“I understand that General Meade is preferred by the majority of the officers of the army to any one except Hooker, and perhaps now to him. General Meade was at once notified of his appointment, and, though taken entirely by surprise, accepted it in a modest telegram, and at once entered upon his duties. By this time, I presume he has the army well in hand.

"... I like General Halleck personally, and he seems to have large capacity; but he does not work, work, work, as if he were in earnest.

".... There has been a good deal of alarm here yesterday and to-day, because of the enemy's cavalry coming very close to the city, with supposed designs on the Washington & Baltimore and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroads. I should not be surprised at the cutting of one or both the roads; but I attach no great consequence to these raids. While the rebels are doing these things near Washington, we are doing the same thing near Richmond, where, as you have doubtless seen, one of our detachments on Friday or Saturday burned the bridge across the South Anna, and captured General W. F. Lee, and other rebel officers and privates, and many mules and wagons. Still, these things are pleasanter to do than to suffer. "There is, of course, a great deal of concern about the operations of the two great armies; a concern naturally increased by the action of General Hooker. In respect of them I hope the best and trust in God. . . .'

To General Grant.

“WASHINGTON, July 4, 1868.

".... It has long been on my mind to express to you my deep sense of your great services to our country; but I have forborne, lest you might think I overstepped a civilian's limits.

"Having occasion now, however, to write you briefly on another subject, I will not deny myself the gratification of adding my personal thanks to the gratitude which the whole patriotic people feel toward you for the patient energy and skillful courage with which you have conducted the military operations under your direction. God has crowned you with success hitherto, and will, I trust, continue to prosper our arms under your conduct.

"Vicksburg, probably, has already succumbed. Whether so or not, its speedy fall can hardly be doubted; and its capture cannot fail to be followed by the rapid and complete suppression of the rebellion in the whole region west of the Mississippi, and by the complete control of the river from its mouth to Cairo.

"It has given me great satisfaction to be somewhat useful in sustaining you here by laying before the President, from time to time, the letters of Mr. Mellen, the excellent supervising General Agent of the Department for the Valley of the Mississippi. He has taken every pains to inform himself accurately, and has constantly defended you against the assaultssometimes of slanderous malice, sometimes of mistaken honesty-and has

"SCOTTY" AND OTHER MATTERS.

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as constantly awarded to you the praise of doing all that ability, zeal, and fidelity could accomplish.

To General Thomas L. Kane.

"WASHINGTON, July 9, 1868.

I have just received your congratulatory card, and have shared

in the rejoicing which fills your own heart in the successes of our armies. God be praised for our victories, and honor and gratitude to the heroes who have achieved them.

"The skies brighten all round the horizon. Vicksburg already fallen— the fall of Port Hudson daily looked for-our armies everywhere activethe rebels exhausted and retreating: is it not now clear that God will give us the victory? May He inspire our hearts with nobleness enough to make it a sure guarantee of freedom and justice for all! ..."

To David Tod, Governor of Ohio.

"WASHINGTON, October 8, 1868.

".. A few days ago, when our Ohio boys returned from New York, I visited them at Alexandria. There were four regiments-the Fiftieth, Sixty-fifth, Twenty-third, and Seventh-much reduced in numbers, but full of pluck and patriotism. In the Fiftieth there is a private named James Gray, of whose exploits wonderful stories were told by the officers. At Port Republic he had taken a gun from the enemy; at Cedar Mountain he had staid behind, when his companions had retreated, and fired off the guns as a last compliment to the enemy, were among the things said of him. I was told that the officers of the brigade had united in requesting from you a commission for him, which you had declined to give. . . . But he is very proud of the testimonials transmitted to you, and desires greatly to possess them. I promised to ask you for them, and send them to him, if obtained. I hope you will have no difficulty in granting this request, and that I may receive them soon.

"The brigade went to the front immediately after my visit, and has since been scnt, as I understand, to reënforce Rosecrans. If you will send me 'Scotty's' testimonials, however, they shall reach him, if he is yet above-ground. . . .

To Major-General Hooker.

"WASHINGTON, December 21, 1868.

I have been quite unwell of late, and my correspondence is a good deal in arrears. Still, I must take time to dictate a few lines to you. I cannot tell you how much I have been gratified by your brilliant achievements in Tennessee and Georgia. How providential it was that you were sent West at the head of the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps! It seems clear now that, but for Mr. Stanton's determination in insisting upon these reenforcements going promptly, and going under you, Rosecrans's army

would have experienced the gravest disasters. And then it seems equally providential that the assault on Lookout Mountain had to be made under your direction. The only thing I do not clearly see the value of, is your magnificent achievement near Ringgold. It was a splendid battle splendidly won. But what is the use of sacrificing so much to take a town, if, after all, the town is to be abandoned, and the army is to fall back? Whether it was necessary to fall back or not, I find myself unable to form any judgment: General Grant ought to know best. I most sincerely hope he was governed by the best and most patriotic motives. Grant's whole career has excited my admiration and commanded my respect, and there certainly ought to be no jealousies between two such officers as you and he. Each should rejoice in what adds to the honor of the other. . . .”

CHAPTER XLV.

1862-1864.

THE ASSAULT UPON MR. SEWARD IN 1862-RESIGNATION OF MR. OHASE WITHDRAWS IT AND RESUMES OFFICE IS A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION IN 1864-HIRAM BARNEY-REPUBLICAN PARTY IN NEW YORK-QUARREL OVER THE CUSTOMS IN NEW YORK-CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION-ARREST OF A. M. PALMER-FRANK BLAIR'S SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES-OFFICIAL PATRONAGE-HOW IT IS DISPENSED ASSISTANT TREASURER'S OFFICE IN NEW YORK—RESIGNATION OF MR. CISCO-DIFFICULTY IN FINDING A SUCCESSOR-RESIGNATION OF MR. CHASE-DEATH OF CHIEF-JUSTICE TANEY-MR. LINCOLN NOMINATES MR. CHASE TO BE CHIEF-JUSTICE.

DURING the summer and autumn of 1862 a feeling of

great hostility to Mr. Seward grew up among the friends of Mr. Lincoln's Administration. It was founded upon a belief that Mr. Seward possessed a large influence over the President, and that this influence was not exercised for good. Shortly after the meeting of Congress in December of that year, this sentiment of hostility to Mr. Seward was found to be deep and severe.' There was some interchange of views among the Republican members of Congress, which led to the disclosure of a great unanimity of opinion upon the subject, and resulted in a meeting of Republican Senators on the 17th of December to take the matter into consideration. After some discussion a resolution was passed requesting the President to dismiss Mr. Seward from office. This resolution was adopted by a majority

1 "Lincoln and Seward," by Gideon Welles, ex-Secretary of the Navy, p. 81, et seq.

of one vote. While there was an almost unanimous desire on the part of the assembled Senators to proceed against Mr. Seward, there was a large minority who thought some less offensive mode of action might be quite as effective as a direct vote personally referring to the Secretary of State. It was agreed, therefore, with but a single dissenting voice-that of Mr. Preston King, of New York-that the President should be requested to reconstitute his Cabinet, and that a statement of the reasons which prompted this request should be prepared and submitted to the President at the same time. It was well understood that the whole proceeding was aimed at Mr. Seward, and that the reasons alleged as the motive for the request, were intended to be particularly applicable to that gentleman. A committee of nine Senators was appointed to wait upon the President and inform him of the action of the meeting. At the head of this committee the venerable Judge Collamer, of Vermont, was placed. But these extraordinary proceedings being immediately communicated to Mr. Seward by Mr. Preston King, before the committee could wait upon the President, the Secretary of State, in order to anticipate its action, resigned his office. The whole affair was a surprise to Mr. Lincoln and roused his opposition. He determined to resist the attack upon Mr. Seward, and in this purpose was powerfully aided by the unsolicited action of Mr. Chase.

The reasons alleged by the assembled Senators as their motive for asking a reconstruction of the Cabinet, were interpreted by Mr. Chase as being wide enough in their scope to include all the heads of departments. He was assured by the participants in the meeting that they were particularly intended to apply to Mr. Seward. Mr. Chase was not willing so to construe them. He was not willing to be party to an ambuscade upon the Secretary of State; and in order, therefore, to give the President an opportunity in good faith to reconstruct his Cabinet, and because he believed Mr. Seward ought to be retained, on the 20th of December he resigned his office.

This was an unexpected result to the Senate meeting. The retirement of Mr. Chase was everywhere regarded as a public calamity; but it gratified Mr. Lincoln, who saw in it a means of defeating the congressional dictation. He promptly seized