Mr. Lovejoy, heading a committee of Western men, discussed an important scheme with the President, and the gentlemen were then directed to explain it to Secretary of War Stanton. Upon presenting themselves to the Secretary, and showing the President’s order, the Secretary said: “Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind?” “He did, sir.” “Then he is a d--d fool,” said the angry Secretary. “Do you mean to say that the President is a d--d fool?” asked Lovejoy, in amazement. “Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that.” The bewildered Illinoisan betook himself at once to the President and related the result of the conference. “Did Stanton say I was a d--d fool?” asked Lincoln at the close of the recital. “He did, sir, and repeated it.” After a moment’s pause, and looking up, the President said: “If Stanton said I was a d--d fool, then I must be one, for he is nearly always right, and generally says what he means. I will slip over and see him.” MRS. LINCOLN’S SURPRISE. A good story is told of how Mrs. Lincoln made a little surprise for her husband. In the early days it was customary for lawyers to go from one county to another on horseback, a journey which often required several weeks. On returning from one of these trips, late one night, Mr. Lincoln dismounted from his horse at the familiar corner and then turned to go into the house, but stopped; a perfectly unknown structure was before him. Surprised, and thinking there must be some mistake, he went across the way and knocked at a neighbor’s door. The family had retired, and so called out: “Who’s there?” “Abe Lincoln,” was the reply. “I am looking for my house. I thought it was across the way, but when I went away a few weeks ago there was only a one-story house there and now there is a two-story house in its place. I think I must be lost.” The neighbors then explained that Mrs. Lincoln had added another story during his absence. And Mr. Lincoln laughed and went to his remodeled house. MENACE TO THE GOVERNMENT. The persistence of office-seekers nearly drove President Lincoln wild. They slipped in through the half-opened doors of the Executive Mansion; they dogged his steps if he walked; they edged their way through the crowds and thrust their papers in his hands when he rode; and, taking it all in all, they well-nigh worried him to death. He once said that if the Government passed through the Rebellion without dismemberment there was the strongest danger of its falling a prey to the rapacity of the office-seeking class. “This human struggle and scramble for office, for a way to live without work, will finally test the strength of our institutions,” were the words he used. TROOPS COULDN’T FLY OVER IT. On April 20th a delegation from Baltimore appeared at the White House and begged the President that troops for Washington be sent around and not through Baltimore.