In the autumn of 1863, the great Northwestern Sanitary Fair, the first of that series of similar fairs which united the North in a bond of large and wide-spread charity, occurred. It was Mrs. Livermore who suggested and planned the first fair, which netted almost one hundred thousand dollars to the Sanitary Commission. Mrs. Hoge, had at first, no confidence in the project, but she afterward joined it, and giving it her earnest aid, helped to carry it to a successful conclusion. It was indeed a giant plan, and it may be chiefly credited, from its inception to its fortunate close, to these indefatigable and skilful workers. The writer of this sketch was present at the convention of women of the Northwest called to meet at Chicago, and consider the feasibility of the project, and was forcibly impressed with the great and real power, the concentrated moral force, contained in that meeting, and left its doors without one doubt of the complete and ultimate success of the plan discussed. Mrs. Livermore held there a commanding position. A brilliant and earnest speaker, her words seemed to sway the attentive throng. Her commanding person, added to the power of her words. Gathered upon the platform of Bryan Hall, were Mrs. Hoge, Mrs. Colt, of Milwaukee, and many more, perhaps less widely known, but bearing upon their faces and in their attitudes, the impress of cultured minds, and an earnest active resolve to do, which seemed to insure success. Mrs. Livermore, seated below the platform, from time to time passed among the crowd, and her suggestions whether quietly made to individuals, or given in her clear ringing voice, and well selected language to the convention, were everywhere received with respect and deference. As all know, this fair which was about three months in course of preparation, was on a mammoth scale, and was a great success, and this result was no doubt greatly owing to the presence of that quality, which like every born leader, Mrs. Livermore evidently possesses-that of knowing how to select judiciously, the subordinates and instruments to be employed to carry out the plans which have originated in her mind.

When this fair had been brought to a successful close, Mrs. Livermore returned to the particular work of her agency. When not traveling on the business connected with it, she spent many busy days at the rooms of the Commission in Chicago. The history of some of those days she has written a history full of pathos and illuminated with scores of examples of noble and worthy deeds-of the sacrifices of hard-worked busy women for the soldiers—of tender self-sacrificing wives concealing poverty and sorrow, and swallowing bitter tears, and whispering no word of sorrows hard to bear, that the husband, far away fighting for his country, might never know of their sufferings; of the small but fervently offered alms of little children, of the anguish of parents waiting the arrival through this channel of tidings of their wounded or their dead; of heroic nurses going forth to their sad labors in the hospitals, with their lives in their hands, or returning in their coffins, or with broken health, the sole reward, beside the soldiers' thanks, for all their devotion.

Journey after journey Mrs. Livermore made, during the next two years, in pursuance of her mission, till her name and person were familiar not only in the camps and hospitals of the great West, but in the assemblies of patriotic women in the Eastern and Middle States. And all the time the tireless pen paused not in its blessed work.

In the spring of 1865, another fair was in contemplation. As before, Mrs. Livermore visited the Eastern cities, for the purpose of obtaining aid in her project, and as before was most successful.

In pursuance of this object, she made a flying visit to Washington, her chief purpose being to induce the President to attend the fair, and add the éclat of his presence and that of Mrs. Lincoln, to the brilliant occasion. An account of her interview with him whom she was never again to see in life, which, with her impressions of his character, we gain from her correspondence with the New Covenant, is appended.

66 "Our first effort was to obtain an interview with the President

and Mrs. Lincoln-and this, by the way, is usually the first effori of all new comers. We were deputized to invite our Chief Magistrate to attend the great Northwestern Fair, to be held in Mayand this was our errand. With the escort of a Senator, who takes precedence of all other visitors, it is very easy to obtain an interview with the President, and as we were favored in this respect, we were ushered into the audience chamber without much delay. The President received us kindly, as he does all who approach him. He was already apprised of the fair, and spoke of it with much interest, and with a desire to attend it. He gave us a most laughable account of his visit to the Philadelphia Fair, when, as he expressed it, "for two miles it was all people, where it wasn't houses,' and where 'he actually feared he should be pulled from the carriage windows.' We notified him that he must be prepared for a still greater crowd in Chicago, as the whole Northwest would come out to shake hands with him, and told him that a petition for his attendance at the fair, was in circulation, that would be signed by ten thousand women of Chicago. 'But,' said he, 'what do you suppose my wife will say, at ten thousand ladies coming after me in that style?' We assured him that the invitation included Mrs. Lincoln also, when he laughed heartily, and promised attendance, if State duties did not absolutely forbid. 'It would be wearisome,' he said, 'but it would gratify the people of the Northwest, and so he would try to come—and he thought by that time, circumstances would permit his undertaking a short tour West.' This was all that we could ask, or expect.

66

'We remained for some time, watching the crowds that surged through the spacious apartments, and the President's reception of them. Where they entered the room indifferently, and gazed at him as if he were a part of the furniture, or gave him simply a mechanical nod of the head, he allowed them to pass on, as they elected. But where he was met by a warm grasp of the hand, a look of genuine friendliness, of grateful recognition or of tearful

tenderness, the President's look and manner answered the expression entirely. To the lowly and the humble he was especially kind; his worn face took on a look of exquisite tenderness, as he shook hands with soldiers who carried an empty coat sleeve, or swung themselves on crutches; and not a child was allowed to pass him by without a kind word from him. A bright boy, about the size and age of the son he had buried, was going directly by, without appearing even to see the President. 'Stop, my little man,' said Mr. Lincoln, laying his hand on his shoulder, 'aren't you going to speak to me?' And stooping down, he took the child's hands in his own, and looked lovingly in his face, chatting with him for some moments.”

The plans of Mrs. Livermore in regard to the fair were carried out-with one sad exception. It was a much greater success pecuniarily than the first. And the war was over, and it was the last time that wounded soldiers would call for aid. But alas! the great and good man whose presence she had coveted lay cold in death! She had promised him "days of rest" when he should come, and long ere then, he had entered his eternal rest, and all that remained of him had been carried through those streets, decked in mourning.

Like her friend, Mrs. Hoge, Mrs. Livermore was cheered during her labors by testimonials of appreciation from her co-laborers, and of gratitude from the brave men for whom she toiled. An exquisite silver vase was sent her by the Women's Relief Association, of Brooklyn, the counterpart of that sent Mrs. Hoge at the same time. From her co-workers in the last Sanitary Fair, she also received a gold-lined silver goblet, and a verd-antique Roman bell-the former bearing this complimentary inscription, "Poculum qui meruit fuit." But the gifts most prized by her are the comparatively inexpensive testimonials made by the soldiers to whom she ministered. At one time she rejoiced in the possession of fourteen photograph albums, in every style of binding, each one emblazoned with a frontispiece of the maimed or emaciated soldier who gave it.

GENERAL AID SOCIETY FOR THE

ARMY, BUFFALO.

T

HIS Society, a Branch of the Sanitary Commission, was organized in the summer of 1862, and became one of the Branches of the Commission in the autumn of

1862, had eventually for its field of operations, the Western Counties of New York, a few counties in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and received also occasional supplies from one or two of the border counties in Ohio, and from individuals in Canada West.

Its first President was Mrs. Joseph E. Follett, a lady of great tact and executive ability, who in 1862, resigned, in consequence of the removal of her husband to Minnesota. Mrs. Horatio Seymour, the wife of a prominent business man of Buffalo, was chosen to succeed Mrs. Follett, and developed in the performance of her duties, abilities as a manager, of the highest order. Through her efforts, ably seconded as they were by Miss Babcock and Miss Bird, the Secretaries of the Society, the whole field was thoroughly organized, and brought up to its highest condition of efficiency, and kept there through the whole period of the war.

A friendly rivalry was maintained between this branch and the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, and the perfect system and order with which both were conducted, the eloquent appeals and the stirring addresses by which both kept their auxiliaries up