for which he had direct responsibility, and
of great wisdom and practical sense. I formed a very pleasant
friendship with him, and regretted it exceedingly when he
left the Senate, after serving a single term. There was at
the time a very bad practice in New Hampshire of frequently
changing her Senators. So few of the very able men who have
represented her in the Senate for the last fifty years have
made the impression upon the public service, or gained the
fame to which their ability would have entitled them, if they
had had longer service. Mr. Wadleigh was an excellent lawyer,
and the Senate gave him its confidence in all matters with
which his important Committee had to deal.

David Davis of Illinois was a very interesting character.
He had been a successful lawyer, an eminent Judge in his
State, and a very admirable Judge of the Supreme Court of
the United States, to which office he was appointed by Abraham
Lincoln.

He entered the Senate when I did, and served one term of
six years. His service in the Senate did not add at all to
his distinction. The one thing he had done in life of which
he was very proud and which was of most importance, was bringing
about the nomination of Abraham Lincoln at Chicago. Of that
he liked to discourse whenever he could get a listener, and
his discourses were always so entertaining that everybody
listened who could.

David Davis thought that but for him Lincoln would not have
been nominated. I have little doubt that he was right. He
had many able and bright men to help him. But he was the
leader, director and counsellor of all the forces. He threw
himself into it with all the zeal of a man fighting for his
life. He made pledges right and left, seeming to discover
every man's weak point, and used entreaty, flattery and promises
without stint, and, if he were himself to be believed, without
much scruple. When somebody said to him in my hearing, "You
must have used a good deal of diplomacy, Judge, at that Convention."
"Diplomacy," replied Davis, "My dear man, I lied like the
devil." He had that sense of humor peculiar to Americans,
which likes to state in an exaggerated way things that are
calculated to shock the listener, which our English and German
brethren cannot comprehend. So I do not think this statement
of Davis's is to be taken without many grains of salt. I suppose
he thought the man to whom he said it would not take it too
literally.

Judge Davis wa