" No matter," I
replied, " Mr. Lincoln will
be re-elected. I am so
confident of it, that I am
tempted to ask a favor of
you."
" A favor ! Well, if we remain
in the White
House I shall be able to do
you many favors.
What is the special favor ? "
" Simply this, Mrs. Lincoln I
should like for
you to make me a present of
the right-hand glove
that the President wears at
the first public recep
tion after his second
inaugural ."
" You shall have it in
welcome. It will be so
filthy when he pulls it off, I
shall be tempted to
take the tongs and put it in
the fire. I cannot
imagine, Lizabeth, what you
want with such a
glove."
"I shall cherish it as a
precious memento of
the second inauguration of the
man who has done
so much for my race. He has
been a Jehovah to
my people has lifted them out
of bondage, and
directed their footsteps from
darkness into light.
I shall keep the glove, and
hand it down to posterity."
" You have some strange ideas,
Lizabeth.
Never mind, you shall have the
glove ; that is, if
Mr. Lincoln continues
President after the 4th of
March next."
I held Mrs. Lincoln to her
promise. That
glove is now in my possession,
bearing the marks
of the thousands of hands that
grasped the honest
hand of Mr. Lincoln on that
eventful night.
Alas ! it has become a
prouder, sadder memento
than I ever dreamed prior to
making the request it
would be.
From:
"Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House"
by Elizabeth Keckley
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