excitement were pressing forward, and I had to threaten them and actually use the flat of my sword before a passage way was opened. We finally succeeded in getting him out of the building, and as we reached the sidewalk a young man coming from across the street called out; "Bring him over here." There was no other place that we knew of to take him, so we accepted the invitation and carried him across the street into this young man's room, which was on the floor above the basement and at the end of the hall. The bed was pulled out from the corner and placed near the center of the room, and we laid the President upon it. Some surgeons had come in with us, and leaving him in their charge I returned to the street and made an effort to clear the block. While I was so engaged, a vidette approached on horseback, exclaiming; "A plot, a plot! Secretary Seward's throat is cut from ear to ear; Secretary Stanton is killed at his residence; General Grant is shot at Baltimore and Vice-President Johnson is killed at the Kirkwood House.' The excitement then was intense; words fail to describe it. I have in mind now an army captain in the street who lost his reason, becoming raving mad, and I was compelled to place him in charge of two of my guards and send him to the central guard house. Finding it an impossible task to clear the street with the small force under my command, I asked the vidette just referred to, to ride with all speed to the "Circle" and tell them there to send a squadron of cavalry. These soon arrived and the block was cleared and guards stationed across the street above and below Mr. Peterson's house, where the President lay.

Soon after the guards were established with orders to let no one pass, Secretary Stanton made his appearance and I escorted him to the bedside of the President. I afterward took orders from and reported to him at intervals during the night. His orders were "Admit only general surgeons." No one knew how far the plot extended or who was involved in it, and as an extra precaution I placed a guard at the rear of the house, not knowing but that an

attempt might be made on the lives of some of those present. From time to time I was called by the guard, to find different people who wanted admittance, claiming to be Senators, Congressmen, friends of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln &c. I told them of my orders from Secretary Stanton, and some of them asked to have their names mentioned to him. In some instances he would say "Admit him quietly." In others he would make no reply. A few minutes after seven o'clock on the morning of April 15th, Mr. Lincoln breathed his last. Mrs. Lincoln was summoned from the front parlor, where she had been waiting all night, to the death chamber. At this time I was in the hall and I recall very vividly the words she said as she passed me; they were; "Oh; why didn't you have me to him.” (sic) After he died, Colonel Vincent-since promoted to General-asked me if I could get him a silver half-dollar; one of the officers had one and he wanted another to place over the President's eyes, to keep them closed after death. I obtained one from the landlady of the Falstaff House next door, giving her a dollar greenback for it, which was then the value of silver as compared with paper currency. This coin is still in my possession.

Forming my guard in line, we presented arms to the body of the President as it was carried past us to the hearse, after which I was relieved from duty.

From the Norfolk, Va. Ledger, 1914

(Captain Bolton served in the United States Army until a year after the close of the war, when he was retired with the rank of Captain).

I

"IN MEMORIAM.”

LEAVE to other and abler pens the proper eulogy of Mr. Lin

as a

coln, as a ruler, and a statesman, and the estimate of his work and place in history. Favored during the past year with six months' familiar intercourse with him under the same roof, be it my pleasant task to recall and record for the gratification of those who never came into personal contact with the great and good man, some incidents, of interest now as illustrations of his character and daily life, mostly the result of my own observation.

There is a very natural and proper desire, at this time, to know something of the religious experience of the late President. Statements are in circulation in this connection, which, to those who knew him intimately, seem so unlike him, that for one I venture to enter my protest, and to assert that I believe such stories, either to be wholly untrue, or the facts in the case to have been unwarrantably embellished. Of all men in the world, Mr. Lincoln was the most unaffected and truthful. He rarely or never used language loosely or carelessly, or for the sake of compliment. He was the most utterly indifferent to, and unconscious of, the effect he was producing, either upon dignitaries or the common people, of any man ever in public position.

Mr. Lincoln could scarcely be called a religious man, in the common acceptation of the term, and yet a sincerer Christian I believe never lived. A constitutional tendency to dwell upon sacred things; an emotional nature which finds ready expression in religious conversation and revival-meetings; the culture and development of the religious element till the expression of religious thought and experience becomes almost habitual, were not among his characteristics. Doubtless he felt as deeply upon the great questions of the soul and eternity as any other thoughtful man, but the

very tenderness and humility of his nature would not permit the exposure of his inmost convictions, except upon the rarest occasions, and to his most intimate friends. And yet, aside from emotional expression, I believe no man had a more abiding sense of his dependence upon God, or faith in the Divine government, and in the power and ultimate triumph of Truth and Right in the world. In the language of an eminent clergyman of this city, who lately delivered an eloquent discourse upon the life and character of the departed President, "It is not necessary to appeal to apocryphal stories, in circulation in the newspapers-which illustrate as much the assurance of his visitors as the depth of his own sensibility for proof of Mr. Lincoln's Christian character." If his daily life, and various public addresses and writings, do not show this, surely nothing can demonstrate it.

But while impelled to disbelieve some of the assertions upon this subject, much commented upon in public as well as private, I feel at liberty to relate an incident in this connection, which I have not seen published, and which bears upon its face unmistakable evidence of truthfulness. A lady interested in the work of the Christian Commission, had occasion, in the prosecution of her duties, to have several interviews with the President, of a business nature. He was much impressed with the devotion and earnestness of purpose she manifested, and on one occasion, after she had discharged the object of her visit, he leaned back in his chair and said to her; "Mrs.- I have formed a very high opinion of your Christian character, and now as we are alone, I have a mind to ask you to give me, in brief, your idea of what constitutes a true religious experience." The lady replied at some length, stating that, in her judgment, it consisted of a conviction of one's own sinfulness and weakness, and personal need of the Saviour for strength and support; that views of mere doctrine might and would differ, but when one was really brought to feel his need of Divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, it was satis

factory evidence of his having been born again. This was the substance of her reply. When she had concluded, Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a few moments. He at length said very earnestly, "If what you have told me is really a correct view of this great subject, I think I can say with sincerity, that I hope I am a Christian. I had lived," he continued, "until my boy Willie died, without realizing fully these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness as I had never felt it before, and if I can take what you have stated as a test, I think I can safely say that I know something of that change of which you speak, and I will further add, that it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable opportunity, to make a public religious profession!"

The desire to know of the inner experience of one whose outward life had so impressed him, and his own frank and simple utterance thereupon, are so characteristic as to render this account, which was given me by a friend, extremely probable. He was not what I would call a demonstrative man. He would listen to the opinions of others on these subjects with great deference, even if he was not able to perceive their force, but would never express what he did not feel in response. I recollect his once saying, in a half soliloquy, when we were alone, just after he had been waited upon by a committee or delegation, with reference to securing his coöperation in having the name of God inserted in the Constitution: "Some people seem a great deal more concerned about the letter of a thing, than about its spirit," or words to this effect.

Too much has not been said of his uniform meekness and kindness of heart, but there would sometimes be afforded evidence, that one grain of sand too much would break even this camel's back. Among the callers at the White House one day, there was an officer who had been cashiered from the service. He had prepared an elaborate defence of himself which he consumed much time in reading to the President. When he had finished, Mr. Lincoln replied