of "The Lincoln-Douglas Debates" for the Illinois Historical Society.

Dr. Emil G. Hirsch, Minister of Sinai Congregation, Chicago, and Professor of Rabbinical Literature and Philosophy at the University of Chicago, gave an eloquent address to an overflowing and appreciative audience at the Second Regiment Armory, under the auspices of the Second Infantry, Illinois National Guard. He was introduced by Hon. Stephen S. Gregory, who acted as Chairman.

Perhaps the most remarkable meeting of the week was that held for the colored people on the evening of the twelfth, in the Seventh Regiment Armory under the auspices of the Eighth Infantry (colored), Illinois National Guard, and the Colored Citizens' Committee. Ten or twelve thousand colored people gathered there to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of their emancipator. Although the meeting was set for eight o'clock, the people began to arrive in the afternoon, and, long before the hour set, the crowds were massed in the street. Colonel John R. Marshall, of the Eighth Infantry, made a short speech as Chairman pro tem., followed by Rev. A. J. Carey, who made the speech of introduction. The three other speakers at this meeting were the Rev. J. W. E. Bowen, President of Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia; the Hon. William J. Calhoun, President of the Lincoln Memorial Committee of One Hundred, and now Ambassador to China; and Nathan William MacChesney, Secretary of the Lincoln Memorial Committee, present to extend the greetings of the City of Chicago to its colored citizens. The meeting was a most unusual one, and perhaps nowhere in the limits of the city was the Lincoln Centenary observed with such feeling, such enthusiasm, such exaltation and homage.

In addition to this meeting, there were hundreds of others throughout the city, of vivid interest and far-reaching influ

ence.

Dr. Charles J. Little, President of Garrett Biblical Institute, spoke at the Northwestern University Building, which stands upon the site of the old Tremont House. From the

WHEREAS, February 12, 1909, is the One Hundredth Anniversary

of the birth of ABRAHAM LINCOLN; and

WHEREAS, There is a universal desire that on that day his memory should be honored by the nation which he helped preserve, and especially by that State in which he lived;

NOW THEREFORE, I, Fred A. Busse, Mayor of the City of Chicago, by virtue of a resolution passed by the Honorable, the City Council of Chicago, do hereby proclaim the week February 7-14, 1909, the LINCOLN CENTENNIAL WEEK,

In order that this anniversary shall be appropriately observed,

I do most earnestly urge the citizens of Chicago to dedicate that week to the study of the life and words of President Lincoln.

In particular do I call upon the citizens of Chicago to assemble on February 12th in such places as shall be designated, to celebrate Lincoln's character, sacrifice and service to the Republic, to the end that a deepened sense of his loyalty to the Constitution, of his faith in the principles of democracy, and of his devotion to moral ideals shall inspire anew our own civic life.

MAYOR.

Facsimile of Mayor Busse's Proclamation

balcony of this old hotel, Lincoln delivered his first reply to Douglas; and it was here that the Lincoln delegation had its headquarters, and did the tireless planning which resulted in his nomination. It was here, too, that Vice-President Hamlin first met Lincoln, on November twenty-third, 1860, in response to a letter from him, after their election. In the Northwestern University Law School, located in this building, the General Committee held most of its meetings.

The President of the Chicago Public Library Board, Bernard J. Cigrand, spoke at a meeting held at Memorial Hall, Chicago Public Library Building. It was through his untiring efforts as a member of the general Committee, that meetings were held in practically every public and private library of Chicago. In addition to these meetings, the Illinois Naval Reserves marched through the streets to Lincoln Park, where the statue of Lincoln by Saint-Gaudens is located; and, at twelve o'clock, noon, a presidential salute of twenty-one guns was fired, in the presence of a great throng of school children, who sang patriotic songs.

No banquet was included in the programme of the general Committee, but many dinners were given in honor of the Centenary. The leading one, on the Centennial day itself, was that under the auspices of the Industrial Club in the "gold room" of the Congress Hotel. Mason B. Starring, President of the Club, acted as toastmaster. Among those who responded to toasts with brief speeches in honor of Lincoln, were Maj.-Gen. Frederick Dent Grant, U. S. A., son of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who carried out, in the field, the policies Lincoln planned in the White House, proving the strongest bulwark of the administration; and Gen. Smith D. Atkins, the editor of The Freeport Daily Journal, and a contemporary and personal acquaintance of Lincoln.

The Chicago Bar Association gave a banquet in honor of the Centenary, on the preceding evening, at which there were a number of speakers who gave personal reminiscences of Lincoln. Three of the important speeches of the evening were delivered by Hon. John C. Richberg, John T. Richards, Esq., and Hon. William G. Ewing, fellow-members of the Illinois

bar. The speeches given are included in this volume because it is believed they give interesting material on a side of Lincoln which has only recently come to be appreciated. It should not be forgotten, either, that if the ideals of Lincoln are to be preserved for our children, they will only be continued through the thought and vision of the American bar of to-day.

At a luncheon of The Irish Fellowship Club during Lincoln week, an impressive speech was delivered by Judge Peter Stenger Grosscup, of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. The statue of Lincoln by Saint-Gaudens, to which Judge Grosscup refers, is a sitting figure, and has been procured by the Crerar Fund Trustees, of whom Judge Grosscup is one, to be placed in Grant Park, Chicago.

The Abraham Lincoln Center, a community house, held a celebration, lasting throughout the week, under the direction of Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones. Here was exhibited the famous Fay collection of pictures of Lincoln, numbering more than one thousand portraits.

One of the most unique meetings of the week was that held on the evening of the Centenary at Dexter Park Pavilion, with Arthur Meeker as Chairman, to whose unstinted efforts and able generalship is due the unusual interest it created. It was a great patriotic song meeting, with a chorus of a thousand voices, and orchestra, leading the great audience in the singing of the patriotic songs of the country. One of the features of the evening was an illustrated lecture by Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones. More than fifteen thousand people crowded into the building to hear and join in the exercises, and as many more were turned away from the doors, the building being packed to suffocation.

At the Chicago Historical Society, on Friday evening, February 12, Col. Clark E. Carr, of Galesburg, Illinois, delegate to the Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, in 1863, delivered an address on "Lincoln at Gettysburg"; while during the entire Centenary week, the Society exhibited a spe cial collection of Lincolniana, consisting of original manuscripts, portraits, and relics, which the public was cordially invited to view.