Abraham Lincoln . losing their comfortable positions. Treason was everywhere. Nei-ther the President nor any of the Secretaries knew upon whom theycould rely. The people of Washington were far more in sympathy withthe South than with the North. A verj- large proportion of themlooked with disdain upon a man who had pulled an oar and swung anaxe to earn his daily bread. They called him Abe the newspapers of the Southern States published false and maliciousstories about his parentage and birth. They said he had negro blood inhis veins. TheBlack Republican Party had elected him.
Abraham Lincoln . losing their comfortable positions. Treason was everywhere. Nei-ther the President nor any of the Secretaries knew upon whom theycould rely. The people of Washington were far more in sympathy withthe South than with the North. A verj- large proportion of themlooked with disdain upon a man who had pulled an oar and swung anaxe to earn his daily bread. They called him Abe the newspapers of the Southern States published false and maliciousstories about his parentage and birth. They said he had negro blood inhis veins. TheBlack Republican Party had elected him. It wasnatural for ignorant people in the South to believe that the motherof Abraham Lincoln might have been a negress. He was called an ape, a baboon. A few weeks after the inauguration a DramaticPoem, entitled The Royal Ape, was published in Richmond. Wom-en who gloried in their ancestry could not bear to think of one solow-born occupying the White House. One lady, who took pride in OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 241. SALMON P. CHASE. lier ancestors, sa\Y Mr. Lincoln in the parlor of Willards Hotel beforeliis inauguration. Is that Abe Lincoln V she asked, greatly astonished to see he wasa courteous gentleman. That is Mr. Lincoln, and I will introduce you to him, saidMr. Seward. Shall I have the pleasure of introducing Mrs. How-ard? Very stately the bowing of the lady. I am from South Carolina,she said. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Howard. Ko gentleman in Charleston could have been more courteous. She 242 LIFE OF ABKAHAM LINCOLN. looked into his face and beheld nothing but kindness. She listened inamazement to his conversation. Why, Mr. Lincoln, you look, act, and speak like a kind, good-hearted, generous man! she exclaims. Did you expect to meet a savage f Certainly I did, or something worse. But I am glad that I havemet you. The best way to procure peace is for you to go to Charlestonand show the people what you are, and tell them you have no intentionof injuring
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