The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-06

The Serious Side of the Character of Our
Martyred President.
Fred Douglass's "reminiscences.

| coin, the 4tb of March, 1865 / felt then that
| there murder in the air. and | kept close to
his carriage on the way TO the Capitol. for felt
| that might see him fall that day. 1t a
| vague presentiment. AT that time the confed
| crate cause was on its last legs as ii were. and
there was deep feeling. / could feel it in the
| atmosphere here. | do not know exactly what
| it was, but just felt as if he might be shot on
his way to the Capitol. cannot refer to any
| incident. IN fact to any expression that heard;
it was simply presentiment that
| right in front of the east portico of the Capitol.
| listened to his inaugural address and witnessed
| his being sworn In by Chief justice Chase.
| When he came on the steps he was accompanied
| by Vic e president johnson. In looking out in
| the crowd he saw me standing near by and
| could see he was pointing me out to Andrew
johnson. Mr.. johnson. without knowing per-
| haps that saw the movement, looked quite an
noyed that his attention should be called in that
| direction. SO | got a peep into his soul.
| As soon he saw me looking at
| him, suddenly he assumed rather an ami
able expression of countenance. [ felt that
whatever else the man might be, he was no
friend to my people heard Mr.. Lincoln de-
| liver this wonderful address. l. was very short,
| but he answered all the objections raised to his
| prolongng the war in sentence. 1t was a
remarkable sentence: "Fondly do we hope,
profoundly do we pray that this mighty scourge
| or war shall soon pass away. Yet il God wills
it continue until all the wealth piled up by two
| hundred years of bondage shall have been
wasted and each drop of blood drawn by the
! lash shall have been paid for by one drawn by
the sword, we must still say. said three
thousand years ago the judgments of the Lord
are true and righteous altogether"
For the first time in my life, and / suppose
the first time in any cOlored mans life. | at
| tended the reception Of President Lincoln on the
evening OF the inauguration AS | approached
the door was seized by two policemen and for
hidden to enter. | said to them that they were
mistaken entirely in what they doing; that
| If Mr.. Lincoln knew that was at the door he
would order my admission, and | bolted in by
| them. On the inside was taken charge of by
| two other policemen, to be conducted, as | sup
posed, to the President, but instead of that they
were conducting me out the window on a plank
ION" said |, 'this will not do, gentlemen" and
as gentleman was passing in / said to him.
| just say to Mr.. Lincoln that Fred Douglass is
at the door" He rushed in to President Lin
! coin, and almost in less than half minute
| was invited into the East Room of the White
! House. perfect sea of beauty and elegance,
too, it was. The ladies were in very fine attire,
and Mrs Lincoln standing there. / could
| not have been more than ten feet from him
when Mr.. Lincoln saw me; his countenance
lighted up and he said in a voice which was
| heard all around: Here comes my friend Doug
lass" AS approached him he reached out his
| hand, gave me cordial shake, and sad
| douglass, L saw you in the crowd to day
listening to my inaugural address There
| is no mans opinion that / value more than
| yours: what do you think of it?" / said: "Mr
| Lincoln, l cannot stop here to talk with
you, as there are thousands waiting to shake
| you by the hand" But ne said again: What did
| you think of it," l said, mir. Lincoln, it was
sacred effort" and then l walked off II am
| glad you liked it," he said. That was the last
time saw him to speak with him.
In all my interviews with Mr.. Lincoln, l was
impressed with his entire freedom from preju
dice against the colored race. He was the first
| great man that l talked with in the United
States freely who in no single instance reminded
| me OF the difference between himself any my
self, Of the difference of color, and l thought
! that all the more remarkable because he came
| from a State where there were black laws
account partially for his kindnest to me because
of the similarity with which | had fought
| my way up, We both starting at the lowest
| round OF the ladder. l must say this for Mr.
Lincoln. that whenever met him he was in a
very serious mood. I heard of those stories he
used to TELL but he never told me story. | re-
| member of one of Mr. Lincolns stories being told
| me by General Grant l had called on him. and
he said Douglass, stay here, l want to tell
| you about little incident. When came to
Washington first, one of the first things that Mr..
| Lincoln said to me Grant. have you ever
read the book by Orpheus G. KerrP We'll, no.
| l never did, said /. Mr.. Lincoln said: You
| ought to read it, it is very interesting book
| have had a good deal of satisfaction reading that
| book. There is one poem there that describes a
meeting of the animals, the substance of it being
| that the animals and dragon, some
| dreadful thing, was near by and had to be con-
qEered, and 1t was question as to who would
undertake the job. BY and by monkey
| stepped forward and proposed to do the work
| up The monkey said lie thought he could do it
| if he could get an inch or two more put on his
| tail. The assemblage voted him a few inches
| more to his tail. and he went out and tried his
| hand. He was unsuccessful, and returned,
! stating that he wanted few more inches put
| on his tail. The request was granted and he
| went again. His second effort was a failure.
He asked that more inches be put on his tail and
| he would try third time At last, said Gen.
| Grant, it got through my head what Lincoln was
aiming at. as applying to my wanting more men,
and finally said: Mr.. Lincoln. l don't want
| any more inches put on my tail" 1t was hit
at Mcclellan. ard General Grant told me the
| story with good deal of gusto. l got the book
! afterward and read the lines of Orpheus c.
| Kerr.
| There was one thing concerning Lincoln that
| was impressed with, and that was that state
ment of his was an argument mere convincing
| than any amount of logic. He had happy fac
ulty of stating proposition-of stating it so
| that it needed no argument. 1t a rough
kind of reasoning. but it went right to the point.
| Then, too, there was another feeling that | had
| with reference to him, and that was that while
| felt In his presence was in the presence of
| very great man, great the greatest, felt
as though | could 60 and put my hand on him if
| j wanted TOTO put my hand on his shoulder
| OF course did not do it, but felt that l could
| l felt AS though was in the presence of a big
| brother and that there was safety in his atmos-
! phere.
1t was often said during the war that Mrs.
| Lincoln diG not sympathize fully with her hus-
band in his anti slavery feeling, but l never be-
| lieved this concerning her, and have good rea-
son for being confirmed in my impression of her
| by the fact that when Mr. Lincoln died and she
was about leaving the White House, she selected
| his favorte walking-cane and said Il know of no
one that would appreciate this mere than Fred
| Douglass" She sent it to me at Rochester and
| have it i'll my house to-day, and expect to Ike ep
it there as long as live.
| MISS CLEVELAND'S BOOK.