The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-26 00:00:00

Mr. Sala's First Interview with President

Lincoln.

(Front the Daily Telegraph.)

Mr. Lincoln does not stand straight on his feet,
but sways about with an odd sidelong motion, as
though he were continn3lly pumping something
from the ground—say Truth from the bottom of

her well—or hauling up some invisible anchor. It

gave me the notion of a mariner who had found his
sea-legs, and could toe a line well, but who had to
admit that there was a rough sea running. First
he pulled at one gigantic glove, and then at the
other; first inclined his puissant head to one side,
and then to the ether; but he never drew himself
up to his full height. Perhaps he thought of the
ceiling, and was reluctant to bring it down on the
• heads of us Philistines. My interview with him
was of very brief duration, and was mainly made
up of commonplaces. Of course he said that ho was
very glad to see me, that he hoped I liked my stay,
that 1 had come et a critical period, and that the
country presented a very different aspect to that
which it once had: Mr. Sumner informed him that
I purposed " illustrating' in public what I had
seen in America. " Ah," said the President, " in-
deed ! with the pencil or the pen ? There is a good
deal to illustrate just now." I hinted that the pen
was my vocation. Neither more nor less took place.
I saw that Mr. Lincoln had no wish to tell me any
stories, or to talk politics; and after another tre-
mendous squeeze of the hand from him, I retired
from his presence.
My presentations were not, however, at an end.
I was taken to the centre of the apartment, where
standing in a circle of ladies, was one short, plump,
and well-favoured, and attired in a velvet dress of
royal purple, profusely trimmed with pearls and
lace. This was Mra. Lincoln. I had the honour
to shake her hand; but it was a little hand, and my
crushed digits were spared another painful ordeal.
I think I can give almost a shorthand writer's re.
port of my conversation with Mrs. Lincoln. After
the first salutations she said :

"Do you keep your health, sir ?"
I replied that I was happy and thankful to say
that I enjoyed tolerable health.
" How long have you been in this country, sir ?"
she asked.
I said that I had been seven weeks on the
American continent.

" How long do you conclude to remain, sir ?" she
went on.

I replied that I hoped to remain about seven
months longer.

The President's wife was then good enough to
ask " how I liked the country." I replied diplo-
matically, that it was large and very wonderful.
Now ensued a deep and, to me, embarrassing silence.
I didn't know what was to come next, and I don't
think Mrs. Lincoln did. At last she spoke again,
and once more in the interrogatory form :--
"And you keep your health, sir ?"

I answered this kind inquiry as best I might,
when, fortuitously, it occurred to me that some
years ago in Russia, having to go into much bet-
ter society than I am in the habit of frequenting at
home, I had sought the assistance of a dancing-
mistress, and, at the outlay of about fifty roubles,
learnt a series of bows or " reverences," for grand
occasions. I gave Mrs. Lincoln the very lowest of
these reverences. It is a wonderful bow, and, if
you don't tumble head over heels before you arrive
at the climax, a very impressive one. To effect it
properly your nose must very nearly touch the
lowermost hem of the garment of the lady to whom
you are rendering homage. I went down and down,
till, I dare say, Mrs. Lincoln wondered whether the
Britisher would ever come up again ; btit when I
rose to the surface, triumphant, and with a deter-
mination of blood to the head, I could see she was
not displeased. I hope she may preserve a favour-
able remembrance of my bow, if not of me.
I moved slowly away, but could hear the Pre-
sidentess asking the next gentleman who was pre•
sented to her whether he " kept his health."
"Do you keep your health evidently serves Mrs.
Lincoln in the stead that " Ese-il possible?" used
to serve Prince George of Denmark.

Extraordinary Charge of Setting Fire to a

ghip.

We have lately published an account of the aban-
donment at, sea of the ship John Linn, laden with
cotton, by her captain and crew, who reported that
they left her in a sinking state. Soon afterwards
she was fallen in with by a foreign vessel, the Deo-
gaum; the captain of which said ho reluctantlyaban-
doned the vessel as he could have brought her into
port if he could have spared a crew. Now comes an
extraordinary part of the affair. The Liverpool
Courier of yesterday says:—" Our shipping infor-
mation of to-day has the following—' Some of the
crew of the Deogaum report that they set fire to the
John Linn before leaving her.' It is unnecessary
to say that the captain's report, which has already
been published, says nothing of this, and until some
further communication is received from him no
comments can be made. But we may state
that three vessels which have arrived this
week report passing cotton apparently burnt, in
positions corroborative of the report. The John
Linn was abandoned on Jan. 1 some distance from
Barbadoes, at which island the crew were landed.
The day on which the Deogaum fell in with her is
not given, bat the position was let. 20 N, long. 38
W. The cotton now reported to have been passed
by other vessels was as follows :—Jan. 14, let. 20 N,
long. 40 W, a number of bales of cotton, apparently
Bombay, which looked black, as if from smoke, but
did not appear to have been long in the water, by
the ship Redan, at London ; Jan. 19, lat. 17.45 N,
long. 41.10 W, one bale of Indian cotton, which had
not been long in the water, by the Persia, at Ply-
mouth ; and Jan. 25, lat. 19 N, long. 43 W, three
bales of Bombay cotton, apparently not long in the
water. When it is also considered that the ten-
dency of the current would be to take them in the
very direction they appeared to be going, at least
some tinge of probability is imparted to the remark-
able story now set on foot by the crew."

Confederate Seamen Charged with
Piracy.

At the Liverpool Police-court, yesterday, Warren
Quinsey, alias Wilson, and G. P. M'Murdoch, alias
Kelly. both seamen; were charged with piracy. No
evidence was offered, and the prisoners were re-
manded. We understand, however, that the follow-
ing aro the facts of the case :
About the 16th of November last, the schooner
L. Gerity sailed from Matamoras for New York,
where her owners resided. She was commanded
by Capt. Nicholas, and had a crew of six men. She
had a cargo of cotton, valued at about 60,000 dols.,
and six passengers, including the two prisoners. On
the night of the 17th Nov. the L. Gerity was forci-
bly seized by the passengers, who sent the crew
adrift in a boat, while it is stated that the steward,
who offered some resistance, was murdered. The
prisoner Quinsey, on this, took possession of the
schooner, and carried her over to Brownsville,
where a Confederate collector gave him suitable
papers. The vessel was then re-named the Eureka,
the old name being painted out, and the Ccnfede-
rate flag hoisted. They next sailed to Belize, where
the authorities refused to recognise the Confederate
flag. The prisoner Quinsey then substituted the
British ensign, and entered the port. Hero they
disposed of the vessel and cargo for 70,000 dollars.
Subsequently Capt. Nicholas and his crew reached
Belize, but he found that a portion of the cotton
had been sent to Liverpool, and that the captors of
his vessel had decamped. Thinking that some of
the captors would come to Liverpool, he sailed for
England ; and having—under the extradition treaty
—received a warrant from Sir George Grey, he
communicated with the local police, by whose as-
sistance the prisoners were apprehended in an eat-
ing-house in Park-lane. They had some property
belonging to the owners and captain of the L.
Gerity in their possession, and were also armed with
six.barrelled revolvers.—Manchester Guardian.

PARISIAN SYMPATHY FOR THE POLES.—At the
lecture given by M. St. Marc Girardin and M. Legouve, in
the Salle Barthelemy, in behalf of tho fund being raised for
the wounded Poles, tho crowd was very great, more than
10,000 people failing to obtain admittance,