, 1865-05-31
BT COL. CHARLES G. nALrNE.

In the fall Of 1862 thu writer Of this article,
being thcn member OF the staff Of Gco,
HALT ce. had frequent occasion to wait upon
on: Iectntly deceastd President, both during
official hours and at other TINES.
Once-on what vas called It q public day.
when Nj. lin2oln received oil applicants In
lhe'r tlrn-the writer was struck hy observ-
ing. as he passed through the. corridor. tEr
heterogeneous crowd Of men and women, rep.
refcntiug all ranks and classes, who WIRE
gathered In The large wait:pg-room outside
tie Presidential suit Of offices.
Beng uehrred into the Preeldent's chamber
By Major Hay, the first thing be saw was MI.
Lincoln oowing an elderly lady out Of the
1oor-the Presidents 1emarks 10 her being,
Us she silll fingered aud appeared reluctant
to 70: = mn rcally yery fosry, madame
very SOFT. But your own good sense must
tel you that an not here 10 collect small
dchts-' fou must 1pptat to the courts In reg
ular order.n
When she was gone, Mr.. Lincoln sat down,
crossed his legs, locked his hands oyer hls
Knees, and commenced to lauch.-this being
his favo1ite attitude when much amused.
"What odd kinds Of people come in to sec
me,'' lc said, "and Ehat odd ideas they ha ;e
about my office! Would you believe, Major,
that lie old Eoman who has Just left, came
In here 10 get from me m order stopping the
pay Of 1rraSusy clerk. who owes her
board bill Of about $10s'' And the Psesl-
dent rocked himself backward and forward,
and appeared intensely amused.
woluun," continued Mr. Lincoln; Is but III
be bound she has gone away believing tllat
The worst pictures Of me in khe Richmond
press only lack truth IN nat being Ealf black
and bad enough"
This led IL i somewhat general conyer5a-
lion, IN which l expressed surprise that he
did NOT adopt the plnn in fores at a1l military
headquarters, under which every applicant to
sec the Gtnczat commanding had to ue Ill
tered through sieve Of otiiters--Ass.stant
Aljutant Ct 1c1als. and SO forth, who allowed
none In to take up the Generals time save
snch as they were satisfied had business Of
sufficient importance, and which could be
transacted IN no other manner than By q per
scpal interview.
"of every hu1arel people who come to zee
the gene'al-in.ch,el daily" explained, mot
ten bare anr sufficient business with him, nor
purpose they desire to sec hin, and statin.
Il, II is found, In nine cases out of ten, that
the business properly belongs to some one or
olheF OF the subordinate bureaus. They are
then referred, as the case uay he, to the
quattei11asttF, commissary, medical, adiu-,
tant genera. or ether Departments. with M
assurance thAt--even II they saw the general
ln-chlef-he ceuld do pnthlng more for them
than give them the same direction. With
these points couzteous1y explained" added,
~ :. tht, 70 aHsy qulte content, although re-
"Ah. yes!r said Mr. Lincoln grayely--and
his worus on this matter arc important as T.
iustrating lule Of his action. and to some
extent. perhsps, the essentially representa-
tive character ot his mind and Of his atluInis.
trati5n. "Ah, yesl snch things do very we'll
foE you military people, viii your arbitrary
rule, and In your camps. But the 3fIicr Of the
President is ESSENTIALLY civil cne, ard the
n NtnF r,f r
though the lax on my time is hsary-that no
hours Of py oay aie better employed than
tlose which thus bring me again within lie
direct contact and atmosphere Of the ar-
erage OF OUT people. Men moving only
In an official circle rare up. to become
mer.'y oilc:a'--not to fay arbl.!ary-ln their
Ing day. to forget that they only hold power
In representative capacity. NJw this is iii
wrong. 20 TITO these p,ozniscuous recep-
t'ns q all Who claim 10 have business with
nc tWise each week, anl every applicant for
audience has to take A:s turn 0s ii waiting 10
be shaved in O. ba1bcr's shop. aIany Of tGe
matters ought to my notice are u:tcriy
trFoltuF, but others are Of 1n3rc or less in
TO tauce, nrd all sesTe to renrw in me q
clcnrsr md Ecre ylsid image Of that great
p l'tlar nsssnbiage on. Of Slicl / spran..
nnd TO which at the end Of tEo 3ea.s / must
1etu.n. ! tell you, Mujor," Ac said-qp-
peariDE at this pint 10 reco'tect was in tic
room, for tho former part of these remarks
bad been lnaac With haiEslut eyes. as if ia
solUoquy-"i I'LL ou that I till ihe:e receo-
t1uns my pnblc-orInion bathE-..!or ne but |
little timc TO rad the papsrs aud gather
public opinion tEat way; and though thcy |
maj Lot be pleasant in ,,1 their pa, :iculars. |
tnc eli. ct, Es who'll, Is Ecno1at:og ana in
slgoI.tatg TO my perceptions Of responsibility |
tnd duty. IT would never do for a President |
n r Ht HFfff h frHxf
as II he isncied be were, or were trying to b.,
o1 VT re assuming to bs, an Emrcror,n
This lema!k about ''gu3rds With drawn |
sabers al his door" called lny attention aftesh |
to what bad remarked to myself almost |
ere.y time ! entered the White house, bo,h |
then and since; and to wlicn had ye:y ffc-
lut1uy called the attention both Of IIaj u
Hay and Gen. Ra1lcck-tlc uttcfly u1pro-
tecte6 condition Of the P1cs1deut's person.
md the fact that any assassin or maniac,
seeking his life. could enter his presence with
Dut the inteifeltnce 0! single armed man 1
Ill doors On the cflicis1 side Of the building. |
Tere pen at all hours of the day and very
ate In the evening: and I have many times
.nte,ea the mansion and walked up to the 4
-ooms OF the Two private scc;ets1Ies rs late
Is nine or ttn O'Clock ut night, without see-
ng or bong challenged By 4 single soul.
There = ere, indeed, two attenGauts--on for
'ffsc:al chambers: but these-tbfnking, I
that none wonld call after Office
hours eaye persons rho were personally &C.
qnainted, or bud the right u Official entry
were, no; untlequcntly, somewhat rcmlss In
TO tits fact I now yentured 10 call the Pre-
!3dent's attention. saying that to me-per-
laps from my European educa tibn-it ap- l.
pea1ed o deliberate ctutttu. of danger. even
i 1le country were In state Of the profoun-
st Eeace, for the pt rson at the head Of the
.oif0n TO remain 80 unprotected.
Even granting, 1lr. LIucolu." I. said-
. tllat no assassin should seek yonr ,ita. III, ~,
a1ge number dt 1unattcs always in coinnnn-
1ity, md always larger IN times like fles..
nd the tendency which insanity has to strike
it shining objtc'e, or whoms :eSee Is most
alked about, shonld lead, submit, to some
.uards abou. the place, and to SOME perrna-
lent officers with the power and duty Of
all who seek to enter" 70 this
added some brief sketches Of the all but in
,umc1akje crazy letters ard PROJECTS Vhich
serc continually being II ceived a. Gen. Hi
eck'a headquarters, and which he had Que dar
tnlnca OVER to me, on the ground
.hat / now. and then wrote verses.
"lhere are two dangers, therefore," I
Sourd up b saying, I" the danger Of dclib<r-
lte political assassination, mud til. mere brute
,lo;cnce OF insanity"
Mr. lipcoIr had hea. d re with smile. his
JpuGs still locked across his knees, Au1 his |
,oay still rocking hack and forsh--the COM
ron Indication that lie Vas amused.
.Now;as to political assassination" he
,oid, *.do you think the Richmond people
4 mid like to tave Hnucibal Hnmlin here. nnY
h tier than myself? In that one alternative,
hare m INSURANCE OIL my lic werth half the
NJ, ir,t land OF Illinois. And besides, this
more gsaves) II there weEe such plot, and
theY wanted 10 get at me, no vigilance could
Le,f, III, n, rut We are 80 mixed I'm in our |