LINCOLN, Abraham]. RICKS, Augustus. Autograph letter signed to Emma, his wife, Washington, D.C., 7 February 1865. 8 pages, 8vo . A VISIT TO THE LINCOLN WHITE HOUSE: "YOU ENTER THE BLUE ROOM WHERE THE PRESIDENT & MRS. LINCOLN RECEIVE THEIR GUESTS..." A fine, vivid letter from Union staff officer Augustus Ricks, an aide-de-camp to Generals Hascall and Cox, offering a long, thoughtful description of the February 7 Presidential reception at the White House, and giving his candid impressions of the President and First Lady: "Last evening I attended the Pres. reception. I was much pleased with the quiet democratic way in which the ceremonies were conducted...You...pass through a hall running parallel with the front of the house. In the hall are rare collections of hot house plants that share their fragrance with the air already loaded with perfume from hundreds of persons. Passing through a small room--a private parlor I should call it--you enter the blue room where the President & Mrs. Lincoln receive their guests. The Pres. shakes hands with you as you pass, not mechanically as you would think, from its frequent repetition, but cordially and with a kind word--How do you do sir or Glad to see you, or happy to meet you--so impressed...that you think it meant especially for you. I know I felt so. He reaches out towards you, as if to meet you, anxious to welcome you, looks you in the eyes, looks pleasantly, speaks frankly and his whole manner is just what you would ask & demand of a friend." Ricks shares his impression of the President with his wife: "I was very happily disappointed in his manner and appearance. There is nothing awkward or ungraceful about him. Neither is there anything courtly or ostentatious. He is plain unassuming: and withal easy and attractive. While he may not suit the fancy of the aristocratic or precise and enacting devotees to fashion, he meets the expectations of the common, intelligent American." He continues: "How impressive it was to me, I shall never forget, to see the bronzed veterans walk by and be greeted as they were by their Pres., their Commander in Chief. How simple and yet how august the principle. This meeting of the lowest and highest as equals." Ricks also relates his impression of the First Lady: "Mrs. Lincoln is a very ordinary looking woman, rather small of stature, but rather fleshy...She too would suit the sensible intelligent ladies of the land better than those whose thoughts and aims in life are given rather to dress than to more enobling things." Ricks found a visit to Congress far less appealing: "The house seemed to me, more like a school-boys debating club. There was a lack of dignity in the bearing of most of the members and a shocking want of general intelligence of parliamentary rules...many idle, foolish words...pass between members upon important measures."
LINCOLN, Abraham]. RICKS, Augustus. Autograph letter signed to Emma, his wife, Washington, D.C., 7 February 1865. 8 pages, 8vo . A VISIT TO THE LINCOLN WHITE HOUSE: "YOU ENTER THE BLUE ROOM WHERE THE PRESIDENT & MRS. LINCOLN RECEIVE THEIR GUESTS..." A fine, vivid letter from Union staff officer Augustus Ricks, an aide-de-camp to Generals Hascall and Cox, offering a long, thoughtful description of the February 7 Presidential reception at the White House, and giving his candid impressions of the President and First Lady: "Last evening I attended the Pres. reception. I was much pleased with the quiet democratic way in which the ceremonies were conducted...You...pass through a hall running parallel with the front of the house. In the hall are rare collections of hot house plants that share their fragrance with the air already loaded with perfume from hundreds of persons. Passing through a small room--a private parlor I should call it--you enter the blue room where the President & Mrs. Lincoln receive their guests. The Pres. shakes hands with you as you pass, not mechanically as you would think, from its frequent repetition, but cordially and with a kind word--How do you do sir or Glad to see you, or happy to meet you--so impressed...that you think it meant especially for you. I know I felt so. He reaches out towards you, as if to meet you, anxious to welcome you, looks you in the eyes, looks pleasantly, speaks frankly and his whole manner is just what you would ask & demand of a friend." Ricks shares his impression of the President with his wife: "I was very happily disappointed in his manner and appearance. There is nothing awkward or ungraceful about him. Neither is there anything courtly or ostentatious. He is plain unassuming: and withal easy and attractive. While he may not suit the fancy of the aristocratic or precise and enacting devotees to fashion, he meets the expectations of the common, intelligent American." He continues: "How impressive it was to me, I shall never forget, to see the bronzed veterans walk by and be greeted as they were by their Pres., their Commander in Chief. How simple and yet how august the principle. This meeting of the lowest and highest as equals." Ricks also relates his impression of the First Lady: "Mrs. Lincoln is a very ordinary looking woman, rather small of stature, but rather fleshy...She too would suit the sensible intelligent ladies of the land better than those whose thoughts and aims in life are given rather to dress than to more enobling things." Ricks found a visit to Congress far less appealing: "The house seemed to me, more like a school-boys debating club. There was a lack of dignity in the bearing of most of the members and a shocking want of general intelligence of parliamentary rules...many idle, foolish words...pass between members upon important measures."
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