of the Executive Man- 
 sion was at one time so infested wdth rats as to render it almost uninhabitable. I 
 called the President's attention to the fact, and he said to me, with that inimitable 
 twinkle of the eye and expression of the countenance so remarkable in him, "Can 
 you not procure a ferret, one of those little fellows that di'ive away the rats? And 
 while you are about it, perhaps it would be well to get several and distribute them 
 about the departments, for there are rats everywhere." And the good President was 
 so pleased with the idea that he asked me afterwards if I had got those ferrets. 
 
 The kindness of his disposition and his readiness to indulge his children may be 
 illustrated by two occurrences that fell under my own observation. The prepara- 
 tions had all been made for the family to leave the city house and establish them- 
 selves for the summer at the Soldiers' Home. The carriage was at the door and Mrs. 
 Lincoln and Tad were in it. The President came out to join them, when Tad said, 
 "I have not got my cat." The President replied, "You shall have your cat," and 
 he went into the household and returned in a few minutes with Tad's cat in his arms. 
 
 At another time when I was with him in his office, conversing on official business, 
 one of the servants came in and spoke to him. He at once turned to me and asked 
 me to excuse him for a short time, as he must go and give Tad his medicine, which 
 he would take from no one else. 
 
 Such acts as these do honor to human nature, no matter whether done by Presidents 
 or peasants; everyone who has a soul will appreciate them, and 1 have thought a 
 thousand times, as I have seen the evidences of the minute attention given by the 
 great and good Washington to the smallest matters that concerned his household and 
 
KEEEECTIOiSr OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. 9 
 
 his home, while leading the Armies of the United States or exercising the high func- 
 tions of President of the infant Republic, how like in many particulars were these 
 two truly great Presidents. 
 
 Although President Lincoln was always ready to assume anv official responsibility 
 that his position reciuired, his innate sense of propriety was such that he never, know- 
 ingly, encroached on the prerogatives of his subordinates, no matter what their position 
 might be. A somewhat curious instance of the delicacy of the President in this 
 particular occurred in November, 1864. The day after the certain information of 
 Mr. Lincoln's reelection reached this city it occnrred to him that the laborers at the 
 Executive Mansion oiight to be granted a holiday. Almost any other man, being 
 President of the United States and possessing the power to command, would have 
 issued an order giving them a holiday. President Lincoln did no such thing, and 
 what was my sm-prise at receiving a card from him, in his well-known hand, and 
 which I now have: 
 
 ■'If Commissioner of Public Buildings chooses to give laborers at White House a 
 holiday 1 have no objections. 
 
 "A. LixMCOLN. 
 
 "November 9, 1864." 
 
 Of course, the commissioner did choose and the holiday was given. 
 
 The autographs of the beloved President are eagerly sought for and highly valued, 
 and, as an evidence of this, I may say that 1 have seen a simple card, similar to the 
 one above alluded to, on which some request was written by Mr. Lincoln, elegantly 
 framed and suspended in the library of a gentleman in Massachusetts and considered 
 so precious a memorial that no money can purchase it. And the last manuscript he 
 ever wrote with a pen, on the e\ening of his assassination, is sacredly preserved, in 
 like manner, in this city by the gentleman for whom it was written. I do not know 
 how I can more appropriately close this perhaps already too long address than by 
 reading an article prepared by myself for one of the city newspapers on the 23d of 
 April, 1865. It is as follows: 
 
 "On Friday morning last at 7 o'clock all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln, the 
 sixteenth President of these L'nited States, was borne from the Capitol, taking their 
 departure for his home in Illinois, where they are to rest until the final resurrection. 
 
 "The past week has been a sad one to the whole Nation. It has been particu- 
 larly sad for Washington, for here the unparallelled atrocity that deprived a people 
 of a President whom they dearly loved and almost worshipped, and came near 
 snatfhing from them a Secretary of State, particularly eminent for a head and a 
 heart that gave him an exalted place in the affections of all who knew him. was com- 
 mitted; and as the awful news spread abroad on the wings of the lightning it car- 
 ried with it sadness to every heart that beat responsive to the great principles of 
 humanity which were so strongly implanted in the bosom of our beloved Chief Mag- 
 istrate. 
 
 "At half past 10 o'clock on Friday evening, the 14th instant, the bullet of the 
 assassin sped through the brain of his illustrious victim, and from that instant he 
 was as if he were dead, although he continued to breathe until the next morning 
 at 22 minutes past 7 . 
 
 "That Friday night was an awful one for Washington. The theater where the 
 hon-id event occurred was filled with people, and the appalling news spread, as it 
 were, in a moment to all parts of the city. There was no sleep that night. The 
 long roll — that startling call to all military men and to all civilians who understand 
 it — was beat in the various camps within and about the city, and the troops were 
 speedily under arms. 
 
 "Ah, then and there was hurrying to and fro, 
 
 And gathering tears, and trembUngs of distress. 
 And cheeks all pale, which, but an hour ago. 
 Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness. 
 * * * * * * 
 
 "And there was mounting in hot haste; the steed, 
 The mustering squadron, and the clattering car 
 Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, 
 And swiftly forming in the ranks of war. 
 
 "^fany knew not for a time what it all meant, but everyone knew that some terri- 
 ble calamity was upon us; and ere long the dread reality that our President had 
 been assassinated and our vSerretary of State stricken down by the dagger of some 
 fiend in human shape came to I)e known, and a cordon of troops was sOon posted 
 all around the city to prevent, if possible, any egress from it and be prepared for any 
 emergency that an extended conspiracy might render necessary. 
 
 "There was a general rush of our citizens to Tenth Street, where in a dwelling 
 opposite the theater lay the dying foi"m of Abraham Lincoln, surrounded by his almost 
 
10 KEEEECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOL:?^. 
 
 distracted wife, his weeping son, his Cabinet ministers, generals, eminent physicians, 
 and many others whose i^ositions gained them ready admittance to the side of the 
 dying President. 
 
 "I stood at his bedside in the early hours of the morning, and there witncs.^>'<l such 
 a scene of solemnity and grief as I never saw before and hope never to see again — 
 
 There was silence deep as death, 
 And the boldest held his breath. 
 
 as if it were almost sacrilege to interrupt the solemn stillness about that dying couch. 
 
 "The stern Secretary of War sat with his head bowed down in grief; the good and 
 kind Secretary of the Navy stood as if transfixed with sorrow; the ever mild and sunny 
 countenances of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Interior, the Post- 
 master General, and Attorney General were now overspread with the clouds of distress 
 and mourning; Maj. Gen. Halleck, who had naturally assumed the direction of affairs, 
 was quitely moving about, fixing his large and most expressive eyes on everything 
 that seemed to require attention and directing in whispering tones of sadness what 
 should be done. The noble form of Sumner, seated near the head of the bed, was 
 bowed low, and tears were flowing from many, many eyes unused to weep. 
 
 "Not long after sunrise, I should think (time could not well be counted, and the 
 heavens were weeping in a gentle rain), at the request of some of the personal friends 
 of Mrs. Lincoln, I went in the President's carriage after Mrs. Secretary Welles, and 
 ere I could return the noble martyr had ceased breathing. I witnessed the bearing 
 of the remains to the presidential mansion, saw them removed from the temporary 
 coffin in which they were borne there, and from that time until they were placed in the 
 car at the railroad depot, for transportation to Illinois, I was much of the time with 
 them. My official duties made me almost one of the President's household, and on all 
 public occasions I stood at his side or near him, and I felt as if, even had duty not de- 
 manded my presence, I could not leave the inanimate form of him of whom I had seen 
 80 much, and whom I loved so well in life. 
 
 "The days of preparation passed l)y; the lying in state in the East Room, where 
 thousands stood at the side of their beloved and mart\Ted chief and paid to his 
 memory the tribute of respect with streaming eyes; the funeral services, attended by 
 the noble assemblage of all who aided the Executive in the performance of his arduous 
 duties in Washington — hundreds of the most respectable citizens of the country; the 
 full diplomatic corps, whose rich dresses were in marked contrast to their sad, sad 
 countenances, for they all loved Abraham Lincoln — the mourners, not only of, the 
 family but from his native and his adopted Stated the reverend clergy in full numbers. 
 I witnessed it all. 
 
 "I listened with a most melancholy but proud satisfaction to the religious services, 
 full of submissive piety, but also full of exalted patriotism. I saw the immense con- 
 course of people, civil and military, who crowded Pennsylvania Avenue from George- 
 town to the Capitol, as the funeral cortege passed along, marking by their bowed 
 forms and their sighs and tears their deep grief at the loss of one wliom they had looked 
 upon as their father. I saw the sacred remains deposited on the catafalque in the 
 center of the rotunda of the (Capitol, \^dth the semblages of grief all around it, and 
 heard the pious and eloquent diA'ine, who had been from the first at the side of the 
 departed and his mourning family (Dr. Giu'ley), repeat with great impressiveness, 
 earnestness, and devotion so much of the burial service as was appropriate, ending 
 with a prayer. 
 
 "The crowd then departed. The guard of honor, which had been ever present 
 since the sad catastrophe, consisting at least of one major general and his staff, and 
 often of two, were left in charge of the body. 
 
 "At 8 o'clock on Thursday morning the coffin was opened and the crowd admitted, 
 and between that time and 10 o'clock in the evening nearly 40,000 persons looked in 
 sorrow aud in tears upon that beloved face. 
 
 "At G o'clock a. m. on Friday there were asseml^led in the rotunda all the Cabinet 
 ministers, the committee who were to accompany the remains. Rev. Dr. Gurley, 
 Lieut. Gen. Grant and many other high officers of the Army, the police of the Capitol, 
 and a few prominent citizens. Dr. Gurley addressed with deep fervor and great 
 impressiveness the Throne of Grace, and his prayer found a solemn response, I doubt 
 not, in every bosom. 
 
 "The coffin was then closed and was borne by 12 sergeants to the hearse, and being 
 escorted by a battalion of the Veteran Reserve Corps was followed by Lieut. Gen. 
 Grant and Brig. (ien. Hardee, arm in arm, and many other officers of the Army, the 
 Commissioner of Public liuildings and (•ai)tain of the Capitol police, all on foot, and 
 by the President and heads of the departments and the committee in carriages to the 
 Baltimore Depot, where it was placed in a car deeply and most appropriately draped 
 in mourning and prepared for the occasion, where the reverend clergyman again 
 offered up a prayer to the Father of us all; and at 8 o'clock the train moved oft', and 
 
KEEEECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. 11 
 
 he whom we all loved so well and for whom we would have willingly given our own 
 lives was borne in solemnity and gloom toward his final resting place in the bosom 
 of the State who gave him to us." 
 
 Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb, 
 
 Take this new treasure to thy trust. 
 And give these sacred relics room 
 
 To slumber in the silent dust. 
 
 Thus the remains of Abraham Lincoln left us to find a resting place in the capital of 
 his adopted and beloved home. It was one grand, solemn, and imposing fimeral 
 procession from Washington to Illinois, and I have been told by a gentleman who 
 accompanied it that no dwelling was passed in all that distance, whether the palace 
 of the rich or the Iwmble cottage of the poor, that did not exhibit some outward 
 badge of the grief that reigned within. 
 
 And now, my fellow citizens, we have erected, as I believe, the first public statue 
 to the memory of that President, who more than any other since Washington, lived 
 and e\er will live in the hearts of the loyal people. Here, where he won from all 
 who knew him — and who is there who did not know him — golden opinions; here where 
 in the midst of his friends, while enjoying a brief respite from the cares and perplexities 
 of his exalted but laborious station, he was struck down in death by the hand of a 
 foul and cowardly assassin, have we this day placed upon its pedestal the plain, 
 unassuming, but almost speaking semblance of that plain, unassuming, but noble and 
 <3od-like specimen of human nature. [Applause.] 
 
 We have erected it where the earliest kiss of rosy day, as she approaches from the 
 east, may fall upon it. and where the last gleam of evening's mellow light may salute 
 it as the twilight darkens into night. Here it stands, as it were, in the plaza of the 
 citv; and here it will stand, we hope, to be seen by generations long hence to come. 
 [Criesof "It will."] 
 
 Let the fathers of the city, in times of trouble, gather around it, and acquire inspira- 
 tion by calling to mind the firmness, patience, fidelity, zeal, and nol>leness of character 
 of him whom it represents. Let the generations of young men gather around it, and 
 recall, as their example and their guide, the virtue, sobriety, modesty, and uprightness 
 of life and purpose of that great man. And let us all bear in nund and ever profit by 
 the remembrance how Abraham Lincoln placed all his trust in God, and implored His 
 blessing upon every act of his exemplary life. 
 
 * * * God called him 
 
 Hence to lay his armor dowTi, 
 To take his more than conqueror's wreath, 
 
 His martyr's glorious crown . 
 
 In the great hosts of freedom's sons, 
 Our Lincoln leads the van, 
 ■ Himself the greatest, "noblest work 
 Of God, aii honest man." 
 
 Arise, then, oh, my country, rise I 
 
 Be worthy of his fame, 
 Lift high the banner of the right, 
 
 Put all its foes to shame. 
 
 Follow where Lincoln's footsteps led — 
 
 His spirit be your own — 
 'Twill lead you" on to victory; 'twill 
 
 Lead you to God's throne! 
 
 [Immense applause.] 
 
 After the address of Maj. French the band of the Twelfth Infantry 
 performed Rans I'es Vaches. 
 
 Col. E. B. Olmstead was then introduced and recited an original 
 poem, which was received with great applause. 
 
 THE UNCOVERING OF THE STATUE. 
 
 Prof. Heald's Band then performed an appropriate air, when Mayor 
 Wallach advanced to the front of the platform with the President 
 and said: 
 
 My friends, it is hardly necessary for me to inform you what is now to take place 
 or who the distinguished person is who will perform this ceremony. The anxiety 
 depicted in your uptm-ned countenances plainly tells that you are awaiting the 
 unveiling of the statue. 
 
12 KEERECTION OF STATUE OF LINCOLN. 
 
 The President then pulled the cord, when the covering of the statue 
 fell, and vociferous cheers were given by the crowd. 
 
 Mr. Lot Flannery, the artist, was here introduced and loudly 
 cheered. 
 
 The Marine Band then performed a prayer by Donizetti, after 
 which Rev. Dr. Gillette pronounced the benediction, and the crowd 
 dispersed. 
 
 It is a peculiar fact that this was the first statue to be dedicated 
 to Lincoln and it is the only one ever sculptured by an artist who 
 personally knew the martyred President. 
 
 The statue stood until the fall of 1919, when the Commission on 
 Public Buildings and Grounds, which had charge of the remodeling 
 of the courthouse and improvement of the grounds, asked permission 
 to take it down. Mr. Gillen, a member of the commission, explained 
 to the Appropriations Committee that "it is on a very insecure 
 foundation and the pedestal proper has a very bad crack." 
 
 In the first deficiency appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1920 
 the committee included an item reading as follows: 
 
 Public buildings and grounds: For construction of walks and ser\'ice road and the 
 restoration and planting of grounds around the courthouse in Judiciary Park, includ- 
 ing the^-emoval of the statue, §23,445, one-half of which shall be paid from the revenues 
 of the District of Columbia and one-half from the Treasury of the United States. 
 
 When the deficiency bill was considered by Confess, no mention 
 was made of the item providing for the removal "of the statue," and 
 the bill carried. The statue was taken down and placed in the base- 
 ment of the courthouse, where it now is. 
 
 The question of reerecting the monument was taken up shortly 
 afterwards, when this bill was originally introduced. Members of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, Loyal Legion, and other patriotic 
 organizations became interested and urged the reerection of the 
 statue upon the original site, maintaining that its removal was a 
 desecration. 
 
 For the information of the Senate, the following letter, received 
 from the President under date of May 2, 1921, is herewith quoted : 
 
 I very recently received a call of a very notable delegation representing the Loyal 
 Legion urging the reconsideration at the hands of Congress of the decision to remove 
 the statue erected in memory of President Lincoln in front of the City I'^all in ISGS. 
 
 I assume that you are in possession of the history of the erection of this memorial 
 to Lincoln as well as the action taken by Congress directing its removal. I am in- 
 closing, however, with this letter copies of the papers left with me by the representa- 
 tives of the Loyal Legion. It is such a fascinating story and there seems to be so much 
 of appealing sentiment about the restoration of this statue to its original position that 
 I think Congress might well expedite the reconsideration of the action previously 
 taken so that this memorial may be restored to the place it so long occupied. 
 
 I cordially believe the sentiment is one that we ought to sanction and I am glad to 
 express the hope that Congress will take favorable action in providing for the restora- 
 tion. If there are any serious obstacles in the way I shall be grateful if you will 
 inform me so that I may be helpful in any way possible in aiding to solve the situation. 
 
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