ll.

General W.T. Sherman contributes an interesting reminiscence at this
point. "One day," says General Sherman, "my brother, Senator Sherman,
took me with him to see Mr. Lincoln. We found the room full of people.
Mr. Lincoln sat at the end of a table, talking with three or four
gentlemen, who soon left. John walked up, shook hands, and took a chair
near him, holding in his hand some papers referring to minor
appointments in the State of Ohio, which formed the subject of
conversation. Mr. Lincoln took the papers, said he would refer them to
the proper heads of departments, and would be glad to make the
appointments asked for, if not already promised. John then turned to me,
and said, 'Mr. President, this is my brother, Colonel Sherman, who is
just up from Louisiana; he may give you some information you want.'
'Ah!' said Mr. Lincoln, 'how are they getting along down there?' I said,
'They think they are getting along swimmingly--they are preparing for
war.' 'Oh, well!' said he, '_I guess we'll manage to keep house_.' I was
silenced, said no more to him, and we soon left. I was sadly
disappointed, and remember that I broke out on John, cursing the
politicians generally, saying, 'You have got things in a ---- of a fix,
and you may get them out as best you can,' adding that the country was
sleeping on a volcano that might burst forth at any minute, but that I
was going to St. Louis to take care of my family, and would have no more
to do with it. John begged me to be more patient, but I said I would
not; that I had no time to wait, that I was off for St. Louis; and off I
went."

The apartment which Lincoln used as an office in which to transact daily
business and to receive informal visits was on the second floor of the
White House. Its simple equipments are thus described by Mr. Arnold: "It
was about twenty-five by forty feet in size. In the centre, on the west,
was a large white marble fireplace, with big old-fashioned brass
andirons, and a large and high brass fender. A wood fire was burning in
cool weather. The large windows opened on the beautiful lawn to the
south, with a view of the unfinished Washington Monument, the
Smithsonian Institution, the Potomac, Alexandria, and on down the river
toward Mt. Vernon. Across the Potomac were Arlington Heights and
Arlington House, late the residence of Robert E. Lee. On the hills
around, during nearly all Lincoln's administration, were the white tents
of soldiers, field fortifi