The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-28

linen, fancy that stanton was AFRAID OF OraIt
attitude in the political strife then waging, and
which eliminated in the attempt to impeach
Johnson. For a long time Grants apathy and
silence, especially upon impeachment, were
viewed with concern by the vehement Repuo-
licans. of whom Stanton was the type. 1t was
then that the Tribune, in an effort to force
Grants hand and compel him to declare for .Ae
Republicans, called him the sashed and grded
Sphinx Nevertheless, when Grant became
President he felt that Abe G.s. duty he owed to
the country was to show his appreciation OF what
the Secretary OF War had done. 1t occurred in a
curious way.
Mr.. Stantor's friends came to the President
Mr.. Stanton is very i'll. He has no money. He
has given his life to the country. lie has held
strenuous and ardous place for years and il you
can give him the mission to the Netherlands, or
or to Switzerland, or to Belgium, the income
| from the place and the rest would be very
| great comfort to him.
General Grant replied Immediately and with
emphasis: MIR. Stanton is a man who deserves
| from the country much higher honors. There is
vacancy on the United States Supreme Court
BENCH and shall send Mr. Stanton's name in at
once. wish could do him still higher honor
when the doctor told this to Mr.. Stanton he
| received it with tears 1t was only a short time
| after when the great war Secretary died. Gen.
| Grant afterwards made his son. Edward Stanton
now dead-his personal attorney, out of re-
spect for his fathers memory. My impression
is that the friendship between Stanton and Grant,
considering the curious nature OIL lne Two men,
was what might be called growing friendship.
The honesty, and loyalty. and courage Of the two
| characters would have brought them in time to
be absolute and perfect friends. Certainly Grant
| hoped for that relation towards Stanton"
II suppose you met Mr.. Seward|
''Yes, had occasion to see the Secretary of
| State very frequently He was dramatic char
acter. He had a curious way of declaiming. as
| thought, sometimes"
did Secretary Seward leave upon your mind
! the impression that fame has given hm!'
'Mr Seward was to me, personally, very. very
| kind in all respects. He thorough believer
| in the Union-an optmist He, had no fear of
| the war not being ultimately success. He had
a ponderous, impressive. declamatory manner,
and have heard him compared an orator to
| the ghost in Hamlet He had a deep bass
| voice. and way, almost. of declai ming, or
| preaching. his views about%he war; when cor
| versing with you-raising his voice in company
until all in the room heard him. 1t impressed
you at first as being an afectaton, butin time be-
came illustration Of the intense earnestness
of the man. He would adjust himself in his
chair and begin. as though he were delivering an
essay from Bacon. All you could do was
to stay and listen to him. He was sin
| guarly polite to young men. He liked to talk to
them, and would invite You to his house and seek
| your company. He was cheerful aud encOurag
| ing, asking your views in lfe and full Of sym
| pathy and kindness, endeavoring-as | felt in
my conversations with him-to enter into your
| purposes in life and to forward them. Then he
would make you an Grafton on a young mans
duties to his country. to society, to religion and
the family He was always smoking There
was nothing about him like the tenderness of
Stanton or the snguarly weird character of
Lincoln. You always felt you were talking to a
man who never forgot the dramatic quality of
life.
IAN illustration of Mr.. Stewards power in the
government may be learned from this incident
When the British government demanded the re
| turn of Mason and Slide, after the Trent affair,
| there was feeling in America that no one can
appreciate except those who were, like myself
| young men at the time, with an intense feeling
about the war and resenting the attitude Of
| Great Britain. | don't suppose that a popular
| vote would have brought out one man in a
| million who would have consented to the
| return of these two men. England.
| through Earl Russell, the Foreign Secretary,
| demanded the immediate return of the confeder-
ate ambassadors, and instructed Lord Lyons,
the British minister, to ask for his passport I'M
| less the demand was granted within seven days.
| Mr.. Seward wrote an elaborate paper. consider
| ing the question from all sides, giving his
reasons for the return of the prisoners and
| granting the demands of Great Britain. He
| went to the White House to see Mr. Lincoln and
read him his dispatch Mr. Lincoln heard the
paper through patiently. rose, opened drawer
| and took out draft of dispatch to the Secre-
tary of State declining to deliver the rebel en-
| voys He said:
"'Mr. Seward, I do not agree with you and
| have written my ideas of the subject here but
| am so convinced of the truth ard wisdom Of
| your dispatch that l throw my draft into the
| fire.
.Mr Seward had sAeacity, self-control. cour-
| age, absolute devotion to the Union. and power
| of patience in submitting to attack which had
| perhaps, not been seen since the time Of John
| Quincy Adams"
"Of course you must have known Mr. Chaser
"Chass was Secretary of the Treasury when
| was in Washington | knew him then and later.
Mr.. Chase was man of fine physical presence,
towering, arrogant, of an ambitious nature be-
| Loving that he had duty to perform to the
| Union, the opponent of slavery to deliver the
country from its evils He was courageous
| stern, courteous; bat l think the ambition of
Chase, shown in his life, was almost disease.
| 1t was developed in 1864 when Lincoln was re-
| nominated, and again in the political campaign
| of 1868 when he became candidate for the
| presidential nomination by the Democrats. 1t
was the same mistake that Greeley made. He
| had been a Democrat, then Free-soi and was
| rather FESTIVE under the dominant fame of Grant
| He had the idea that his long experience as a
statesman would enable HIM to win the oountry's
confidence in antagonism to Grants greater fame
as soldier.
Mr.. Chase was man, as remember him. of
| learning. courtesy, courage, honesty. ambition
| and will. But the impression that l gathered
| from his political experience was that he was
badly advised, and it occurs to me that. instead
of endeavoring to destroy Mr.. Lincoln's pur
| poses, in 1864, and antagonizng General Grant
in 1868, if he had been content with his assured
position as jurist and public man, he would
| have been happier. But in all that historical
| crisis the influence of Chase, Lincoln, Sumner
! Hamlin, the anti slavery leaders, was paralyzed
by the extraordinary position which Grant held
as the military hero of the country. The posi-
| tive political fact was that after General Grant
| received Lees surrender there nothing else
| thought of. Even the great political influence
| of Chase and Lincoln not considered
| Grants fame was the dominant fact. Nothing
| could combat it, Ont of that arose the failure
of Chase to have the position in the country
| which belongs to him"
| 'You were speaking of Mr. Greeley"
From 1866 until the time Of his death knew
| him as we'll as / knew any man. He was a great
man l remember Seward saying of Greeley
after they had quarreled that if Mr.. Greeley
| had not been SO great man, with SO much in
| tellect and so much power, the world could not
get along without killing him. While this was
| a lest nerhans IL contained many Alemsnts of