Did you
I said I

come to make a suggestion. I told him I would introduce him to a young man of fine talents and liberal education, who had lost an arm in the service, and I wanted him to tell one of his Cabinet Ministers to give that young man a good place in the Civil Service, and to avail himself of the occasion to declare that the policy of the Administration was, whenever the qualifications were equal, to give those who had been wounded or disabled in the service of the country the preference in the Civil Department. He said it was an idea he would like to think of, and asked me how soon I would wait upon him in the morning. I said any hour; and I went at 7 o'clock and found him in the hands of a barber. Says he: "I have been thinking about your proposition, and I have a question to ask you: ever know Colonel Smith, of Rockford, Ill. ?" had an introduction to him when attending to the defense of Governor Bebb. "You know," said he, "that he was killed at Vicksburg; that his head was carried off by a shell. He was Postmaster, and his wife wants the place," and he inquired if that would come up to my idea; and thereupon he and I concocted a letter-I have the correspondence in my possession--to Postmaster General Blair, directing him to appoint the widow of Colonel Smith Postmistress, in the room of her deceased husband, who had fallen in battle, and stating that in consideration of what was due to the men who were fighting our battles, he had made up his mind that the families of those who had fallen, and those disabled in the service, their qualifications being equal, should always have a preference in the Civil Service.

I told him I was not personally acquainted with Blair, and he gave me a note of introduction to him with the letter. I told Blair that I proposed to take a copy of Mr. Lincoln's letter, which he had then made out by the clerk. I took the letter to the Chronicle office in Washington, in

which paper it was published, and the next morning I . jumped into an ambulance and went to the convalescing camp, where there were about 7,000 convalescents, a great many of them Ohio men, and when I made my appearance they called on me for a speech. I got upon a terrace and made them a few remarks, and, coming round to the old saw," that Republics are always ungrateful," I told them I could not vouch for the Republic, but I thought I could vouch for the chief man at the head of the Administration, and he had already spoken on that subject, and when I read Lincoln's letter the boys flung their hats into the air and made the welkin ring for a long while. I hurried back to the city, and with a pair of shears cut out Lincoln's letter, and then attached some editorial remarks, and that letter went around, and I believe was published in every friendly newspaper in the United States. About that time Congress passed a resolution to the same effect, that those disabled in the military service of the country, wherever qualified, ought to have a preference over others. This may have been a small matter, but it made a marvelous impression on the army.

The Serpent in Bed With Two Children.

A number of Kentuckians insisted that troops should not be sent through that state for the purpose of putting down the war in Tennessee. The President was hesitating what to do, and they were pressing immediate action.

"I am," he said, "a good deal like the farmer who, returning to his home one Winter night, found his two sweet little boys asleep with a hideous serpent crawling over their bodies. He could not strike the serpent without wounding or killing the children, so he calmly waited until it had moved away. Now, I do not want to act in a hurry about

this matter; I don't want to hurt anybody in Kentucky; but I will get the serpent out of Tennessee.

"And he did march through Kentucky, to the aid of Andrew Johnson's mountaineers."

A Church Which God Wanted for the Union Soldiers.

"Among the various applicants at the White House one day was a well-dressed lady, who came forward, without apparent embarrassment in her air of manner, and addressed the President. Giving her a very close and scrutinizing look, he said:

“Well, madam, what can I do for you?'

"She proceeded to tell him that she lived in Alexandria; that the church where she worshiped had been taken for a hospital.

"What church, madam?' Mr. Lincoln asked, in a quick,

nervous manner.

666 The Church,' she replied; and as there are only two or three wounded soldiers in it, I came to see if you would not let us have it, as we want it very much to worship God in.'

“Madam, have you been to see the Post Surgeon at Alexandria about this matter?'

"Yes, sir; but we could do nothing with him.'

66 6

Well, we put him there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose that he knows better what should be done under the circumstances than I do. See here: you say you live in Alexandria; probably you own property there. How much will you give to assist in building a hospital?'

"You know, Mr. Lincoln, our property is very much embarrassed by the war;-so, really, I could hardly afford to give much for such a purpose.'

“Well, madam, I expect we shall have another fight soon; and my candid opinion is, God wants that church for poor wounded Union soldiers, as much as He does for secesh people to worship in.' Turning to his table, he said, quite abruptly, 'You will excuse me;. I can do nothing for you. Good-day, madam.'

999

How Lincoln Relieved Rosecrans.

General James B. Steedman, familiarly known as "Old Chickamauga," relates the following: Some weeks after the disastrous battle of Chickamauga, while yet Chattanooga was in a state of siege, General Steedman was surprised one day to receive a telegram from Abraham Lincoln to come to Washington. Seeking out Thomas, he laid the telegram before him, and was instructed to set out at once. Repairing to the White House, he was warmly received by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's first question was abrupt and to the point:

"General Steedman, what is your opinion of General Rosecrans?"

General Steedman, hesitating a moment, said: "Mr. President, I would rather not express my opinion of my superior officer.”

Mr. Lincoln said: "It is the man who does not want to express an opinion whose opinion I want. I am besieged on all sides with advice. Every day I get letters from army officers asking me to allow them to come to Washington to impart some valuable knowledge in their possession.”

"Well, Mr. President," said General Steedman, "you are the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and if you order me to speak I will do so."

Mr. Lincoln said: "Then I will order an opinion." General Steedman then answered: "Since you com

mand me, Mr. President, I will say General Rosecrans is a splendid man to command a victorious army."

"But what kind of a man is he to command a defeated army?" said Mr. Lincoln.

General Steedman.in reply said, cautiously: "I think there are two or three men in that army that would be better."

Then, with his quaint humor, Mr. Lincoln propounded this question: "Who, besides yourself, General Steedman. is there in that army who would make a better commander?"

General Steedman said promptly: "General George H. Thomas."

"I am glad to hear you say so," said Mr. Lincoln, "that is my own opinion exactly. But Mr. Stanton is against him, and it was only yesterday that a powerful New York delegation was here to protest against his appointment because he is from a Rebel State and can not be trusted.”

Said General Steedman: "A man who will leave his own state (Thomas was a Virginian), his friends, all his associations, to follow the flag of his country, can be trusted in any position to which he may be called." That night the order went forth from Washington relieving General Rosecrans of the command of the Army of the Cumberland and appointing Thomas in his place.

An Interesting Incident Connected With Signing the Eriancipation Proclamation.

"The roll containing the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln at noon on the first day of January, 1863, by Secretary Seward and his son Frederick. As it lay unrolled before him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held