Lincoln meant not a life
of luxury and ease, for Lincoln was not a man to accumulate wealth; but
in him she saw position in society, prominence in the world, and the
grandest social distinction. By that means her ambition was certainly
satisfied, for nineteen years after her marriage she was "the first lady
of the land," and the mistress of the White House.

After his marriage, by dint of untiring efforts and the recognition of
influential friends, the couple managed through rare frugality to move
along.

In Lincoln's struggles, both in the law and for political advancement,
his wife shared his sacrifices. She was a plucky little woman, and in
fact endowed with a more restless ambition than he. She was gifted with
a rare insight into the motives that actuate mankind, and there is no
doubt that much of Lincoln's success was in a measure attributable to
her acuteness and the stimulus of her influence.

His election to Congress within four years after their marriage afforded
her extreme gratification. She loved power and prominence, and was
inordinately proud of her tall and ungainly husband. She saw in him
bright prospects ahead, and his every move was watched by her with the
closest interest. If to other persons he seemed homely, to her he was
the embodiment of noble manhood, and each succeeding day impressed upon
her the wisdom of her choice of Lincoln over Douglas--if in reality she
ever seriously accepted the latter's attentions.

"Mr. Lincoln may not be as handsome a figure," she said one day in
Lincoln's law office during her husband's absence, when the conversation
turned on Douglas, "but the people are perhaps not aware that his heart
is as large as his arms are long."

LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD.

The remains of Abraham Lincoln rest beneath a magnificent monument in
Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Ill. Before they were deposited in
their final resting place they were moved many times.

On May 4, 1865, all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln was deposited
in the receiving vault at the cemetery, until a tomb could be built. In
1876 thieves made an unsuccessful attempt to steal the remains. From
the tomb the body of the martyred President was removed later to the
monument.

A flight of iron steps, commencing about fifty yards east of the vault,
ascends in a curved line to the monument, an elevation of more than
fifty feet.

Excavation for this monument commenced September 9, 1869. It is built