The Assassination of President Lincoln--The War Committee meet President Johnson--Revengeful disposition of the new Executive--Legal questions in reference to the trial of traitors--An important paper by Benjamin F. Butler--A practicable method for prosecuting Jeff Davis--Change of sentiment in President Johnson--He abandons the party that elected him--Development of his "policy"--Hindrance to successful reconstruction--The impeachment resolutions and trial--Disappointment of Mr. Chandler at the failure to convict--General work in the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses. 279 CHAPTER XVII. THE PRESIDENCY OF GENERAL GRANT--THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. Work in the campaign of 1868--Mr. Chandler's re-election to the Senate--The Fifteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights bill--Edwin M. Stanton's death and the fund for his family--Mr. Chandler's opposition to Southern war claims--His purchase of the Confederate archives--The value of these documents--Election of Senator Ferry--Mr. Chandler's fidelity to his friends--His denunciation of Southern outrages--His comparison of the two parties--His defense of President Grant against Charles Sumner's attacks--The "Salary Grab" opposed by Senator Chandler and his colleague--The Republican Congressional Committee and its efficient work--Intimacy between Mr. Chandler and James M. Edmunds--The latter's usefulness. 298 CHAPTER XVIII. THE MAINTENANCE OF A SOUND CURRENCY AND THE PUBLIC FAITH. Condition of the government credit in 1861--The first issue of "greenbacks"--Mr. Chandler's opposition to any increase in the amount--Taxation recommended as a substitute--Opposition to the taxation of national bonds--Arguments for payment in coin of the "greenbacks" and bonds--Advocacy of the national bank system--The panic of 1873--Resistance to every measure of inflation--Mr. Chandler's speeches in January and February, 1874--The Resumption act. 319 CHAPTER XIX. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR IN THE CABINET OF PRESIDENT GRANT.