WASHINGTON'S RECEPTIONS. 243 At these Washington receptions and levees also might be found the public men of the Revolutionary era-the leaders in the Senate and in society, beginning with Washington's Cabinet, which included Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox, Timothy Pickering, John Marshall, Oliver Wolcott, and Edmund Randolph ; and his immediate personal friends, at the head of whom stood John Jay, Governor Clinton, and Robert Morris. There, too, might have been seen Colonel Trumbull, the eminent historical painter. The Philadelphia celebrities living at that time were Dominie Proud, the historian of Pennsylvania, tall, thin, with a nose like a hook, and overhanging brows, a striking figure, with his ivory-headed cane, as he walked about among the new generation; Benjamin Chew, at seventy years preserving the distinguished air and high-bred courtesy which forty years before had arrested the admiration of Washington; Edward Shippen, in his sixty-second year-just called to a position on the bench -the ancestor of his esteemed and universally beloved namesake now living in Philadelphia, and exercising a salutary and generous influence; Dr. Rush, though not in the Washington circle, still a great favorite with the people; the facetious Judge Peters, in his fiftieth year, with his good nature and unfailing wit; the genial and humorous Francis Hopkinson, author of "The Battle of the Kegs;" the sage Rittenhouse, in his sixtieth year; William Bartram, at his famous botanic garden; John Fitch, the inventor of the steam-boat; the eminent Bishop White; Charles Brockden Brown, not yet twenty-one years old, with Hugh H. Breckinridge, Peter S. Duponceau, Dr. Caspar Wistar, and many more unforgotten in our annals, though long since gathered to their fathers. [December 31, 1871.] LII. WHO will ever forget Friday, the 22d of February, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln rode down Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, from the Continental Hotel, for the purpose of raising the American flag in front of Independence Hall? The spot, newly sanctified by that patriotic deed, has recently been additionally hallowed by an exquisite marble life-size statue of Washington, executed by that fine artist, Bailly, and paid for by the contributions of the public-school children of the First School District of Pennsylvania. All his speeches on his way to Washington seemed to be pervaded by consciousness of his danger and determination to do his duty. He was greeted by affectionate crowds at every station, but as he approached Philadelphia he became more serious and resolved. In his reply to Mayor Henry, of that city, on the 21st of February, he said: "You have expressed the wish, in which I join, that it were convenient for me to remain long enough to consult, or rather to listen to, those breathings arising within the consecrated walls in which the Constitution of the United States, and, I will add, the Declaration of Independence, were originally framed and adopted. All my political warfare has been in favor of those teachings. May my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if ever I prove false to those teachings." The next day he was escorted to Independence Hall. It was an early winter morning, and as the President had to visit the Legislature at Harrisburg in the afternoon, in a special train that was to leave at 8:30, what was to be done had to be done quickly. In front of the ancient Temple of Liberty a platform was erected, from which Mr. Lincoln was to raise the national flag with its thirty-four stars. As he approached the sacred spot, in a carriage drawn by four white horses, escorted LINCOLN IN PHILADELPHIA. 245 by the Scott Legion, with the flag they had carried to victory in Mexico twelve years before, the whole scene was highly dramatic. The whole population was in the streets, and their excitement and enthusiasm baffled description. It recalled Shakespeare's picture of Bolingbroke's entrance into London : "You would have thought the very windows spake, So many greedy looks of young and old Through casements darted their desiring eyes Leaving the carriage at the door, he entered, uncovered, the sacred Hall of Independence. And there it was that he used the language that now sounds like a solemn prophecy : "That Declaration of Independence gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but hope for the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in our time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can save it. If it can not be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country can not be saved without giving up that principle-I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it." And then, after a few more words, he added solemnly, as he drew his tall form to its fullest height, "I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, in the pleasure of Almighty God, TO DIE BY.” He had just been freshly warned of his peril, and when he walked forth to face the mighty concourse outside, and mounted the platform, "his tall form rose Saul-like above the mass." He stood elevated and alone before the people, and, with his overcoat off, grasped the halyards to draw up the flag. Then arose a shout like the roar of many waters. Mr. Lincoln's expression was serene and confident. Extending his long arms, he slowly drew up the standard, which had never before kissed the light of heaven till it floated over the Hall of Independence. Tears, prayers, shouts, music, and cannon followed, and sealed an act which few knew was only the beginning of unspeakable sufferings and sacrifices, ending in his own martyrdom. That same afternoon, at Harrisburg, he spoke of his part in the morning's drama as follows: "This morning I was for the first time allowed the privilege of standing in Old Independence Hall. Our friends had provided a magnificent flag of our country, and they had arranged it so that I was given the honor of raising it to the head of its staff, and when it went up I was pleased that it went to its place by the strength of my own feeble arm. When, according to the arrangement, the cord was pulled, and it flaunted gloriously to the wind, without an accident, in the bright glowing sunshine. of the morning, I could not help hoping that there was, in the entire success of that beautiful ceremony, at least something of an omen of what is to come. Nor could I help feeling then, as I have often felt, that in the whole of that proceeding I was a very humble instrument. I had not provided the flag. I had not made the arrangement for elevating it to its place. I had applied a very small portion even of my feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transaction I was in the hands of the people who had arranged it. And if I can have the same generous co-operation of the people of this nation, I think the flag of our country may yet be kept flaunting gloriously." After the reception of Mr. Lincoln by the State authorities at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, preparations were immediately made for his return to Philadelphia. It was impossible to conceal SAMUEL M. FELTON'S NARRATIVE. 247 the events of his journey to the capital. Fully advised of these events, the rebels prepared to take his life in Baltimore. Accurate information of their intentions had been received and conveyed to him. Supposing that he would proceed by the Northern Central road, they lay in wait for him at the Calvert Street dépôt of that road in Baltimore. To baffle them he took the Pennsylvania Central from Harrisburg, and reached Philadelphia just in time to enter the sleeping-car of the 11:30 train, at the Broad and Prime dépôt, in that city, by which means he was conveyed through Baltimore at night, and safely landed in Washington on the morning of the 23d of February, 1861. To prevent the knowledge of this change of programme from being telegraphed to Baltimore, Henry Sanford, Esq., one of the officers of Adams's Express, suggested that the wires should be cut some distance from Harrisburg, which was accordingly done. And now for a statement not generally known, and for the first time published in the very interesting book entitled "Massachusetts during the War," prepared by General William Schouler, adjutant-general under Governors Banks and Andrew (a monument of industry and patriotism), which, notwithstanding its length, will be read with deep interest. This true history of Mr. Lincoln's perilous journey to Washington, in 1861, and the way he escaped death, have never been printed before. The narrative was written by Samuel M. Felton, late president of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad Company, in 1862, at the request of Mr. Sibley, librarian of Harvard University, but it was not completed until lately, when it was sent to General Schouler, with other valuable material, by Mr. Felton. Mr. Felton is a native of Massachusetts, and a brother of the late president of Harvard University. He was born in West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, July 17, 1809, and graduated at Harvard in the class of 1834. His services in the cause of the Union and good government are therefore a part of the renown of that Commonwealth. His narrative is as follows: |