highly his own
services to his country. Nor is there any doubt that, alone among
Lincoln's close associates, he continued until the end to believe
himself a better man than the President. He and his radical following
made no change in their attitude to Lincoln, though Chase pursued
a course of confidential criticism which has since inspired the
characterization of him as a "sneak," while his followers were more
outspoken. In the summer of 1863 Chase was seriously talked of as the
next President, and before the end of the year Chase clubs were being
organized in all the large cities to promote his candidacy. Chase
himself took the adroit position of not believing that any President
should serve a second term.

Early in 1864 the Chase organization sent out a confidential circular
signed by Senator Pomeroy of Kansas setting forth the case against
Lincoln as a candidate and the case in favor of Chase. Unfortunately
for Chase, this circular fell into the hands of a newspaper and was
published. Chase at once wrote to Lincoln denying any knowledge of the
circular but admitting his candidacy and offering his resignation. No
more remarkable letter was written by Lincoln than his reply to Chase,
in which he showed that he had long fully understood the situation, and
which he closed with these words: "Whether you shall remain at the head
of the Treasury Department is a question which I do not allow myself
to consider from any standpoint other than my judgment of the public
service, and, in that view, I do not perceive occasion for change."

The Chase boom rapidly declined. The deathblow was given by a caucus of
the Union members of the legislature of his own State nominating Lincoln
"at the demand of the people and the soldiers of Ohio." The defeat
embittered Chase. For several months, however, he continued in the
Cabinet, and during this time he had the mortification of seeing Lincoln
renominated in the National Union Convention amid a great display of
enthusiasm.

More than once in the past, Chase had offered his resignation. On one
occasion Lincoln had gone to his house and had begged him to reconsider
his decision. Soon after the renomination, Chase again offered his
resignation upon the pretext of a disagreement with the President over
appointments to office. This time, however, Lincoln felt the end had
come and accepted the resignation. Chase's successor in the Treasury was
William Pitt Fessenden, Senator from Maine. Dur