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Cabinet who, after much patient forbearance on the part of President Lincoln, was finally dismissed in such a way as to let him out of the council without in the least injuring his feelings. From the first, Mr. Blair had not been very kindly disposed towards Secretary Chase; these two men represented the extreme wings of the party, Chase being the more radical, and Blair the ultra-conservative. Among other offences of the Postmaster-General was the delivery of a caustic speech at Rockville, Md., during the summer of 1864, in which he set forth his grievances against the "radicals," and assumed, as a member of the Cabinet, to defend the President against the attacks of said "radicals." This grieved and worried the President, and when these things became no longer endurable, the President, towards the end of September, 1864, wrote Mr. Blair a note in which he reminded the Postmaster-General that he (Mr. Blair) had generously offered on more than one occasion to give the President his resignation. "The time has come," continued Lincoln, reminding Mr. Blair that this accepting of a resignation never formally made in writing would be a relief to the Chief Executive. Mr. Blair took his dismissal without anger, and he was thereafter a loyal friend of Lincoln to the end.

Previous to this departure of Mr. Blair from the Cabinet, there had been some unpleasantness among his colleagues on account of certain remarks which the Postmaster-General was alleged to have made, greatly to the wrath of General Halleck and Secretary Stanton, which last-named functionary Mr. Blair did

not love. The matter was brought to the attention of the President, who, at the next meeting of the Cabinet, as if he were aware that some of the members of the Cabinet were hoping that the difficulty would end by crowding the Postmaster General out, prepared a paper, which he read to them, as follows:

"I must myself be the judge how long to retain in and when to remove any one of you from his position. It would greatly pain me to discover any of you endeavoring to procure another's removal, or in any way to prejudice him before the public. Such endeavor would be a wrong to me, and, much worse, a wrong to the country. My wish is that on this subject no remark be made nor question asked by any of you, here or elsewhere, now or hereafter."

This remarkable little address should be read by any one who has been led to believe that President Lincoln was without authority in the administration that bears his name.

During the great popular depression which prevailed just before the Democratic party made its Presidential nomination in 1864, and when the campaign of the Republicans lagged with indescribable languor, and the military situation was dark and cloudy, Lincoln began to share in the prevailing impression that he would not be re-elected. Then his enemies circulated the absurd rumor that the President and his Cabinet, being assured of defeat at the polls, would willingly help on the ruin which they had not been able to avert. With these things in view, Mr. Lincoln, on the 23d of August, wrote the following memorandum:

"This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this administration will not be reelected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards."

If Lincoln were defeated by the Democratic candidate, who had not then been named, the successful nominee must have been pledged to a line of policy which would be destructive of the Union. So, having pledged himself to co-operation with the President-elect, whoever he might be, Mr. Lincoln folded the sheet on which he had written the memorandum above quoted, and, having pasted its edges, requested each member of his Cabinet to sign his name on the back thereof, none but the President knowing the contents of the paper. In November, when Lincoln had been re-elected, he recalled to the minds of his Cabinet ministers this incident, reminding them that it had occurred at a time when his administration, pending the nomination of the Democratic candidate, "had no adversary, and seemed to have no friends." Then the paper was unsealed, and the ministers present for the first time saw how singularly the President had pledged himself and them to a loyal and sincere acceptance of the result of the Presidential election, whatever that result might be.

It may be truly said of Lincoln that, in spite of his alleged slowness, he never took one backward step. Each step was taken with great care, but, having "put his foot down," he was immovable. Neverthe

less, in considering any important move, he consulted with his Cabinet ministers frankly and fully, not as some generals held councils of war, abiding by the vote of the majority of those present, but hearkening to the council and pursuing his own course afterwards. The most striking instance of his openness to arguments opposed to his own convictions is that of the proposed payment of a large sum of money to the Rebel States for the extinguishment of slavery within their borders. The President had calculated that this payment would end the war and save many precious lives. He submitted his plan to the Cabinet at a meeting held in February, 1865, very soon after the celebrated conference between himself and the Rebel commissioners at Hampton Roads. To his great surprise, the members of the Cabinet were unanimously opposed to the proposed scheme. They did not believe Congress would be willing to consent to paying the Rebel States for the freeing of their slaves; and it was urged that if the scheme were made public and failed of consummation it would result in harm. According to the report of those present, Lincoln sadly said: "You are all opposed to me, and I will not send the message." The document, which was in the form of a message to Congress recommending the plan here outlined, was folded by the President, and indorsed with the simple statement that the plan therein contained had been unanimously disapproved by the Cabinet. This was Lincoln's simple way of disposing of a matter which he felt he could not undertake to carry through without the concurrence of his constitutional advisers.

CHAPTER XXVII.

END OF A STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY.

Symptoms of a Collapse of the Confederacy-Lee Seeks a Parley with Grant-The Fall of Richmond-Flight of the Rebel Government -Lincoln in the Former Rebel Capital-He Goes to the FrontThe Surrender of Lee-Great Joy of the People-The National Capital in a Frenzy of Delight-Lincoln's Last Public Speech— His Death and Funeral-Conclusion.

THE spring of 1865 opened with every prospect of a speedy and complete ending of the rebellion. Sherman's march to the sea had once more rent the dying Confederacy, even morc disastrously than the opening of the Mississippi had previously split it into two large fragments. Everywhere, on land and sea, the arms of the Union had been crowned with victory. Sherman's movements in the Carolinas had compelled the abandonment of Charleston. The capture of Fort Fisher by General Terry had virtually closed the last Atlantic port against possible supplies from abroad for the Rebel forces. The scattered remnants of their armies were forced to concentrate and rally around Lee for the defence of the Rebel capital, and on the 3d of March, the day before the second inauguration of Lincoln, news reached him that Lee had at last sought an interview with Grant for the purpose of seeing if any terms of peace could be considered. True to their settled

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