They, with their mother, constitute my whole family. As
to the whiskers, never having worn any, do you not think people
would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin
now?
Your very sincere well-wisher,
A. Lincoln.
Evidently on second thoughts he decided to follow her advice. On
his way to Washington his train stopped at the town where she
lived. He asked if she were in the crowd gathered at the station
to meet him. Of course she was, and willing hands forced a way
for her through the mass of people. When she reached the car Mr.
Lincoln stepped from the train, kissed her, and showed her that
he had taken her advice.
The Secretary who wrote about the President's desire to save the
lives of condemned soldiers tells us that "during the first year
of the administration the house was made lively by the games and
pranks of Mr. Lincoln's two younger children, William and Thomas.
Robert the eldest was away at Harvard, only coming home for short
vacations. The two little boys, aged eight and ten, with their
western independence and enterprise, kept the house in an uproar.
They drove their tutor wild with their good-natured disobedience.
They organized a minstrel show in the attic; they made
acquaintance with the office-seekers and became the hot champions
of the distressed. William was, with all his boyish frolic, a
child of great promise, capable of close application and study.
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