must stand as he stated them. Lincoln, torn by we know not what morbid memories and misgivings, failed to appear on the wedding night, and for the second time in his life walked on the verge of insanity. Nor is this incident more strange than some others in a life which had in it more of mystery than that of any other man of recent times. While Herndon was correct as to his facts, his inference from them was nothing short of absurd. That the proud, highspirited Mary Todd held fast to so forlorn a lover for revenge, is hardly less believable than the legend that she foresaw his future distinction. Perhaps, though, Herndon was not far from right when he argued that if Lincoln had married Ann Rutledge, or some other gentle country girl, he would not now be known to fame. While not lazy, he was disposed to loaf, and needed the prodding of his gifted and aspiring wife. For the rest, it is enough to say that while marriage between two so utterly unlike was rendered exceptionally difficult, it certainly was not one from which love was absent. As with Thomas and Jane Carlyle, they probably understood each other far better than any one else understood either of them, and neither was free from fault. If Lincoln suffered much from her outbursts of temper, over which she seemed to have no control, Herndon thought that she had more to endure from a man so abstracted, so oblivious of social arts, and so unskilled in weaving "those little links which make up the chain of woman's happiness." It is a severe test of a man to have his private life laid bare, and there is always the question of taste in making such disclosures. But since it has been done, it is but just to record that Lincoln did not fail of the patience and tenderness required by the conditions of his home. dent were none of them present. Over against them is the plain statement of Mrs. Ninian Edwards, the sister of the bride, in whose home the wedding was to be celebrated: "Lincoln and Mary were engaged; everything was ready and prepared for the marriage, even to the supper. Lincoln failed to meet his engagement. Cause, insanity!"-Life of Lincoln, by W. H. Lamon, p. 240 (1872). Nor did Mr. Herndon invent this statement, as Miss Tarbell intimates. Whatever may have been his failings, he was not a liar. |