One Saturday afternoon, when the lawn in front of the White House was
crowded with people listening to the weekly concert of the Marine Band,
the President appeared upon the portico. Instantly there was a clapping
of hands and clamor for a speech. Bowing his thanks, and excusing
himself, he stepped back into the retirement of the circular parlor,
remarking to me, with a disappointed air, as he reclined upon the
sofa, “I wish they would let me sit out there quietly, and enjoy the
music.” I stated to him on this occasion, that I believed no President,
since the days of Washington, ever secured the hearts of the people,
and carried them with him as he had done. To this he replied that, in
such a crisis as the country was then passing through, it was natural
that the people should look more earnestly to their leaders than at
other periods. He thought their regard for any man in his position
who should sincerely have done his best to save the government from
destruction, would have been equally as marked and expressive; to which
I did not by any means assent.
I do not recall an instance of Mr. Lincoln’s ever referring to
any act of his administration with an appearance of complacency
or self-satisfaction. I watched him closely during the political
excitement previous to the Baltimore Convention, to see if I could
discover signs of personal ambition, and I am free to say that, apart
from the welfare of the country, there was no evidence to show to my
mind that he ever thought of himself. And yet he was very sensitive
to the opinions of his friends. A governor of a western State, true
and loyal as the best, at a certain juncture conceived himself for
some reason aggrieved by Executive action. Having occasion to send
in the names of two officers for promotion, he said, in his note to
the President, that he hoped whatever feeling he might have against
him personally would not prevent his doing justice to the merits of
the officers in question. Mr. Lincoln had been utterly unconscious of
having given offence, either by lack of appreciation or otherwise, and
he seemed greatly touched at the aspersion. He said that, if he had
been asked to say which of all the loyal governors had been most active
and efficient in raising and equipping troops, if he had made any
distinction, where all had done so well, it would have been in favor of
the governor in question. At another time, when several conflicting
delegations were pressing the claims of different candidates for a
position of importance, he said that he had been so troubled about the
matter that he had that day refused to see one of the candidates, an
old and dear personal friend, lest his judgment should be warped. “If
I was less _thin-skinned_ about such things,” he added, “I should get
along much better.”
When he had thought profoundly, however, upon certain measures, and
felt sure of his ground, criticism, either public or private, did not
disturb him. Upon the appearance of what was known as the “Wade and
Davis manifesto,” subsequent to his renomination, an intimate friend
and supporter, who was very indignant that such a document should
have been put forth just previous to the presidential election, took
occasion to animadvert very severely upon the course that prompted it.
“It is not worth fretting about,” said the President; “it reminds me
of an old acquaintance, who, having a son of a scientific turn, bought
him a microscope. The boy went around, experimenting with his glass
upon everything that came in his way. One day, at the dinner-table, his
father took up a piece of cheese. ‘Don’t eat that, father,’ said the
boy; ‘it is full of _wrigglers_.’ ‘My son,’ replied the old gentleman,
taking, at the same time, a huge bite, ‘let’em _wriggle_; I can stand
it if they can.’”
No President ever manifested such a willingness to receive and act upon
advice and suggestions from all sources, as Mr. Lincoln. On a certain
occasion a leading officer of the government, and the governor of the
State he represented, had each a candidate for a high State position.
The claims of both were urged with great strength. The President was
“in a strait betwixt the two.” A personal friend from the same State,
to whom he mentioned the difficulty of deciding the question without
giving offence to one or the other of the parties, suggested that he
appoint neither of the candidates, but bestow the office upon a certain
officer of the army from that State, who had distinguished himself,
losing an arm or a leg in the service, but who had not solicited in any
way the position. Mr. Lincoln instantly fell in with the idea, saying
that it seemed to him “just the right thing to do;” and he immediately
made out the nomination.