Lincoln in Gettysburg...

That night in Gettysburg, Lincoln stayed in the home of David Wills, a local "eminento" who'd pushed the idea of the national cemetery and helped buy the land. The little town was overrun with visitors. A crowd gathered at Wills's house and called out to Lincoln to speak.

Here we see a nice moment of the egalitarianism and lack of reverence with which 19th-century Americans approached their presidents.

Lincoln came out and said: "I appear before you . . . merely to thank you for the compliment." He would not deliver a speech for "several substantial reasons." One is that he didn't have one. "In my position it is somewhat important that I should not say any foolish things," he added.

"If you can help it," shot a voice from the crowd.

Lincoln said the only way to help it was to say "nothing at all."