ing the appointment of Judge Otto, of Indiana, as Assistant Secretary of the Interior. He was soon after appointed, but Mr. Lincoln then only responded to our application by treating us to four anecdotes.

Senator Lane told me that when he heard a story that pleased him he took a memorandum of it, and filed it away among his papers. This was probably true. At any rate, by some method or other, his supply seemed inexhaustible, and always aptly available. He entered into the enjoyment of his stories with all his heart, and completely lived over again the delight he had experienced in telling them on previous occasions. When he told a particularly good story, and the time came to laugh, he would sometimes throw his left foot across his right knee, and clenching his foot with both hands and bending forward, his whole frame seemed to be convulsed with the effort to give expression to his sensations. His laugh was like that of the hero of Sartor Resartus, "a laugh of the whole man, from head to heel." I believe his anecdotes were his great solace and safeguard in seasons of severe mental depression. I remember that when I called on him on the 2d of July, 1862, at the time our forces were engaged in a terrific conflict with the enemy near Richmond, and everybody was anxious as to the result, he seemed quite as placid as usual, and at once yielded to his

ruling passion for story-telling. If I had not known his peculiarities, I should have pronounced him incapable of any deep earnestness of feeling; but his manner was so kindly, and so free from the ordinary crookedness of the politician and the vanity and selfimportance of official position, that nothing but good will was inspired by his presence.

In March following I called on the President respecting the appointments I had recommended under the conscription law, and took occasion to refer to the failure of General Fremont to obtain a command. He said he did not know where to place him, and that it reminded him of the old man who advised his son to take a wife, to which the young man responded, "Whose wife shall I take?" He proceeded to point out the practical difficulties in the way by referring to a number of important commands which might suit Fremont, but which could only be reached by removals he did not wish to make. I remarked that I was very sorry if this was true, and that it was unfortunate for our cause, as I believed his restoration to duty would stir the country as no other appointment could. He said:

"It would stir the country favorably on one side, and stir it the other way on the other. It would please Fremont's friends, and displease the conservatives; and that is all I can see in the stirring argument. My proclamation," he added, was to stir

the country; but it has done about as much harm as good."

These observations were characteristic, and showed how reluctant he still was to turn away from the conservative counsels he had so long heeded.

It has often been asserted that Secretary Stanton ruled Mr. Lincoln. This is a mistake. The Secretary would frequently overawe and sometimes browbeat others, but he was never imperious in dealing with the President. This I have from Mr. Watson, for some time Assistant Secretary of War, and Mr. Whiting, while Solicitor of the War Department. Lincoln, however, had the highest opinion of Stanton, and their relations were always most kindly. The following anecdote illustrates the character of the two men, and Mr. Lincoln's method of dealing with a dilemma. It is related that a committee of Western men, headed by Mr. Lovejoy, procured from the President an important order looking to the exchange of Eastern and Western soldiers, with a view to more effective work. Repairing to the office of the Secretary, Mr. Lovejoy explained the scheme, as he had done before to the President, but was met by a flat refusal.

"But we have the President's order, sir," said Lovejoy.

"Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind?" said Stanton.

"He did, sir."

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'Then he is a d―d fool," said the irate Secretary.

"Do you mean to say the President is a d—d fool?" asked Lovejoy, in amazement.

“Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that."

The bewildered Congressman from Illinois betook himself at once to the President, and related the result of his conference.

"Did Stanton say I was a d—d fool?" asked Lincoln, at the close of the recital.

"He did, sir; and repeated it."

After a moment's pause, and looking up, the President said:

"If Stanton said I was a dd fool, then I must be one, for he is nearly always right, and generally says what he means. I will step over and see him."

Notwithstanding Mr. Lincoln's proverbial caution and diplomacy in dealing with difficult problems, he was completely armed with the courage of his convictions, after his conclusions had been carefully matured. No man was more ready to take the responsibility when his sense of duty commanded him. This was strikingly illustrated in the summer of 1862, when he refused to sign the confiscation act of the 17th of July, without a modification first made exempting the fee of rebel land-owners from its operation. Congress was obliged to make the modifi

bid dread of "abolitionism" unfitted them, as I believed, for leadership in the battle with slavery which had now become inevitable, while the defeat of Mr. Seward had been to me a severe disappointment and a real personal grief. Still, I did not wish to do Mr. Lincoln the slightest injustice, while I hoped and believed his courage and firmness would prove equal to the emergency.

On meeting him, I found him far better-looking than the campaign pictures had represented. These, as a general rule, were wretched caricatures. His face, when lighted up in conversation, was not unhandsome, and the kindly and winning tones of his voice pleaded for him, as did the smile which played about his rugged features. He was full of anecdote and humor, and readily found his way to the hearts of those who enjoyed a welcome to his fireside. His face, however, was sometimes marked by that touching expression of sadness which became so generally noticeable in the following years. I was much pleased with our first Republican Executive, and returned home more fully inspired than ever with the purpose to sustain him to the utmost in facing the duties of his great office.

The chief purpose of this visit, however, related to another matter. The rumor was then current and generally credited, that Simon Cameron and Caleb B. Smith were to be made Cabinet ministers, and I