se, if it
had any such effect, he was most artful in concealing it. Now and then,
some ardent friend, an editor, for example, would run his name up to the
masthead, but in all cases he discouraged the attempt.

"In regard to the matter you spoke of," he answered one man who proposed
his name, "I beg you will not give it a further mention. Seriously, I do
not think I am fit for the Presidency."

WHY SHE MARRIED HIM.

There was a "social" at Lincoln's house in Springfield, and "Abe"
introduced his wife to Ward Lamon, his law partner. Lamon tells the
story in these words:

"After introducing me to Mrs. Lincoln, he left us in conversation. I
remarked to her that her husband was a great favorite in the eastern
part of the State, where I had been stopping.

"'Yes,' she replied, 'he is a great favorite everywhere. He is to be
President of the United States some day; if I had not thought so I never
would have married him, for you can see he is not pretty.

"'But look at him, doesn't he look as if he would make a magnificent
President?'"

NIAGARA FALLS.

(Written By Abraham Lincoln.)

The following article on Niagara Falls, in Mr. Lincoln's handwriting,
was found among his papers after his death:

"Niagara Falls! By what mysterious power is it that millions and
millions are drawn from all parts of the world to gaze upon Niagara
Falls? There is no mystery about the thing itself. Every effect is just
as any intelligent man, knowing the causes, would anticipate without
seeing it. If the water moving onward in a great river reaches a point
where there is a perpendicular jog of a hundred feet in descent in
the bottom of the river, it is plain the water will have a violent
and continuous plunge at that point. It is also plain, the water, thus
plunging, will foam and roar, and send up a mist continuously, in
which last, during sunshine, there will be perpetual rainbows. The mere
physical of Niagara Falls is only this. Yet this is really a very small
part of that world's wonder. Its power to excite reflection and emotion
is its great charm. The geologist will demonstrate that the plunge, or
fall, was once at Lake Ontario, and has worn its way back to its present
position; he will ascertain how fast it is wearing now, and so get
a basis for determining how long it has been wearing back from Lake
Ontario, and finally demonstrate by it that this world is at least
fourteen thousand years old. A philosopher of a slig