Chapter 17.
- In the Presidential chair. -- looking after his friends. -- settling the claims of David Davis. -- Swett's letter. -- the visit of Herndon. -- the testimony of Mrs. Edwards. -- letter from and interview with Mrs. Lincoln. -- a glimpse into the White House. -- a letter from John Hay. -- Bancroft's eulogy. Strictures of David Davis. -- Dennis Hanks in Washington.
Lincoln, the President, did not differ greatly from Lincoln the lawyer and politician. In the latter capacity only had his old friends in Illinois known him. For a long time after taking his seat they were curious to know what change, if any, his exalted station had made in him. He was no longer amid people who had seen him grow from the village lawyer to the highest rank in the land, and whose hands he could grasp in the confidence of a time-tried friendship; but now he was surrounded by wealth, power, fashion, influence, by adroit politicians and artful schemers of every sort. In the past his Illinois and particularly his Springfield friends1 had shared the anxiety and