ing with Lincoln in New York City has already been quoted in
these pages. "In January, 1861," says Mr. McCormick, "at the instance of
various friends in New York who wished a position in the Cabinet for a
prominent Kentuckian, I went to Springfield armed with documents for his
consideration. I remained there a week or more, and was at the Lincoln
cottage daily. Of the numerous formal and informal interviews that I
witnessed, I remember all with the sincerest pleasure. I never found the
man upon whom rested the great responsibilities of the nation impatient
or ill-humored. The plainest and most tedious visitors were made welcome
and happy in his presence; the poor commanded as much of his time as the
rich. His recognition of old friends and companions in frontier life,
whom many elevated as he had been would have found it convenient to
forget, was especially hearty. His correspondence was already immense,
and the town was alive with cabinet-makers and office-seekers; but he
met all with a calm temper." Mr. Don Piatt relates that he had met
Lincoln during the Presidential campaign, and had been invited to visit
Springfield. He did so, and was asked to supper at the Lincoln house.
"It was a plain, comfortable structure," says Mr. Piatt, "and the supper
was mainly of cake, pies, and chickens, the last evidently killed in the
morning, to be eaten that evening. After the supper we sat far into the
night, talking over the situation. Mr. Lincoln was the homeliest man I
ever saw. His body seemed to me a huge skeleton in clothes. Tall as he
was, his hands and feet looked out of proportion, so long and clumsy
were they. Every movement was awkward in the extreme. He sat with one
leg thrown over the other, and the pendent foot swung almost to the
floor. And all the while two little boys, his sons, clambered over those
legs, patted his cheeks, pulled his nose, and poked their fingers in his
eyes, without reprimand. He had a face that defied artistic skill to
soften or idealize. It was capable of few expressions, but those were
extremely striking. When in repose, his face was dull, heavy, and
repellent. It brightened like a lit lantern when animated. His dull eyes
would fairly sparkle with fun, or express as kindly a look as I ever
saw, when moved by some matter of human interest."

Hon. George W. Julian, of Indiana, was another visitor to the Lincoln
home in January. He says: "I had a curiosity to see the famous
'rail-splitter,' as he