And there sweetly rose those
voices up to the high, whitewash'd wooden roof, and pleasantly the
roof sent it all back again. They sang very well, mostly quaint old
songs and declamatory hymns, to fitting tunes. Here, for instance:
My days are swiftly gliding by, and I a pilgrim stranger,
Would not detain them as they fly, those hours of toil and danger;
For O we stand on Jordan's strand, our friends are passing over,
And just before, the shining shore we may almost discover.
We'll gird our loins my brethren dear, our distant home discerning,
Our absent Lord has left us word, let every lamp be burning,
For O we stand on Jordan's strand, our friends are passing over,
And just before, the shining shore we may almost discover.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
_August 12th_.--I see the President almost every day, as I happen to
live where he passes to or from his lodgings out of town. He never
sleeps at the White House during the hot season, but has quarters at
a healthy location some three miles north of the city, the Soldiers'
home, a United States military establishment. I saw him this morning
about 8 1/2 coming in to business, riding on Vermont avenue, near L
street. He always has a company of twenty-five or thirty cavalry, with
sabres drawn and held upright over their shoulders. They say this
guard was against his personal wish, but he let his counselors have
their way. The party makes no great show in uniform or horses. Mr.
Lincoln on the saddle generally rides a good-sized, easy-going gray
horse, is dress'd in plain black, somewhat rusty and dusty, wears a
black stiff hat, and looks about as ordinary in attire, &c.
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