that I would immediately return to the White House and inform Mr. Lincoln of what he had said. I did so, and Burrage was in Washington in less than a fortnight afterward. This story will illustrate the patience and sympathy which Mr. Lincoln gave to every interest of the soldiers, whether in the service or in captivity.

A DISTINGUISHED EDITOR'S RECOLLECTIONS.

A WHISKY BILL-LINCOLN AS AN EDITORIAL WRITER.

BY MURAT HALSTEAD,

EDITOR OF "THE BROOKLYN UNION."

I BECAME acquainted with President Lincoln through an old and somewhat peculiar farmer, named "Sol" Meredith. He introduced me to the President on one occasion when he was in the West. Old "Sol" Meredith during the War was the commander of the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg. In the West he had been a farmer, raising all kinds of agricultural products, making a specialty of breeding horses, mules and other live stock.

As a journalist, in a general way, I supported Mr. Lincoln; at the same time I was occasionally inclined to agree with those who were criticising him, but, later on, it became clear to me that he seemed to be doing pretty well. There was a time when nearly everybody criticised him, the Republicans the worst of all.

I remember particularly a speech he made in Cincinnati about 1858, from the balcony of the building where the post office now stands. I went up there for the purpose of hearing a part of the speech, and to get an impression of the man; but I was so much interested that I remained throughout the whole address. The speech was of no particular importance so far as its relation to

public affairs was concerned, but in one particular it was quite pathetic. Lincoln, it will be remembered, was born in Kentucky, and in this speech he referred to his native State, remarking that he had never before made an address so near his early home. And it is a singular fact that in all his public career he never appeared as a public speaker in Kentucky.

When I was in Washington I used to see him looking through a spyglass out of a window in the White House at the Confederate flag which was kept flying from the hotel at Alexandria, where young Ellsworth was killed at the outbreak of the War. He seemed to study this flag through his spyglass; it seemed to have for him a kind of baneful fascination.

Once I saw him in the White House yard when a Wisconsin regiment was marching along. The special thing that attracted my attention was that, as they were passing along, he shed tears.

When he was in Cincinnati, and made the speech to which I referred a moment ago, some of the younger Republicans called at his rooms at the Burnett House. They sent downstairs for a box of cigars and a bottle of whisky. In some way they neglected the matter, and the whisky was charged to Mr. Lincoln in his hotel bill. This displeased him very much. There was considerable correspondence between him and the young Republicans about the matter. I saw some of his letters, and I can only say that I have a general impression that they were well written and strictly to the point. The fact was that he did not know anything about the liquor, and the parties referred to had had it all to themselves. When Lincoln became President, the recollection of this incident was anything but pleasant to the Republican gen

tlemen who were connected with it.

They were good

enough fellows personally, but, as members of the reigning political party, knowing that the experience had been exceedingly unpleasant to Mr. Lincoln, they doubtless many a time wished that the incident had never occurred, and hoped for the time when other and more important matters would crowd it out of Mr. Lincoln's recollection.

It is a curious fact that my correspondent during the Springfield Convention in 1860 was Henry Villard, afterward the wealthy railroad man. I employed him for ten years, and he was a very good newspaper man. His letters from Springfield were exceptionally good and indicated pretty plainly Mr. Lincoln's views. He sent me a manuscript editorial that Mr. Lincoln had written for the Springfield Journal after he was elected President. It had been strongly contended by some that Lincoln should take into his Cabinet some men who were not Republicans. This letter was written in Lincoln's quaint style, and, in a hypothetical way, showed that he could only take for his Cabinet advisers those who affiliated with the Republican Party.

BROOKLYN, N. Y.

HOW LINCOLN WAS WARNED OF THE BAL

TIMORE ASSASSINATION PLOT.

HOW HE ENTERED WASHINGTON.

BY FREDERICK W. SEWARD,

AUTHOR OF THE "LIFE OF WM. H. SEWARD."

THE most important and interesting recollection I have of President Lincoln is in regard to the warning I carried to him of the plot to assassinate him in Baltimore. The story of this event is reproduced from my Life of Secretary Seward.

I was in the gallery of the Senate Chamber shortly after noon one Thursday, in February, 1861, when one of the pages touched my elbow, and told me that Senator Seward wished to see me immediately. Going down, I met him in the lobby. He handed me a letter he had just written to Mr. Lincoln, enclosing a note from General Scott. He said:

"Whether this story is well founded or not, Mr. Lincoln ought to know of it at once. But I know of no reason to doubt it. General Scott is impressed with the belief that the danger is real. Colonel Stone has facilities for knowing, and is not apt to exaggerate. I want you to go by the first train. Find Mr. Lincoln wherever he is. Let no one else know your errand. I have written him that I think he should change his arrangements,