One night Schuyler Colfax left all other business to go to the White
House to ask the President to respite the son of a constituent, who was
sentenced to be shot, at Davenport, for desertion. Mr. Lincoln heard the
story with his usual patience, though he was wearied out with incessant
calls, and anxious for rest, and then replied:
“Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline and
subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but it makes me
rested, after a hard day’s work, if I can find some good excuse for
saving a man’s life, and I go to bed happy as I think how joyous the
signing of my name will make him and his family and his friends.”
And with a happy smile beaming over that care-furrowed face, he signed
that name that saved that life.