Page 26 of 63 SEQUEL - Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories

J. H. Hackett, in his part of Falstaff, was an actor who gave Mr.

Lincoln great delight. With his usual desire to signify to others

his sense of obligation, Mr. Lincoln wrote a genial little note to

the actor expressing his pleasure at witnessing his performance.

Mr. Hackett, in reply, sent a book of some sort; perhaps it was one

of his own authorship. He also wrote several notes to the

President. One night, quite late, when the episode had passed out

of my mind, I went to the white House in answer to a message.

Passing into the President's office, I noticed, to my surprise,

Hackett sitting in the anteroom as if waiting for an audience. The

President asked me if any one was outside. On being told, he said,

half sadly, "Oh, I can't see him, I can't see him; I was in hopes he

had gone away." Then he added, "Now this just illustrates the

difficulty of having pleasant friends and acquaintances in this

place. You know how I liked Hackett as an actor, and how I wrote to

tell him so. He sent me that book, and there I thought the matter

would end. He is a master of his place in the profession, I

suppose, and well fixed in it; but just because we had a little

friendly correspondence, such as any two men might have, he wants

something. What do you suppose he wants?" I could not guess, and

Mr. Lincoln added, "well, he wants to be consul to London. Oh,

dear!"

I will observe, in conclusion, that the William Ferguson incident occurred, and within my personal knowledge--though I have changed the nature of the details, to keep William from recognizing himself in it.

All the readers of this article have in some sweet and gushing hour of their lives played the role of Magnanimous-Incident hero. I wish I knew how many there are among them who are willing to talk about that episode and like to be reminded of the consequences that flowed from it.

		Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality. Wystan Hugh Auden

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