It was worthy of the time, of the country, and of the master-hand of Abraham Lincoln.

Left to his own inclinations, Mr. Lincoln would have left Harrisburg in the morning of February 23d, and have passed through Baltimore about midday, where, unless providentially protected, he would have fallen by the hand of hired assassins who lay in wait for him. He listened to good counsels; left Harrisburg about six o'clock in the evening, arrived in Philadelphia, crossed the city in a carriage, and entered a sleeping-car for Washington about twelve o'clock at night. Except a Scotch cap which he usually wore on the cars at night, he was undisguised. He was accompanied by Mr. Lamon, who was to be his marshal. His mind was so completely at rest that he fell asleep before the train left Baltimore and slept until it arrived at Washington. At the station he was met by Mr. Seward and Mr. Washburn, and unannounced, unheralded, almost unattended, Abraham Lincoln entered the capital of the republic he was divinely appointed to preserve.

Washington was a disloyal city. There had been weeks when loyal men and women could not walk its streets without insult. The horde of soldiers of fortune from Maryland and Virginia, attracted thither by the promise of revolution and the hope of plunder, and angry because both were postponed, dominated the city. The count of the electoral vote on the 13th of February had brought a delegation of active loyal men from the North and West, who defended themselves and for a few days had driven the drunken, gambling crew into their dens and holes. But the enfeebled administration, the audacity of the traitors, the lack of any defensive organization for the

Union, had so emboldened the gang that they had again assumed the offensive, and nothing appeared to restrain them but the threat of General Scott to manure the hills of Arlington with fragments of their bodies, blown from his cannon, if they dared to lay hands upon loyal men or their property. But the insignificance of his force was coming to be known, the States were seceding, the rebels growing bolder, and on the 23d of February the city was shrouded to loyal eyes in gloom and despondency.

No apartments had been engaged, no preparations were made for the reception of the President-elect. Accompanied by Mr. Seward and Mr. E. B. Washburn, he descended from an ordinary carriage at the ladies' entrance to Willard's, waited like a common traveller in the reception-room until rooms were assigned for his use, and then his friends left him. But he was not permitted to enjoy his seclusion. Twenty-four hours had not elapsed before the country knew that it had elected a President and that his name was Abraham Lincoln.

The discovery was produced by the "Peace Conference," as it was called, which was then in session in the hall of Willard's hotel. That conference had made a formal call upon the outgoing President at the instance of its delegates from the slave States. At the request of the delegates from the free North it voted to call upon the incoming President, who said he would be happy to receive its members in the evening of the day of his arrival.

In the Conference were influential men from the South, who became afterward prominent in the councils of secession. Among them were ex-President Tyler, William C. Rives, James A. Seddon,

Geo. M. Davis, General Zollicoffer, and others. These gentlemen anticipated a rare evening's entertainment. They expected to meet a "rail-splitter," a boor who would not open his lips without exposing his ignorance; a buffoon with a ready stock of vulgar wit; a clown whose antics would amuse them and mortify the Republicans. As they were successively presented they formed a circle about him, and each was held there by some inexplicable attraction. They saw a tall, powerful man whose grand face overlooked them all; whose voice was kindly, who greeted every one with dignity and a courteous propriety of expression which surprised his friends. Two or three of them experimented with questions which involved a slight contemptuous disrespect. Then his stature seemed to grow loftier and there was a ring to his voice and a flash from his eyes which discouraged a repetition of the experiment. Except for these answers his theme was the Constitution. That instrument was the safeguard of the republic. It was a great charter of liberty, framed by wise and prudent men, which bound the conscience of every citizen. He was about to renew his oath to obey and enforce it. It would not be obeyed and enforced until all its provisions and the laws passed by Congress were enforced in every State and Territory of the Union. If he became President the Constitution and laws would be so enforced to the utmost extent of his power!

Three well-defined types of expression were visible upon the faces of his auditors as these earnest words fell upon their ears. That of the secessionists was profound astonishment and disappointment. The more able Southerners evinced their regret for

having misjudged him; the faces of the Northern loyal men were ablaze with a patriotic exultation which was almost irrepressible. There were a few Southern men whose opinions found expression in the declaration by one of them, "If those are your principles, Mr. Lincoln, I am with you to the end!"

On our way to our apartments after the close of the reception, an experienced and very able Southern statesman said: "The South is unfortunate; we have been deceived in Mr. Lincoln. We have been told and we believed that he was a reckless, ignorant man, unfit for the presidency, easily controlled by bad men. What I have seen to-night convinces me that he is a strong man who will have a strong administration."

If ten disciplined regiments of infantry had suddenly appeared on Pennsylvania Avenue, marching to the War Office to reinforce the few soldiers of General Scott, they would not have so inspired the hearts of loyal men with courage and confidence as did this timely, statesmanlike, bold announcement by Abraham Lincoln of his purpose to enforce, as well as obey, the Constitution and the laws. Flashed over the wires to the remotest portions of the free States, it aroused loyal men out of their despondency and thrilled their breasts with a new hope. The Almighty had called him to a great work, and the loyal country knew that Abraham Lincoln was ready.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: THE DIPLOMATIST - THE MILITARY STRATEGIST THE MASTER OF ENGLISH PROSE-THE STATESMAN-THE GREAT PRESIDENT.

WHO shall write the history of the administration of our great President? Not one who knew the truehearted man, who was so patient, so apt to teach, so gentle to others, that he inspired in one who came in contact with him an undying love which could not fail to find expression in his pen. By and by, in another century, when all those who saw his face when it did shine as the sun are no longer to be called as his witnesses, let the man be found who is his equal in prose composition, who is as just as Solomon, as wise as Solon, as great a soldier as Wellington, the Tacitus of his time; and let him be assigned to that duty. I will be content if I can describe some of the incidents which made us so honor and love Abraham Lincoln.

From the dome of the Capitol the statue of Liberty looked upon a great spectacle on the bright morning of March 4th, 1861. From the Executive Mansion to the Capitol gate, the avenue and its buildings on either side, from basement to roof; the grounds on the Potomac front; the many seats provided on the eastern side, the great square of the Columbus statue, and the windows of the Capitol-all the space was occupied by American citizens. They were orderly.