he account of
the interview on board the "River Queen": "When I left Mr. Lincoln I was
more than ever impressed by his kindly nature, his deep and earnest
sympathy with the afflictions of the whole people, resulting from the
war, and by the march of hostile armies through the South. I felt that
his earnest desire was to end the war speedily, without more bloodshed
or devastation, and to restore all the men of both sections to their
homes. In the language of his second inaugural address, he seemed to
have 'charity for all, malice toward none,' and above all an absolute
faith in the courage, manliness, and integrity of the armies in the
field. When at rest or listening, his legs and arms seemed to hang
almost lifeless, and his face was careworn and haggard; but the moment
he began to talk his face lightened up, his tall form, as it were,
unfolded, and he was the very impersonation of good humor and
fellowship. The last words I recall as addressed to me were that he
would feel better when I was back at Goldsboro. We parted at the gangway
of the 'River Queen,' about noon of March 28, and I never saw him again.
Of all the men I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of
greatness, combined with goodness, than any other."

A few days after the interview described by General Sherman, the
President changed his quarters to the cabin of the "Malvern," Admiral
Porter's flagship. The Admiral says: "The 'Malvern' was a small vessel
with poor accommodations, and not at all fitted to receive high
personages. She was a captured blockade-runner, and had been given to me
as a flag-ship. I offered the President my bed, but he positively
declined it, and elected to sleep in a small state-room outside of the
cabin occupied by my secretary. It was the smallest kind of a room, six
feet long by four and a half feet wide--a small kind of a room for the
President of the United States to be domiciled in; but Mr. Lincoln
seemed pleased with it. When he came to breakfast the next morning, I
inquired how he had slept: 'I slept well,' he answered, 'but you can't
put a long sword into a short scabbard. I was _too long_ for that
berth.' Then I remembered he was over six feet four inches, while the
berth was only six feet. That day, while we were out of the ship, all
the carpenters were put to work; the state-room was taken down and
increased in size to eight feet by six and a half feet. The mattress was
widened to suit a berth of four feet