The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-06-03

thought to be sufficiently useful to allow |
this thing to go on. Well, at last ne
came back and went to Baltimore and
got his outfit to take down South. and
when he came up. the chief detective OF
the War Department. examined his goods
carefully, and found that he had got
lots of things that we could not allow
him to take. We had all his bills tell
ing where he had bought these things
in Baltimore. They amounted to per-
haps $40, 900 or $25, 900, or more. A good
deal Of his stuff was military goods and
uniforms, and this, we said, Is alto
gether too contraband. So we confiS-
Gated the contraband goods and put
Morse in prison; and one afternoon Col.
Taylor. very valuable military ofhcer
and nephew of President Taylor, went
over to Baltimore and arrested the prin-
cipal merchants OF that town who had
sold these goods to Morse, the chief dry
goods dealers and fancy merchants. 20
that no lady could get out and buy even
oair of gloves the next day, for the
shops were all shut. .-- CA
sTANTON'S ELoQTENCE. /
Presently deputation from Balti-
more came over to see President Lin
coin to say that this was great out
rage, and, these gentlemen, most re-
spectacle merchants, faultless citt-
zens, ought all to be set instantly at
liberty and damages paid them. Mr..
Lincoln sent the deputation over to the
War department, and Mr.. Stanton
sent for me. He said: "All Baltimore
It's coming here. Sit down here and
hear the discussion we shall have:
SO they came In. the bank presidents
the boss merchants of Baltimore.
There must have been ut least nifty
millions of dollars in the deDutation.
The gentlemen sat down around the
fire of the secretary's Office, and began
to make their speeches detailing the
circumstances and the wickedness of
tf,is outrage, There was no ground
for it. no justification. After half
dozen of them had spoken, Mr. Stan
ton began and delivered the most elo-
| quent speech that I ever listened to-
He described the beginning of the war,
for which he said there was no justifl-
| cation. Being beaten in an election
was no reason for destroying the gov
ernment. Then he went on to the fact
that half a million of our young men
had been laid in untimely graves by
| this conspiracy of the slave interest.
He described the whole conspiracy In
the most solemn and impressive terms,
and then he depicted the offence that
this man Morse, aided by these sew
| cIdl IutICIdHtS, udu
said: Gentlemen, If you would like
to examine the bills of what he was
taking to the enemy, here they are"
And when he finished. these gentle
men, without answering a word, got
up and one by one went away. That
was the only speech ! ever listened to
that cleared out the entire audience.
| Well. that's the sort Of man Stanton
was. He was impulsive. warm-blood-
ed. very quick in execution, perhaps
not always infallible in Judgment. l
never knew = man who could do so
much work in a given time. He was
a nervous man; a man of imagination:
q man utterly absorbed in the idea of
the republic one and indivisible; and he
| lived for it, wore himself out In the
service, and shortly after he ceased to
serve in that office. he passed into
another world entirely exhausted, con-
sumed by his devotion to public duties.
That was the kind of men Mr.. Lincoln
had around him. Not all like Stanton;
not all like Cameron; not all like
all Americans, all patriots.
Mr.. Seward. for instance, possessed
a great, subtle, far-reaching intelli-
gence. He was an optimist. He had
imagination. He was reaching out al
ways toward the future and dwelling
upon it. The treaty by which we ac-
quired Alaska was his doing. He also
negotiated and arranged the treaty,
that congress would not approve, for
the acquisition of st. Thomas, in the
West Indies. He believed that North
America should be one and united; one
government, one flag one power. He
understood that the islands of the An
TILES like the frozen regions of the
Arctic ocean. should all live and grow
great with that beautiful emblem, the
Stars and Stripes, floating over them.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
Probably in the administration Mr..
Seward had the most cultivated and
comprehensive intellect. He wasn't
equal to Mr.. Lincoln, because, as have
said. he was altogether an optimist.
He didn't believe any permanent injury
could happen to anybody as long as the
Stars and Stripes were there. During
the war. 1t was always said that he ex-
pected to bring back the seeding states
by friendly act Of congress, or some
device of negotiation. That was prob-
ably fault in his judgment; yet. take
him for all in all. it would be difficult
to match him among living statesmen,
or among the statesmen of the world.
He was an American in earnest. He
believed in that democracy which Is
democracy indeed. He believed in the
constitution of the United States, and
his one desire was that it's blessings
should be extended and made perpetual
over all this continent. look back up
on him with intense gratitude. He set
up the landmarks toward which we are
to come. the boundaries which we are
to attain to. He proclaimed the prin-
J ciple OF continental unity. and that
unity he would found in freedom, in
progress, and In improvement Of every
nature. s
Such were the principal men by whom
Mr. Lincoln was surrounded. They
} were very independent men. They were
not always satisfied with his decisions,
with his action: but he was always
, master of the house. There was no pre-
|, tension about Abraham Lincoln. He
didn't put on any airs, and never heard
: him say harsh word to anybody. /
never heard him speak a word Of COM
plant. These other gentlemen, the
members of the cabinet. like human be-
ings In general, were not pleased with
everything. Much was imperfect; much
was not ordered in the best way; much
perhaps. might have been done better
II they individually had had charge OF
1t. Not so with the president. He was
most calm, equable. uncomplaining
and, to my mind, one of the happiest
. men that I have ever known. He al
ways had pleasant word for every
? body. What he said showed the pro.
I foundest thought, even when he was
Joking. He seemed to see every side OF
everN question. He never was impa.
tient; he never was in hurry; and ne
never tried to hurry anybody else. T,
every one he was pleasant and cordial
yet they all felt that it was his word
that went at last; and until he had de.
!. cided. the case hadn't been decided and
the final orders not issued yet
, LINCOLN'S APPEARANCE
{ But before going further. let me en-.
3 deayor to give those in this audience
' who never saw Mr.. Lincoln some idea