The Express.
London, England, 1865-05-01 00:00:00

AMERICA.

—wiener.)
NEW YORE, Aram 19.
The early closing of the mail on the morning of
Dlr. Lincoln's death left me time to do little
more than mention the fact. It will be almost
impossible for me to give any account of the state
of things which was to be witnessed in this city
during the day that will not seem exaggerated.
1 went down into Wall-street, along Broadway, a
distance of over two miles, about ten o'clock, and
found business along the entire route
completely suspended. The enormous num-
ber of Up, one at least on every house,
and iu many cases three or four projected from the
windows, which had been hoisted a day or two
previously to celebrate the surrender of Lee, were
flying at half mast. The ahopmen appeared to
have all left their counters, and were congregated
on the sidewalks, along with crowds of others,
talking in low tones, or gazing up and down with
a dumbloundered air. As I got farther down, I
fell in with the merchants' clerks, who were pour-
ing in to their business from the country and
the suburbs, most of whom bad just heard
the news at the station, and I was struck
by the whiteness of almost every face
as they hurried eagerly to their offices. I reached
Wall-street about 11, the hour at which usually the
wheels of trade are revolving with wildest rapidity
and loudest hum, but everything was arrested. The
counting-houses were empty, and everybody was in
the street. The street was almost impassable from
Broadway nearly to the river. Dense crowds were
assembled around the newspaper offices in Nassau-
street and Park-place, gazing fixedly, but in per-
fect silence, at the announcement which stared
from the bulletin boards in great letters " that
Abraham Lincoln had died that morning at 20
minutes past i." The custom-house in New York
serves much the same purpose as the towu•halls of
the medisaval cities in forming a rallying point for
the citizens in times of great excitement. The
public here is never strongly moved that a meeting
does not collect in front of it, and some orator com-
pelled to address it, and, as might be expected, the
practice on this occasion was not forgotten. Above
and below, as far as I could see, the street was
packed with people. Dr. Vermilye, a clergyman,
was found, who opened the proceedings with a
prayer, and as he concluded with the Lord's
Prayer, all that portion of the audience within
hearing joined in repeating it after him. Several
speeches followed. and every expression of deter-
mination to lay a heavy hand on " the rehab," and
to cut up slavery root and branch, called up from
the dense mass below a roar of applause. There
was uo diminution of the excitement throughout the
day. The courts adjourned, the Stock Exchange was
closed, and even the " gold room," in which public
calamities and public triumphs are about equally
welcome as furnishing food for speculation, was for
once shut up. As soon as the news got abroad
that the President was really dead, the occupants
of the houses along Broadway began to dress their
windows, and balconies, and doors with the
ensigns of mourning, generally festoons of
crape and white muslin. The movement soon
spread, and before night there were, I think,
few houses in New York in which fune-
real drapery did not hang from window, or bal-
cony, or door, from the small huxter's on the
Bowery to the palace on Fifth-avenue. There
was no resumption of business throughout the day ;
nothing but the murder was spoken of or thought
of. I saw no man who did not seem utterly over-
come by the catastrophe. I heard of a great many
ladisi, and of course there were thousands I did not
Lear of, who passed the morning in their houses
weeping. The only exceptions to the general
lamentation were to be found amongst the lowest
class of Irish, in whose eyes Mr. Lincoln was the
cease of the war and the draft, and I was told that
in some places there bad beenattempte early in the
morning to exhibit signs of satisfaction, but the
outburst of feeling two or three hours later was so
tremendous and overwhelming, that those who did
not share it were awed into silence. In fact the
excitement rose to such a pitch at one time, that it
was feared that violence might be offered to promi-
nent persons of secessionist sympathies, and two or

(not ova SPECIAL

throe who ventured to express doubts in the street

of the complicity of the Confederates in the crime
:heir lives.