McClures Magazine, Volume VI, No. 3. February 1896 | Page 4

White House; and
Lincoln began the conversation by saying:
[Illustration: LINCOLN IN 1861.
From a photograph loaned by Mr. Frank A. Brown of Minneapolis,
Minnesota. This beautiful photograph was taken, probably early in
1861, by Alexander Hesler of Chicago. It was used by Leonard W.
Volk, the sculptor, in his studies of Lincoln, and closely resembles the
fine etching by T. Johnson.]
"'I am very glad to meet you, Mr. McDonough, and am grateful to
Kelley for bringing you in so early, for I want you to tell me something
about Shakespeare's plays as they are constructed for the stage. You
can imagine that I do not get much time to study such matters, but I
recently had a couple of talks with Hackett--Baron Hackett, as they call
him--who is famous as Jack Falstaff, but from whom I elicited few
satisfactory replies, though I probed him with a good many questions.'
"Mr. McDonough," continues Mr. Kelley, "avowed his willingness to
give the President any information in his possession, but protested that
he feared he would not succeed where his friend Hackett had failed.
'Well, I don't know,' said the President, 'for Hackett's lack of
information impressed me with a doubt as to whether he had ever
studied Shakespeare's text, or had not been content with the acting

edition of his plays.' He arose, went to a shelf not far from his table,
and having taken down a well-thumbed volume of the 'Plays of
Shakespeare,' resumed his seat, arranged his glasses, and having turned
to 'Henry VI.' and read with fine discrimination an extended passage,
said: 'Mr. McDonough, can you tell me why those lines are omitted
from the acting play? There is nothing I have read in Shakespeare,
certainly nothing in 'Henry VI.' or the 'Merry Wives of Windsor,' that
surpasses its wit and humor.' The actor suggested the breadth of its
humor as the only reason he could assign for omission, but thoughtfully
added that it was possible that if the lines were spoken they would
require the rendition of another or other passages which might be
objectionable.
[Illustration: THE STATE-HOUSE AT VANDALIA,
ILLINOIS--NOW USED AS A COURT-HOUSE.
Vandalia was the State capital of Illinois for twenty years, and three
different State-houses were built and occupied there. The first, a
two-story frame structure, was burned down December 9, 1823. The
second was a brick building, and was erected at a cost of $12,381.50, of
which the citizens of Vandalia contributed $3,000. The agitation for the
removal of the capital to Springfield began in 1833, and in the summer
of 1836 the people of Vandalia, becoming alarmed at the prospect of
their little city's losing its prestige as the seat of the State government,
tore down the old capitol (much complaint being made about its
condition), and put up a new one at a cost of $16,000. The tide was too
great to be checked; but after the "Long Nine" had secured the passage
of the bill taking the capital to Springfield, the money which the
Vandalia people had expended was refunded. The State-house shown in
this picture was the third and last one. In it Lincoln served as a
legislator. Ceasing to be the capitol July 4, 1839, it was converted into
a court-house for Fayette County, and is still so used.--_J. McCan
Davis._]
[Illustration: LINCOLN'S SURVEYING
INSTRUMENTS--PHOTOGRAPHED FOR McCLURE'S
MAGAZINE.
After Lincoln gave up surveying, he sold his instruments to John B.
Gum, afterward county surveyor of Menard County. Mr. Gum kept
them until a few years ago, when he presented the instruments to the

Lincoln Monument Association, and they are now on exhibition at the
monument in Springfield, Ill.]
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A TAVERN LICENSE ISSUED TO
BERRY AND LINCOLN MARCH 6, 1833, BY THE COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS' COURT OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
The only tavern in New Salem in 1833 was that kept by James
Rutledge--a two-story log-structure of five rooms, standing just across
the street from Berry and Lincoln's store. Here Lincoln boarded. It
seems entirely probable that he may have had an ambition to get into
the tavern business, and that he and Berry obtained a license with that
end in view, possibly hoping to make satisfactory terms for the
purchase of the Rutledge hostelry. The tavern of sixty years ago,
besides answering the purposes of the modern hotel, was the dramshop
of the frontier. The business was one which, in Illinois, the law strictly
regulated. Tavern-keepers were required to pay a license fee, and to
give bonds to insure their good behavior. Minors were not to be
harbored, nor did the law permit liquor to be sold to them; and the sale
to slaves of any liquors "or strong drink, mixed or unmixed, either
within or without doors," was likewise forbidden. Nor could the poor
Indian get