of the President, as the document now shows, was to soften these asperities without lowering its tone and without injury to its dignity. For example, where the Secretary had said that the President was “surprised and grieved" that Mr. Adams's predecessor in office had not done certain things, Mr. Lincoln substituted the word "regrets" for the stronger phrase; and he changed the word "wrongful," as applied to the possible course of Great Britain, so that that course might appear to be "hurtful." A study of these verbal changes in one of the most important state papers of the Lincoln Administration would be highly useful for one who desires to become acquainted with some of the delicate shades of meaning of which the English language is capable. And, be it said, this was the work of that "backwoods lawyer" whom so many well-seasoned American statesmen of that time affected to deride.

Mr. Cameron, Lincoln's first Secretary of War, was another member of the Cabinet who was early taught that the President, although he wore "a glove of velvet," yet had that "hand of steel" which all must have who would govern well. One of the most vociferous cries of the Southern Confederacy was to the effect that the North was ready to incite a servile war by stirring up and arming the slaves. Conservative men in the North were afraid of this cry, and some of them thought that it was not an unreasonable one. On the other hand, many of the more advanced Republicans early besieged the President to take steps to use the freedmen in the military service; Secretary Cameron was one of those who

believed that this policy was necessary and just. In his annual report to the President, which was designed to be sent to Congress in December, 1861, Secretary Cameron took the ground that abandoned and fugitive slaves should be formed into marching regiments and employed against the Rebels. This suggestion was premature, and if it had been made public at that time it would have caused a terrible outcry, although the day did come, but long afterwards, when not only the Union armies were reinforced by black soldiers, but the Rebels began to arrange for a similar contingent for themselves. Secretary Cameron, as if aware that his declaration in favor of arming the freedmen would not be approved by the President, had sent out printed copies of his report in advance of its delivery to Congress, without first submitting it to the President, to whom official usage required that it should be addressed. But the President, not finding the document on his table, made inquiry and was then given a copy of the report, which was to accompany his annual message to Congress. Fortunately, the copies of the War report were still in the hands of postmasters in cities, with directions to deliver to newspaper offices at a certain date. They were all recalled by telegraphic orders, and the document was reprinted with the objectionable parts stricken out.

It may be supposed that this incident somewhat nettled Secretary Cameron, who does not appear to have accepted his implied reproof as gracefully as Secretary Seward accepted disapproval of his cherished "policy." At any rate, the Secretary of War

soon began to complain of the irksomeness of his official duties, and to signify his desire to go abroad. Accordingly, in January of the following year, the President wrote him a note, and, after referring to the Secretary's frequently expressed desire for a change of place, accepted the situation for him and offered him the post of Minister to Russia. The offer was accepted by General Cameron, who resigned from the Cabinet and went abroad. He was succeeded by Mr. Stanton, who had been Attorney-General during the closing weeks of the Buchanan Administration. It is worthy of remark here that Lincoln's faculty for holding the friendship of those who were once allied to him did not fail him in this instance. Whatever may have been the cause of Cameron's departure from the Cabinet, Lincoln remained his steadfast friend. Several months after Cameron's withdrawal, some of his enemies in Congress made a fierce attack upon him in a series of resolutions condemning him for certain acts done in the first days of the rebellion. Whereupon the President sent to Congress a special message in which he stated that the transactions complained of were not the exclusive work of the Secretary of War, but were ordered by the President, with the full concurrence of all the members of his Cabinet. Cameron gratefully acknowledged this unsought and manly defence of his official honor, and remained Lincoln's steadfast friend.

Lincoln apparently found Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, more difficult to satisfy than any other of the members of his so-called official family.

As Governor of the great State of Ohio, United States Senator, and a leader of the advanced wing of the Republican party, Mr. Chase very naturally had had political ambitions; and these were not laid aside when he entered the Cabinet. He had a large and admiring following, and many of those who did not like Lincoln's policy of administration turned to Chase as the most promising candidate to succeed Lincoln in office. It is possible that these considerations disturbed the serenity of Mr. Chase's mind, and made him at times querulous and petulant. His diary, published after his death, shows that, while he was a member of Lincoln's Cabinet, he was greatly dissatisfied with the conduct of public affairs, and that he longed to take the reins of power and show how the country should be governed. He was so jealous of his own official rights and privileges that he was frequently at odds with the good President, and he more than once resigned his office, or threatened to resign it, unless he was permitted to have his own way. He was disturbed by the schemes which well-meaning friends set on foot to make him the Presidential candidate in 1864; and he had for some time advocated the proposition that no man should have a second term of the Presidential office. Finally, in June, 1864, the Secretary once more tendered his resignation, and it was accepted. David Tod, of Ohio, was first nominated by the President to take the place thus made vacant; and on his declining the honor, it was tendered to William Pitt Fessenden, then United States Senator from Maine, and was by him accepted.

If Mr. Chase departed from the Cabinet with any unfriendliness towards the President, we may be sure that Lincoln did not hold any such feeling towards Chase. When Roger B. Taney, Chief-Justice of the United States, died in 1864, the friends of Mr. Chase clamorously demanded that the ex-Secretary of the Treasury should take the place thus made vacant on the bench of the Supreme Court. Indeed, there was a very general public feeling that this appointment would be a wise one, although Mr. Lincoln's immediate friends, mindful of Chase's conduct in the Cabinet, remonstrated against his elevation to the lofty post of Chief-Justice. While this discus

sion was going on, the writer of these lines had occasion to visit the President in his private office. The President, who was in a happy frame of mind, jocularly asked, "What are people talking about now?" His caller replied that they were discussing the probability of Chase's being appointed ChiefJustice. The smile on the President's face faded, and he said with gravity and sadness: "My friends all over the country are trying to put up the bars between me and Governor Chase. I have a vast number of messages and letters, from men who think they are my friends, imploring and warning me not to appoint him." He paused for a moment, and then, pointing to a pile of telegrams and letters on the table, said: "Now, I know meaner things about Governor Chase than any of those men can tell me; but I am going to nominate him." Three days after that the appointment was made public.

Mr. Montgomery Blair was another member of the