the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain." These sad, tender, and prayerful words reveal his deep religious convictions, and tally strangely with the charge of scepticism sometimes made.

At Indianapolis he was welcomed by Governor Morton. In reply, he referred to the temper and hot blood manifested by some in speaking of coercion and invasion. He inquired whether the professed lovers of the Union, who so spitefully resolved that they would resist coercion and invasion, understood, if the United States should merely hold and retake its own ports and collect the duties on foreign imports, that that would be invasion. At the capital of Ohio he said that it was a consoling circumstance that there was as yet really nothing that hurt anybody; and he expressed the opinion " that all we want is time, patience, and a reliance on that God who has never forsaken his people." At Pittsburgh he said that there 66 no crisis, but an artificial one," such an one be gotten up at any time by turbulent men, aided by designing politicians." His advice to all was to keep cool, keep their self-possession, and the difficulties would be adjusted.

was

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as may

Arriving at New York, he was received on the 20th by its municipal authorities. In welcoming him, Mayor Wood said: "New York is the child of the American Union. She has grown up under its maternal care, and been fostered by its maternal bounty, and we fear that if the Union dies the present supremacy of New York will perish with it." This official, who had recently suggested the idea of New York's becoming a free city, advised the President to so conduct public affairs as to preserve the Union, in which that city was so deeply interested. Assuring the city authorities and the people that he should strive to do his whole duty, Mr. Lincoln passed on. At Trenton he declared to the legislature of New Jersey his anxiety for the perpetuity of the Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people. He expressed his great anxiety that peace might be preserved, saying that no one would do more than himself to maintain it; but, he added, "it may be necessary to put the foot down firmly."

In Philadelphia, on the 22d of February, Washington's birthday, and in the presence of an immense crowd, he raised with his own hand the American flag over the old State House. Inspired by the day, the place, and the enthusiastic greetings of the vast assemblage, he addressed the multitude with great solemnity, and in well-remembered words. Saying that he had often pondered over the dangers incurred by those who there adopted the Declaration of Independence, and upon the toils endured by the officers and soldiers who achieved it, he added: "I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother-land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but I hope to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that, in due time, the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is a sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world, if I can help save it. If it cannot be saved on that basis, it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it." Expressing the opinion that there need be no bloodshed or war, he said, "there will be no bloodshed unless it be forced upon the government, and then it will be compelled to act in self-defence." The information conveyed to him on the evening of the 21st, that a band of conspirators in the city of Baltimore had formed a conspiracy to assassinate him, and the recollection of the warnings given him, may have caused this reference to assassination in his speech.

The speeches made by Mr. Lincoln on his way to the capital clearly indicated that he did not fully comprehend the plans and purpose of the secessionists; nor did he realize their daring and recklessness, the contempt and scorn with which they received his temperate, considerate, kind, and hopeful words.

In December, 1864, Mr. Lincoln related to Benson J. Lossing the circumstances which were connected with this clandestine journey between Philadelphia and Washington, which cannot be better stated than in his own words. "I arrived," said Mr. Lincoln, "at Philadelphia on the 21st. I agreed to stop one night, and on the following morning hoist the flag over Independence Hall. In the evening there was a great crowd when I received my friends at the Continental Hotel. Mr. Judd, a warm personal friend from Chicago, sent for me to come to his room. I went, and found there Mr. Pinkerton, a skilful police detective, also from Chicago, who had been employed for some days in Baltimore, watching or searching for suspicious persons there. Pinkerton informed me that a plan had been laid for my assassination, the exact time I expected to go through Baltimore being publicly known. He was well informed as to the plan, but did not know that the conspirators would have pluck enough to execute it. He urged me to go right through to Washington with him that night. I did n't like that. I had made engagements to visit Harrisburg and go from there to Baltimore, and I resolved to do so. I could not believe that there was a plot to murder me. I made arrangements, however, with Mr. Judd for my return to Philadelphia the next night, if I should be convinced that there was danger in going through Baltimore. I told him that if I should meet at Harrisburg, as I had at other places, a delegation to go with me to the next place (then Baltimore), I should feel safe and go on.

"When I was making my way back to my room, through crowds of people, I met Frederick Seward. We went together to my room, when he told me that he had been sent, at the instance of his father and General Scott, to inform me that their detectives in Baltimore had discovered a plot there to They knew nothing of Pinkerton's move

assassinate me.

ments. I now believed such a plot to be in existence. "The next morning I raised the flag over Independence Hall, and then went on to Harrisburg with Mr. Sumner, Major (now General) Hunter, Mr. Judd, Mr. Lamon, and others. There I met the legislature and people, dined, and waited until

the time appointed for me to leave. In the mean time Mr. Judd had so secured the telegraph that no communication could pass to Baltimore and give the conspirators knowledge of a change in my plans.

"In New York some friend had given me a new beaver hat in a box, and in it had placed a soft wool hat. I had never worn one of the latter in my life. I had this box in my room. Having informed a few friends of the secret of my new movements, and the cause, I put on an old overcoat that I had with me, and putting the soft hat in my pocket, I walked out of the house at a back door, bare-headed, without exciting any special curiosity. Then I put on the soft hat and joined my friends, without being recognized by strangers, for I was not the same

Sumner and Hunter wished to accompany me. I said no; you are known, and your presence might betray me. I will only take Lamon (now marshal of this District), whom nobody knew. And Mr. Judd, Sumner, and Hunter felt hurt.

"We went back to Philadelphia, and found a message there from Pinkerton (who had returned to Baltimore), that the conspirators had held their final meeting, and it was doubtful whether they had the nerve to attempt the execution of their purpose. I went on, however, as the arrangements had been made, in a special train. We were a long time in the station at Baltimore. I heard people talking around, but no one particularly observed me. At an early hour on Saturday morning, at about the time I was expected to leave Harrisburg, I arrived in Washington.'

Early on the morning of the 23d of February Mr. Lincoln, having reached Washington, was received at the station by E. B. Washburne, then a Representative from Illinois, and was by him taken to his hotel. He was there met by Senator Seward. Accompanied by him, he called on Mr. Buchanan. Giving him a cordial greeting, the President introduced him to the members of his Cabinet, then in session. After calling on General Scott, he returned to his hotel, where he received his friends, the members of the Peace Congress, and where for several days he received the welcome of official bodies and private citizens.

On Monday, the 4th of March, the inauguration ceremonies took place. Apprehensions of violence pervaded the city, which was thronged with thousands of visitors. General Scott had made all the military preparations in his power, with the small force of the army at his command and the District militia, to maintain order. It was a bright day. Tens of thousands of strangers filled the streets, and the military escort and the procession were imposing.

Arriving at the Capitol, President Buchanan and Mr. Lincoln entered the Senate chamber arm in arm. After the oath of office had been administered to Hannibal Hamlin as VicePresident, and to the new Senators, among them John C. Breckinridge, the late Vice-President, Mr. Lincoln was escorted to the eastern portico. There, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, of the Supreme Court, Foreign Ministers, and a vast multitude, Mr. Lincoln read his inaugural address. Accustomed to address masses of men, he spoke with so clear and strong a voice as to be distinctly heard even by the immense throng before him.

It was stated by Thurlow Weed, in the Albany "Evening Journal," that, after Mr. Lincoln commenced delivering his address, he retired, and in so doing, saw Generals Scott and Wool in full uniform standing by a battery. Presenting himself to these veterans and personal friends, General Scott inquired how the inauguration was going on. cess," replied Mr. Weed. Hearing which, "the old hero raised his arms and exclaimed, 'God be praised! goodness be praised!""

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God in his

These words, and the manner of General Scott, can be explained on no other reasonable supposition than that, in his judgment, the President elect, the capital, and the nation they represented had been in very great and grave peril, deliverance from which was providential, and a special mark of the Divine favor. His position, opportunities for knowing the facts, and his proclivities, which had hitherto been regarded as Southern rather than Northern, invest the conclusions he was forced to accept with great significance and importance. His views, therefore, of the situation, the letter of the mayor, the elaborate