At Cincinnati, where Lincoln had had so distasteful an experience a few years before, a magnificent ovation greeted him.  The scene is described by one who witnessed it—­Hon. William Henry Smith, at that time a resident of Cincinnati.  “It was on the 13th of February that Mr. Lincoln reached the Queen City.  The day was mild for mid-winter, but the sky was overcast with clouds, emblematic of the gloom that filled the hearts of the unnumbered thousands who thronged the streets and covered the house-tops.  Lincoln rode in an open carriage, standing erect with uncovered head, and steadying himself by holding on to a board fastened to the front part of the vehicle.  A more uncomfortable ride than this, over the bouldered streets of Cincinnati, cannot well be imagined.  Perhaps a journey over the broken roads of Eastern Russia, in a tarantass, would secure to the traveler as great a degree of discomfort.  Mr. Lincoln bore it with characteristic patience.  His face was very sad, but he seemed to take a deep interest in everything.  It was not without due consideration that the President-elect touched on the border of a slave State on his way to the capital.  In his speech in reply to the Mayor of Cincinnati, recognizing the fact that among his auditors were thousands of Kentuckians, he addressed them directly, calling them ‘Friends,’ ‘Brethren.’  He reminded them that when speaking in Fifth Street Market square in 1859 he had promised that when the Republicans came into power they would treat the Southern or slave-holding people as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated them; that they would interfere with their institutions in no way, but abide by all and every compromise of the Constitution, and ’recognize and bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, and treat you accordingly.’  Then, to emphasize this, he said—­in a passage omitted by Mr. Raymond and all other biographers of Lincoln—­

And now, fellow-citizens of Ohio, have you who agree in political sentiment with him who now addresses you ever entertained other sentiments towards our brethren of Kentucky than those I have expressed to you? [Loud and repeated cries of ‘No!’ ’No!’] If not, then why shall we not, as heretofore, be recognized and acknowledged as brethren again, living in peace and harmony, one with another? [Cries of ’We will!’] I take your response as the most reliable evidence that it may be so, along with other evidence, trusting to the good sense of the American people, on all sides of all rivers in America, under the Providence of God, who has never deserted us, that we shall again be brethren, forgetting all parties—­ignoring all parties.

“This statesmanlike expression of conservative opinion,” continues Mr. Smith, “alarmed some of the Republicans, who feared that the new President might sell out his party; and steps were taken, later in the day, to remind him of certain principles deemed