New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-16

the most critical were compelled 10 acKnoW'cuse
that on the whole it was done well. Two mis-
takes he admttcd-one, in consentlng that the
United States notes should be MADE " Iegai
tender; the other, in advising the rtiTai Oh .dc
clause in the first Legal Tender act Wnich ma9e
the notes convertible into bonds. Ills irenus
were forced to admit that he made two MISTAKES ne
Of different character-one IN perm.i,.in6 niS
name TO be used as candidate 1or tnc Irrsi-
dency while he was q member OF MIR Lincoln
Cabinet: the other, in resigning when ms services
as Secretary OF the Treasury were greatly heeuGu
Ii may be proper for me TO remark mere tnao we
personal relations between Mr. Lincoln and Mr.
Chase were never cordial They were ABOUT as
unlike in appearance in education, IN manners man ,
i'm taste and in temperament as two eminent mei,
could be. Mr.. Chase had received classical
education and until he entered tne Pontlcal
field and became the leader OF the ahti-olavc n,
party of Ohio he had been stuoeD ol Ecnei;, IL,
literature; in appearance he was impressive, ID
manner stately, in taste refined III tempcrah,eHo
cold. Although the larger part of his early 1 NE
was passed IN the West, he was not we onti
jed He cracked no Jokes. and he had no aptl-
tmde for Storytelling, IIe did not and could pot
anpreciate those qualities which brought MI
Lincoln so close to the hearts OF 'he peopi!c ,,
Sclf-rcliant rapid in conclusions, and prompt III
action. he would not, had he been President III
the spring of SOL have waited for South Oarollna
to strike the first blow IT was therelorc ioi'"""''
that he was not in Mr.. Lincoln pi"'o
When Mr.. McCulloch first went TO Washington
he annlied for lodgings at a house not far from
the Arlington Hotel, where he understood rooms
HIM pleasant room, cheaply and scantily fur
nisbed which he took. and she introduced him
to her husband, a middle-aged man of graceful
manners. with a handsome and highly intel
lectual face. 1t did not take long to show
that he WAS a man of superior culture lie
was engaged at that moment in calculating the
explosiye ptwer of gunpowier. Mr.. McCuiloeh
ventured to ask him if he was employed IN the
War or Navy Department NO." he replied;
am clerk in the Coast Survey This was
DR.. F. A. p Barnard, then fugitive from Mis-
sissippi, driven out for his fidelity to the Union,
and for many years past the honored president
of Columbia College, in this city. MIR. McCul-
Ioch's acquaintance with Dr. Barnard was a
great advantage TO him, he says, as it opened
the way for his introduction to many men oil a
higher stamp than he had known before Among
these were Professor Henry, A. d. Bache, SimoN
Newcomb, ]. f. Hilgasd, and others tlh
McCulloch's tribute to Professor Henry is a warm
one: Had he followed the advice OF his friends
in Albany, he would have held the key OF 'e-
legraphy in the United States and controlled the
telegraph long enough TO have made himself rlch
He never expressed regret that he ana not avail
himself of the protection of the patent laws no
one ever heard from him word OF complaint
that other men had reaped in honor and money
the fruits of his labors, but he would have been
more than human if he had not been morthed
by their failure to give him the credit which was
his due
When he succeeded at the opening of MIR. Lin
coins second term to the place Mr. Chase
had held, Mr. McCulloch found it. he says, " a
very laborious and thanl1less one. / gave my
entire time to its duties. l was not away from
it more than twenty days during the whole term
l L. inn
by night as well as by day | was subject to the
most liberal abuse in the Senate and House, ana.
to some extent, by the press and yet was never
sorry that l accepted the post. The only thing
that annoyed me. and that not very much was
the course of some of my Republican friends in
the Senate and House. who. when a rupture of my
official relations with President Johnson was feared
would come to the Treasury Department and
cntreat me to hold on'-as enc of them said. For
Gods sake hold on'-and then go back to the
Capitol and hear me abused, without uttering
word in my behalf" Mr. McCulloch does not seem
to have been witness TO the mournlul
that said to have visited Lincoln
Just before his assassination. lie says:
I never saw Mr.. Lincoln so cheerful and happy
as he was the day of his death. The burden
which had BEEN weighing upon him Tor Tour long
y ears. and which he had borne with heroic ioril-
tude had been lifted: the war had been practically
ended; the Union was safe The weary look
which his face had so long worn. and which could
be observed by those VINO knew Inn well, even
when he telling humorous stories, had DIS
appeared. 1t was bright and cheerful. As he
tSe White %e eS House he Sd must look to
you, Mr.. Secretary, for the money to pay off the
soldiers" :" l shall look TO the people," replied
/" they have not failed us thus far and | don't
think they will now" 4 few hours after saw
him unconscious and dying.
Speaking of the execution of Mrs. Surratt he
says:
punishment had not been committed from death
to Imprisonment. The evidence which she was
convicted would not have satisfied an impartial
jury. Her completely III the assassination was
not clearly pro zen. and the sternest justice, in
her case. would have been satisfied with laXer
punishment. The most pitiful object that ever
beheld the PROSTATE form of Miss SHrratt
who said to be an amiable and accomplished
young LADY, upon the main staircase OF the EX-
ecutive Mansion on the morning of the day Of her
mothers execution. She had come TO plead for
her mothers life. and, having failed to obtain
admission TO the President she had tainted in
descending the s:airs There was. | am sure, no
foundation COR the report which many believed,
that Mr.. Stanton's life was shortened by remorsc
for his agency in the prosecution and execution Of
Mrs. Surratt but know that President Johnson
deeply regretted that he did not favOraby consider
the petitions that made for communication
Of her punishment and that he especially regretted
that he ordered the writ Of habeas corpus issued
to be disrcgarded.
Mr.. McCulloch's discussion Of the events Of the
war is chiefly remarkable for its earnest defence
Of Mcclellan who, he thinks. was badly treated,
and for the severity of its criticisms Of General
Grant He reviews the terrible slaughter with
which Grants attempt TO move directly upon
was repulscd. and says: The adoption
Of the direct route to Richmond unfortunate,
rs the entire army could have been transferred
from the Potomac to the James, to which il turned
iftcr the battle of Cold lIarbor without the loss
If man, and with the saving of millions of
lollars to the National Treasury. 1t would not
ave been adopted but for the prevailing opinion
hat the safety of Washington depended upon the
rmy being kept between it and Richmond. Some
however. for the National losses was
ound in the losses of the enemy. which, although
hey did not probably exceed twenty thousand
old most heavily upon their declining strength"
In many grounds Mr. McCulloch disnutes Grants