JOSEPH HENRY, LL.D. 299 



probably never again postponed decision till it was 

 too late to choose." 



A single incident illustrates the kindness of the 

 man, who was always called the " model of a Chris- 

 tian gentleman." "Early in the war, in the au- 

 tumn of 1861, a caller at the presidential mansion, 

 very anxious to see the chief magistrate of the 

 nation, was informed that he could not then be 

 seen, being engaged in an important private con- 

 sultation. The caller, not to be repulsed, wrote on 

 a piece of paper that he must see Mr. Lincoln per- 

 sonally, on a matter of vital and pressing impor- 

 tance to the public welfare. This, of course, 

 secured his admission to the presence of Mr. 

 Lincoln, who was sitting with a middle-aged gen- 

 tleman. Observing the hesitancy of the visitor, 

 the President told him he might speak freely, as 

 only a friend was present. 



" Whereupon the visitor announced that for sev- 

 eral evenings past he had observed a light exhib- 

 ited on the highest of the Smithsonian towers, for 

 a few minutes, about nine o'clock, with mysterious 

 movements, which, he felt satisfied, were designed 

 as signals to the rebels encamped on Munson's 

 Hill, in Virginia. Having gravely listened to this 

 information with raised eyebrows, but a subdued 

 twinkle of the eye, the President turned to his 

 companion, saying, ' What do you think of that, 

 Professor Henry ? ' 



" Rising with a smile, the person addressed re- 

 plied that, from the time mentioned, he presumed 



