Morning journal and courier., 1880-06-23
A "Reminiscences of 1865.
The Announcement of LineoIn's Assassin-
 aticn fin Wall Street.

| From the Cincinnati Gazette
 1 The following reminiscence of the greatest crisis the country ever passed through has ! been furnished us by distinguished gentle ! man who was present q shall never forget | the first time saw General Garfield. It was the morning after President Iincolns assas- \ sination. The country was excited to its ut \ most tension, and New York city seemed ! ready for the French revolution. The intel ligence or Lincoln's murder had been flashed by the wires over the whole land. The news paper head lines of the transaction were set | up in the largest type and the high crime was on every one's tongue. Fear took possession l of mems minds as to the fate of the govern ment for in few hours the news came on \ that Stewards throat was cut and that at tempts had been made upon the lives of oth- CTS of the government officers. Posters were l stuck up everywhere, in great black letters, | calling upon the loyal citizens of New York,
 Brooklyn, Jersey City and neighboring places | to meet around the Wall street Exchange and l give expression to their sentiments. It was l dark and terrible hour. What might come next no one could tell, and men spoke with l abated breath. The wrath of the working ' men was simply uncomfortable, and revolvers \ and knives were in the hands of thousands Of l Lincoln's friends ready, at the first opportunl; l ty, to take the law into their own hands, and 1 avenge the death of the martyred President 1 upon any and all who dared to utter word ! against him. Eleven o'clock a. m. was the hour set for the rendezvous Fifty thousand 1 people crowded around the Exchange build ing cramming and jamming the streets, and | wedged in tight as men could stand togeth- CT.
 with few to whom a special favor was extended I went over from Brooklyn, at l a. m, and, even then, with the utmost diff | culty, found way to the reception room for the tspeakers in front of the Exchange building, and looking out on to the high and . | IL fn1 1 by heavy iron railing. We sat in solemn1- 1 ty and silence, waiting for General Butler, 1 who, it was announced, had started from | Washington and was either already in the l city, or expected every moment Not hur- \ rah was heard, but for the most part dead sl- lence, or a deep, ominous muttering ran like | a rising wave up the street toward Broadway, | and again down toward the river on the right. 1 At length the batons of the police were seen | swinging in the air, far up on the left, part | ing the crowd and pressing it back to make ! way for carriage that moved slowly, and with difficultjog through the compact mul- titude Suddenly the silence was broken, | and the cry of Butler ? Butler ? rang out with tremendous and thrilling effect, and was | taken up by the people. But not hurrah | Not one It was the cry of great people, | asking to know how their President died. The l blood bounced in our veins, and the tears ran like streams down our faces. How 1t was done forget, but Butler was pulled through, | and pulled up and entered the room, where | we had just walked back to meet him. A l broad crape, a yard long, hung from his left | arm-terrible contrast wifh the countless I flags that were waving the nations victory in ! the breeze We first realized then | the sad news that Lincoln was dead. The | only word Butler had for us all at the first break of the silence was: Gentlemen, he | died in the fullness of his fame el' and as he spoke it his lips quivered and the tears ran | fast down his cheeks
 ''Then after few moments, came the speaking. And you can imagine the effect, | as the crape futtered in the wind, while his arm was upIfted. Dickenson of New York ! State was fairly wild. The old man leaped over the iron railing of the balcony and stood on the very edge overhanging the crowd, ges- | ticulating in the most vehement manner, and next thing to bidding the crowd burn up the rebel seed, root and branch while a bystand- CT held on to his coat-tail to keep him from falling over By this time the wave of popu 1 lar indignation had swelled to it's crest Two men lay bleeding on one of the side streets, the one dead the other next to dying one on the pavement, the other in the gutter. They had said a moment before that Lincoln ought to have been shot long ago!' They were not allowed to say it again! Soon two long pieces of scantling stood out above the heads of the crowd, closed at the top like letter X, and looped halter pendant from
 
 motion through the masses, while Ven
 geanee!' was the cry. On the right, sudden
 ly, the shout rose, The World ? "fhe World!'
 The office of the Worldi' World! World y
 and movement of perhaps s, 900 or 10000
 turning their faces in the direction of that
 building began to be executed. It was acrltl-
 cal moment. What might come no one could
 tell, did that crowd get in front of that office.
 Police and military would have availed little
 or been too late. A telegram had just been
 received from Washington, Seward IS dying
 '1Just then at that juneture, man stepped
 forward with a small flag in his hand, and
 beckoned to the crowd. Another telegram
 from Washington And then, in the awful
 stiffness of the crisis, taking advantage Of the
 hesitation of the crowd whose steps had been
 arrested moment, right arm was lifted sky
 ward, and a voice clear and steady, loud and
 distinct. spoke out Fellow citizens Clouds
 aud darkness about Him His pavilion is
 dark waters and thick clouds of the skies
 Justice and judgement are the establishment of
 His throne ! Mercy and truth shall go before
 His face! Fellow citizens God reigns, and
 the government at Washington still liyesl'
 The effect was tremendous The crowd stood
 riveted to the ground in ave- gazing at the
 motionless orator, and thinking of God and the security of the government in that hour.
 As the boiling wave subsidies and settles to the sea when some strong wind beats 1t down, so the tufnu1t of the people sank and became still All took it as 6 divine omen. It was a triumph of eloquenee, inspired by the mo- ment, such as falls to but one mans lot, and that but once in century. The genius of
 Webster, Choate, Everett, Seward never reached it. Demosthenes never equalled it.
 What might have happened had the surging and maddened mob been let loose none can tell The man for the crisis was on the spot, more potent than Napoleon's guns at Paris. l inquired what was his name. The answer came ina low whisper, 1t is General Garfield of ohiol'n