<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
<h3>HIS MAGNANIMITY.</h3>
<p>Mr. Lincoln regarded all public offices within
his gift as a sacred trust, to be administered
solely for the people, and as in no sense a fund upon
which he could draw for the payment of private accounts.
He was exempt from the frailties common to
most men, and he cast aside the remembrance of all
provocations for which he had cause to nourish resentment.
Here is a notable instance: A rather distinguished
man had been for years a respected acquaintance;
his son, who was in the army, was convicted of a grave
offence, the penalty of which might have been death.
Lincoln, at the solicitation of the father, pardoned the
son. Time passed on until the political campaign of
1864, when a secret military organization was formed in
the State of Illinois to oppose the re-election of Lincoln,
and that father was at the head of this secret organization.
Some time after the election, the filling of an
important bureau office in the Treasury Department was
under advisement. Among the applicants was an old
acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, who was strongly recommended
by his friends. After a pause, Mr. Lincoln<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</SPAN></span>
thoughtfully said, "Well, gentlemen, whatever you may
think, I never thought Mr. —— had any more than an
average amount of ability when we were young men
together,—I really didn't;" and then, after a short
silence, he added: "But this is a matter of opinion, and
I suppose he thought just the same about me; he had
reason to, and—here I am! I guess we shall have to
give him some good place, but not this one. This position
requires a man of peculiar ability to fill it. I have
been thinking seriously of giving it to a man who does
not like me very well, and who sought to defeat my
renomination. I can't afford to take notice of and
punish every person who has seen fit to oppose my
election. We want a competent man for this place. I
know of no one who could perform the duties of this
most responsible office better than ——," calling him by
name. And this ingrate father got the appointment!</p>
<p>At another time there was an interview at the White
House between a prominent politician of New York and
Mr. Lincoln, in reference to the removal of an office-holder
in New York. Every reason that could be
thought of was urged in favor of the removal, and finally
it was urged that this office-holder abused Mr. Lincoln
personally. Mr. Lincoln at last got out of patience, and
ended the interview as follows: "You cannot think —— to
be half as mean to me as I <i>know</i> him to be; but I
cannot run this thing upon the theory that every office-holder
must think I am the greatest man in the nation,
and I will not." The man named, notwithstanding his<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</SPAN></span>
meanness to Mr. Lincoln, remained in office as long as
Mr. Lincoln was President.</p>
<p>So much of Mr. Lincoln's time was taken up with
questions of office-seeking and office-holding, when he
felt every moment should be devoted to plans to avert
the perils then threatening the country, that he once
compared himself to "a man so busy in letting rooms in
one end of his house that he cannot stop to put out the
fire that is burning the other."</p>
<p>Mr. Lincoln was an ambitious man, but he desired
power less for the sake of prestige or authority than for
the opportunities it presented of being useful and beneficent
in its exercise. Eagerly as he sought the approval
of his fellow-citizens where this could be attained without
the sacrifice of principle, he was always generous in
according to others whatever would lead to public approval.
Immediately after the battle of Gettysburg, Mr.
Lincoln sat down and wrote a peremptory order to
General Meade to intercept Lee in his retreat, give him
battle, and by this bold stroke crush the rebel army and
end the rebellion. The order was accompanied by a
friendly note, in which the great patriot said to Meade:
"The order I inclose is not of record. If you succeed,
you need not publish the order. If you fail, publish it.
Then if you succeed, you will have all the credit of the
movement. If not, I'll take the responsibility."</p>
<p>The manifestation of popular admiration and esteem
as the people's choice for the highest position within
their gift, Mr. Lincoln most highly valued, while his self-reliance<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</SPAN></span>
and his <i>amour propre</i> led him at times to look
upon favors bestowed upon him as a matter of personal
right, as a consideration due to himself individually.
With all this, his love of country was his paramount
incentive. There was no period in the progress of the
war at which he would not willingly have laid down his
life, if by so doing he could have averted further bloodshed,
and remanded his fellow-countrymen to the enjoyment
of a restored tranquillity and renewed brotherhood.
One instance in which this sentiment led him to propose
an extraordinary act of self-immolation is deserving of
special mention.</p>
<p>Mr. Lincoln ardently desired, on the return of peace,
to exercise his functions as Chief Magistrate of a reunited
country. This, with the reconstruction of the
general government, was the darling aspiration of his
heart, the dearest heritage which the advent of peace
could bestow. But he subjected this ambition to the
promptings of a Roman patriotism, and proposed upon
certain conditions a frank, full, and honest renunciation
of all claims to the Presidency for a second term; and
in declining, under any circumstances, to be a candidate
for re-election, he would cordially throw his entire influence,
in so far as he could control it, in behalf of Horatio
Seymour, then governor of New York, for President.
The conditions were substantially as follows: Governor
Seymour was to withdraw his opposition to the draft, use
his authority and influence as governor in putting down
the riots in New York, and co-operate in all reasonable<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</SPAN></span>
ways with the Administration in the suppression of the
Southern rebellion. This proposition was to be made
through Mr. Thurlow Weed.</p>
<p>It so happened that at this time Mr. Weed was dissatisfied
with the President for something he had either
done or omitted to do, and had on several occasions
refused to come to Washington when his presence was
earnestly desired there. He must now be seen and
advised with; he must personally effect the negotiation,
for he could accomplish it more successfully than any
other man. How to induce him to come to Washington
was the question to be solved. "The tinkling of
Mr. Seward's little bell" had struck terror to the souls
of evil-doers in the North, and all his dispatches over the
wires were narrowly watched. It was inexpedient for
him to use telegraphic facilities of communication except
upon the most commonplace subjects, since everything
emanating from him was eagerly scanned and devoured
by the <i>quid nuncs</i> throughout the country. A special
messenger was therefore decided on, for affairs were
now in a precarious condition, and daily, hourly growing
worse, and time was important. The messenger started
immediately for New York, but was recalled before
reaching the train. He was thereupon directed to telegraph
in his own name to Mr. Weed, and that gentleman
arrived in Washington by the next succeeding train.
After a lengthy interview with the President and Mr.
Seward, Mr. Weed telegraphed to Governor Seymour
requesting him to come to Washington on business of<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</SPAN></span>
urgent importance. This the governor declined to do,
adding, in his reply, that the distance to and from Washington
and Albany was precisely the same, and that if
they wanted to confer with him, to come to Albany,
where he would be glad to meet them. Mr. Weed,
upon this, left for that city, and after making a very
brief stay there, returned to Washington and reported
"Proposition declined."</p>
<p>This answer was not expected by Mr. Lincoln, especially
in time of civil war, and from the governor of the
great and influential State of New York; and it was
with sincere and manifest chagrin that the President
saw himself deterred from making the magnanimous self-sacrifice
proposed.</p>
<p>Nothing that affected the interests of the government
escaped Mr. Lincoln's vigilant thought and careful consideration.
I recollect that on one occasion, just after
the greenback currency got under full headway of circulation,
I was in his office when the conversation turned
on the condition of our finances, and on the greenback
as a representative of money. He was in high spirits
that day, and seemed to feel happier than I had seen
him for a long time. I casually asked him if he knew
how our currency was made.</p>
<p>"Yes," said he; "I think it is about—as the lawyers
would say—in the following manner, to wit: the engraver
strikes off the sheets, passes them over to the
Register of the currency, who places his earmarks upon
them, signs them, hands them over to Father Spinner,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</SPAN></span>
who then places his wonderful signature at the bottom,
and turns them over to Mr. Chase, who, as Secretary of
the United States Treasury, issues them to the public as
money,—and may the good Lord help any fellow that
doesn't take all he can honestly get of them!" Taking
from his pocket a five dollar greenback, with a twinkle
of his eye, he said: "Look at Spinner's signature!
Was there ever anything like it on earth? Yet it is unmistakable;
no one will ever be able to counterfeit it!"<SPAN name="FNanchor_J_19" id="FNanchor_J_19"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_J_19" class="fnanchor">[J]</SPAN></p>
<p>"But," I said, "you certainly don't suppose that
Spinner actually wrote his name on that bill, do you?"</p>
<p>"Certainly I do; why not?"</p>
<p>I then asked, "How much of this currency have we
afloat?"</p>
<p>He remained thoughtful for a moment, and then
stated the amount.</p>
<p>I continued: "How many times do you think a man
can write a signature like Spinner's in the course of
twenty-four hours?"</p>
<p>The beam of hilarity left his countenance at once.
He put the greenback into his vest pocket, and walked
the floor; after awhile he stopped, heaved a long breath
and said, "This thing frightens me!" He then rang
for a messenger, and told him to ask the Secretary of
the Treasury to please come over to see him. Mr.
Chase soon put in an appearance. Mr. Lincoln stated
the cause of his alarm, and asked Mr. Chase to explain
in detail the <i>modus operandi</i>, the system of checks in<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</SPAN></span>
his office, etc., and a lengthy discussion followed,—Lincoln
contending that there were not sufficient checks
to afford any degree of safety in the money-making
department, and Mr. Chase insisting that all the guards
for protection were afforded that he could devise. "In
the nature of things," he said, "somebody must be
trusted in this emergency. You have entrusted me, and
Mr. Spinner is entrusted with untold millions, and we
have to trust our subordinates." Words waxed warmer
than I had ever known them to do between these distinguished
gentlemen, when Mr. Lincoln feelingly apologized
by saying,—</p>
<p>"Don't think that I am doubting or could doubt your
integrity, or that of Mr. Spinner; nor am I finding fault
with either of you; but it strikes me that this thing is all
wrong, and dangerous. I and the country know you and
Mr. Spinner, but we don't know your subordinates, who
are great factors in making this money, and have the
power to bankrupt the government in an hour. Yet
there seems to be no protection against a duplicate
issue of every bill struck, and I can see no way of detecting
duplicity until we come to redeem the currency;
and even then, the duplicate cannot be told from the
original."</p>
<p>The result of this conversation was, that Lincoln
became so impressed with danger from this source that
he called the attention of Congress to the matter, and a
joint committee was appointed. Senator Sprague of
Rhode Island was its chairman; but the result of the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</SPAN></span>
investigation, like many others during the war, was never
made public to my knowledge. Considering the crippled
financial condition of our country, and the importance
of first-class credit abroad during our war, as little
publicity on the subject as possible was doubtless the
best for us politically.</p>
<p><i>Apropos</i> of greenbacks, Don Piatt gave a description
in the "North American Review," a few years ago, of
the first proposition to Mr. Lincoln to issue interest-bearing
notes as currency, which was as follows:—</p>
<blockquote><p>"Amasa Walker, a distinguished financier of New England,
suggested that notes issued directly from the government
to the people, as currency, should bear interest. This
for the purpose, not only of making the notes popular, but
for the purpose of preventing inflation, by inducing people
to hoard the notes as an investment when the demands of
trade would fail to call them into circulation as a currency.</p>
<p>"This idea struck David Taylor, of Ohio, with such force
that he sought Mr. Lincoln and urged him to put the project
into immediate execution. The President listened patiently,
and at the end said, 'That is a good idea, Taylor; but you
must go to Chase. He is running that end of the machine,
and has time to consider your proposition.' Taylor sought
the Secretary of the Treasury, and laid before him Amasa
Walker's plan. Chase heard him through in a cold, unpleasant
manner, and then said: 'That is all very well, Mr.
Taylor; but there is one little obstacle in the way that makes
the plan impracticable, and that is the Constitution.' Saying
this, he turned to his desk, as if dismissing both Mr. Taylor
and his proposition at the same moment.</p>
<p>"The poor enthusiast felt rebuked and humiliated. He
returned to the President, however, and reported his defeat.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</SPAN></span>
Mr. Lincoln looked at the would-be financier with the expression
at times so peculiar to his homely face, that left one in
doubt whether he was jesting or in earnest. 'Taylor!' he
exclaimed, 'go back to Chase and tell him not to bother
himself about the Constitution. Say that I have that sacred
instrument here at the White House, and I am guarding it
with great care.' Taylor demurred to this, on the ground
that Mr. Chase showed by his manner that he knew all about
it, and didn't wish to be bored by any suggestion. 'We'll see
about that,' said the President, and taking a card from the
table he wrote upon it, 'The Secretary of the Treasury will
please consider Mr. Taylor's proposition. We must have
money, and I think this a good way to get it.—<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln.</span>'</p>
<p>"Armed with this, the real father of the greenbacks again
sought the Secretary. He was received more politely than
before, but was cut short in his advocacy of the measure by
a proposition for both of them to see the President. They
did so, and Mr. Chase made a long and elaborate constitutional
argument against the proposed measure.</p>
<p>"'Chase,' said Mr. Lincoln, after the Secretary had concluded,
'down in Illinois I was held to be a pretty good
lawyer, and I believe I could answer every point you have
made; but I don't feel called upon to do it.... These
rebels are violating the Constitution to destroy the Union;
I will violate the Constitution, if necessary, to save the
Union: and I suspect, Chase, that our Constitution is going
to have a rough time of it before we get done with this row.
Now, what I want to know is, whether, Constitution aside,
this project of issuing interest-bearing notes is a good one?'</p>
<p>"'I must say,' responded Mr. Chase, 'that, with the
exception you make, it is not only a good one, but the only
one open to us to raise money. If you say so, I will do
my best to put it into immediate and practical operation,
and you will never hear from me any opposition on this
subject.'"<SPAN name="FNanchor_10_20" id="FNanchor_10_20"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_10_20" class="fnanchor">[10]</SPAN></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Mr. Lincoln acquired the name of "honest Abe Lincoln"
by a kind of honesty much higher than that
which restrains a man from the appropriation of his
neighbor's goods. He did not feel at liberty to take
every case that was offered him. He was once overheard
saying to a man who was consulting him and
earnestly urging his legal rights, "Yes, I can gain your
suit. I can set a neighborhood at loggerheads. I can
distress a widowed mother and six fatherless children,
and get for you six hundred dollars, to which, for all I
can see, she has as good a right as you have. But I will
not do so. There are some legal rights which are moral
wrongs."</p>
<p>Mr. Lincoln at no time in his life could tolerate anything
like persecution; his whole nature appeared to
rebel against any appearance of such a thing, and he
never failed to act in the promptest manner when any
such case was brought to his attention. One of the most
celebrated cases ever tried by any court-martial during
the war was that of Franklin W. Smith and his brother,
charged with defrauding the government. These men
bore a high character for integrity. At this time, however,
courts-martial were seldom invoked for any other
purpose than to convict the accused, regardless of the
facts in the case, and the Smiths shared the usual fate of
persons whose charges were submitted to such an arbitrament.
They had been kept in prison, their papers seized,
their business destroyed, and their reputation ruined, all
which was followed by a conviction. After the judgment<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</SPAN></span>
of the court, the matter was submitted to the
President for his approval. The case was such a remarkable
one, and was regarded as so monstrous in its unjust
and unwarrantable conclusion, that Mr. Lincoln, after a
full and careful investigation of it, annulled the whole
proceeding. It is very remarkable that the record of
the President's decision could never be found afterward
in the Navy Department. No exact copy can be
obtained of it. Some one in the office, however, familiar
with the tenor and effect of it, furnished its wording as
nearly as possible. The following embraces the sentiment,
if not the exact words, of that remarkable document:—</p>
<blockquote><p>"<i>WHEREAS</i>, Franklin W. Smith had transactions with
the Navy Department to the amount of a million and a
quarter of dollars; and <i>Whereas</i>, he had a chance to steal at
least a quarter of a million and was only charged with stealing
twenty-two hundred dollars, and the question now is
about his stealing one hundred, I don't believe he stole anything
at all. <i>Therefore</i>, the record and the findings are
disapproved, declared null and void, and the defendants are
fully discharged."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 1862 Senator Sherman had prepared a very elaborate
speech in which he devoted a good portion of it to
prove that Mr. Lincoln was a failure and unless something
was soon done by Congress, the war would be a
failure. Someone told Mr. Lincoln that Senator Sherman
intended to make such a speech. Lincoln said:
"Well Sherman is a patriot and a statesman and is thoroughly
for the Union; perhaps his opinion of me may be<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</SPAN></span>
just. It may do good. I would not have him change
a word." Lincoln's remarks that night were repeated
to Sherman and they made such an impression on him
that he omitted from his speech the criticism on Lincoln.</p>
<p>Colonel J. W. Forney relates a characteristic incident of
Mr. Lincoln's generosity to an adversary. He says that
one afternoon in February or March of 1865, he was startled
by a visit from his old friend Washington McLean of the
Cincinnati "Inquirer." "I have called," Mr. McLean
said, "to ask you to do me a favor I shall never forget,
and you must do it. I will not take no for an answer.
You, and you alone can serve me."</p>
<p>"Well, old friend," said Colonel Forney, "you know I will
serve you if I can; what is it?" "Now don't be alarmed
when I tell you that Roger A. Pryor is in Fort Lafayette,
having been captured within our lines, and that I want
you to get him out."</p>
<p>"Roger A. Pryor, of Petersburg; Roger A. Pryor,
who fired on Sumter; Roger A. Prior, the hot-spur of
Congress?"</p>
<p>"Yes, and your old coadjutor of the Washington Union
when you were both Democrats together. He went into
the Rebellion, is now a prisoner, and I appeal to you to
go with me to the President and ask his release." As
there was no denying his impetuous friend, Colonel Forney
got into his carriage and they were soon at the White
House. Mr. McLean was introduced and it was soon
found that Mr. Lincoln knew all about him and his paper.
He told his story, which was patiently heard. Colonel<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</SPAN></span>
Forney followed with a statement of his former relations
with Mr. Pryor, and said that he thought an act of liberality
to such a man, and on a request from a frank political
opponent like Washington McLean would be worthy
of the head of a great nation.</p>
<p>"Let me see," said Mr. Lincoln, as he fixed his spectacles
and turned to a little drawer in the desk behind
him, "I think I have a memorandum here that refers to
some good thing done by General Pryor to a party of our
Pennsylvania boys who were taken prisoners in an attack
upon the Petersburg fortifications." And with that he
took out from a small package a statement signed by the
men who had enjoyed the hospitality of General Pryor on
the occasion referred to.</p>
<p>He had, it appears, given them food from his larder
at a time when his own family were in a most desperate
condition for provisions. "The man who can do such
kindness to an enemy," said the President, "cannot be
cruel and revengeful;" then he wrote some lines on a card
which he handed to Mr. McLean with the remark: "I think
that will do; at any rate it is all that I can give you," and
they took their leave. Going down stairs they looked with
amazement at the writing on the card, which read thus:
"To Colonel Burke, Commanding at Fort Lafayette,
New York. Please release General Roger A. Pryor,
who will report to Colonel Forney on Capitol Hill. A.
Lincoln." "Report to Colonel Forney!" Colonel Forney
who was "bubbling over with resentment against the
Southern leaders who had hindered his advancement when<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</SPAN></span>
Buchanan was elected President." But there was no
changing the order, so Mr. McLean dashed off in the next
train to New York, the happiest Democrat in the United
States, and two days after he walked into Colonel Forney's
office with the "prisoner." General Pryor took the
upper rooms of Colonel Forney's lodgings and was his
guest for more than a week, "during which time he was
visited by all the chivalry, male and female, of the vicinage."
The President enjoyed the fact that Colonel Forney had
such good company, and Thaddeus Stephens, his neighbor,
habitually accosted him in the morning with the grim salute:
"How's your Democratic friend and brother this
morning?" Colonel Forney had to admit that a more
courteous gentleman he had never met than General Pryor,
and did him the justice to say that he expressed the most
fervent gratitude to Mr. Lincoln for his kindness.</p>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</SPAN></span></p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />