always distinguished him."

The account given by Thurlow Weed, the veteran New York editor and
journalist, of his visit to Lincoln on this occasion is of peculiar
interest. Mr. Weed remained in Springfield two or three days in close
consultation with the President-elect, the formation of the new Cabinet
being the subject principally discussed. After expressing gratification
at his election, and an apprehension of the dangers which threatened the
incoming administration, says Mr. Weed, in his autobiography, "Mr.
Lincoln remarked, smiling, that he supposed I had had some experience in
cabinet-making; that he had job on hand, and as he had never learned
that trade he was disposed to avail himself of the suggestions of
friends. The question thus opened became the subject of conversation, at
intervals, during that and the following day. I say at intervals,
because many hours were consumed in talking of the public men connected
with former administrations, interspersed, illustrated, and seasoned
pleasantly with Mr. Lincoln's stories, anecdotes, etc. And here I feel
called upon to vindicate Mr. Lincoln, as far as my opportunities and
observation go, from the frequent imputation of telling indelicate and
ribald stories. I saw much of him during his whole Presidential term,
with familiar friends and alone, when he talked without restraint; but I
_never heard him use a profane or indecent word, or tell a story that
might not be repeated in the presence of ladies_."

"Mr. Lincoln observed," continues Mr. Weed, "that the making of a
Cabinet, now that he had it to do, was by no means as easy as he had
supposed; that he had, even before the result of the election was known,
assuming the probability of success, fixed upon the two leading members
of his Cabinet, but that in looking about for suitable men to fill the
other departments he had been much embarrassed, partly from his want of
acquaintance with the prominent men of the day, and partly because he
believed that while the population of the country had immensely
increased _really great men were scarcer than they used to be_.... As
the conversation progressed, Lincoln remarked that he intended to invite
Governor Seward to take the State Department and Governor Chase the
Treasury Department, remarking that aside from their long experience in
public affairs and their eminent fitness they were prominently before
the people and the convention as competitors for the Presidency, each