A good many of them
are afloat upon the common talk of Washington, and are certainly the
aptest, pithiest, and funniest little things imaginable; though, to be
sure, they smack of the frontier freedom, and would not always bear
repetition in a drawing-room, or on the immaculate page of the Atlantic.
[The above passage relating to President Lincoln was one of those omitted
from the article as originally published, and the following note was
appended to explain the omission, which had been indicated by a line of
points:--
We are compelled to omit two or three pages, in which the author
describes the interview, and gives his idea of the personal appearance
and deportment of the President. The sketch appears to have been written
in a benign spirit, and perhaps conveys a not inaccurate impression of
its august subject; but it lacks reverence, and it pains us to see a
gentleman of ripe age, and who has spent years under the corrective
influence of foreign institutions, falling into the characteristic and
most ominous fault of Young America.]
Good Heavens! what liberties have I been taking with one of the
potentates of the earth, and the man on whose conduct more important
consequences depend than on that of any other historical personage of the
century! But with whom is an American citizen entitled to take a
liberty, if not with his own chief magistrate? However, lest the above
allusions to President Lincoln's little peculiarities (already well known
to the country and to the world) should be misinterpreted, I deem it
proper to say a word or two in regard to him, of unfeigned respect and
measurable confidence.
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