Narrative of his Escape
On his journey to the National capital by way of New York, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Mr. Lincoln was everywhere greeted with affection and respect. He was in Philadelphia on Washington's birthday, and with his own hands raised the American flag high above the consecrated old State-House, in the presence of a vast assemblage of people. There, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted and proclaimed, he made an extraordinary speech, in which he expounded his views of the moral power of that great instrument, and declared his belief that by the principles of justice enunciated in it, our Republic might be saved from ruin. "But," he exclaimed, "if this country cannot be saved without giving up this principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. My friends, I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty God, die by." A little more than four years afterward, his body lay in state in Independence Hall. He had been assassinated because he had firmly supported the principles of the Declaration of Independence!
A plot had been formed in Baltimore to murder Mr. Lincoln while he should be passing through that city. General Scott and others at Washington were so well satisfied of the existence of such a plot, that they sent a messenger to meet Mr. Lincoln and warn him of his danger. The story of his escape was given by the President's own lips to the writer in December, 1864, and was substantially as follows, though in much greater detail: He arrived in Philadelphia on the 21st of February, where he agreed to stop over night, and hoist the flag on Independence Hall the next morning. That evening an intimate friend of his from Chicago (Mr. Judd) invited Mr. Lincoln to his room in the Continental Hotel, where he met Mr. Pinkerton, a shrewd detective from Chicago. They told Mr. Lincoln of the plot. Mr. Pinkerton had been engaged several days in Baltimore in ferreting it out. It was fully discovered, but he could not learn the names of the conspirators. Mr. Lincoln had made arrangements to go to Harrisburg from Philadelphia, to meet the Pennsylvania Legislature there, and from that capital to proceed through Baltimore to Washington. His friends urged him to go on that night through Baltimore to the capital, and so evade the murderers; but he determined to adhere to his engagements, for he could not believe there was a conspiracy to kill him.
When returning to his room at the Continental, Mr. Lincoln met a son of Senator Seward, the messenger sent to give him warning. He said the Washington police had discovered the plot, but they were not aware of the work of Mr. Pinkerton. Then Mr. Lincoln was satisfied that there was danger. After hoisting the flag at the State-House the next morning, he went to Harrisburg, in company with Mr. Summer and others, dined, and waited for the time to return to Philadelphia, for he determined to go back to that city, and immediately on to Baltimore, instead of leaving Harrisburg the next morning for that place, according to the public arrangements. Mr. Judd, meanwhile, had obtained such control of the telegraph at Harrisburg, that no communication could pass to Baltimore and give the conspirators a knowledge of the change in arrangements. In New York Mr. Lincoln had been presented with a fine beaver hat, and in it had been placed a soft wool hat. He had the hats in a box in his room. He had never worn a soft wool hat in his life; so, after making arrangements for Mr. Lamon (afterward marshal of the District of Columbia), whom nobody knew, and Mr. Judd, to accompany him, Mr. Lincoln put on an old overcoat he had with him, and with the soft hat in his pocket, he walked out the back door of the hotel where he was stopping, bareheaded, without exciting any special curiosity. "Then I put on the soft hat and joined my friends," said Mr. Lincoln, "for I was not the same man." They returned to Philadelphia, where they found a despatch from Pinkerton, at Baltimore, that it was doubtful whether the conspirators had courage to execute their scheme; but as the arrangements had been made, they went on in a special train. "We were a long time in the station at Baltimore," said the President. "I heard people talking around, but no one particularly observed me. At an early hour on Saturday morning, at about the time I was expected to leave Harrisburg, I arrived in Washington."