Dinner at Mr. Seward’s.—Lincoln’s West-country stories.—William Howard Russell’s Diary.

November 14th.–Rode to cavalry camp, and sat in front of Colonel Emory’s tent with General Stoneman, who is chief of the cavalry, and Captain Pleasanton; heard interesting anecdotes of the wild life on the frontiers, and of bushranging in California, of lassoing bulls and wild horses and buffaloes, and encounters with grizly bears–interrupted by a one-armed man, who came to the Colonel for “leave to take away George.” He spoke of his brother who had died in camp, and for whose body he had come, metallic coffin and all, to carry it back to his parents in Pennsylvania. I dined with Mr. Seward–Mr. Raymond, of New York, and two or three gentlemen, being the only guests. Mr. Lincoln came in whilst we were playing a rubber, and told some excellent West-country stories. “Here, Mr. President, we have got the two Times–of New York and of London–if they would only do what is right and what we want, all will go well.” “Yes,” said Mr. Lincoln, “if the bad Times would go where we want them, good Times would be sure to follow.” Talking over Bull’s Run, Mr. Seward remarked “that civilians sometimes displayed more courage than soldiers, but perhaps the courage was unprofessional. When we were cut off from Baltimore, and the United States troops at Annapolis were separated by a country swarming with malcontents, not a soldier could be found to undertake the journey and communicate with them. At last a civilian”–(I think he mentioned the name of Mr. Cassius Clay)–”volunteered, and executed the business. So, after Bull’s Run, there was only one officer, General Sherman, who was doing anything to get the troops into order when the President and myself drove over to see what we could do on that terrible Tuesday evening.” Mr. Teakle Wallis and others, after the Baltimore business, told him the people would carry his head on their pikes; and so he went to Auburn to see how matters stood, and a few words from his old friends there made him feel his head was quite right on his shoulders.