him, and while there Mr. Lincoln also called, with his son Tad, and remained an hour or more. He greeted Sickles very heartily and kindly, of course, and complimented him on his stout fight at Gettysburg, and then, after inquiring about our killed and wounded generally, passed on to the question as to what Meade was going to do with his victory. They discussed this pro and con at some length, Lincoln hoping for great results if Meade only pressed Lee actively, but Sickles was dubious and diplomatic, as became so astute a man. And then,

presently, General Sickles turned to him, and asked what he thought during the Gettysburg campaign, and whether he was not anxious about it?

Mr. Lincoln gravely replied, no, he was not; that some of his Cabinet and many others in Washington were, but that he himself had had no fears. General Sickles inquired how this was, and seemed curious about it. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but finally replied: "Well, I will tell you how it was. In the pinch of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity of our affairs, I went into my room one day and locked the door, and got down on my knees before Almighty God, and prayed to him mightily for victory at Gettysburg. I told him this was his war, and our cause his cause, but that we couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville. And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty God that if he would stand by our boys at Gettysburg I would stand by him. And he did, and I will. And after that—I don't know how it was and I can't explain it but soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul that things would go all right at Gettysburg, and that is why I had no fears about you."

He said this solemnly and pathetically, as if from the very depths of his heart, and both Sickles and I were deeply touched by his manner.

Presently General Sickles asked him what news he had from Vicksburg. He answered, he had none worth mentioning, but that Grant was still "pegging away" down there, and he thought a good deal of him as a general and wasn't going to remove him, though urged to do so; and "Besides," he added, "I have been praying over Vicksburg also, and believe our Heavenly Father is going to give us victory there too, because we need it, in order to bisect the Confederacy and have the Mississippi flow unvexed to the sea." Of course he did not know that Vicksburg had already fallen, July 4th, and that a gunboat was soon to arrive at Cairo with the great news that was to make that Fourth of July memorable in history forever.

He said these things very deliberately and touchingly, as if he believed thoroughly in them. Of course, I do not give his exact words, but very nearly his words, and his ideas precisely. He asked us not to repeat what he said at least, not then-lest "people might laugh, you know." But his tragic death, and the long lapse of years. since, and his imputed infidelity if not atheism, would seem to justify my speaking now. General Sickles also well remembers the above conversation, and gave the substance of it in a recent after-dinner address in Washington, but not so fully as the above. Of course, he could not be expected to recall it so well, "done to the death as he then nearly was. Altogether, we Americans may well be proud of Abraham Lincoln. If not our first American, he is at least only second after George Washington; and he will go down to history an honor

and a credit to human nature. In any other age he would long since have been canonized as Abraham the Just or St. Abraham the Good. On this the thirtieth anniversary of his assassination let us devoutly say of him, as was said of that good knight of old:

TRENTON, N. J.

"His good sword is rust,

His bones are dust,

His soul is with the saints,
We trust."

RECOLLECTIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

HISTORY OF HIS FIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND-NEW FACTS, WITH INCIDENTS AND STORIES.

BY HENRY C. BOWEN,

EDITOR, PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR OF THE "INDEPENDENT," AND ONE OF ITS FOUNDERS IN 1848.

IN 1858 Abraham Lincoln was nominated at Springfield, Ill., by the Republican State Convention as the candidate for United States Senator from Illinois in place of Stephen A. Douglas, who desired re-election to that office afterward. Lincoln challenged Douglas to canvass the State with him and publicly discuss the question of slavery. This discussion attracted the attention. of the whole American people to Mr. Lincoln as a man of great intellectual and oratorical power-a splendid, keen, quick-sighted platform speaker. His speeches during that campaign were reported and read in every part of the country. They were noticeable for their brilliant and humorous illustrations, which made them very effective. I read most of these speeches with interest, and they made a deep impression on my mind. The fresh and aggressive style of Lincoln led me then to think that he had a brilliant political future of great value to the Republican Party.

During the winter of 1859 several young men in New

York, including Mr. Joseph H. Richards, who was then in my employ and connected with the Independent as its publisher; Mr. S. W. Tubbs, receiving teller of the Park Bank; Mr. S. M. Pettingill, a well-known advertising agent, and the Hon. James A. Briggs, decided to arrange for a lecture to promote a benevolent objectsupplementary to a course in Brooklyn. They wanted a man who would draw a crowd and make the lecture a success, they said, and asked me if I could name such a man.

I knew Mr. Lincoln by reputation, as a lawyer, before his platform contests with Douglas in Illinois. He had been employed by my firm-Bowen & McNamee - on several occasions. We found him to be able, efficient and successful. I gave it as my decided opinion that Mr. Lincoln would be the best man to fill Cooper Institute. The expense would be large in bringing him here from Illinois; but the young men decided to take the risk of inviting him. The compensation offered was $200, which included all his expenses. The proposal made to him was promptly accepted, and on Mr. Lincoln's arrival in New York he came directly to my office, where I was very glad to receive him. I had never seen him before. His personal appearance surprised me somewhat.

The introductory conversation was quickly over, and he immediately made himself at home, completely covering the sofa, which was quite too small and short for his extended figure. I soon saw he was a talker. He bubbled over with stories and jokes, and speedily convinced me that I had made no mistake in recommending him as a lecturer. After an hour's talk I asked him where he was stopping in the city, and he said he had a quiet room in the Metropolitan Hotel where he could.