St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-11-13


that Also" l answered. According
to Weed the trouble between him and
! Mr.. Greeley did not amount to much.
As the President had introduced the
subject | did not hesitate to ask him
| what he said ''Weed saws" con-
tinued the President, that Mr..
Greeley is a sincere, honest man, but
that it had been his (Weed's) mis-
fortune to get on the wrong side of
him, and he could not get back
1t was evident that the visits of
Mr. Weed to the President were in
the interest of Mr.. Seward, from
their well known intimacy. You
have noticed probably" said the
President, that ! have already in
vited Mr. Bates of Missouri to be
come member of my cabinet-what
do YOU think of it ~ u think it
good appointment" l said, for he
is considered an able man, and repre-
sents an clement in the old wing
party that has worked heartily with
the republicans in the late campaign.
He having introduced the subject of
his cabinet, ventured to bring out
the memorandum that Mr.. Greeley
|
| President scanned the list of names
very closely. After a while he said,
mentioning the name first on the list,
He won't dop' He then read the
second name. THAT man wrote a
very hateful letter the other day"
| He then read the other three names.
Not one of these can become a mem
Der of my cabinet" he said. l was
surprised at the slight regard he
paid to the opinion of the most emf
nent man in his party. | then said,
"Will you pardon me if | make sug-
gestion ?" Certainly, l like to get
suggestions" he replied. "Consid
ering the relations of Mr.. Seward to
the republican party, think would,
if were in your place, offer him the
| position of secretary of state" AT
this Mrs. Lincoln dropped her work
and holding up both hands, ex-
claimed: Never! Mr.. Seward in the
cabinet Never. If the present dis
turbed condition of things should
ultimately quiet down, Mr.. Seward
would get all the credit for it, but if
would all be laid to my husband"
then said to Mrs. Lincoln, IF per-
| chance your husband should think it
wise to do as have suggested that
would be his part, in my opinion
we'll performed. But | should hope
that Mr. Seward would reply, Il am
a senatorl At present that is the
highest point of my ambition" Mr..
Lincoln made no remark. The even
ing being far spent l withdrew.
Strangely enough who should
appear a few hours later at Spring
field but Mr. Greeley himself. l heard
that he had arrived at a neighboring
hotel during the night. | at once
sought him out. | found him i'll
the public room with his overcoat on
and his satchel by his side. He told
me that he was on his way to Jack
sOnville to fulfil an engagement to
lecture that night and invited me to
accompany him. Urging me to go,
| consented; at the station each pur-
chased the latest Chicago paper,
when | glanced at the telegraph col
umn and in dispatch from Albany
saw that Ira Harris had been elected
United States senator by the legisla-
ture A detail of the votes in the
nominating convention showed that
at one point Mr.. Greeley came
within three votes of receiving the
nomination. Turning to Mr.. Greeley
| said, DO you see that dispatch
from Albany and how near you came
to being made the senator?" Eyes"
he SAYS, Il see it. But l could not be
made senator Weed would have
broken two banks before he would
have allowed me to be made sena-
tor" yes" | said, but Weed
visited our new President the other
day and set you up as high as a kite"
what did he say? ?" enquired the
philosopher He told Mr.. Lincoln
that you were an honest, sincere
man, but that it had been his mis-
fortune to get on the wrong side of
YOU and he could not get back"
Yes" said Mr.. Greeley, "he came to
me and wanted to make up and |
told him that whenever he got over
the notion of making money out of
politics we would work together as
would work separately as we do
now" Thus within a few hours |
had learned from two of the princi-
pals of the late political firm of Sew
ard, Weed & Greeley, why the firm
had been dissolved.
The morning after the lecture at
Jacksonville we returned to Spring
field, Mr.. Greeley going to his hotel.
An hour or so later | called upon
him and found him busy writing in
his room Has the President called
upon you yet" l enquired. No"
he said He will soon be here | am
sure" | answered. Then leaving
him | went directly to the Presidents
office which | found full of people
Speaking to the president aside, l
asked him if he knew that Mr.. Gree
lev was at the St. Nicholas hotel.
Yes, and why don't he come to see
me? ~ he replied. For obvious rea-
sons" | said. eff YOU see him while
here you will have to call upon him"
The President then turned to his
audience and said that he was
obliged to leave; after general
Misunderstanding the room was vacated.
Then putting on his long surtout
coat, we went together to Mr.. Gree
leys room. left them together and
they were in consultation for about
two hours. What would the half
hundred newspaper reporters present
in the town have given to have been
able to report the interview between
these two remarkable men.
Mr.. Greeley was under engagement
to lecture in st. Louis two evenings
later on. During the day he received
a message from Frank Blair stating
that there was great excitement in
St. Louis over the prospect of his
lecture, that he feared a riot and