ho was
court-martialed down in the front and sentenced to be shot; The story
was this: The young fellow had enlisted. He was not obliged to, but he
went off with another young man. They were what we would, call "chums."
One night this companion was ordered out on picket duty, and he asked
the young man to go for him. The next night he was ordered out himself;
and having been awake two nights, and not being used to it, fell asleep
at his post, and for the offense he was tried and sentenced to death. It
was right after the order issued by the President that no interference
would be allowed in cases of this kind. This sort of thing had become
too frequent, and it must be stopped. When the news reached the father
and mother in Vermont it nearly broke their hearts. The thought that
their son should be shot was too great for them. They had no hope that
he would be saved by anything they could do. But they had a little
daughter who had read the life of Abraham Lincoln, and knew how he had
loved his own children, and she said: "If Abraham Lincoln knew how my
father and mother loved my brother he wouldn't let mm he shot." That
little girl thought this matter over and made up her mind to see the
President. She went to the White House, and the sentinel, when he saw
her imploring looks, passed her in, and when she came to the door and
told the private secretary that she wanted to see the President, he
could not refuse her. She came into the chamber and found Abraham
Lincoln surrounded by his generals and counselors, and when he saw the
little country girl he asked her what she wanted. The little maid told
her plain, simple story--how her brother, whom her father and mother
loved very dearly, had been sentenced to be shot; how they were mourning
for him, and if he was to die in that way it would break their hearts.
The President's heart was touched with compassion, and he immediately
sent a dispatch canceling the sentence and giving the boy a parole so
that he could come home and see that father and mother. I just tell you
this to show you how Abraham Lincoln's heart was moved by compassion for
the sorrow of that father and mother, and if he showed so much do you
think the Son of God will not have compassion upon you, sinner, if you
only take that crushed, bruised heart to him?

Broken Hearts.

There is no class of people exempt from broken hearts. The rich and the
poor suffer alike. There was a time when I used to visit the po