k.

"Don't let your joy carry you into excesses; learn the laws, and obey
them. Obey God's commandments, and thank Him for giving you liberty, for
to Him you owe all things.

"There, now, let me pass on; I have but little time to spare.

"I want to see the Capitol, and must return at once to Washington to
secure to you that liberty which you seem to prize so highly."

"ABE" ADDED A SAVING CLAUSE.

Lincoln fell in love with Miss Mary S. Owens about 1833 or so, and,
while she was attracted toward him she was not passionately fond of him.

Lincoln's letter of proposal of marriage, sent by him to Miss Owens,
while singular, unique, and decidedly unconventional, was certainly not
very ardent. He, after the fashion of the lawyer, presented the matter
very cautiously, and pleaded his own cause; then presented her side
of the case, advised her not "to do it," and agreed to abide by her
decision.

Miss Owens respected Lincoln, but promptly rejected him--really very
much to "Abe's" relief.

HOW "JACK" WAS "DONE UP."

Not far from New Salem, Illinois, at a place called Clary's Grove, a
gang of frontier ruffians had established headquarters, and the champion
wrestler of "The Grove" was "Jack" Armstrong, a bully of the worst type.

Learning that Abraham was something of a wrestler himself, "Jack" sent
him a challenge. At that time and in that community a refusal would have
resulted in social and business ostracism, not to mention the stigma of
cowardice which would attach.

It was a great day for New Salem and "The Grove" when Lincoln and
Armstrong met. Settlers within a radius of fifty miles flocked to the
scene, and the wagers laid were heavy and many. Armstrong proved a
weakling in the hands of the powerful Kentuckian, and "Jack's" adherents
were about to mob Lincoln when the latter's friends saved him from
probable death by rushing to the rescue.

ANGELS COULDN'T SWEAR IT RIGHT.

The President was once speaking about an attack made on him by the
Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War for a certain alleged
blunder in the Southwest--the matter involved being one which had
fallen directly under the observation of the army officer to whom he was
talking, who possessed official evidence completely upsetting all the
conclusions of the Committee.

"Might it not be well for me," queried the officer, "to set this matter
right in a letter to some paper, stating the facts as they actually
tran