The collective sense of what had occurred was of a sadness too noble not somehow to inspire, and it was truly in the air that . . . we could at least gather round this perfection of a classic woe. — Henry James, 1914
MARY AND ABRAHAM Lincoln arrived late at Ford’s Theatre on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. The president had been entertaining White House visitors, including Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax. An affable Hoosier, nicknamed “Smiler” for his sunny disposition, Colfax was leaving town the next day on an overland trip to California. Later he remembered Lincoln telling him he’d love to see California himself, but could only dream about it since “public duties chain me down here.” Lincoln’s comments to the Speaker about the “pleasures” of the West were among his last spoken words.
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