“Bless de Lord! Bless de Lord! Bless de Lord!” exclaimed several, jumping up and down as if bereft of their reason.

An eye-witness says, “An old negro cried out, ‘May de good Lord bless you, President Linkum!’ while he removed his hat, and the tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. The President removed his own hat, and bowed in silence; but it was a bow which upset the forms, laws, customs, and ceremonies of centuries. It was a death shock to ‘chivalry,’ and a mortal wound to caste.”

Colonel McKaye, Robert Dale Owen, and one or two other gentlemen, were appointed by President Lincoln to investigate the condition of the freedmen on the coast of North Carolina. When they reported to Mr. Lincoln, Colonel McKaye related the following incident, as given by Mr. Carpenter:—

“He had been speaking of the ideas of power entertained by these people. He said they had an idea of God as the Almighty, and they had realized in their former condition the power of their masters. Up to the time of the arrival among them of the Union forces, they had no knowledge of any other power. Their masters fled upon the approach of our soldiers, and this gave the slaves a conception of a power greater than that exercised by them. This power they called ‘Massa Linkum.’

‘Colonel McKaye said that their place of worship was a large building which they called ‘the praise house;’ and the leader of the meeting, a venerable black man, was known as ‘the praise man.’ On a certain day, when there was quite a large gathering of people, considerable confusion was created by different persons attempting to tell who and what ‘Massa Linkum’ was. In the midst of the excitement the white- headed leader commanded silence. ‘Brederin,’ said he, ‘you don’t know nosen’ what you’se talkin’ ’bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa Linkum, he eberywhar. He know eberyting.’ Then, solemnly looking up, he added, ‘He walk de earf like de Lord!’

“Colonel McKaye told me that Mr. Lincoln seemed much affected by this account. He did not smile, as another man might have done, but got up from his chair, and walked in silence two or three times across the floor. As he resumed his seat, he said, very impressively: ‘It is a momentous thing to be the instrument, under Providence, of the liberation of a race.”’

The coloured people of Baltimore presented the President with a very costly and beautiful copy of the Bible. Three coloured clergymen and two laymen were the committee to present it. The address accompanying the gift was tender and reverential, to which President Lincoln replied in a characteristic speech, in which he said of the Bible:—

“It is the best gift which God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this book. But for that book we could not know right from wrong. All those truths desirable for men are contained in it. I return you my sincere thanks for the very elegant copy of the great Book of God which you present.”

The Bible bore the following inscription:—

“To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, the friend of Universal Freedom. From the loyal coloured people of Baltimore, as a token of respect and gratitude. Baltimore, July 4th, 1864.”

A coloured woman of Philadelphia presented him a collection of wax-fruits, with an ornamented stem- table—an elegant affair. Her pastor, Mr. Hamilton, made the presentation address, but closed by saying, “Perhaps Mrs. Johnson would like to say a few words.” What Mrs. Johnson did is best told in her own words: “I looked down to the floor, and felt that I had not a word to say, but after a moment or two, the fire began to burn” (laying her hand on her breast), “and it burned and burned till it went all over me. I think it was the Spirit, and I looked up to him and said : ‘Mr. President, I believe God has hewn you out of a rock, for this great and mighty purpose. Many have been led away by bribes of gold, of silver, of presents; but you have stood firm, because God was with you, and if you are faithful to the end, He