A NEW PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST.
As the time approached for the selection of a candidate by the
Republicans, Ohio presented four names. General Grant, the conqueror
of the Rebellion, who was without experience, qualifications, or
capacity as a civil ruler, was evidently the choice of the loyal
people of the North. The old Abolitionists and the national banks
favored Chief Justice Chase, who possessed brains, personal dignity,
and ability to perform the duties of the Executive. Stanton was
the martyr-candidate of the contractors, an unscrupulous man of
action and decision, bold, audacious, and unshrinking; and the
Western Reserve brought forward bluff Ben Wade, feigning fanaticism
and stoical virtue, but a mere mouther of strong words and profane
epithets. A few spoke of a fifth Ohio candidate for the nomination
in General Sheridan, but, "like a little man," he promptly sat down
on every demonstration in his behalf. It soon became evident that
General Grant would be nominated. State Republican Conventions,
Union Clubs, and newspapers of all political shades declared their
preferences for him, the New York _Herald_ finally coming out for
the "Conqueror of the Rebellion," with these lines, by General
Halpine (Miles O'Reilly), as a text. They afterward became
historic:
"So, boys, a final bumper,
While we all in chorus chant,
For next President we nominate
Our own Ulysses Grant.
"And if asked what State he hails from,
This our sole reply shall be,
From near Appomattox Court-House,
And its famous apple tree.
"For 'twas there to our Ulysses
That Lee gave up the fight;
Now, boys, to Grant for President,
And God defend the right."
Chief Justice Chase was treated with less favor by another poet,
who thus described his visit to Ohio to rally his followers:
"Says Salmon P.
Chase, says he,
'I'll fish, by Jupiter Ammon!'
He went to Ohio,
And threw in his fly--oh!
But never a sign of a Salmon."
The Chief Justice was a prominent candidate for the Democratic
nomination. His eldest daughter, Mrs. Kate Chase Sprague, was in
New York when the Democratic Convention was held there, and her
parlor was the head-quarters of her father's friends. Mr. Frederick
Aiken, a lawyer-journalist, who had appeared at the trial of the
conspirators as the defender of Mrs. Surratt, was her master of
ceremonies, and introduced the delegates from the rural districts
to Mrs. Sprague, but she failed to capture a majority. The Chief
Justice saw plainly that the star of Grant was in the ascendant,
and that his life-cherished hope of being President was doomed to
disappointment.
General Grant was very positive in demanding that all officers of
the Confederate army should enjoy their liberty. Among those of
them who had been imprisoned by order of the Secretary of War was
General Clement C. Clay, an ex-United States Senator from Alabama.
He was taken ill in prison with asthma, and his wife came to
Washington to solicit his release. She went to President Johnson,
and he gave her the necessary order, which she took back to Secretary
Stanton. Stanton read the order, and, looking her in the face,
tore it up without a word and pitched it into his waste-basket.
The lady arose and retired without speaking; nor did Stanton speak
to her. She was filled with despair. She saw her husband, in whom
her life was wrapped up, dying in prison, and she was unable to
help him.
Soon afterward she was advised to call on General Grant, who
ascertained by consulting his roster of the Confederate army that
her husband was a Brigadier-General, and then wrote an order
directing his release, under the Appomattox parole, on giving the
required bond, and added: "I shall see that this order is carried
out." Having signed the order, he gave it to Mrs. Clay, who the
next day presented it to the Secretary of War. Mr. Stanton read
it, then touched his bell, and when an officer appeared, handed
him the order, saying, "Have that man discharged."
The extensions of the Treasury Department were completed during
the Administration of President Johnson under the efficient direction
of Mr. A. B. Mullett, supervising architect. The entire building
is four hundred and sixty feet long and two hundred and sixty-four
feet wide. The new portions are constructed of granite, and the
entire cost of this elegantly finished structure was about eight
million dollars.
Senator Ben Wade, of Ohio, as President _pro tempore_ of the Senate,
enjoyed the privilege of appointing the keeper of the Senate
restaurant. That establishment, elegantly fitted up in the basement
story of the Senate wing of the Capitol, brilliantly lighted and
supplied with coal and ice, was enjoyed rent free by the person
fortunate enough to obtain it. It was customary, however, for him
to send a good lunch every day to the Vice-President's room without
charge.
One day the restauranteur, hearing that he was to be superseded by
a caterer from Cincinnati, called on Mr. Wade and said obsequiously,
"I am the keeper of the Senate restaurant, Senator." "Oh! yes,"
replied Mr. Wade, "you run the cook-shop down-stairs, don't you?"
"Yes, sir," was the reply, with a low bow. "Well," said Mr. Wade,
"what can I do for you? what do you want?" "I have called to
express my wish, sir, that I may continue to keep the restaurant,
and anything you want, sir, you have only to send a page down-stairs
and it shall be furnished quick as a flash, without costing you a
cent, sir."
Just then Mr. Wade appeared to recollect something, and looking
the man directly in the eye, said: "Oh! I don't want you to feed
me; when I do I will pay you for what I eat, like other people.
But, listen: complaint has been made to me that you don't treat
the little pages fairly or kindly. They complain that they can't
get anything to eat except expensive things, for which they have
to pay a large price. Now, sir, just remember that these pages
are our boys, and you had better overcharge Senators, who are able
to pay, than these little chaps, who want to save all of their
wages that they can for their mothers. You must be civil and kind
to these pages, sir, or I'll have you moved out of your cook-shop
and put in some one there who will treat the boys well." The
restauranteur promised that he would do so, and bowed his way out.
Mr. Wade after this made inquiry of the pages from time to time,
and found that they were civilly treated, and that lunches of
reasonable cost were provided for them.
Mr. Sumner's enemies circulated a statement that his great speech
on Alaska was prepared at the Department of State, and there
published at Government expense. This was an unmitigated falsehood.
Mr. Sumner obtained the materials for his speech by a careful
examination of all the available works in the Congressional and
other libraries at Washington in which reference is made to Alaska,
and by conversing with officers of the navy and of the Smithsonian
Institution who had been there. Everything supplied from the
Department of State was a brief correspondence between Mr. Stoeckel
and Secretary Seward, which made a quarter of a printed page. Mr.
Sumner's speech, written in his own hand, made nearly one hundred
foolscap pages, and the manuscript, which he gave me, is now in my
collection of autographs. He had it printed at the _Congressional
Globe_ office at his own expense, and an expensive job it was.
Subsequently Mr. Seward asked and received permission to have a
small extra edition struck off, before the type was distributed,
for the use of the Department of State, and with these copies was
bound a coast survey chart, for which Mr. Sumner had supplied much
information.
General Grant, although at times annoyed by his relations with the
President, passed the happiest period of his eventful life at
Washington during the Johnson Administration. He occupied a large
house which had been built by Judge Douglas, in what was known as
Minnesota Row. A devoted wife, Mrs. Grant was also an affectionate
mother, and the happy pair enjoyed the society of their children
as they grew up. Fred, the eldest son, who had shared some of his
father's later campaigns, was being prepared for admission to West
Point. The General's pet was his only daughter, Nellie, who was
bright and beautiful, and whose girlish prattle was far more
attractive to him than the compliments of Congressmen or the praises
of politicians.
General Grant used generally to walk to and from his "head-quarters,"
which were in a two-story house on Seventeenth Street, opposite
the War Department, and he was often seen trudging along on a stormy
day, his only protection from the rain being an army cloak and a
slouch hat. There was nothing to indicate that he was the Commander-
in-Chief of the army, and he was always alone in the morning when
he went to the Department. His route was through I Street to
Massachusetts and New York Avenues, to Fifteenth Street, and thence
by the broad-flagged pavement on Pennsylvania Avenue to the War
Department. Even the children along this route knew General Grant,
and would frequently salute him as he passed, silently smoking his
cigar. General Grant was very fond of walking about Washington,
and even after he became President nothing was more agreeable to
him than a stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue. Frequently in these
walks he would meet going in an opposite direction Sir Edward
Thornton, then the British Minister. Sir Edward was a good
pedestrian, and took long strolls every day, and would go springing
along like a boy out for a holiday. On the other hand, General
Grant walked slowly and deliberately, and would invariably return
every salutation, no matter how humble the person saluting might be.
General Grant's evening receptions at his house on Minnesota Row
were the social feature of Washington. Cabinet officers, diplomatists,
Judges, Congressmen, officers of the army and navy, residents, and
the strangers within their gates made up the throng that good-
humoredly jostled and crowded each other in futile attempts to move
through the parlors and hall. When General Grant had issued cards
of invitation to his first reception, hundreds who had received
none went, all the same, so he afterward announced through the
newspapers that he would be "happy to see his friends."
General Grant received all those who could get near him in his
usual stoical manner, his eyes lighting up when he took an old
friend or comrade by the hand. He wore his undress uniform, with
the four golden stars glistening on his shoulder-straps, while Mrs.
Grant, who stood at his side, wore a plain, high-necked, long-
sleeved, pink silk gown, with a Honiton black lace shawl thrown
over her shoulders. The wives of Senators Chandler and Morgan vied
with each other in the richness of their toilets and the splendor
of their diamonds, but the observed of all observers was Mrs.
Charles Sumner, on the Senator's arm, wearing a becoming dress of
black velvet, with a white lace shawl, and a flexible golden serpent
woven among her dark tresses.
Secretary Seward hovered around the host nearly all the evening,
anxious to conciliate him and to secure his support of "our
Administration." Mr. Speaker Colfax was in excellent spirits, and
so were the scores of Congressmen and placemen present, each one
anxious to say a word to the next President. Lieutenant-General
Sherman was grim and epigrammatic, while Generals Sheridan and Ord
appeared delighted at their deliverance from the troublesome duties
of reconstruction, and there was much soldier-talk among the many
brave men present who had stood shoulder to shoulder on hard-fought
fields. Receptions were given by President Johnson, Speaker Colfax,
Chief Justice Chase, Governor Morgan, Admiral Dalhgren, and other
dignitaries, but those at the house of General Grant eclipsed them
all.
Mr. Sam Ward began to operate in the lobby at Washington toward
the close of the war. He was a short, compactly built, round-headed
gentleman, well educated, with an inexhaustible fund of anecdote
and great gastronomic knowledge, which enabled him to give marvelously
good dinners. Besides all this, he was a "good witness," and
consequently a reliable friend. He said of himself, just after
being examined by General Butler, during the Andrew Johnson
impeachment investigation, that he had "been before that d----d
strabismal inquisition, and that his evidence wasn't worth half
his mileage." It should be known that his mileage was twenty cents,
ten cents per mile each way from Willard's Hotel to the Capitol,
and that, as his street-car fare only cost him twelve, he sent
eight cents to the Treasury as conscience money. So powerful a
legislative manipulator was Mr. Ward that he claimed for himself
the title, "King of the Lobby," nor was his claim seriously
disputed.
Charles Dickens again came to Washington to lecture during President
Johnson's last official winter. He had rooms at Welcker's restaurant
on Fifteenth Street. He used to walk out every fine day, accompanied
by his friend and adviser, Mr. Osgood, the Boston publisher, and
Mr. Dolby, his financial agent. They would often tramp eight or
ten miles before dinner. Simon Hanscom, the journalist, secured
him an interview with President Johnson, who impressed him, as he
afterward wrote, as "a man of very remarkable appearance--indeed,
of tremendous firmness of purpose, not to be trifled with." The
only invitation to dine that he accepted was one from Senator
Sumner, on a Sunday afternoon, when Secretary Stanton was in the
party.
In Washington, as elsewhere, Mr. Dickens' lectures and readings
were to him a mine of pecuniary profit, and to hundreds of the most
intelligent and cultured citizens of the metropolis they furnished
a treat of the highest intellectual character. His audiences were
such as must have highly flattered him, and his entertainments were
such as greatly delighted him.
[Facsimile]
Charles Sumner
CHARLES SUMNER was born at Boston, Massachusetts, January 6th,
1811; received a classical education, graduating at the Cambridge
Law School in 1834; practiced in Boston; traveled in Europe 1837-
1840; was United States Senator from Massachusetts from December
1st, 1851, until his death at Washington City, March 11th, 1869.