e President.
Immediately after his second inauguration, Mr. Lincoln offered
Montgomery Blair his choice of the Spanish or the Austrian mission, an
offer which he peremptorily though respectfully declined.

The appointment of Mr. Chase as chief justice had probably been decided
on in Mr. Lincoln's own mind from the first, though he gave no public
intimation of his decision before sending the nomination to the Senate
on December 6. Mr. Chase's partizans claimed that the President had
already virtually promised him the place; his opponents counted upon the
ex-secretary's attitude of criticism to work against his appointment.
But Mr. Lincoln sternly checked all presentations of this personal
argument; nor were the prayers of those who urged him to overlook the
harsh and indecorous things Mr. Chase had said of him at all necessary.
To one who spoke in this latter strain the President replied:

"Oh, as to that I care nothing. Of Mr. Chase's ability, and of his
soundness on the general issues of the war, there is, of course, no
question. I have only one doubt about his appointment. He is a man of
unbounded ambition, and has been working all his life to become
President. That he can never be; and I fear that if I make him chief
justice he will simply become more restless and uneasy and neglect the
place in his strife and intrigue to make himself President. If I were
sure that he would go on the bench and give up his aspirations, and do
nothing but make himself a great judge, I would not hesitate a moment."

He wrote out Mr. Chase's nomination with his own hand, and sent it to
the Senate the day after Congress came together. It was confirmed at
once, without reference to a committee, and Mr. Chase, on learning of
his new dignity, sent the President a cordial note, thanking him for the
manner of his appointment, and adding: "I prize your confidence and good
will more than any nomination to office." But Mr. Lincoln's fears were
better founded than his hopes. Though Mr. Chase took his place on the
bench with a conscientious desire to do his whole duty in his great
office, he could not dismiss the political affairs of the country from
his mind, and still considered himself called upon to counteract the
mischievous tendencies of the President toward conciliation and hasty
reconstruction.

The reorganization of the cabinet went on by gradual disintegration
rather than by any brusque or even voluntary action on the part of Mr.
Linc