figured gray shawl, and his usual way of disposing of it as he entered the office was to hang it across the top of the inner door, which was nearly always standing open, and so high as to be out of the reach of a man of ordinary height. When sitting at a desk writing briefly he sometimes assumed a half-kneeling, half-sitting posture, with one knee on the carpet. When composing at some length it was his habit to look out of the window and, apparently unconsciously, scratch his head, particularly his temples, often moving his lips in whispers, until he had his sentence framed, when he would put it on paper. He wrote rather slowly but quite legibly, taking care to punctuate accurately. His spelling was faultless, which is not true of all great men, even those of education; and yet on two or three occasions he asked me, while writing, as to the use of one or two "l's" or two "t's." He rarely erased or interlined; and his diction, so peculiar to himself, always seemed to me the perfection of plain, simple English. He sometimes read aloud, and on one occasion I remember his reading to me at some length, rather slowly and thoughtfully, and purposely mispronouncing certain words, placing the accent on the wrong syllable and the like. He was at this time sitting opposite me beside the large table on which I was writing, his chair leaned back against the wall, his legs crossed, one foot resting upon the round of his chair and the other suspended in space. During this reading he stopped occasionally to remark upon the subject of his reading detailed description of a battle- and one of his remarks, I remember, was upon the meagreness of adjectives in the language to express the different degrees of feeling and action. NEW YORK CITY. a LINCOLN AND THE ABOLITIONIST RIOTS. TO PREVENT HIS INAUGURATION. BY AARON M. POWELL. THOUGH One of the early Abolitionists and editor of their organ, the Anti-Slavery Standard, I was not personally acquainted with Mr. Lincoln. I can recall two or three things of interest in connection with him, however; for instance, his speech at the Cooper Institute, in 1859, which undoubtedly opened the way for his becoming President. After his election there was a systematic attempt made to prevent his inauguration. The Knights of the Golden Circle, whose headquarters were in the South, had their allies and coworkers among the Democrats of the North. About the time of Lincoln's inauguration we antislavery workers were holding a series of conventions in New York and other cities. The persons just referred to used the occasion of these meetings for a series of mobs, extending from New York to Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, etc. Wherever we appeared we were confronted with a disorderly crowd seemingly organized by the same general hand. In Utica the mob had taken possession of the hall before we could organize our convention, and we had to hold our meeting in a private house. In connection with these mobs they circulated reports in the newspapers that the North Old Man Coyote BY CLARA KERN BAYLISS. Illustrated by E. Warde 150 pages, 8vo, $1.00. Blaisdell. tica we a group ey pre y repu1 figure vestigahe pur ression North, inaugu a free M. E. in Mis of ak, but vere to t howl rear of group of a dozen funny legends are a part of genuine Indian tradition transcribed directly by a writer who has made close and sympathetic study of the fountain sources. "Old Man Coyote"-the hero of them all-reminds us somewhat in his pranks of Brer Rabbit of the South, but his deeds far antedate the latter's. In Indian mythology he was originally a wonderful character, half god, half animal, who was perpetually confusing his identities and thus becoming involved in many foolish scrapes. At other times he rendered mankind some real service; but it must be confessed that in toto he was anything except a heroic figure. Finally he was punished by being reduced to the level of other animals, and sent to wander forever over the Western plains. These stories are laughable and wholesome, and cannot fail to please the children. At the same time they will attract older readers for the reasons above indicated. A special feature is the illustrations by Blaisdell, who is best known by his cartoons in the "Century." Thomas P. Crowell & Company, New York LINCOLN AND THE ABOLITIONIST RIOTS. TO PREVENT HIS INAUGURATION. BY AARON M. POWELL. THOUGH One of the early Abolitionists and editor of their organ, the Anti-Slavery Standard, I was not personally acquainted with Mr. Lincoln. I can recall two or three things of interest in connection with him, however; for instance, his speech at the Cooper Institute, in 1859, which undoubtedly opened the way for his becoming President. After his election there was a systematic attempt made to prevent his inauguration. The Knights of the Golden Circle, whose headquarters were in the South, had their allies and coworkers among the Democrats of the North. About the time of Lincoln's inauguration we antislavery workers were holding a series of conventions in New York and other cities. The persons just referred to used the occasion of these meetings for a series of mobs, extending from New York to Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, etc. Wherever we appeared we were confronted with a disorderly crowd seemingly organized by the same general hand. In Utica the mob had taken possession of the hall before we could organize our convention, and we had to hold our meeting in a private house. In connection with these mobs. they circulated reports in the newspapers that the North repudiated the Abolitionists and Lincoln. In Utica we learned that the evening before we were mobbed a group of men had gathered in a lawyer's office. They prepared resolutions which were sent out the next day repudiating the Abolitionists and Lincoln. The central figure of that group, as we learned afterward upon investigation, was none other than Horatio Seymour. The purpose of these riots and mobs was to give the impression to the South, and the country generally, that the North, as well as the South, was inimical to Lincoln's inauguration. At Syracuse we were driven from our hall, and a freespeech meeting was organized, at which the Rev. M. E. Strieby, now one of the secretaries of the American Missionary Association, presided. I attempted to speak, but being recognized as one of the Abolitionists who were to have addressed the convention, there was a great howl from the disorderly element present. In the rear of the hall, directing the movements of the mob, was Col. John A. Green, one of Horatio Seymour's lieutenants. Susan B. Anthony, Charles L. Redmond, a colored man, the Rev. Samuel J. May and the Rev. Beriah Green were present as speakers on this occasion. Just as we left the platform the mob, largely composed of men from the Salt Works, led by Colonel Green, opened on us a shower of eggs. At a meeting in Auburn, which we were allowed to hold, they put pepper on the stoves, nearly suffocating speakers and audience, especially the former, who could not reach the windows handily. In Rochester we were again confronted by the mob. In Boston George W. Smalley, now of the New York Tribune, and some other young men slept in the house of Wendell Phillips as his body guard. |