212 Four-in-Hand in Britain. 



This was the Charles of whom Lincoln knew so 

 little. Mr. Blaine tells this good story among a hun- 

 dred, for he is wonderful in this line : When Lincoln 

 and Seward went to Fortress Monroe to meet Mr. 

 Hunter, who represented the Confederate Government, 

 the latter was exceedingly anxious to get the President 

 to promise that if the rebels would lay down their arms 

 no confiscation of property (slaves, of course, included) 

 should follow, and that no man should be punished for 

 taking part in the rebellion. Mr. Hunter concluded by 

 saying that this would only be following the course 

 pursued in England after the contest with King Charles. 

 " Well, Mr. Hunter," said that sagacious and born 

 leader of men, Father Abraham, " my friend Seward 

 here is the historian of my Cabinet, but the only thing 

 I remember about King Charles is that Cromwell cut his 

 head off ! " Lincoln did not know very much, you see, 

 but then he knew the only part much worth knowing 

 upon the subject, which is one of the differences be- 

 tween a great man and a learned one. 



It was at this celebrated interview that Lincoln 

 took up a blank sheet of writing-paper and said to the 

 Confederates, let me write Emancipation here at the top 

 and you can fill the rest of the page with your condi- 

 tions. 



Lincoln seized the key of a political position as Napo- 

 leon did of a military one, and never relaxed his grasp. 

 He would tell stories all night and make his auditors 



