XXI.

JOHN A. KASSON.

RIOR to Lincoln's election as President I never

PRIO

met him—not, indeed, until after he sent my name to the Senate for the post of First AssistantPostmaster-General. I think this was the second nomination he sent to that body. Afterward I had frequent occasion to see him, both during the period of that service and during my subsequent congressional service, but almost wholly on official busi

ness.

From the President's room in the White House you can see prominent objects in Alexandria, six miles down the Potomac. The one prominent object which then for days attracted and offended the patriot's eye from those windows, was the rebel flag floating from the staff on the roof of the hotel in that city, as if in defiance of the national Capitol, a few miles away. President Lincoln's young neighbor of Springfield, Ill., Ellsworth, mounted alone to the roof, cut it down, and was himself killed by the rebel owner as he descended the staircase. I called on the President just after that occurrence, and con

gratulated him, as I stood by the window, on the improved view down the Potomac, where, instead of the Confederate, the Union flag now floated. I was taken aback by Mr. Lincoln's joyless response, "Yes, but it was at a terrible cost!" and the tears rushed into his eyes as he said it. It was his first personal realization of what the war meant. His tender respect for human life had received its first wound. It was not battle, it was assassination. He did not foresee the hundreds of thousands who were to fall before the great strife, would be ended. He afterward learned to bear the loss of thousands in battle more bravely than he bore the loss of this one in the beginning of the contest. But the loss of a single life, otherwise than in the ranged fight, was always hard for him, as so often. shown in his action upon the judgments of courtsmartial.

Early in his first term there was a vacancy in the United States Supreme Court to be filled from the Western States. Among the candidates was a lawyer whom I knew, whose reputation for ability was locally well established, but who had no national reputation. The recommendations had been for many weeks on file, but no action taken. One day this gentleman came to me, said something was operating as a check on his nomination, and he was satisfied I could remove it if I would call on the

President.

I went to the White House and called up the case. Mr. Lincoln said: "I never heard of this man before, unless it is, who had an election contest in Congress over the Mormon vote. Is that the man?" I answered him, "No, there is no common blood in their veins." I then described the character of the candidate, his history, and the qualities which in my judgment fitted him especially for the high place to which he aspired. The hitch was in the President's supposition that an ordinary politician had been recommended for a high judicial place, and he could not approve such a proposition. In a few days the nomination went in and was confirmed, and to-day, by the general judgment of the bar, the gentleman so appointed, if not in fact the brightest luminary on the bench, is unsurpassed in constitutional learning and in force of logic. His opinions rank with the best since the time of Marshall. This incident is worthy of mention, because it shows that in appointments of high importance Mr. Lincoln was careful and conscientious, although in the less important places he was too much inclined to oblige friends, and to trust to superficial assur

ances.

Many smiles have been caused by President Lincoln's quaint remark, in reply to some applicant for office, in which he said, "My dear sir, I have not much influence with this administration." An inci

dent of my intercourse with him illustrates the truth of his remark, and was followed by singular consequences. It was in the days-which heaven grant may come to a speedy end-when Congressmen were considered the necessary and inevitable agents for procuring offices, and even advancements, in the army. Numerous officers in the field had written to me to have Colonel -——————, of the Iowa regiment, promoted to be a brigadier-general, and had intimated in one of their petitions that they would hold me responsible for a failure, and that soldiers were voters. The colonel deserved the promotion, but it was difficult to obtain. At last there came an Iowa resignation, and I went again to the President, who signed an order to the Secretary of War to let Colonel have the commission in place of the resigning brigadier. In a happy frame of mind I walked, with the order in my hand, to the War Department, to see the Secretary, Mr. Stanton, not doubting my success, as I had a command from the constitutional head of the army. My confidence was all the firmer because my absolute devotion to the Union cause, and my constant fidelity to the Republican Party, were well known and universally recognized; and my relations with all the members of the Cabinet were perfectly friendly.

Mr. Stanton was seated on the sofa talking with a friend, and his immediate clerk was standing at a

neighboring desk, with his pen in hand.

As I ad

vanced, taking off my hat, Mr. Stanton turned to me to hear what I had to say. I told him my errand, and handed him the President's order. He glanced at it, and said, in an angry tone, "I sha'n't do it, sir; I sha'n't do it!" and passed the paper up to his clerk. Utterly amazed at his words, and indignant at his tone, I inquired why he refused to obey the President's order. "It isn't the way to do it, sir, and I sha'n't do it." I was going on to speak of the merits of the officer, and of the proceeding, my wrath rising, when he cut me off with, "I don't propose to argue the question with you, sir; I sha'n't do it." Utterly indignant, I turned to the clerk and asked to withdraw the paper. "Don't you let him have it, sir," said Stanton; "don't let him have it." The clerk, whose hands were trembling like an Eastern slave before his pasha, withdrew the document which he was in the act of giving to me. I felt my indignation getting too strong for me, and putting on my hat and turning my back to the Secretary, I slowly went to the door, with set teeth, saying to myself, "As you will not hear me in your own forum, you shall hear from me in mine."

A few days later, after recovering my coolness, I reported the affair to the President. A look of vexation came over his face, and he seemed unwilling then to talk of it, and desired me to see him another