ight, instead of shooting him."

He used to call these cases of desertion his "leg cases," and sometimes
when considering them, would tell the story of the Irish soldier,
upbraided by his captain, who replied: "Captain, I have a heart in me
breast as brave as Julius Caesar, but when I go into battle, Sor, these
cowardly legs of mine will run away with me."

As the war went on, Mr. Lincoln objected more and more to approving
sentences of death by court-martial, and either pardoned them outright,
or delayed the execution "until further orders," which orders were never
given by the great-hearted, merciful man. Secretary Stanton and certain
generals complained bitterly that if the President went on pardoning
soldiers he would ruin the discipline of the army; but Secretary Stanton
had a warm heart, and it is doubtful if he ever willingly enforced the
justice that he criticized the President for tempering with so much
mercy.

Yet Mr. Lincoln could be sternly just when necessary. A law declaring
the slave trade to be piracy had stood on the statute books of the
United States for half a century. Lincoln's administration was the
first to convict a man under it, and Lincoln himself decreed that the
well-deserved sentence be carried out.

Mr. Lincoln sympathized keenly with the hardships and trials of the
soldier boys, and found time, amid all his labors and cares, to visit
the hospitals in and around Washington where they lay ill. His afternoon
drive was usually to some camp in the neighborhood of the city; and when
he visited one at a greater distance, the cheers that greeted him as he
rode along the line with the commanding general showed what a warm place
he held in their hearts.

He did not forget the unfortunate on these visits. A story is told of
his interview with William Scott, a boy from a Vermont farm, who, after
marching forty-eight hours without sleep, volunteered to stand guard for
a sick comrade. Weariness overcame him, and he was found asleep at his
post, within gunshot of the enemy. He was tried, and sentenced to be
shot. Mr. Lincoln heard of the case, and went himself to the tent where
young Scott was kept under guard. He talked to him kindly, asking about
his home, his schoolmates, and particularly about his mother. The lad
took her picture from his pocket, and showed it to him without speaking.
Mr. Lincoln was much affected. As he rose to leave he laid his hand on
the prisoner s shoulder. "My boy," he said