The meeting was attended also by
Senators Collamer, Fessenden, Harris, Trumbull, Grimes, Howard, Sumner,
and Pomeroy. The President, says Mr. Welles, opened the subject for
which the meeting was called, taking a conciliatory tone toward the
Senators, and requesting from each in turn an expression of opinion as
to the wisdom of dropping Seward from the Cabinet. Most of them were
strongly of the opinion that Seward ought to go. The President presented
his own views, which were, in effect, that it would be a mistake to let
Seward leave the Cabinet at that particular time. "He managed his own
case," says Mr. Welles, "speaking freely, and showing great tact,
shrewdness, and ability." The meeting continued until nearly midnight,
and the matter was left still in the President's hands. The next morning
Mr. Welles called early at the White House and found Lincoln practically
decided not to accept Seward's resignation, saying that it would never
do to take the course prescribed by the Senators; that "the Government
would cave in; it could not stand--would not hold water; the bottom
would be out," etc. He requested Welles to go at once to Seward and ask
him not to press his resignation. Lincoln's intuitional mind seemed at
once to connect Secretary Chase with the attack on Seward. Before Welles
left the room, the President rang a bell and directed that a message be
sent to Chase requesting him to come at once to the White House. When
Welles returned from his interview with Seward, who readily promised to
withdraw his resignation at the President's request, he found both Chase
and Seward waiting for the President. The latter soon came in, and his
first words were to ask Welles if he "had seen the man," to which Welles
answered that he had, and that he assented to what had been asked of
him. The dramatic scene that followed is thus described by Mr. Welles in
his Diary: "The President turned to Chase and said, 'I sent for you, for
this matter is giving me great trouble.' Chase said he had been
painfully affected by the meeting last evening, which was a total
surprise to him; and, after some not very explicit remarks as to how he
was affected, informed the President he had prepared his resignation of
the office of Secretary of the Treasury. 'Where is it?' said the
President quickly, his eye lighting up in a moment. 'I brought it with
me,' said Chase, taking the paper from his pocket; 'I wrote it this
morning.' 'Let me have it,' said the