Columbia Phoenix

Lincoln's Griefs Prophesied in the Talmud.

A Talmudistical friend of the writer, during the summer of 1864, taking up, in his study, an open volume of the Talmud, drew his attention to a particular passage, and asked, "Can you read that?" The reply was, "Yes—it is 'Kai Lincoln'—which means—He will go down in grief." "It is prophecy," said our friend, "and surely it is the fate of this man to end his career in grief."

The writer of this related the conversation to Mr. Pennington, the editor of the Raleigh Progress, who published it. The article was copied by the Mobile Register, the editor of which, in a humorous vein, said: "With Grant in the Mississippi mud, McClellan in the Chickahominy mud, and Lincoln in the Talmud, the Yankees must be deep in the mud."

The end of Lincoln has certainly been reached. He is in the mud. He has come to grief—to a sudden and miserable end; in the moment of his greatest power—in the highest sense of security—in the midst of revelry—and without being permitted to see the handwriting on the wall—"Mene, mene, tekel upharsin!" The Chaldean signification of his name has proved prophetic, whether conceived in prophecy or not. But the end is not yet reached for the Yankee nation. Theirs may be a present triumph, but it is the god that crowds the work, and that end in the long future, who shall predict? Let us wait upon God, whose mill grinds slowly, according to the German proverb, but grinds thoroughly and to the proper end.

HERMANN.