The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1896-09-12
WHOLE NO.. 3O1.

~ thNlllRtpn, NY, Jan. \, 1904, Tor de-
strtiom, he comnutCd the sentence to
Imprisonment during the war, stating,
Il do this not on any merit in the case,
but because | am trying to evade the
hutchoring business latcly.'
To two Of his close friends in Spring
field who early i'm 1862 asked him to
make General Pope IL major general he
indicated his willingness and his i'll
abilityat the same time. and then added
by telegraph, But you must know that
MAJOR gcneralships III the regular army
are not rs plentiful a> blackberries -
Nothing could be happier and more con.
vincing than his reply to Secretary
Chase, who had opposed financial
scheme projected hy one of the pres-
dents Illinois friends who had Journey
ed all the way To Washington to lay it
before tho authorities. The brilliant and
illustrious head Of the treasury. who
was great sticklrr for the constitution,
based his opposition to the plan on its
nonconformity to that greet instrument.
Al length i'll the midst of his argument
against it Mr.. Lincoln intcrrupted him
good hunioredly, saying: "Out i'll Illi-
nois Mr.. Secretary, l was held to be IL
fair lawyer, and believe | could meet
every point and overcome every objec-
ton yOu have made but ! don't feel
called on to do il. This whole thing re-
minds me of the Italian captain who ran
his beat on a rock and knocked a hole in
her bottom He at once set his men to
pumping while he went to pray before IA
figure Of the Holy Virgin in the bow of
the ship, The leak gained on them, and
it looked at last as if the vessel would
go down with all on board. The captain
at length, in "A fit Of rage at not having
his prayers answered, seized the figure of
the Virgin and threw it overheard. Sud
denly the leak stopped, the water was
pumped out and the vessel got safely
into port When doclled for repairs, the
figure of the Virgin was found stuck
head foremost in the hole. +" 81 don't
see. Mr. President, !" said Chase, "the
precise application of your story"
We'll, this is it, came the reply. II
dom intend precisely to throw the Vir-
gin Mary overheard, and by that | mean
the constitution, but mean to stick it
i'll the hole if | can. The rebels are vio-
lating the constitution every day to de
stroy the Union, and | shall violate it if
necessary to save the Union.
In conversation he was lively, orig
inal and interesting. His fund of anec-
d0tcs was so exhauStless, his illustra-
tions drawn from life so happy, it was
charm to be III his presence. 1t has
been we'll said bya critic of Shakespeare
that the spirit which held the woe of
Lear and the tragedy of Hamlet would
have broken had it not also had the hu-
nor Of the Merry Wives of Windsor"
and the merriment of Midsummer
Nights Dream y With equal justice
| can this profound truth be applied to
the character of Mr.. Lincoln But for
his love of humor and his warm APP
probation Of Artemus Ward he never
could have endured the heartbreaking
scenes that daily and hourly took place
III the executive mansion, nor the four
sad years Of war through which he was
compelled to pass. About him clung no
austerity of demeanor, nothing that
might produce Il chill. The most marked
characteristic of his manners was his
simplicity and artleSsncSs He never, "
relates one of his secretaries, ''spokc Of
himself as president, or used that title
for himself except when acting in an
official capacity. He always spoke of his
position and Office as this place or
here, or other modest phrases > Speak
ing once Of an early acquaintance, who
was an applicant for Il position which
he deemed him hardly qualified to fill,
tho IATIGiI,.,It -aiI We'll I
thought NJ had any more than aver
age ability when we were young men
together. Really did not; but, then,
| suppose he Thought Just the same
about me- He had reason to and-hcre
| am.
Mr. Lincoln WAS always easy Of ap-
proach and at home to every caller. He
disapproved Of all attempts TO keep the
people from him, although the catalogue
of demands and requests that rained
down on him every day was almost un-
endurable. Senator Wilson of Massachu-
setts in letter to Mr.. Herndon after
Lincoln's death relates that one after
noon he called on the president and
found his Office almost filled with visit
ors Many Of them were women whose
prayers and petitions running down the
long gamut of supplication would have
worn the life out Of an ordinary man.
After the crowd had thinned ont some
what Mr. Wilson approached the presi-
dent ana demonstrated with him for per-
mitting such throng of people to i'm
pose themselves on him. Have the
ushers keep them ont, ~ We're Wilson's
words. No, protested Lincoln, that
would never do. OF course great num-
bcrs Of them get i'll here but you forget,
Mr.. Senator, they don't want much, and
the Lord knows they get precious little,
and so | believe in letting them in. -
MIXED up with Mr.. Lincoln's angu-
laritics and easy nature" says another
of his secretaries, was something
which, after all, bespoke the fine fiber
of the man. His total disregard of con-
yentionalities, though often ludicrous,
was often lost sight of iii oae's admira-
ton for his touching simplicity and
unconscious assumption of strength. :" In
an offhand speech one evening, in an
swer To a serenade by party of Bosto-
mans, he used the phrase as applied to
the rebel troops i'll one of the battles of
the war, turned tail and ran SO
.la&.x IL e