Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, July 28, 1865

Immediately after reaching the Department this morning I was told there was a suspension of action in the case of the Navy Agency. Soon after, Mr. Brown called. I told him he had not kept his promise of seeing me on Wednesday. He was, as Jack Downing says, “a little stumped” but said he supposed it was of no use. He then informed me that the President had been seen the night before, and had referred the case of the Navy Agency to the Attorney-General and the Solicitor of the Department for their written opinion on a legal point.

Mr. Bolles, the Solicitor, came in soon after Brown left, and said he had been with the President and Hamlin the previous evening, and that the President would in writing call for the written opinion of himself and Ashton, Acting Attorney-General. In a little time B. and A. came in. Ashton did not at first rightly comprehend the case, but soon reached it, and a brief but clear opinion was soon given and transmitted to the President. It will, I think, be conclusive, and dispense with the farther services of ExVice-President Hamlin for the present. Perhaps I judge him severely, but he seems to me a violent and unscrupulous man, avaricious and reckless. Mr. Bridge, Chief of Provisions and Clothing, says he has no doubt Hamlin is a partner of Brown in the Agency. He, as well as they, is from Maine, and from his position has had opportunities of forming correct opinions.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 345-6

Nathaniel Hawthorne to Horatio Bridge, May 26, 1861

Concord, May 26, 1861.

My Dear Bridge, — . . . The war, strange to say, has had a beneficial effect upon my spirits, which were flagging wofully before it broke out. But it was delightful to share in the heroic sentiment of the time, and to feel that I had a country, — a consciousness which seemed to make me young again. One thing as regards this matter I regret, and one thing I am glad of. The regrettable thing is that I am too old to shoulder a musket myself, and the joyful thing is that Julian is too young. He drills constantly with a company of lads, and means to enlist as soon as he reaches the minimum age. But I trust we shall either be victorious or vanquished before that time. Meantime, though I approve the war as much as any man, I don't quite understand what we are fighting for, or what definite result can be expected. If we pummel the South ever so hard, they will love us none the better for it; and even if we subjugate them, our next step should be to cut them adrift. If we are fighting for the annihilation of slavery, to be sure it may be a wise object, and offer a tangible result, and the only one which is consistent with a future union between North and South. A continuance of the war would soon make this plain to us, and we should see the expediency of preparing our black brethren for future citizenship by allowing them to fight for their own liberties, and educating them through heroic influences. Whatever happens next, I must say that I rejoice that the old Union is smashed. We never were one people, and never really had a country since the Constitution was formed. . . .

Nath. Hawthorne

SOURCE: Julian Hawthorne,  Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife: A Biography, Vol. 2, p. 276-7