THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
I observed a note of sadness in his tone. At that period I had studied the history of the country enough to know that the “presidential fever” was a troublesome ailment, and sometimes fatal to the peace of mind and the moral equilibrium of persons attacked by it. But I had never come in contact with a public man who was, in the largest sense of the term, possessed by the desire to be President, even to the extent of honestly believing that he owed it to the country and that the country owed it to him that he should be President, and who had to make the utmost moral effort to keep that idea from obscuring his motives and controlling his whole conduct. Chase was one of the noblest victims of that disease, and he suffered terribly from it—not as though it had corrupted his principles and vitiated his public morals, for he remained true to the high aims of his public life; but because he constantly indulged in hopes and delusions which always proved deceptive. His repeated disappointments pierced him and rankled in him like poisoned arrows; and he was incessantly tortured by the feeling that his country did not do justice to him, and that his public life was a failure. It was a pathetic spectacle.
I remained in friendly relations with Mr. Chase as long as he lived, and our intercourse always became really confidential whenever we had occasion to exchange opinions. This was not infrequent when he was in President Lincoln's Cabinet and at the beginning of his career as Chief Justice. He always knew that I thought his ambition hopeless and his efforts to accomplish its aim futile. But this never affected our personal friendship, for he knew also that I esteemed him very highly and cherished for him a sincere affection.
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