“He Bore it as Christ Might have Done”

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That night the President and Mrs. Lincoln entertained General and Mrs. Grant and the General’s staff at dinner on the steamer, and before us all Mrs. Lincoln berated General Ord to the President, and urged that he should be removed. He was unfit for his place, she said, to say nothing of his wife. General Grant sat next and defended his officer bravely. Of course General Ord was not removed.
During all this visit similar scenes were occurring. Mrs. Lincoln repeatedly attacked her husband in the presence of officers because of Mrs. Griffin and Mrs. Ord, and I never suffered greater humiliation and pain on account of one not a near personal friend than when I saw the Head of the State, the man who carried all the cares of the nation at such a crisis-subjected to this inexpressible public mortification. He bore it as Christ might have done; with an expression of pain and sadness that cut one to the heart, but with supreme calmness and dignity. He called her “mother,” with his old-time plainness; he pleaded with eyes and tones, and endeavored to explain or palliate the offenses of others, till she turned on him like a tigress; and then he walked away, hiding that noble, ugly face that we might not catch the full expression of its misery.

By Adam Badeau, Grant in peace: from Appomattox to Mount McGregor, a personal memoir

By Dale Carnegie,“Lincoln, the Unknown” ,Carnegie-191-09

2 thoughts on ““He Bore it as Christ Might have Done”

    Words : Generous « Abraham Lincoln said:
    May 15, 2016 at 07:33

    […] “He Bore It As Christ Might Have Done” […]

    Family « Abraham Lincoln said:
    April 18, 2020 at 07:40

    […] “He Bore it as Christ Might have Done” […]

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