a
time saw him daily, says that "his laugh stood by itself. The neigh of a
wild horse on his native prairie is not more undisguised and hearty." An
intimate friend called it his "life preserver."(7)

Lincoln's sense of humor delighted in any detail of an event which
suggested comedy. His genial awkwardness amused himself quite as much
as it amused the world. At his third public reception he wore a pair
of white kid gloves that were too small. An old friend approached. The
President shook hands so heartily that his glove burst with a popping
sound. Holding up his hand, Lincoln gazed at the ruined glove with a
droll air while the arrested procession came to a standstill. "Well, my
old friend," said he, "this is a general bustification; you and I were
never intended to wear these things. If they were stronger they might do
to keep out the cold, but they are a failure to shake hands with between
old friends like us. Stand aside, Captain, and I'll see you shortly."(8)

His complete freedom from pose, and from the sense of place, was
glimpsed by innumerable visitors. He would never allow a friend to
address him by a title. "Call me Lincoln," he would say; "Mr. President
is entirely too formal for us."(9)

In a mere politician, all this might have been questioned. But Hawthorne
was right as to the people's intuition of Lincoln's honesty. He hated
the parade of eminence. Jefferson was his patron saint, and "simplicity"
was part of his creed. Nothing could induce him to surround himself with
pomp, or even--as his friends thought--with mere security. Rumors of
plots against his life were heard almost from the beginning. His friends
begged long and hard before he consented to permit a cavalry guard at
the gates of the White House. Very soon he countermanded his consent.
"It would never do," said he, "for a president to have guards with drawn
sabers at his door, as if he fancied he were, or were trying to be, or
were assuming to be, an emperor."(10)

A military officer, alarmed for his safety, begged him to consider
"the fact that any assassin or maniac seeking his life, could enter
his presence without the interference of a single armed man to hold
him back. The entrance doors, and all doors on the official side of
the building, were open at all hours of the day and very late into the
evening; and I have many times entered the mansion and walked up to the
rooms of the two private secretaries as late as nine or ten o'clock at
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