Washington, I told my wife, upon leaving home to take the position offered me here, that the first call I made in Washington should be upon the Rev. John Pierpont." As the Comptroller concluded, Dr. Pierpont put on his spectacles, and looked at him a moment in silence. He at length said:—"Why, Mr. McCulloch, you are the most extraordinary man I ever saw in my life!" "How so?" was the reply. "Why, you have remembered a favor for thirty years."
Dr. Pierpont told me, on another occasion, that in the prosecution of a duty once assigned him in the Department, he had to review a letter-book, containing correspondence with the different officers of the government. Among the letters was a private note, written by Secretary Chase to the Secretary of War, calling his attention to a complaint, made by the colored people of Cincinnati, against certain orders, or officers of the War Department. The letter closed with these words:—
"We cannot afford to lose the support of any part of our people. One poor man, colored though he be, with God on his side, is stronger against us than the hosts of the rebellion."
LV.
On the 30th of June, Washington was thrown into a ferment, by the resignation of Mr. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury. The publication, some
