CHAPTER III.

A SPARK IN A POWDER-MAGAZINE.

N the mean time Mr. Lincoln had left his home in Springfield, Ill., for Washington. The journey was made in a private or special car, in the company of a few of his friends. The party took plenty of time, stopping at all the cities through which they passed; and the President-elect received a royal welcome everywhere. His speeches to the people were temperate and straightforward.

All along the route, whether the trains stopped or not, he was greeted by the sound of booming guns, by the waving of hats, and the flutter of handkerchiefs; while hearty cries from the throngs that crowded every platform told him of the good-will of the people. This must have been very encouraging to a man who was nearing his inauguration under such trying circumstances.

Mr. Lincoln had been invited to honor Philadelphia with a visit, upon the occasion of the celebration of Washington's birthday. This he readily accepted; and he raised the American flag, which is so dear to every loyal heart, over Independence Hall. It was here that the Declaration of Independence was signed nearly one hundred years before.

The next visit was paid to Harrisburg, where a rumor reached the ears of Mr. Lincoln's friends, that a plot was laid to assassinate him the following day, as he should pass through Baltimore. So sure were they that their information was

trustworthy, that they urged him to hurry to Washington without stopping anywhere. Mr. Lincoln was not a bit of a coward, and he was therefore naturally very unwilling to change his plans; but, always willing to yield unimportant points, he gave way to the wishes of the gentlemen who escorted him. Taking a night-train therefore, like any other passenger, instead of waiting until morning, as had been intended, he went straight to Washington. This was wise, of course; but many of his warm friends in Baltimore were rather hurt by it.

Still, the nation could afford to take no risks at this point in its history; and the visit to Baltimore was put off till another time.

When the 4th of March had come, there were two governments, all officered, within the boundary of the United States. No doubt President Buchanan gladly left the chair of State, where he had sat so uneasily; but one would think that Mr. Lincoln would shrink from occupying it. The outlook was indeed a stormy one.

Just as the blacksmith makes iron tough and strong by heat and heavy blows, so Abraham Lincoln's character had been developed by poverty and hardships.

He was born in Kentucky. His father was very poor, and the boy had never even heard of luxuries. He had scarcely the necessities of life, but he was never known to complain of his hard lot: perhaps he never thought about his own wants at all. He used to work all day, and at night he would read borrowed books by firelight. When his name came before the nation as a candidate for its highest honor, he was called the "Rail-splitter." This was because he helped his father to split the rails with which to fence the farm after the family removed to Illinois.

But neither Mr. Lincoln nor his party was ashamed of the name, or of the reason for it. His whole life had been free

from vice. He even "shunned the appearance of evil," as, step by step, he rose through his own industry to the highest place that an American can desire. Just now it seemed providential that such a man should be chosen to fill this office, when wisdom and firmness and patience were so much needed to untangle the political snarl.

As you already know, South Carolina had seceded from the Union in December, 1860, soon after Mr. Lincoln was

elected; and the Confederacy was formed early in the year of 1861.

On the 4th of March in that year, Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated. This means that he stood at the head of the steps on the east front of the Capitol at Washington, in the presence of thousands of people, and, lifting up his right hand toward Heaven, he took the oath of allegiance to the Government and the Laws.

An oath is a solemn promise, which God is called upon to hear; and he who makes it asks God's help in keeping it, calling upon Him to punish, if it should be broken. Now you see what a fearful thing it was for the trusted servants