Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-03-19
Grants Talk.
ANECDOTES OF LINCOLN.

oyarpnce and esteem. L never saw
Iea president" said the general. until
Wv Luz cave me my commission as lieuten-
nnn,Tyeueral. Afterwards l saw him Of
.an either in Washington or at head
ouarters. Lincoln, l may almost say,
sInent the last days of his life with me-.
= often recall those days. He CAGE
iown to City Point in the last month of
,he war. and was with me oil the time.
Wa lived on a dispatch-boat in the river,
hut was always around headquarters.
u. WA. a fine horseman. and rode my
horse 10 Cincinnati. We visited the
a,Y-rent camps, and did all could
10 interest him. He was very anxious
about the war closing; was afraid We
conld not stand new campaign, and
wanted to be around when the crash
zane. ! have no doubt that Lincoln
will be the conspicuous figure Of the
war. one of the great figures of history.
He WAS great man, very great man.
the more saw Of him, the more this
;,opressed me. He WAS incOntestsbly
the greatest man | ever knew. What
marked him especially was his SINGER
ity. his kindness, his clear insight into
affairs. Under all this he had firm
will and a clear policy. People used to
saw that Seward swayed him, or Chase
or anton. This was u mistake. He
might appear to go Stewards way one
lay. and Stanton another, but all the
fine he was going his own course, and
they with him. 1t was that gentle firm.
ness in carrying out his own will with
ont apparent force or friction, that
formed the basis OF his character. He
WAS wonderful talkei and teller of
stories. 1t is said his stories were i'm
proper. [ have heard Of them, but /
never heard Lincolu use an improper
word or phrase. L have sometimes.
when hear his memory called in ques-
ton, tried to recall such thing, but
cannot. | always found him present.
nently ciean-mipded man. l regara-
ed these stories MS exoggerations. Lin
c0.u's power of illustration, his hum0r,
was iuexhaustible. He had story or
an illustration for everything. re-
member n, an instance when Stephens,
OF Georgia, came with the JEFF Davis
peace commission to City Point. Steph
ems nd not weigh more than eighty
VUuulS, anu WHO hl oEOAOoat Su&t
made HIM look like man of two hun
dred pounds. AS Lincoln aud came
in, Stephens took off his coat. Lincoln
SAID, alter he had gone, say, Grant,
did you notice that coat Alex Stephens
wore ? | said yes. Did you ever
see, said Lincoln, such small ear of
corn in SO big shuck? These illus
tralious were always occurring in his
conversation"
"The darkest days of my life," said
said the general, was the day heard
Of Lincolu's assassination. 1 did not
know what it meant. Here was the re-
belion put down in the field aud start.
! ins up i'll the cutters; We had found it
as war, now we had to fight it AS assas-
sina.ion. Lincoln was killed on the
evening of the 18th of April. Lee sur
rendered on the 9th Of April. ARRIVED
In Washington on the 18th. was busy
sending out orders to stop recruiting,
the purchase of supplies, and to muster
ont the army. Lincoln had promised
to so to the theater. and wanted mo to
60 with him. While [ was with the
president, note came from Mrs. Grant
saying she munt leave Washington that
night. She wanted to go to Burling-
ton, to see our children. Some Incl
dent of a trihing nature had made her
resolve to leave that evening. l was
glad to have the note, as l did not want
to go to tho theater. So made my ex-
euse to Lincoln, and ut the proper hour
We started for the train, As We were
driving along Pennsylvania avenue, a
horseman drove past us on a gallop,
and back again around our carriage,
looking into it. Mrs. Grant said, There
Is the man who sat near us at lunch to-
day, with some other men, and tried to
over-hear our conversation. He was
50 rude that we left the dining room.
Here he is now riding after u.s. l
thought it was only curiosity, but
learned afterward that the horseman
was Booth. 1t seems was to have
oeen attacked, and Mrs. Grants sudden
resolve to leave deranged the plan. A
Jew days later received AN anonymous
ie1'er from man. saying that he had
peen detailed TO kill me, that he rode
on my train as far rs Havre de Grace,
and as my car was, locked he could not
get In. He thanked God he had failed.
remember the conductor locked Cur
gar nut how true the letter was I can
uot say. learned of the assassin alton
~ was passing through Philsdelphis.
turned around, took special train,
ana came on to Washingtcn.l It was
Tue gloomiest day Of my llfe."
A question WAS asked as to whether
Aincoln's presence was in connection
win the army direction, Not at all,
SAID the general. 81 merely told him
what had done. not what meant to
No. wss then making the movement
~ the !ef, which ended iu tho surren.
aer OF Lee. When returned to Wash
.ng'on, Lincoln said, General. hall
suspected that movement Of yours
would end the busincss. and wanted tt
ASK You, but did not like to- u
IIoutse, l could not have told him il he
naa asked nue., because the one thing q
seherSi In command OF an army does
MOI know, is what the result Of q battle
~ until 1t is fought. l never woult
lave risked my reputation with Mr.
a'ucoin with any such prophesies. A.
matter M fact hn~arar rnv rms NJ