Lincoln's Yarns and Stories [82]
with him for quite a time, but he was awakened to a full realization of the greatness of the Chief Executive "all of a sudden."
Having submitted "Some Thoughts for the President's Consideration"--a lengthy paper intended as an outline of the policy, both domestic and foreign, the Administration should pursue--he was not more surprised at the magnanimity and kindness of President Lincoln's reply than the thorough mastery of the subject displayed by the President.
A few months later, when the Secretary had begun to understand Mr. Lincoln, he was quick and generous to acknowledge his power.
"Executive force and vigor are rare qualities," he wrote to Mrs. Seward. "The President is the best of us."
HOW LINCOLN "COMPOSED."
Superintendent Chandler, of the Telegraph Office in the War Department, once told how President Lincoln wrote telegrams. Said he:
"Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. His method of composition was slow and laborious. It was evident that he thought out what he was going to say before he touched his pen to the paper. He would sit looking out of the window, his left elbow on the table, his hand scratching his temple, his lips moving, and frequently he spoke the sentence aloud or in a half whisper.
"After he was satisfied that he had the proper expression, he would write it out. If one examines the originals of Mr. Lincoln's telegrams and letters, he will find very few erasures and very little interlining. This was because he had them definitely in his mind before writing them.
"In this he was the exact opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with feverish haste, often scratching out words, and interlining frequently. Sometimes he would seize a sheet which he had filled, and impatiently tear it into pieces."
HAMLIN MIGHT DO IT.
Several United States Senators urged President Lincoln to muster Southern slaves into the Union Army. Lincoln replied:
"Gentlemen, I have put thousands of muskets into the hands of loyal citizens of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Western North Carolina. They have said they could defend themselves, if they had guns. I have given them the guns. Now, these men do not believe in mustering-in the negro. If I do it, these thousands of muskets will be turned against us. We should lose more than we should gain."
Being still further urged, President Lincoln gave them this answer:
"Gentlemen," he said, "I can't do it. I can't see it as you do. You may be right, and I may be wrong; but I'll tell you what I can do; I can resign in favor of Mr. Hamlin. Perhaps Mr. Hamlin could do it."
The matter ended there, for the time being.
THE GUN SHOT BETTER.
The President took a lively interest in all new firearm improvements and inventions, and it sometimes happened that, when an inventor could get nobody else in the Government to listen to him, the President would personally test his gun. A former clerk in the Navy Department tells an incident illustrative.
He had stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one striding up and down the hall muttering: "I do wonder if they have gone already and left the building all alone." Looking out, the clerk was surprised to see the President.
"Good evening," said Mr. Lincoln. "I was just looking for that man who goes shooting with me sometimes."
The clerk knew Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain messenger of the Ordnance Department who had been accustomed to going with him to test weapons, but as this man had gone home, the clerk offered his services. Together they went to the lawn south of the White House, where Mr. Lincoln fixed up a target cut from a sheet of white Congressional notepaper.
"Then pacing off a distance of about eighty or a hundred feet," writes the clerk, "he raised the rifle to a level, took a quick aim, and drove the round of seven shots in quick succession, the bullets shooting all around the target like a Gatling gun and one striking near the center.
"'I believe I can make this gun shoot better,' said Mr. Lincoln, after we had looked at the result of the first fire. With
Having submitted "Some Thoughts for the President's Consideration"--a lengthy paper intended as an outline of the policy, both domestic and foreign, the Administration should pursue--he was not more surprised at the magnanimity and kindness of President Lincoln's reply than the thorough mastery of the subject displayed by the President.
A few months later, when the Secretary had begun to understand Mr. Lincoln, he was quick and generous to acknowledge his power.
"Executive force and vigor are rare qualities," he wrote to Mrs. Seward. "The President is the best of us."
HOW LINCOLN "COMPOSED."
Superintendent Chandler, of the Telegraph Office in the War Department, once told how President Lincoln wrote telegrams. Said he:
"Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. His method of composition was slow and laborious. It was evident that he thought out what he was going to say before he touched his pen to the paper. He would sit looking out of the window, his left elbow on the table, his hand scratching his temple, his lips moving, and frequently he spoke the sentence aloud or in a half whisper.
"After he was satisfied that he had the proper expression, he would write it out. If one examines the originals of Mr. Lincoln's telegrams and letters, he will find very few erasures and very little interlining. This was because he had them definitely in his mind before writing them.
"In this he was the exact opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with feverish haste, often scratching out words, and interlining frequently. Sometimes he would seize a sheet which he had filled, and impatiently tear it into pieces."
HAMLIN MIGHT DO IT.
Several United States Senators urged President Lincoln to muster Southern slaves into the Union Army. Lincoln replied:
"Gentlemen, I have put thousands of muskets into the hands of loyal citizens of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Western North Carolina. They have said they could defend themselves, if they had guns. I have given them the guns. Now, these men do not believe in mustering-in the negro. If I do it, these thousands of muskets will be turned against us. We should lose more than we should gain."
Being still further urged, President Lincoln gave them this answer:
"Gentlemen," he said, "I can't do it. I can't see it as you do. You may be right, and I may be wrong; but I'll tell you what I can do; I can resign in favor of Mr. Hamlin. Perhaps Mr. Hamlin could do it."
The matter ended there, for the time being.
THE GUN SHOT BETTER.
The President took a lively interest in all new firearm improvements and inventions, and it sometimes happened that, when an inventor could get nobody else in the Government to listen to him, the President would personally test his gun. A former clerk in the Navy Department tells an incident illustrative.
He had stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one striding up and down the hall muttering: "I do wonder if they have gone already and left the building all alone." Looking out, the clerk was surprised to see the President.
"Good evening," said Mr. Lincoln. "I was just looking for that man who goes shooting with me sometimes."
The clerk knew Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain messenger of the Ordnance Department who had been accustomed to going with him to test weapons, but as this man had gone home, the clerk offered his services. Together they went to the lawn south of the White House, where Mr. Lincoln fixed up a target cut from a sheet of white Congressional notepaper.
"Then pacing off a distance of about eighty or a hundred feet," writes the clerk, "he raised the rifle to a level, took a quick aim, and drove the round of seven shots in quick succession, the bullets shooting all around the target like a Gatling gun and one striking near the center.
"'I believe I can make this gun shoot better,' said Mr. Lincoln, after we had looked at the result of the first fire. With