Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1866-11-09

AlUSElc6 BnaQ udUL6IY- 10 BllS G3CE ne
is probably indebted for a certain de-
gree Of freedom from a class of peril
naeiOus and troublesome visitors, to
whose undesirable attentions any pub
lie man at Washington is liable to be
exposed.
1t may not be generally known, but
the fact is that what may be termed
female influence Is by no means an
unemployed agency IN political circles
at the national capital and 1t Is ap-
piled IN such a manner and Of such a
character as the nature Of each case
and subject may seem to demand.
The race of pardon brokers and
( Office PROGRESSES existed before this
present time, and, although it sent few
representatives to the White House,
it was sufficiently well known. and at
times intoleTably troublesome in other
quarters, as many a too modest or too
gallant public functi0nary can testify.
1t Is not my business to talk scandal
IN these sketches, nor would it be a
pleasant job to make pen portraits OF
some ladies whose faces were as
well known IN political circles as the
statue Of Andrew jackson. 1t was
considered what Is caEed a good
sell to see some well-knoWn gentle
man, from North to South, it might be
with stars on his shoulders, conveying
to the galleries the House or Senate,
-n--aGtendIng In the boxes of the thea
ter, the fair but too celebrated hero
ines whose fortunate acquaintance he
had made at bis hotel.
Among the female visitors who did
come there were from time to time
[ certain exceptional cases to whom Mr..
] j q 3 i s,1
/ welcome, prompt attention and the
! kindest and most respectful sympathy
/ A few ofthem-feW because that noble
/ class of our country women rarely re-
quired any favor from the chief mag
/ istrate and had better work on hand
/ than making visits of curiosity or GER
emOny-Were Of those ministering an
/ gels who went to and fro among our
camps and hospitals, carrying bless
/ ings in their benevolent faces to our
suffering soldier boys. To such women
/ Mr.. LincOln's whole heart opened at
once, come when and why they would.
Others there we're, sOrrOWlng and
broken hearted mothers, wives or SIS
ters, OF suffering or errIng men IN the
army. One would want a pass to visit
a wounded man In such and such a
portion Of the great field of action, or
a permission to remove some poor fel-
low to his home, so that she might
take care of him. Another would
beg for the discharge of her soldier,
urging often the most purely feminine
reasons, but sometimes with arguments
which appealed at once to the tender
| est feelings of the good President
Others again, and these were the
saddest of all, came in behalf of those 4
whose crimes or errors had brought
them into the terrible grasp of martial |
law. 1t was mOurnfHlly hard at times
for these pOOT creatures to compre- |
hend how that which would have been |
but a venial peceadillO at home, should |
be a capital crime IN the army.
Oh, sir, he only fell asleep when he /
was on guard-that was all-and he
must have been very tired, marching
all day Surely you will not let them |
punish him for a little thing like
that?
But" said the President. sup
pose that In consequence Of his neg
| lect the army was surprised, and hun /
dreds Of thousands Of men killed, don't /
you think that the wives of those men /
would say that he was guilty Of some /
thing of an offense p
Oh, but Mr.. Lincoln you can't /
punish him just for falling asleep when /
he was tired
And believe that the poor woman .
was very nearly right. I don't believe |
he could do 1t, either-at least the /
cases were so rare In which he did al /
low the execution of the full sentence /
of the court in such cases that no little /
grumbling was Occasioned in military |
circles.
Oh, sir, pleaded another poor
creature, he didn't desert, indeed he /
didn't He only wanted to come /
home for a while to see his wife and /
children-that was all, sir ~
But don't you think the other |
boys wanted to make little trip home, /
too? And where would the army be
then 2"
1 do not think that these petition
ers gained their cases much quicker, |
simply because they were women, but /
they had less trouble in securing an
audience, and Mr.. Lincoln was always |
glad enough to find a good reason for
the exercise of the pardOning power
The only men whom he seemed to have /
very little sympathy for were the spies,
and such deserters from our ranks as
were afterward taken with arms in /
their hands fighting their old COM
rades. Such men got their hanging, or
whatever it was, with very little inter-
ference on the part Of the President,
as a general thing.
For my own part, ifI had wanted an
agent to procure anything like par
don from Mr.. Lincoln, I should have
unhesitatiDgly sent a child rather than
a grown woman of any kind. Any
thing like helplessness appealed to him
strongly, and he was very fond of chill
dren at all times.
To such an extent did he carry his
indulgence for little Tad, who, by
the way, was a very intelligent and af-
fectionate boy, that he allowed him
free access to his business office at all
hours and under almost any circum-
stances, and [ well remember the dig
nifed expression of disapprobation
with which q testy old senator declar-
ed his oTinion that =" that boy was be-
coming decidedly more numerous than
popular"
Tad had the same weakness for un-
lucky brutes which his father had for
unfortunate men, and always had under
his protection one or more ill-condi-
toned ours of low degree. famished ap-
pearance and unimaginable extraction.
Somehow they never stayed long, and
I do not know whether or not they
fattened as we'll as others at the pub
lie crib"
Nor were there wanting biped petit
TONERS who were quick to seize upon
what seemed so vulnerable a point as
Mr.. Lincoln's affection for his boy,
and attempt to bring themselves to
the favorable notice Of the all power
ful President by the assiduity with
which they cultivated his little pet
Ofcourse they succeeded with Tad,
for boys heart Is easily fished for,
and there were a few of the earlier ap-
proaches on this line which were toll
erably successful; but only a very few
found their way to his knee or table
before Mr. Lincnln saw the mint and