* * * * *
So soon as it was known in the autumn of 1860 that Abraham Lincoln was
to be the next president of the United States, he was at once beset by
two pests: the office-seekers, and the men who either warned him to fear
assassination or anonymously threatened him with it. Of the two, the
office-seekers annoyed him by far the more; they came like the plague of
locusts, and devoured his time and his patience. His contempt and
disgust towards them were unutterable; he said that the one purpose in
life with at least one half of the nation seemed to be that they should
live comfortably at the expense of the other half. But it was the
fashion of the people, and he was obliged to endure the affliction,
however it might stir his indignation and contempt. The matter of
assassination he was more free to treat as he chose. A curious incident,
strangely illustrating the superstitious element in his nature, was
narrated by him as follows:--
"It was just after my election in 1860, when the news had been coming in
thick and fast all day, and there had been a great 'hurrah boys!' so
that I was well tired out and went home to rest, throwing myself upon a
lounge in my chamber. Opposite to where I lay was a bureau with a
swinging glass upon it; and, in looking in that glass, I saw myself
reflected nearly at full length; but my face, I noticed, had two
separate and distinct images, the tip of the nose of one being about
three inches from the tip of the other.
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