[A]Executive Department,Springfield, Ill., Feb. 9, 1861.Dear Governor, — You will bear me witness that I seldom trouble my friends in Washington with letters of introduction. I must now ask you to indulge me in a suspension of this general rule, especially as my object has as much to do with your future as my own.W. H. Lamon, Esq., of our state visits Washington upon the invitation of Mr. Lincoln as his escort and companion. He is one of our ablest young lawyers, a man of strong and vigorous intellect and of influence throughout the entire state equal to any man in the state.His social qualities upon intimate acquaintance are of the finest type. He is chivalrous, courageous, generous.His integrity is unquestioned. Though inclined to be conservative, he is a Republican firm, and from principle. He is, however, retiring and not disposed to press himself on any one. May I ask of you that you will be kind to him as you were to me, and very much obligeYour friend,Richard Yates.Hon. Wm. H. Seward.
[A]
Executive Department,Springfield, Ill., Feb. 9, 1861.Dear Governor, — You will bear me witness that I seldom trouble my friends in Washington with letters of introduction. I must now ask you to indulge me in a suspension of this general rule, especially as my object has as much to do with your future as my own.W. H. Lamon, Esq., of our state visits Washington upon the invitation of Mr. Lincoln as his escort and companion. He is one of our ablest young lawyers, a man of strong and vigorous intellect and of influence throughout the entire state equal to any man in the state.His social qualities upon intimate acquaintance are of the finest type. He is chivalrous, courageous, generous.His integrity is unquestioned. Though inclined to be conservative, he is a Republican firm, and from principle. He is, however, retiring and not disposed to press himself on any one. May I ask of you that you will be kind to him as you were to me, and very much obligeYour friend,Richard Yates.Hon. Wm. H. Seward.
Executive Department,Springfield, Ill., Feb. 9, 1861.
Dear Governor, — You will bear me witness that I seldom trouble my friends in Washington with letters of introduction. I must now ask you to indulge me in a suspension of this general rule, especially as my object has as much to do with your future as my own.
W. H. Lamon, Esq., of our state visits Washington upon the invitation of Mr. Lincoln as his escort and companion. He is one of our ablest young lawyers, a man of strong and vigorous intellect and of influence throughout the entire state equal to any man in the state.
His social qualities upon intimate acquaintance are of the finest type. He is chivalrous, courageous, generous.
His integrity is unquestioned. Though inclined to be conservative, he is a Republican firm, and from principle. He is, however, retiring and not disposed to press himself on any one. May I ask of you that you will be kind to him as you were to me, and very much oblige
Your friend,Richard Yates.
Hon. Wm. H. Seward.
[B]Feb. 4, 1861.Hon. A. Lincoln:Dear Sir, — It affords me much satisfaction to hear that you have invited our excellent friend W. H. Lamon to accompany you to Washington and hope that there may be no necessity to interfere with his appointment to the consulate at Paris, that will give us all unbounded pleasure.Very truly your friend,J. P. Usher.
[B]
Feb. 4, 1861.Hon. A. Lincoln:Dear Sir, — It affords me much satisfaction to hear that you have invited our excellent friend W. H. Lamon to accompany you to Washington and hope that there may be no necessity to interfere with his appointment to the consulate at Paris, that will give us all unbounded pleasure.Very truly your friend,J. P. Usher.
Feb. 4, 1861.
Hon. A. Lincoln:
Dear Sir, — It affords me much satisfaction to hear that you have invited our excellent friend W. H. Lamon to accompany you to Washington and hope that there may be no necessity to interfere with his appointment to the consulate at Paris, that will give us all unbounded pleasure.
Very truly your friend,J. P. Usher.
[C]At this time the Grand Jury of Washington County, District of Columbia, found a bill of indictment against Horace Greeley, of the New York "Tribune," for malicious libel of a public officer, the U. S. Marshal. The Marshal was averse to this procedure, but the jury having the facts before them regarded the offence as so flagrant that the case was vigorously prosecuted.
[C]At this time the Grand Jury of Washington County, District of Columbia, found a bill of indictment against Horace Greeley, of the New York "Tribune," for malicious libel of a public officer, the U. S. Marshal. The Marshal was averse to this procedure, but the jury having the facts before them regarded the offence as so flagrant that the case was vigorously prosecuted.
[D]Washington, D. C., June 25, 1861.Col. W. H. Lamon:My Dear Sir, — I spoke to the Secretary of War yesterday, and he consents, and so do I, that as fast as you get Companies, you may procure a U. S. officer, and have them mustered in. Have this done quietly; because we can not do the labor of adopting it as a general practice.Yours as ever,A. Lincoln.
[D]
Washington, D. C., June 25, 1861.Col. W. H. Lamon:My Dear Sir, — I spoke to the Secretary of War yesterday, and he consents, and so do I, that as fast as you get Companies, you may procure a U. S. officer, and have them mustered in. Have this done quietly; because we can not do the labor of adopting it as a general practice.Yours as ever,A. Lincoln.
Washington, D. C., June 25, 1861.
Col. W. H. Lamon:
My Dear Sir, — I spoke to the Secretary of War yesterday, and he consents, and so do I, that as fast as you get Companies, you may procure a U. S. officer, and have them mustered in. Have this done quietly; because we can not do the labor of adopting it as a general practice.
Yours as ever,A. Lincoln.
[E]The circumstances under which the original preceding sketch was written are explained in the following letter:—National Hotel, Washington, D. C.,Feb. 19, 1872.Colonel Ward H. Lamon:Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I place in your hands a copy of a manuscript in my possession written by Abraham Lincoln, giving a brief account of his early history, and the commencement of that political career which terminated in his election to the Presidency.It may not be inappropriate to say, that some time preceding the writing of the enclosed, finding, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, a laudable curiosity in the public mind to know more about the early history of Mr. Lincoln, and looking, too, to the possibilities of his being an available candidate for the Presidency in 1860, I had on several occasions requested of him this information, and that it was not without some hesitation he placed in my hands even this very modest account of himself, which he did in the month of December, 1859.To this were added, by myself, other facts bearing upon his legislative and political history, and the whole forwarded to a friend residing in my native county (Chester, Pa.),—the Hon. Joseph J. Lewis, former Commissioner of Internal Revenue,—who made them the basis of an ably-written and somewhat elaborate memoir of the late President, which appeared in the Pennsylvania and other papers of the country in January, 1860, and which contributed to prepare the way for the subsequent nomination at Chicago the following June.Believing this brief and unpretending narrative, written by himself in his own peculiar vein,—and in justice to him I should add, without the remotest expectation of its ever appearing in public,—with the attending circumstances, may be of interest to the numerous admirers of that historic and truly great man, I place it at your disposal.I am truly yours,Jesse W. Fell.
[E]The circumstances under which the original preceding sketch was written are explained in the following letter:—
National Hotel, Washington, D. C.,Feb. 19, 1872.Colonel Ward H. Lamon:Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I place in your hands a copy of a manuscript in my possession written by Abraham Lincoln, giving a brief account of his early history, and the commencement of that political career which terminated in his election to the Presidency.It may not be inappropriate to say, that some time preceding the writing of the enclosed, finding, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, a laudable curiosity in the public mind to know more about the early history of Mr. Lincoln, and looking, too, to the possibilities of his being an available candidate for the Presidency in 1860, I had on several occasions requested of him this information, and that it was not without some hesitation he placed in my hands even this very modest account of himself, which he did in the month of December, 1859.To this were added, by myself, other facts bearing upon his legislative and political history, and the whole forwarded to a friend residing in my native county (Chester, Pa.),—the Hon. Joseph J. Lewis, former Commissioner of Internal Revenue,—who made them the basis of an ably-written and somewhat elaborate memoir of the late President, which appeared in the Pennsylvania and other papers of the country in January, 1860, and which contributed to prepare the way for the subsequent nomination at Chicago the following June.Believing this brief and unpretending narrative, written by himself in his own peculiar vein,—and in justice to him I should add, without the remotest expectation of its ever appearing in public,—with the attending circumstances, may be of interest to the numerous admirers of that historic and truly great man, I place it at your disposal.I am truly yours,Jesse W. Fell.
National Hotel, Washington, D. C.,Feb. 19, 1872.
Colonel Ward H. Lamon:
Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I place in your hands a copy of a manuscript in my possession written by Abraham Lincoln, giving a brief account of his early history, and the commencement of that political career which terminated in his election to the Presidency.
It may not be inappropriate to say, that some time preceding the writing of the enclosed, finding, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, a laudable curiosity in the public mind to know more about the early history of Mr. Lincoln, and looking, too, to the possibilities of his being an available candidate for the Presidency in 1860, I had on several occasions requested of him this information, and that it was not without some hesitation he placed in my hands even this very modest account of himself, which he did in the month of December, 1859.
To this were added, by myself, other facts bearing upon his legislative and political history, and the whole forwarded to a friend residing in my native county (Chester, Pa.),—the Hon. Joseph J. Lewis, former Commissioner of Internal Revenue,—who made them the basis of an ably-written and somewhat elaborate memoir of the late President, which appeared in the Pennsylvania and other papers of the country in January, 1860, and which contributed to prepare the way for the subsequent nomination at Chicago the following June.
Believing this brief and unpretending narrative, written by himself in his own peculiar vein,—and in justice to him I should add, without the remotest expectation of its ever appearing in public,—with the attending circumstances, may be of interest to the numerous admirers of that historic and truly great man, I place it at your disposal.
I am truly yours,
Jesse W. Fell.
[1]Page 20, line 21, after the word "war."Mr. Lincoln did not think money for its own sake a fit object of any man's ambition.
[1]Page 20, line 21, after the word "war."
Mr. Lincoln did not think money for its own sake a fit object of any man's ambition.
[2]Page 24, line 2, after the word "Mexico."In a speech delivered in the House July 27, 1848, on General Politics, Mr. Lincoln said: "The declaration that we (the Whigs) have always opposed the Mexican War is true or false accordingly as one may understand the term 'opposing the war.' If to say 'the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced by the President' be opposing the war, then the Whigs have very generally opposed it. Whenever they have spoken at all, they have said this; and they said it on what appeared good reasons to them: the marching an army into the midst of a peaceful Mexican settlement, frightening the inhabitants away, leaving their growing crops and other property to destruction to you may appear a perfectly amiable, peaceful, unprovoking procedure, but it does not appear so to us. So to call such an act to us appears no other than a naked, impudent absurdity, and we speak of it accordingly. But if, when the war had begun and had become the cause of the country, the giving of our money and our blood, in common with yours, was support of the war, then it is not true that we have always opposed the war."On another occasion Mr. Lincoln said that the claim that the Mexican War was not aggressive reminded him of the farmer who asserted, "I ain't greedy 'bout land, I only just wants what jines mine."
[2]Page 24, line 2, after the word "Mexico."
In a speech delivered in the House July 27, 1848, on General Politics, Mr. Lincoln said: "The declaration that we (the Whigs) have always opposed the Mexican War is true or false accordingly as one may understand the term 'opposing the war.' If to say 'the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced by the President' be opposing the war, then the Whigs have very generally opposed it. Whenever they have spoken at all, they have said this; and they said it on what appeared good reasons to them: the marching an army into the midst of a peaceful Mexican settlement, frightening the inhabitants away, leaving their growing crops and other property to destruction to you may appear a perfectly amiable, peaceful, unprovoking procedure, but it does not appear so to us. So to call such an act to us appears no other than a naked, impudent absurdity, and we speak of it accordingly. But if, when the war had begun and had become the cause of the country, the giving of our money and our blood, in common with yours, was support of the war, then it is not true that we have always opposed the war."
On another occasion Mr. Lincoln said that the claim that the Mexican War was not aggressive reminded him of the farmer who asserted, "I ain't greedy 'bout land, I only just wants what jines mine."
[F]For some time before this speech Mr. Lincoln had been receiving letters from friends inquiring as to the truth or falsity of Mr. Douglas's charge. Knowing that he had opposed the war with Mexico, while in Congress, they were in doubt whether or not the charge was true, and believed that if true it would be dangerous to his prospects. To one of these anxious friends he writes under date of June 24, 1858: "Give yourself no concern about my voting against the supplies, unless you are without faith that a lie can be successfully contradicted. There is not a word of truth in the charge, and I am just considering a little as to the best shape to put a contradiction in. Show this to whom you please, but do not publish it in the papers."
[F]For some time before this speech Mr. Lincoln had been receiving letters from friends inquiring as to the truth or falsity of Mr. Douglas's charge. Knowing that he had opposed the war with Mexico, while in Congress, they were in doubt whether or not the charge was true, and believed that if true it would be dangerous to his prospects. To one of these anxious friends he writes under date of June 24, 1858: "Give yourself no concern about my voting against the supplies, unless you are without faith that a lie can be successfully contradicted. There is not a word of truth in the charge, and I am just considering a little as to the best shape to put a contradiction in. Show this to whom you please, but do not publish it in the papers."
[3]Page 27, line 19, after the word "possession."Mr. Lincoln felt deeply the responsibility of his great trust; and he felt still more keenly the supposed impossibility of administering the government for the sole benefit of an organization which had no existence in one-half of the Union. He was therefore willing, not only to appoint Democrats to office, but to appoint them to the very highest offices within his gift. At this time he thought very highly of Mr. Stephens of Georgia, and would gladly have taken him into his cabinet but for the fear that Georgia might secede, and take Mr. Stephens along with her. He commissioned Thurlow Weed to place a seat in the Cabinet at the disposal of Mr. Gilmore of North Carolina; but Mr. Gilmore, finding that his state was likely to secede, was reluctantly compelled to decline it. I had thought that Mr. Lincoln had authorized his friend Mr. Speed to offer the Treasury Department to Mr. Guthrie of Kentucky. Mr. Speed writes of this incident in a letter to me dated June 24, 1872.In one instance I find a palpable mistake. It is in regard to a tender to Mr. Guthrie through me of a position in his Cabinet. The history of that transaction was about this: I met Mr. Lincoln by appointment in Chicago after his election but before he had gone to Washington. He seemed very anxious to avoid bloodshed and said that he would do almost anything saving the sacrifice of personal honor and the dignity of the position to which he had been elevated to avoid war.He asked about Mr. Guthrie and spoke of him as a suitable man for Secretary of War. He asked very particularly as to his strength with the people and if I knew him well enough to say what would be his course in the event of war. I frankly gave my opinion as to what I thought would be his course—which is not necessary here to repeat. He requested me to see Mr. Guthrie. But by all means to be guarded and not to give any man the advantage of the tender of a Cabinet appointment to be declined by an insulting letter. I did see Mr. Guthrie and never tendered him any office for I was not authorized to do so. This is a very different thing from being authorized totenderan appointment.Yours trulyJ. F. Speed.When Mr. Lincoln was asked during conferences incident to making up his cabinet if it was just or wise to concede so many seats to the Democratic element of the Republican party he replied that as a Whig he thought he could afford to be liberal to a section of the Republican party without whose votes he could not have been elected.
[3]Page 27, line 19, after the word "possession."
Mr. Lincoln felt deeply the responsibility of his great trust; and he felt still more keenly the supposed impossibility of administering the government for the sole benefit of an organization which had no existence in one-half of the Union. He was therefore willing, not only to appoint Democrats to office, but to appoint them to the very highest offices within his gift. At this time he thought very highly of Mr. Stephens of Georgia, and would gladly have taken him into his cabinet but for the fear that Georgia might secede, and take Mr. Stephens along with her. He commissioned Thurlow Weed to place a seat in the Cabinet at the disposal of Mr. Gilmore of North Carolina; but Mr. Gilmore, finding that his state was likely to secede, was reluctantly compelled to decline it. I had thought that Mr. Lincoln had authorized his friend Mr. Speed to offer the Treasury Department to Mr. Guthrie of Kentucky. Mr. Speed writes of this incident in a letter to me dated June 24, 1872.
In one instance I find a palpable mistake. It is in regard to a tender to Mr. Guthrie through me of a position in his Cabinet. The history of that transaction was about this: I met Mr. Lincoln by appointment in Chicago after his election but before he had gone to Washington. He seemed very anxious to avoid bloodshed and said that he would do almost anything saving the sacrifice of personal honor and the dignity of the position to which he had been elevated to avoid war.He asked about Mr. Guthrie and spoke of him as a suitable man for Secretary of War. He asked very particularly as to his strength with the people and if I knew him well enough to say what would be his course in the event of war. I frankly gave my opinion as to what I thought would be his course—which is not necessary here to repeat. He requested me to see Mr. Guthrie. But by all means to be guarded and not to give any man the advantage of the tender of a Cabinet appointment to be declined by an insulting letter. I did see Mr. Guthrie and never tendered him any office for I was not authorized to do so. This is a very different thing from being authorized totenderan appointment.Yours trulyJ. F. Speed.
In one instance I find a palpable mistake. It is in regard to a tender to Mr. Guthrie through me of a position in his Cabinet. The history of that transaction was about this: I met Mr. Lincoln by appointment in Chicago after his election but before he had gone to Washington. He seemed very anxious to avoid bloodshed and said that he would do almost anything saving the sacrifice of personal honor and the dignity of the position to which he had been elevated to avoid war.
He asked about Mr. Guthrie and spoke of him as a suitable man for Secretary of War. He asked very particularly as to his strength with the people and if I knew him well enough to say what would be his course in the event of war. I frankly gave my opinion as to what I thought would be his course—which is not necessary here to repeat. He requested me to see Mr. Guthrie. But by all means to be guarded and not to give any man the advantage of the tender of a Cabinet appointment to be declined by an insulting letter. I did see Mr. Guthrie and never tendered him any office for I was not authorized to do so. This is a very different thing from being authorized totenderan appointment.
Yours trulyJ. F. Speed.
When Mr. Lincoln was asked during conferences incident to making up his cabinet if it was just or wise to concede so many seats to the Democratic element of the Republican party he replied that as a Whig he thought he could afford to be liberal to a section of the Republican party without whose votes he could not have been elected.
[4]Page 49, line 5, after the word "fealty."When Mr. Lincoln was being importuned to appoint to his Cabinet another man from Maryland rather than Mr. Blair, he said laughingly: "Maryland must, I think, be a good State to move from," and then told a story of a witness who on being asked his age replied, "Sixty." Being satisfied that he was much older, the judge repeated the question, and on receiving the same answer, admonished the witness, saying that the Court knew him to be much older than sixty. "Oh," said the witness, "you're thinking about that fifteen years that I lived down on eastern shore of Maryland; that was so much lost time and don't count."
[4]Page 49, line 5, after the word "fealty."
When Mr. Lincoln was being importuned to appoint to his Cabinet another man from Maryland rather than Mr. Blair, he said laughingly: "Maryland must, I think, be a good State to move from," and then told a story of a witness who on being asked his age replied, "Sixty." Being satisfied that he was much older, the judge repeated the question, and on receiving the same answer, admonished the witness, saying that the Court knew him to be much older than sixty. "Oh," said the witness, "you're thinking about that fifteen years that I lived down on eastern shore of Maryland; that was so much lost time and don't count."
[5]Page 78, line 7, after the word "brute."That neither section had the monopoly of all the virtues reminds us of the conversation between General Butler and a gentleman from Georgia in 1861, when the latter said, "I do not believe there is an honest man in Massachusetts." After a moment's reflection he added: "I beg to assure you, Mr. Butler, I mean nothing personal." The General responded: "I believe there are a great many honest men in Georgia; but in saying so, sir, I too mean nothing personal."
[5]Page 78, line 7, after the word "brute."
That neither section had the monopoly of all the virtues reminds us of the conversation between General Butler and a gentleman from Georgia in 1861, when the latter said, "I do not believe there is an honest man in Massachusetts." After a moment's reflection he added: "I beg to assure you, Mr. Butler, I mean nothing personal." The General responded: "I believe there are a great many honest men in Georgia; but in saying so, sir, I too mean nothing personal."
[G]General Fry, in the New York "Tribune."
[G]General Fry, in the New York "Tribune."
[H]Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this Continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
[H]Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this Continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
[6]Page 174, line 11, after the word "period."The words of Clark E. Carr are entitled to credit, for no one present had more at heart than he the success of these ceremonies—he being one of the original commissioners comprising the board that purchased this, the first ground set apart for a national cemetery for our soldiers. He was on the platform from which Mr. Lincoln spoke. He says in his "Lincoln at Gettysburg"that, "Before the great multitude of people could prepare themselves to listen intelligently, before their thoughts had become sufficiently centred upon the speaker to take up his line of thought and follow him, he had finished and returned to his seat. So short a time [only about three minutes] was Mr. Lincoln before them that the people could scarcely believe their eyes when he disappeared from their view. They could not possibly in so short a time mentally grasp the ideas that were conveyed. Many persons said to me that they would have supposed that on such a great occasion the President would have made a speech. Every one thought he made only a very few 'dedicatory remarks.' Mr. Carr further says that the general impression was that the remarks consisted of 'a dozen commonplace sentences scarcely one of which contained anything new, anything that when stated was not self-evident.'"
[6]Page 174, line 11, after the word "period."
The words of Clark E. Carr are entitled to credit, for no one present had more at heart than he the success of these ceremonies—he being one of the original commissioners comprising the board that purchased this, the first ground set apart for a national cemetery for our soldiers. He was on the platform from which Mr. Lincoln spoke. He says in his "Lincoln at Gettysburg"that, "Before the great multitude of people could prepare themselves to listen intelligently, before their thoughts had become sufficiently centred upon the speaker to take up his line of thought and follow him, he had finished and returned to his seat. So short a time [only about three minutes] was Mr. Lincoln before them that the people could scarcely believe their eyes when he disappeared from their view. They could not possibly in so short a time mentally grasp the ideas that were conveyed. Many persons said to me that they would have supposed that on such a great occasion the President would have made a speech. Every one thought he made only a very few 'dedicatory remarks.' Mr. Carr further says that the general impression was that the remarks consisted of 'a dozen commonplace sentences scarcely one of which contained anything new, anything that when stated was not self-evident.'"
[I]In a speech at Cooper Institute in New York City, on the Presidential election (1864), Wendell Phillips said that for thirty years he had labored to break up the Union in the interest of justice, and now he labored to save it in the same interest. The same curse that he invoked on the old Union he would invoke on a new Union if it is not founded on justice to the negro. "Science must either demonstrate that the negro is not a man, or politics must accord to him equality at the ballot-box and in offices of trust." He judged Mr. Lincoln by his words and deeds, and so judging he was "unwilling to trust Abraham Lincoln with the future of the country. Let it be granted that Mr. Lincoln is pledged to Liberty and Union; but this pledge was wrung out of him by the Cleveland movement, and was a mere electioneering pledge. Mr. Lincoln is a politician. Politicians are like the bones of a horse's fore-shoulder,—not a straight one in it. A reformer is like a Doric column of iron,—straight, strong, and immovable. It is a momentous responsibility to trust Mr. Lincoln where we want a Doric column to stand stern and strong for the Nation.... I am an Abolitionist, but I am also a citizen watchful of constitutional Liberty; and I say if President Lincoln is inaugurated on the votes of Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas, every citizen is bound to resist him. Are you willing to sacrifice the constitutional rights of seventy years for your fondness for an individual?"Mr. Phillips then quoted some opinions from prominent men in the Republican party. "A man in the field said, 'The re-election of Abraham Lincoln will be a disaster.' Another said, 'The re-election of Abraham Lincoln will be national destruction.' Said another, 'There is no government at Washington,—nothing there.' Winter Davis of Maryland testifies to his [Lincoln's] inability. Said another, 'That proclamation will not stand a week before the Supreme Court; but I had rather trust it there than Abraham Lincoln to make the judges.' Mr. Lincoln has secured his success just as the South used to secure its success. He says to the radicals of the Republican party, 'I am going to nominate myself at Baltimore: risk a division of the party if you dare!' and the radicals submitted. Political Massachusetts submitted, and is silent; but Antislavery Massachusetts calls to the people to save their own cause." Mr. Phillips said he "wanted by free speech to let Abraham Lincoln know that we are stronger than Abraham Lincoln, and that he is a servant to obey us. I distrust the man who uses whole despotism in Massachusetts and half despotism in South Carolina, and that man is Abraham Lincoln."
[I]In a speech at Cooper Institute in New York City, on the Presidential election (1864), Wendell Phillips said that for thirty years he had labored to break up the Union in the interest of justice, and now he labored to save it in the same interest. The same curse that he invoked on the old Union he would invoke on a new Union if it is not founded on justice to the negro. "Science must either demonstrate that the negro is not a man, or politics must accord to him equality at the ballot-box and in offices of trust." He judged Mr. Lincoln by his words and deeds, and so judging he was "unwilling to trust Abraham Lincoln with the future of the country. Let it be granted that Mr. Lincoln is pledged to Liberty and Union; but this pledge was wrung out of him by the Cleveland movement, and was a mere electioneering pledge. Mr. Lincoln is a politician. Politicians are like the bones of a horse's fore-shoulder,—not a straight one in it. A reformer is like a Doric column of iron,—straight, strong, and immovable. It is a momentous responsibility to trust Mr. Lincoln where we want a Doric column to stand stern and strong for the Nation.... I am an Abolitionist, but I am also a citizen watchful of constitutional Liberty; and I say if President Lincoln is inaugurated on the votes of Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas, every citizen is bound to resist him. Are you willing to sacrifice the constitutional rights of seventy years for your fondness for an individual?"
Mr. Phillips then quoted some opinions from prominent men in the Republican party. "A man in the field said, 'The re-election of Abraham Lincoln will be a disaster.' Another said, 'The re-election of Abraham Lincoln will be national destruction.' Said another, 'There is no government at Washington,—nothing there.' Winter Davis of Maryland testifies to his [Lincoln's] inability. Said another, 'That proclamation will not stand a week before the Supreme Court; but I had rather trust it there than Abraham Lincoln to make the judges.' Mr. Lincoln has secured his success just as the South used to secure its success. He says to the radicals of the Republican party, 'I am going to nominate myself at Baltimore: risk a division of the party if you dare!' and the radicals submitted. Political Massachusetts submitted, and is silent; but Antislavery Massachusetts calls to the people to save their own cause." Mr. Phillips said he "wanted by free speech to let Abraham Lincoln know that we are stronger than Abraham Lincoln, and that he is a servant to obey us. I distrust the man who uses whole despotism in Massachusetts and half despotism in South Carolina, and that man is Abraham Lincoln."
[7]Page 199, last line, after the word "quality."While reading over some of the appealing telegrams sent to the War Department by General McClellan, Lincoln said, "It seems to me that McClellan has been wandering around and has got lost. He's been hollering for help ever since he went south—wants somebody to come to his deliverance and get him out of the place he's got into. He reminds me of the story of a man out in Illinois, who, in company with a number of friends, visited the state penitentiary. They wandered all through the institution and saw everything, but just about the time to depart, this man became separated from his friends and couldn't find his way out. At last he came across a convict who was looking out from between the bars of his cell door; he hastily asked: 'Say! How do you get out of this place?'"
[7]Page 199, last line, after the word "quality."
While reading over some of the appealing telegrams sent to the War Department by General McClellan, Lincoln said, "It seems to me that McClellan has been wandering around and has got lost. He's been hollering for help ever since he went south—wants somebody to come to his deliverance and get him out of the place he's got into. He reminds me of the story of a man out in Illinois, who, in company with a number of friends, visited the state penitentiary. They wandered all through the institution and saw everything, but just about the time to depart, this man became separated from his friends and couldn't find his way out. At last he came across a convict who was looking out from between the bars of his cell door; he hastily asked: 'Say! How do you get out of this place?'"
[8]Page 203, line 14, after the word "patriotism."Whether the act proved his wisdom or not, the result certainly sustained and justified his course; the proceedingat least exemplified his firmness and determination in desperate emergencies. There is perhaps no act recorded in our history that demanded greater courage or more heroic treatment.In a conversation with me shortly after this Mr. Lincoln said, "Well, I suppose our victory at Antietam will condone my offence in reappointing McClellan. If the battle had gone against us poor McClellan (and I too) would be in a bad row of stumps."Had not the tide of success and victory turned in our favor about this time, there is little doubt that Mr. Lincoln would have been deposed and a military dictatorship erected upon the ruins of his administration. The victory at Antietam was, without doubt, the turning point for fame or for downfall in the career of Mr. Lincoln.
[8]Page 203, line 14, after the word "patriotism."
Whether the act proved his wisdom or not, the result certainly sustained and justified his course; the proceedingat least exemplified his firmness and determination in desperate emergencies. There is perhaps no act recorded in our history that demanded greater courage or more heroic treatment.
In a conversation with me shortly after this Mr. Lincoln said, "Well, I suppose our victory at Antietam will condone my offence in reappointing McClellan. If the battle had gone against us poor McClellan (and I too) would be in a bad row of stumps."
Had not the tide of success and victory turned in our favor about this time, there is little doubt that Mr. Lincoln would have been deposed and a military dictatorship erected upon the ruins of his administration. The victory at Antietam was, without doubt, the turning point for fame or for downfall in the career of Mr. Lincoln.
[9]Page 208, line 3, after the word "McClellan."Washington, April 13, 1888.My dear Marshal Lamon, — I received the proof sheet of your article enclosed in your note of the 8th. I have read it very carefully and I find the facts as stated are correct.Mr. F. P. Blair, Senior, told me the incident of conveying in person President Lincoln's letter to McClellan.I liked McClellan, but I have always believed he was politically slaughtered in the house of his alleged friends.Yours truly,A. Pleasonton.
[9]Page 208, line 3, after the word "McClellan."
Washington, April 13, 1888.My dear Marshal Lamon, — I received the proof sheet of your article enclosed in your note of the 8th. I have read it very carefully and I find the facts as stated are correct.Mr. F. P. Blair, Senior, told me the incident of conveying in person President Lincoln's letter to McClellan.I liked McClellan, but I have always believed he was politically slaughtered in the house of his alleged friends.Yours truly,A. Pleasonton.
Washington, April 13, 1888.
My dear Marshal Lamon, — I received the proof sheet of your article enclosed in your note of the 8th. I have read it very carefully and I find the facts as stated are correct.
Mr. F. P. Blair, Senior, told me the incident of conveying in person President Lincoln's letter to McClellan.
I liked McClellan, but I have always believed he was politically slaughtered in the house of his alleged friends.
Yours truly,A. Pleasonton.
[J]Signature[10]Page 219, last line, after the word "subject."At a cabinet meeting, the advisability of putting a motto on greenbacks similar to the "In God We Trust" on the silver coins was discussed and the President was asked what his view was. He replied, "if you are going to put a motto on the greenback, I would suggest that of Peter and John: 'Silver and gold we have not, but what we have we'll give you.'"
Signature
[10]Page 219, last line, after the word "subject."
At a cabinet meeting, the advisability of putting a motto on greenbacks similar to the "In God We Trust" on the silver coins was discussed and the President was asked what his view was. He replied, "if you are going to put a motto on the greenback, I would suggest that of Peter and John: 'Silver and gold we have not, but what we have we'll give you.'"
[K]Denver, Col., May 23, 1885.Hon. Wm. A. Wheeler, Malone, N. Y.My dear Sir, — A few days since I had the pleasure of reading your "Recollections of Lincoln" from the Malone (N. Y.) "Palladium," in which you say: "At the extra session of Congress in July, 1861, a law was passed authorizing the appointment of additional paymasters for the Army;" that the President assented to your request that your life-long friend, Major Sabin, should be one of the appointees; that, in September following, Mr. Lincoln wrote you saying he had sent the appointment of Mr. Sabin to the Secretary of War, who would notify him to appear for muster into the Service. October passed, and no notice came. Then, you say, a letter written to "Secretary Stanton" failed to bring a response; that the latter part of November you went to Washington to attend the regular session of Congress, taking Mr. Sabin with you. You then say: "The day after my arrival I waited upon Secretary Stanton," etc.; you then detail the conversation had with Mr. Lincoln, and the fact of his making a somewhat imperative order to the Secretary to make the appointment "at once." You say, "I called on Mr. Stanton the next morning, who on its [the letter's or order's] presentation was simply furious." And after this you speak of what was said and done by "Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War."Allow me, my dear sir, to assure you that I now entertain, and always have entertained, for you the most profound respect, and to express my sincere regret that you were not President instead of Vice-President of the United States. I therefore venture to hope that you will pardon me for saying that I am unable to reconcile the statements purporting to be made by you, alluded to above, with the historical fact that Mr. Stanton was not appointed Secretary of War until in January the year following,—namely, 1862. It occurs to me that there must be a mistake made in your paper, either ofdatesor of the name of the Secretary of War. I am certain this irreconcilable statement was not made by you as was the blunder made by Sir Walter Scott in his "Ivanhoe" (chap. i.). "The date of this story," as he says, "refers to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I." Richard died in 1199; nevertheless, Sir Walter makes the disguised Wamba style himself "a poor brother of the Order of St. Francis," although the Order of St. Francis was not founded until 1210, and of course the saintship of the founder had still a later date.If my recollection serves me correctly, Mr. Stanton, whose memory is now cherished by the great mass of the Republican party, at the dates you speak of and refer to was regarded as a Bourbon of the strictest sect. Up to the time of the capture of the "Trent," with Mason and Slidell aboard, on the 8th of November, 1861, if Mr. Stanton had conceived any "change of heart" and cessation of hostility to the Administration, it never was publicly manifested. It was something over a month after this capture that he was consulted by Mr. Lincoln, at the suggestion of Secretary Chase, as an international lawyer concerning the legality of the capture and arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, which was the first interview that was had between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton since the commencement of the Administration. This interview led to Mr. Stanton's appointment as Secretary of War. Mr. Lincoln had occasion for regret about the "Trent" capture, but never for the capture of Mr. Stanton.The immortal Shakespeare, like yourself and others, sometimes got his dates confused; for instance, in his "Coriolanus," he says of C. Marcius, "Thou wast a soldier even to Cato's will," when in fact Marcius Coriolanus was banished from Rome and died over two hundred years before Cato was born. Again, his reference in the same play, of Marcius sitting in state like Alexander: the latter was not born for a hundred and fifty years after Coriolanus's death. He also says in "Julius Cæsar," "The clock strikes three," when in truth and in fact there were no striking clocks until more than eight hundred years after the death of Cæsar. Another inaccuracy is to be found in "King Lear" in regard to spectacles. Spectacles were not worn until the thirteenth century. And still another in this immortal writer's statements in his play of "Macbeth," where he speaks of cannon: cannon were not invented until 1346, and Macbeth was killed in 1054.You will pardon me these citations, for they are made in a spirit of playful illustration, to show how great minds often become confused about dates."What you have saidI have considered; what you have to sayI will with patience wait to hear."I read your "Recollections of Lincoln" with great interest, as I do everything I see written about that most wonderful, interesting, and unique of all of our public men. I sincerely hope you will receive this in the same kindly spirit that it is written, prompted as it is by a curiosity to know how this variance about Mr. Stanton's official status during the first year of Mr. Lincoln's Administration can be reconciled. I will regard it as an esteemed favor if you will drop me a line explaining it.Your interesting and graphic description of Mr. Lincoln's pardon of the soldier convicted and condemned for sleeping at his post interested me very much. I have a curiosity to know whether this soldier's name was not William Scott? If Scott was his name, I have a reason to believe he was the person whom Francis De Haes Janvier immortalized in verse.I have the honor to be, very sincerely,Your humble servant,Ward H. Lamon.Malone, N. Y., June 2, 1885.Ward H. Lamon, Denver, Col.My dear Sir, — I thank you most sincerely for your letter of the 23d ultimo, and for the friendly feeling you evince for me.I am simply mortified at my gross blunder, and can only plead in mitigation the lapse of more than twenty years since the affairs alluded to transpired, in which time, aside from having performed a large amount of hard public and private work, I have experienced an amount of trouble exceptional to ordinary men, having buried every one near to me,—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. I have no one left of nearer kin to me than cousins, and no one to care for my house except servants. For the last three years I have been an invalid, confined to my house and for a considerable portion of the time to my bed: what wonder that "the warder of the brain" should be sometimes at fault! The mistake must be one oftime, for the actors in the transaction are too vividly impressed upon my memory ever to be forgotten until that faculty is wholly dethroned.I may be mistaken in the fact that Sabin accompanied me when I went on for the regular session in December, 1861; but so sure was I of it that before your letter I would have sworn to it. You have furnished me with a needed caution. It is unpleasant to find out that years are telling upon us, but it is healthful nevertheless. And so I may be mistaken as to the time intervening between the successive stages of the appointment. Sabin is somewhere in the West, and I will endeavor to find his whereabouts and get his statement of the facts. Brevet Brig.-Genl. Chauncey McKeever, now Assistant Adjutant-General of the Army, was at the time in Stanton's office in a confidential capacity, and I think will remember the transaction.I do not remember the name of the pardoned soldier. One of Kellogg's sons lives in the southern part of the State; I will endeavor to get the name, and if successful will write you.Now, my dear sir, mortified as I am, I feel almost compensated in having drawn from you such an admirable collection of anachronisms of famous literary men of the world. I am greatly interested in it, and shall take the liberty of showing it to my literary friends. In your readings have you ever encountered the "Deathless City," a beautiful poem written by Elizabeth A. Allen? I never saw but this single production from her pen. Who was or is she, and did she write other things?My memories of Mr. Lincoln are a source of great pleasure to me. Many of them recall illustrations just a little "off color."If you ever come east, I wish you would come across northern New York and drop in upon me. I should greatly delight to live over the days of the war with you.Again thanking you for your letter, and fully reciprocating your good-will, I amVery cordially yours,Wm. A. Wheeler.
[K]
Denver, Col., May 23, 1885.Hon. Wm. A. Wheeler, Malone, N. Y.My dear Sir, — A few days since I had the pleasure of reading your "Recollections of Lincoln" from the Malone (N. Y.) "Palladium," in which you say: "At the extra session of Congress in July, 1861, a law was passed authorizing the appointment of additional paymasters for the Army;" that the President assented to your request that your life-long friend, Major Sabin, should be one of the appointees; that, in September following, Mr. Lincoln wrote you saying he had sent the appointment of Mr. Sabin to the Secretary of War, who would notify him to appear for muster into the Service. October passed, and no notice came. Then, you say, a letter written to "Secretary Stanton" failed to bring a response; that the latter part of November you went to Washington to attend the regular session of Congress, taking Mr. Sabin with you. You then say: "The day after my arrival I waited upon Secretary Stanton," etc.; you then detail the conversation had with Mr. Lincoln, and the fact of his making a somewhat imperative order to the Secretary to make the appointment "at once." You say, "I called on Mr. Stanton the next morning, who on its [the letter's or order's] presentation was simply furious." And after this you speak of what was said and done by "Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War."Allow me, my dear sir, to assure you that I now entertain, and always have entertained, for you the most profound respect, and to express my sincere regret that you were not President instead of Vice-President of the United States. I therefore venture to hope that you will pardon me for saying that I am unable to reconcile the statements purporting to be made by you, alluded to above, with the historical fact that Mr. Stanton was not appointed Secretary of War until in January the year following,—namely, 1862. It occurs to me that there must be a mistake made in your paper, either ofdatesor of the name of the Secretary of War. I am certain this irreconcilable statement was not made by you as was the blunder made by Sir Walter Scott in his "Ivanhoe" (chap. i.). "The date of this story," as he says, "refers to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I." Richard died in 1199; nevertheless, Sir Walter makes the disguised Wamba style himself "a poor brother of the Order of St. Francis," although the Order of St. Francis was not founded until 1210, and of course the saintship of the founder had still a later date.If my recollection serves me correctly, Mr. Stanton, whose memory is now cherished by the great mass of the Republican party, at the dates you speak of and refer to was regarded as a Bourbon of the strictest sect. Up to the time of the capture of the "Trent," with Mason and Slidell aboard, on the 8th of November, 1861, if Mr. Stanton had conceived any "change of heart" and cessation of hostility to the Administration, it never was publicly manifested. It was something over a month after this capture that he was consulted by Mr. Lincoln, at the suggestion of Secretary Chase, as an international lawyer concerning the legality of the capture and arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, which was the first interview that was had between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton since the commencement of the Administration. This interview led to Mr. Stanton's appointment as Secretary of War. Mr. Lincoln had occasion for regret about the "Trent" capture, but never for the capture of Mr. Stanton.The immortal Shakespeare, like yourself and others, sometimes got his dates confused; for instance, in his "Coriolanus," he says of C. Marcius, "Thou wast a soldier even to Cato's will," when in fact Marcius Coriolanus was banished from Rome and died over two hundred years before Cato was born. Again, his reference in the same play, of Marcius sitting in state like Alexander: the latter was not born for a hundred and fifty years after Coriolanus's death. He also says in "Julius Cæsar," "The clock strikes three," when in truth and in fact there were no striking clocks until more than eight hundred years after the death of Cæsar. Another inaccuracy is to be found in "King Lear" in regard to spectacles. Spectacles were not worn until the thirteenth century. And still another in this immortal writer's statements in his play of "Macbeth," where he speaks of cannon: cannon were not invented until 1346, and Macbeth was killed in 1054.You will pardon me these citations, for they are made in a spirit of playful illustration, to show how great minds often become confused about dates."What you have saidI have considered; what you have to sayI will with patience wait to hear."I read your "Recollections of Lincoln" with great interest, as I do everything I see written about that most wonderful, interesting, and unique of all of our public men. I sincerely hope you will receive this in the same kindly spirit that it is written, prompted as it is by a curiosity to know how this variance about Mr. Stanton's official status during the first year of Mr. Lincoln's Administration can be reconciled. I will regard it as an esteemed favor if you will drop me a line explaining it.Your interesting and graphic description of Mr. Lincoln's pardon of the soldier convicted and condemned for sleeping at his post interested me very much. I have a curiosity to know whether this soldier's name was not William Scott? If Scott was his name, I have a reason to believe he was the person whom Francis De Haes Janvier immortalized in verse.I have the honor to be, very sincerely,Your humble servant,Ward H. Lamon.
Denver, Col., May 23, 1885.
Hon. Wm. A. Wheeler, Malone, N. Y.
My dear Sir, — A few days since I had the pleasure of reading your "Recollections of Lincoln" from the Malone (N. Y.) "Palladium," in which you say: "At the extra session of Congress in July, 1861, a law was passed authorizing the appointment of additional paymasters for the Army;" that the President assented to your request that your life-long friend, Major Sabin, should be one of the appointees; that, in September following, Mr. Lincoln wrote you saying he had sent the appointment of Mr. Sabin to the Secretary of War, who would notify him to appear for muster into the Service. October passed, and no notice came. Then, you say, a letter written to "Secretary Stanton" failed to bring a response; that the latter part of November you went to Washington to attend the regular session of Congress, taking Mr. Sabin with you. You then say: "The day after my arrival I waited upon Secretary Stanton," etc.; you then detail the conversation had with Mr. Lincoln, and the fact of his making a somewhat imperative order to the Secretary to make the appointment "at once." You say, "I called on Mr. Stanton the next morning, who on its [the letter's or order's] presentation was simply furious." And after this you speak of what was said and done by "Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War."
Allow me, my dear sir, to assure you that I now entertain, and always have entertained, for you the most profound respect, and to express my sincere regret that you were not President instead of Vice-President of the United States. I therefore venture to hope that you will pardon me for saying that I am unable to reconcile the statements purporting to be made by you, alluded to above, with the historical fact that Mr. Stanton was not appointed Secretary of War until in January the year following,—namely, 1862. It occurs to me that there must be a mistake made in your paper, either ofdatesor of the name of the Secretary of War. I am certain this irreconcilable statement was not made by you as was the blunder made by Sir Walter Scott in his "Ivanhoe" (chap. i.). "The date of this story," as he says, "refers to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I." Richard died in 1199; nevertheless, Sir Walter makes the disguised Wamba style himself "a poor brother of the Order of St. Francis," although the Order of St. Francis was not founded until 1210, and of course the saintship of the founder had still a later date.
If my recollection serves me correctly, Mr. Stanton, whose memory is now cherished by the great mass of the Republican party, at the dates you speak of and refer to was regarded as a Bourbon of the strictest sect. Up to the time of the capture of the "Trent," with Mason and Slidell aboard, on the 8th of November, 1861, if Mr. Stanton had conceived any "change of heart" and cessation of hostility to the Administration, it never was publicly manifested. It was something over a month after this capture that he was consulted by Mr. Lincoln, at the suggestion of Secretary Chase, as an international lawyer concerning the legality of the capture and arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, which was the first interview that was had between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton since the commencement of the Administration. This interview led to Mr. Stanton's appointment as Secretary of War. Mr. Lincoln had occasion for regret about the "Trent" capture, but never for the capture of Mr. Stanton.
The immortal Shakespeare, like yourself and others, sometimes got his dates confused; for instance, in his "Coriolanus," he says of C. Marcius, "Thou wast a soldier even to Cato's will," when in fact Marcius Coriolanus was banished from Rome and died over two hundred years before Cato was born. Again, his reference in the same play, of Marcius sitting in state like Alexander: the latter was not born for a hundred and fifty years after Coriolanus's death. He also says in "Julius Cæsar," "The clock strikes three," when in truth and in fact there were no striking clocks until more than eight hundred years after the death of Cæsar. Another inaccuracy is to be found in "King Lear" in regard to spectacles. Spectacles were not worn until the thirteenth century. And still another in this immortal writer's statements in his play of "Macbeth," where he speaks of cannon: cannon were not invented until 1346, and Macbeth was killed in 1054.
You will pardon me these citations, for they are made in a spirit of playful illustration, to show how great minds often become confused about dates.
"What you have saidI have considered; what you have to sayI will with patience wait to hear."
I read your "Recollections of Lincoln" with great interest, as I do everything I see written about that most wonderful, interesting, and unique of all of our public men. I sincerely hope you will receive this in the same kindly spirit that it is written, prompted as it is by a curiosity to know how this variance about Mr. Stanton's official status during the first year of Mr. Lincoln's Administration can be reconciled. I will regard it as an esteemed favor if you will drop me a line explaining it.
Your interesting and graphic description of Mr. Lincoln's pardon of the soldier convicted and condemned for sleeping at his post interested me very much. I have a curiosity to know whether this soldier's name was not William Scott? If Scott was his name, I have a reason to believe he was the person whom Francis De Haes Janvier immortalized in verse.
I have the honor to be, very sincerely,
Your humble servant,Ward H. Lamon.
Malone, N. Y., June 2, 1885.Ward H. Lamon, Denver, Col.My dear Sir, — I thank you most sincerely for your letter of the 23d ultimo, and for the friendly feeling you evince for me.I am simply mortified at my gross blunder, and can only plead in mitigation the lapse of more than twenty years since the affairs alluded to transpired, in which time, aside from having performed a large amount of hard public and private work, I have experienced an amount of trouble exceptional to ordinary men, having buried every one near to me,—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. I have no one left of nearer kin to me than cousins, and no one to care for my house except servants. For the last three years I have been an invalid, confined to my house and for a considerable portion of the time to my bed: what wonder that "the warder of the brain" should be sometimes at fault! The mistake must be one oftime, for the actors in the transaction are too vividly impressed upon my memory ever to be forgotten until that faculty is wholly dethroned.I may be mistaken in the fact that Sabin accompanied me when I went on for the regular session in December, 1861; but so sure was I of it that before your letter I would have sworn to it. You have furnished me with a needed caution. It is unpleasant to find out that years are telling upon us, but it is healthful nevertheless. And so I may be mistaken as to the time intervening between the successive stages of the appointment. Sabin is somewhere in the West, and I will endeavor to find his whereabouts and get his statement of the facts. Brevet Brig.-Genl. Chauncey McKeever, now Assistant Adjutant-General of the Army, was at the time in Stanton's office in a confidential capacity, and I think will remember the transaction.I do not remember the name of the pardoned soldier. One of Kellogg's sons lives in the southern part of the State; I will endeavor to get the name, and if successful will write you.Now, my dear sir, mortified as I am, I feel almost compensated in having drawn from you such an admirable collection of anachronisms of famous literary men of the world. I am greatly interested in it, and shall take the liberty of showing it to my literary friends. In your readings have you ever encountered the "Deathless City," a beautiful poem written by Elizabeth A. Allen? I never saw but this single production from her pen. Who was or is she, and did she write other things?My memories of Mr. Lincoln are a source of great pleasure to me. Many of them recall illustrations just a little "off color."If you ever come east, I wish you would come across northern New York and drop in upon me. I should greatly delight to live over the days of the war with you.Again thanking you for your letter, and fully reciprocating your good-will, I amVery cordially yours,Wm. A. Wheeler.
Malone, N. Y., June 2, 1885.
Ward H. Lamon, Denver, Col.
My dear Sir, — I thank you most sincerely for your letter of the 23d ultimo, and for the friendly feeling you evince for me.
I am simply mortified at my gross blunder, and can only plead in mitigation the lapse of more than twenty years since the affairs alluded to transpired, in which time, aside from having performed a large amount of hard public and private work, I have experienced an amount of trouble exceptional to ordinary men, having buried every one near to me,—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. I have no one left of nearer kin to me than cousins, and no one to care for my house except servants. For the last three years I have been an invalid, confined to my house and for a considerable portion of the time to my bed: what wonder that "the warder of the brain" should be sometimes at fault! The mistake must be one oftime, for the actors in the transaction are too vividly impressed upon my memory ever to be forgotten until that faculty is wholly dethroned.
I may be mistaken in the fact that Sabin accompanied me when I went on for the regular session in December, 1861; but so sure was I of it that before your letter I would have sworn to it. You have furnished me with a needed caution. It is unpleasant to find out that years are telling upon us, but it is healthful nevertheless. And so I may be mistaken as to the time intervening between the successive stages of the appointment. Sabin is somewhere in the West, and I will endeavor to find his whereabouts and get his statement of the facts. Brevet Brig.-Genl. Chauncey McKeever, now Assistant Adjutant-General of the Army, was at the time in Stanton's office in a confidential capacity, and I think will remember the transaction.
I do not remember the name of the pardoned soldier. One of Kellogg's sons lives in the southern part of the State; I will endeavor to get the name, and if successful will write you.
Now, my dear sir, mortified as I am, I feel almost compensated in having drawn from you such an admirable collection of anachronisms of famous literary men of the world. I am greatly interested in it, and shall take the liberty of showing it to my literary friends. In your readings have you ever encountered the "Deathless City," a beautiful poem written by Elizabeth A. Allen? I never saw but this single production from her pen. Who was or is she, and did she write other things?
My memories of Mr. Lincoln are a source of great pleasure to me. Many of them recall illustrations just a little "off color."
If you ever come east, I wish you would come across northern New York and drop in upon me. I should greatly delight to live over the days of the war with you.
Again thanking you for your letter, and fully reciprocating your good-will, I am
Very cordially yours,Wm. A. Wheeler.
[11]Page 235, line 25, after the word "God."John W. Crisfield served in Congress with Mr. Lincoln in 1847 and was a warm friend of Lincoln. Being elected again as Representative in 1861, he was in Congress when the proposition was made for gradual emancipation in the border states by paying the loyal owners for their slaves. Mr. Crisfield was on the committee that was to draft the reply to this proposition. When he was at the White House one day in July, 1862, Mr. Lincoln said: "Well, Crisfield, how are you getting along with your report, have you written it yet?" Mr. Crisfield replied that he had not. Mr. Lincoln—knowing that the Emancipation Proclamation was coming, in fact was then only two months away—said, "You had better come to an agreement. Niggers will never be higher."
[11]Page 235, line 25, after the word "God."
John W. Crisfield served in Congress with Mr. Lincoln in 1847 and was a warm friend of Lincoln. Being elected again as Representative in 1861, he was in Congress when the proposition was made for gradual emancipation in the border states by paying the loyal owners for their slaves. Mr. Crisfield was on the committee that was to draft the reply to this proposition. When he was at the White House one day in July, 1862, Mr. Lincoln said: "Well, Crisfield, how are you getting along with your report, have you written it yet?" Mr. Crisfield replied that he had not. Mr. Lincoln—knowing that the Emancipation Proclamation was coming, in fact was then only two months away—said, "You had better come to an agreement. Niggers will never be higher."
[L]War Department,Washington, D. C., May 22, 1862.Captain Sherwood, or Officer in Command at Central Guard House:Sir, — You will send a sentinel at once to the city jail, with orders to relieve the man now on duty there at the jail door, and give him orders to allowno person whatsoeverto enter or leave the jail, without permission from General Wadsworth. This guard will be maintained until further orders.By Command of Brigadier-General Wadsworth,John A. Kress,A. D. C.
[L]
War Department,Washington, D. C., May 22, 1862.Captain Sherwood, or Officer in Command at Central Guard House:Sir, — You will send a sentinel at once to the city jail, with orders to relieve the man now on duty there at the jail door, and give him orders to allowno person whatsoeverto enter or leave the jail, without permission from General Wadsworth. This guard will be maintained until further orders.By Command of Brigadier-General Wadsworth,John A. Kress,A. D. C.
War Department,Washington, D. C., May 22, 1862.
Captain Sherwood, or Officer in Command at Central Guard House:
Sir, — You will send a sentinel at once to the city jail, with orders to relieve the man now on duty there at the jail door, and give him orders to allowno person whatsoeverto enter or leave the jail, without permission from General Wadsworth. This guard will be maintained until further orders.
By Command of Brigadier-General Wadsworth,
John A. Kress,A. D. C.
[12]Page 275, line 5, after the word "fac-simile."Apropos of passes to Richmond once when a man called upon the President and solicited a pass to Richmond. Mr. Lincoln said: "Well, I would be very happy to oblige, if my passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the past two years, given passes to 250,000 men to go to Richmond and not one has got there yet."
[12]Page 275, line 5, after the word "fac-simile."
Apropos of passes to Richmond once when a man called upon the President and solicited a pass to Richmond. Mr. Lincoln said: "Well, I would be very happy to oblige, if my passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the past two years, given passes to 250,000 men to go to Richmond and not one has got there yet."
[M]This was evidently written twice by Mr. Lincoln for it seems to be the corrected page of one in the Collection of General Orendorff. This corrected page has not the first allegation found in the rough draft: "The widow of the testator is not a competent witness. II Hump. 565."
[M]This was evidently written twice by Mr. Lincoln for it seems to be the corrected page of one in the Collection of General Orendorff. This corrected page has not the first allegation found in the rough draft: "The widow of the testator is not a competent witness. II Hump. 565."
[N]Mr. Lincoln's first partner, John T. Stuart, enjoyed telling of his own arrival in Springfield in 1828 from Kentucky; how the next morning he was standing in front of the village store wondering how to introduce himself to the community, when a well-dressed old gentleman approached him, who, interesting himself in his welfare, inquired after his history and business. "I am from Kentucky," answered Mr. Stuart, "and my profession is that of a lawyer, sir. What is the prospect here?" Throwing back his head and closing his left eye the old gentleman reflected a moment, then replied: "Young man, d—— slim chance for that kind of a combination here."That there was a chance for that combination in Springfield has been most conclusively proven. Lincoln's three law partners at that place as well as himself were all from Kentucky, to say nothing of other prominent members of the bar of Springfield who came from the Blue Grass state.
[N]Mr. Lincoln's first partner, John T. Stuart, enjoyed telling of his own arrival in Springfield in 1828 from Kentucky; how the next morning he was standing in front of the village store wondering how to introduce himself to the community, when a well-dressed old gentleman approached him, who, interesting himself in his welfare, inquired after his history and business. "I am from Kentucky," answered Mr. Stuart, "and my profession is that of a lawyer, sir. What is the prospect here?" Throwing back his head and closing his left eye the old gentleman reflected a moment, then replied: "Young man, d—— slim chance for that kind of a combination here."
That there was a chance for that combination in Springfield has been most conclusively proven. Lincoln's three law partners at that place as well as himself were all from Kentucky, to say nothing of other prominent members of the bar of Springfield who came from the Blue Grass state.
[O]This prophecy was certainly fulfilled.
[O]This prophecy was certainly fulfilled.
[P]Only ten days before the Assassination.
[P]Only ten days before the Assassination.
Transcriber's note:Page xxv: The date 1661 has been changed to 1861.Page 24: "at Harrisburg to chose one companion"—"chose" has been replaced with "choose".The following line of the Table of Contents has been moved from the first heading in CHAPTER II to the end of CHAPTER I:"Time between Election and Departure for Washington 28"Pages 285 to 290 consisted of twelve notes under the heading "NOTES". The notes have been moved to the footnotes section and are linked as the numbered footnotes. As a result the page numbers 285 to 290 are not visible.
Page xxv: The date 1661 has been changed to 1861.
Page 24: "at Harrisburg to chose one companion"—"chose" has been replaced with "choose".
The following line of the Table of Contents has been moved from the first heading in CHAPTER II to the end of CHAPTER I:"Time between Election and Departure for Washington 28"
Pages 285 to 290 consisted of twelve notes under the heading "NOTES". The notes have been moved to the footnotes section and are linked as the numbered footnotes. As a result the page numbers 285 to 290 are not visible.