Hon. George W. Julian, of Indiana, was another visitor to the Lincoln home in January.  He says:  “I had a curiosity to see the famous ‘rail-splitter,’ as he was then familiarly called, and as a member-elect of the Thirty-seventh Congress I desired to form some acquaintance with the man who was to play so conspicuous a part in the impending national crisis.  On meeting him I found him far better looking than the campaign pictures had represented him.  His face, when lighted up in conversation, was not unhandsome, and the kindly and winning tones of his voice pleaded for him like the smile that played about his rugged features.  He was full of anecdote and humor, and readily found his way to the hearts of those who enjoyed a welcome to his fireside.  His face, however, was sometimes marked by that touching expression of sadness which became so noticeable in the years following.  On the subject of slavery I was gratified to find him less reserved and more emphatic than I had expected.  I was much pleased with our first Republican Executive, and I returned home more fully inspired than ever with the purpose to sustain him to the utmost in facing the duties of his great office.”

The wide range of these callers and their diverse errands are illustrated by examples furnished by Mr. Lamon.  Two tall, ungainly fellows,—­“Suckers,” as they were called,—­entered Lincoln’s room one day while he was engaged in conversation with a friend.  They lingered bashfully near the door, and Lincoln, noticing their embarrassment, rose and said good-naturedly, “How do you do, my good fellows?  What can I do for you?  Will you sit down?” The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of the two, declined to sit, and explained the object of the call.  He had had a talk about the relative height of Lincoln and his companion, and had asserted his belief that they were of exactly the same height.  He had come in to verify his judgment.  Lincoln smiled, then got his cane, and placing the end of it upon the wall said, “Here, young man, come under here!” The young man came under the cane, as Lincoln held it, and when it was perfectly adjusted to his height Lincoln said, “Now come out and hold up the cane.”  This he did, while Lincoln stepped under.  Rubbing his head back and forth to see that it worked easily under the measurement, he stepped out, and declared that the young man had guessed with remarkable accuracy—­that he and the tall fellow were exactly of the same height.  Then he shook hands with them and sent them on their way.  The next caller was a very different person—­an old and modestly dressed woman who tried to explain that she knew Lincoln.  As he did not at first recognize her, she tried to recall to his memory certain incidents connected with his rides upon the circuit—­especially his dining at her house upon the road at different times.  Then he remembered her and her home.  Having fixed her own place in his recollection, she tried to recall to him a certain scanty dinner of bread