auditors of the democratic birth and unpretentious appearance of Tom Lincoln's son. This happy stroke, made as it were with the delicacy of the rapier rather than with the emphasis of the bludgeon, caught the fancy of the crowd. It was probably with it in mind that Mr. Lincoln in a few words preliminary to his address, after explaining the cause of his delay styled himself a "dirty shirt" exponent of Republicanism. His gaunt, homely figúre, unpretending manner, conversational air, careless clothing and dry humor made him at once a favorite with the audience, who felt that he was indeed a man of the people.

Mr. Lincoln's speech was meaty, logical, convincing. It dealt largely with the question of slavery. The Hartford Times in its account the following day referred to Lincoln as an Abolitionist, but the reference may have been due to the fact that the Times was the leading Democratic paper in Connecticut.

After the meeting was over Mr. Lincoln, escorted by Mr. Sill, entered an open carriage. Several hundred young men closed in around the vehicle, and, forming spontaneously in military ranks, accompanied the vehicle in progress to the house of Mayor Timothy M. Allyn. They saluted their favorite with storm after storm of enthusiastic cheers.

Turning to Mr. Sill, Mr. Lincoln said, humorously: "The boys are wide awake. Suppose we call them the Wide-awakes."

His suggestion was followed. A few days later a marching Republican club was formed, and its origi nators gave to it simply the name "The Wide-awakes." Other marching clubs followed fast and thick in its wake. To each one, as it was christened, was given the

name "Wide-awake"; and from Stonington to Salisbury, Conn., was fairly speckled with "Wide-awake Clubs."

At Mayor Allyn's fine old colonial mansion a baker's dozen sat down to dine. Champagne was served at the meal; but Mr. Lincoln, with one of his humorous smiles, politely declined to indulge.

The following morning was raw and gusty; but bad atmospheric conditions had no effect on Lincoln, who early in the forenoon took a long stroll through the city. On his return he stepped into the bookstore of Brown & Gross, on the corner of Main and Asylum Streets. The little establishment was one of the oldest as well as one of the best in New England outside of Boston. In it Mr. Lincoln met for the first time his future Secretary of the Navy. The two spent two hours in exchanging political and economic views. This interview may fairly be said to have led to the offer of the navy portfolio, some eight or nine months later, to Mr. Wells. Testimony to this effect was given, shortly after his inauguration, by President Lincoln.

As the American Missionary Association has selected the birthday of Abraham Lincoln as the day on which to commemorate the act of liberating four million of American slaves, the writer thought that perhaps the accompanying letter [printed on p. 1] from the late George W. Curtis, on Lincoln, would prove interesting. In a sense Lincoln and that Association are intimately connected in work for the American Negro. The one secured, the other has done much to preserve, his liberty for him. Neither could perhaps have been of true service to the Negro without the other.

Mr. Lincoln was, in truth, a great and good man; the man not only for his time, but for the colored people. It has occurred to a distinguished correspondent of mine, Senator Hoar, that Mr. Lincoln had many traits for which the colored people are noted. Among these traits were a sweetness of disposition, great patience of the wrong; he had no memory for injustice; was forgiving; was ready to wait for the slow processes by which God accomplishes great and permanent blessings for mankind.

Like the Negro, Mr. Lincoln was born in a hovel. He had to labor incessantly for his daily bread. His educational advantages were the poorest. He had scarcely a year's schooling. He was deprived of books. The Bible, "Pilgrim's Progress," "Life of Washington," "Robinson Crusoe" and "Esop's Fables" were the books to which he owed most. His early narrow escapes showed that he was a providential man. With all this, Mr. Lincoln's religious sense was deep and pervading. The very biography of Mr. Lincoln's struggles for bread, for clothes, for money and for "a little learning" reads so much like the story of some Negro battling against adversity. Had Mr. Lincoln been a member of the Negro race it is doubtful if he would have outstripped Frederick Douglass in the race of life. May it not be stated that the two typical Americans are Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass?

Mr. Lincoln was noted for his great common sense and for his political sagacity. Senator Hoar thinks that with all his great and grand qualities, Mr. Lincoln was a born politician and was even a perpetual wire-puller; that it was by his great shrewdness that he secured the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, kept the border States from going out of the Union, and held back the antislavery sentiment of the North until the time was ripe to strike the blow for his Emancipation Proclamation. There is no doubt of the fact that Mr. Lincoln had great political sagacity and an abundance of common sense. He knew what to do next and when to do it. Some people believe or affect to believe that Mr. Lincoln was not ardently earnest and sincere in the desire to free the slaves. Indeed, they seem to believe that he was indifferent upon this point; that his only desire was to

save the Union. I cannot think so. As a great statesman and "student of the slow processes of the great mills of God," he abided God's time with the profoundest and most reverent faith. As he had expressed his belief that this nation could not long exist half slave and half free, with this conviction, he undoubtedly felt that in the course of events the great Ruler in the affairs of nations would accomplish the freedom of the American slaves.