I did. I had not known
either Boutwell or Dana before. The commission finished its work
in about a month, and forwarded to Washington all papers, with its
report. The claims were paid on the basis of our allowance, and
justice was done to all concerned.

Early in 1862 an old friend of President Lincoln's, James Lamb,
came to see me, stating that he had been furnishing beef cattle to
the army; that he had received orders to furnish a given number on
the hoof at a certain place in the South, which he had done; but
before his cattle arrived the army had gone, and he had thereby
suffered great loss. He asked me to look after his claim when I
went to the National capital, and I agreed to do so. I knew nothing
about such things in Washington, nor how such business with the
Government was transacted. I went to the President as the only
official with whom I was acquainted, and stated to him, "Uncle
Jimmie Lamb, your old friend, has a claim," setting forth the same
in full. "You know he is a good man," I urged, "and he ought to
have his money." Lincoln answered me by saying: "Cullom, there
is this difference in dealing between two individuals and between
an individual and the Government: if an individual does not do as
he agreed and the other person is injured thereby, he can sue the
one responsible for the injury, and recover damages; but in the
case of the Government, if it does not do right, the individual
can't help himself." He gave me a note, however, to the proper
officer and the matter was arranged.

The gossip around the Capitol in Washington among Senators and
Representatives is a very poor gauge of public sentiment in the
country toward a President. I was in Washington a few months before
the second nomination. I talked with numerous Representatives and
Senators, and it really seemed to me as if there was hardly any
one in favor of the renomination of Mr. Lincoln. I felt much
discouraged over the circumstance. When I was about to leave for
home, I called at the White House. I asked the President if he
permitted anybody to talk to him about himself. He replied that
he did. I said: "I would like to talk to you about yourself."
He asked me to be seated. Whereupon I told him that I had been in
Washington some ten days or more, and that everybody seemed to be
against him.

"Well, it is not quite so bad as that," he said. He took down his
directory, and I soon discovered that he had a far more inti