March 15, 1863
President Lincoln meets with a New York delegation who bring information that “ships now building in English yards professedly for the Emperor of China, but really for our rebels.” At night, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner visits the White House. Mr. Lincoln liked to read aloud and both men read from Theodore D. Woolsey’s Introduction to the Study of International Law. Sumner was one of the few politicians liked by Mary Todd Lincoln.
Presidential assistant John G. Nicolay writes: “The Senate finally adjourned yesterday at two oclock, after a week’s very constant and industrious work, and I have the hope of a little intermission in the hurry and confusion of the last three months. That I shall enjoy and appreciate it, there is no doubt. Taking the winter altogether I have gone through much more easily and comfortably than I expected to do at its beginning. I feel much fresher and stronger than I did at this time last year and have no doubt that I shall still greatly improve in this respect, with the leisure and mild weather of the Spring.”
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War 
Leave a Reply