had implanted a spirit of fire and an irresistible energy which reminds one of the Italian exploits of Lannes or the victorious intrepidity of Nelson.

"Free as he was in act and mind,

He leaves no braver heart behind."

CLEVELAND, OHIO.

AS LINCOLN APPEARED IN THE WAR

DEPARTMENT.

BY ALBERT B. CHANDLER,

PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER POSTAL TELEGRAPH Co.

DURING the War it fell to my lot to be assigned to duty in the Military Telegraph Office, in the War Department at Washington. An important part of my duty was to translate "received" cipher messages and prepare "sent" messages for transmission in cipher, for the President, Secretary of War, General-in-Chief and other principal officers of the Government. It was Mr. Lincoln's habit to visit this office almost daily, and sometimes oftener; and he probably spent more hours there, from the beginning of 1863 to the end of his life, than in any other one place, except the White House.

On the evening of August 7th, 1863, while I was alone. in the office, Mr. Lincoln came in bringing a long message which he had written with his own hand, addressed to Governor Seymour, of New York. He sat down at a desk and carefully revised it, and then called me to sit by him while he read it, so that I might understand it, and see that it was properly transmitted. He explained to me something of the occasion of it, a special messenger having come over from New York with a long message from Governor Seymour, urging, among other things, that the draft should be suspended until the

United States Supreme Court had decided as to the constitutionality of the draft law.

He told me a funny story about a Boston minister who had been drafted, and the criticism that he made upon that method of recruiting the army, the point of which I failed to note, and cannot now recall. The message to Governor Seymour was, in part, as follows:

"Your communication of the 3d instant has been received and attentively considered.

"I cannot consent to suspend the draft in New York, as you request, because, among other reasons, time is too important.

"I shall direct the draft to proceed in all the districts, drawing, however, at first from each of the four districts, to wit: the 2d, 4th, 6th and 8th, only 2200, being the average quota of the other class. After this drawing these four districts, and also the 17th and 29th, shall be carefully re-enrolled, and, if you please, agents of yours may witness every step of the process. Any deficiency which may appear by the new enrolment will be supplied by a special draft for that object, allowing due credit for volunteers who may be obtained from these districts respectively during the interval. And at all points, so far as consistent with practical convenience, due credit will be given for volunteers. And your Excellency shall be notified of the time fixed for commencing a draft in each district.

"I do not object to abide a decision of the United States Supreme Court, or of the judges thereof, on the constitutionality of the draft law. In fact, I should be willing to facilitate the obtaining of it; but I cannot consent to lose the time while it is being obtained. We are contending with an enemy who, as I understand, drives every able-bodied man he can reach into his ranks very much as a butcher drives bullocks into a slaughter pen. No time is wasted, no argument is used. This produces an army which will soon turn upon our now victorious soldiers already in the field, if they shall not be sustained by recruits as they should be. It produces an army with a rapidity not to be matched on our side, if we first waste time to re-experiment with the volunteer system, already deemed by Congress, and palpably, in fact, so far

exhausted as to be inadequate. And then more time to obtain a court decision as to whether a law is constitutional which requires a part of those not now in the service to go to the aid of those who are already in it; and still more time to determine, with absolute certainty, that we get those who are to go in the precisely legal proportion to those who are not to go.

"My purpose is to be in my action just and constitutional, and yet practical in performing the important duty with which I am charged, of maintaining the unity and the free principles of our common country."

Mr. Lincoln's kindness of heart was often exhibited. On several occasions he came to the office near midnight with a message written with his own hand, and acting as his own messenger, in order that there should be no mistake or delay in bringing respite to a condemned soldier. I think he never failed to interpose his power to prevent the execution of a soldier for sleeping on his post, or any other offence than a wilful and malicious act; and even in such cases when brought to his attention, he made the most careful review of the facts, and always seemed more anxious to find the offender innocent than guilty; and when guilty, he was disposed to take into consideration, as far as possible, any extenuating circumstances, in favor of the wrongdoer.

On New Year's morning, 1864, as I entered the upper hall of the War Department, Mr. Lincoln was about opening the door of the Military Telegraph Office. A woman stood in the hall crying. Mr. Lincoln had observed this, and as soon as he was seated he said to Major Eckert: "What is that woman crying about just outside your door?" door?" The Major replied that he did not know. "I wish you would go and see," ," said Mr. Lincoln. So the Major went out and learned that the woman had come to Washington expecting to be able to go to the

army and see her soldier husband, which was not altogether unusual for ladies to do, while the army was in winter quarters; but very strict orders had recently been issued prohibiting women from visiting the army, and she found herself, with her child, in Washington, incurring much more expense than she supposed would be necessary, with very little money, and in great grief. This being explained to the President, he said, in his frank, off-hand way, "Come now, let's send her down; what do you say?" The Major explained the strict orders that the department had lately issued, the propriety of which Mr. Lincoln recognized, but he was still unwilling to yield his purpose. Finally the Major suggested that a leave of absence to come to Washington might be given the woman's husband. The President quickly adopted the suggestion, and directed that Colonel Hardie, an assistant Adjutant-General on duty in an adjoining room, should make an official order permitting the man to come to Washington. After reading over the messages which had been received since his last previous visit to the office, he returned to the White House, having lightened the burden of one sad heart just one year after sending forth his immortal Emancipation Proclamation.

A sister of mine, who had married in Southern Georgia before the War, was anxious to visit her Northern home in the spring of 1864. After long delays I received information of her purpose, and of the supposed fact that it would be practicable for her to pass through the Confederate lines. Being uncertain whether she could best accomplish this at Savannah or at Richmond, I explained the circumstances to Mr. Lincoln, when he at once wrote permission for her to pass through the Federal lines, first