they were as unlike as they could be.

It is proverbial that the course of true love never did run smooth. If
there were ripples and eddies and counter-currents in the course of
this love, it was in nowise exceptional. It is only the prominence of
the parties that has brought this into the strong light of publicity.

Much has been written that is both unwarranted and unkind. Even the
most confidential friends do not realize the limitations of their
knowledge on a matter so intimate. When they say they know all about
it, they are grievously mistaken. No love story (outside of novels) is
ever told truly. In the first place, the parties themselves do not tell
all. They may say they do, but there are some things which neither man
nor woman ever tells. In the heart of love there is a Holy of Holies
into which the most intimate friend is not allowed to look.

And in the second place, even the lovers do not see things alike. If
both really understood, there could be no _mis_understanding. It
is, then, presumptive for even the confidants, and much more for the
general public, to claim to know too much of a lovers' quarrel.

We would gladly pass over this event were it not that certain salient
facts are a matter of public record. It is certain that Lincoln became
engaged to Miss Todd in the year 1840. It is certain that he broke the
engagement on January 1, 1841. It is certain that about that time he
had a horrible attack of melancholy. And we have seen that he never
outgrew his attachment to his early love, Ann Rutledge. Whether this
melancholy was the cause of his breaking the engagement, or was caused
by it, we cannot say. Whether the memory of Ann Rutledge had any
influence in the matter, we do not know.