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Anecdote of President Lincoln.--Mr. Lincoln's practical shrewdness is exemplified in the following anecdote, which is sufficiently characteristic:
In the purlieus of the Capitol at Washington, the story goes that, after the death of Chief-Justice Taney, and before the appointment of Mr. Chase in his stead, a committee of citizens from the Philadelphia Union League, with a distinguished journalist at their head as chairman, proceeded to Washington, for the purpose of laying before the President the reason why, in their opinion, Mr. Chase should be appointed to the vacancy on the bench.
They took with them a memorial addressed to the President, which was read to him by one of the committee.
After listening to the memorial, the President said to them, in a very deliberate manner: “Will you do me the favor to leave that paper with me?
I want it in order that, if I appoint Mr. Chase, I may show the friends of the other persons for whom the office is solicited, by how powerful an influence and by what strong personal recommendations the claims of Mr. Chase were supported.”
The committee listened with great satisfaction, and
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were about to depart, thinking that Mr. Chase was sure of the appointment, when they perceived that Mr. Lincoln had not finished what he intended to say. “And, I want the paper also,” continued he, after a pause, “in order that, if I should appoint any other person, I may show his friends how powerful an influence and what strong recommendations I was obliged to disregard in appointing him.”
The committee departed as wise as they came.
Van Nostrand. New York, New York. 1866.
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