Part 3 (1/2)

”What are they?” said Mr. Lincoln.

”First, That the rebellion may be completely crushed. Second, That slavery may be entirely destroyed, and prohibited forever throughout the Union. Third, That Abraham Lincoln may have been triumphantly re-elected President of the United States.”

”I would be very glad,” said Mr. Lincoln, with a twinkle in his eye, ”to compromise, by securing the success of the first two propositions.”

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT.

On the 22d of February, 1864, President Lincoln nominated General U. S.

Grant as Lieutenant-General of all the armies of the United States, and on the 9th of March, at the White House, he, in person, presented the victorious General with his commission, and sent him forth to consummate with the armies of the East, his world-renowned successes at the West.

Then followed the memorable campaign of 1864-5. Sherman's brilliant Atlanta campaign; Sheridan's glorious career in the Valley of the Shenandoah; Thomas's victories in Tennessee, the triumph at Lookout Mountain; Sherman's ”Grand march to the sea,” the fall of Mobile, the capture of Fort Fisher, and Wilmington, indicating the near approach of peace through war. In the midst of these successes, Mr. Lincoln was triumphantly re-elected, the people thereby stamping upon his administration their grateful approval. At the session of Congress, of 1864-5, he urged the adoption of an amendment of the Const.i.tution abolis.h.i.+ng and prohibiting slavery forever throughout the Republic, thereby consummating his own great work of Emanc.i.p.ation.

CONSt.i.tUTIONAL AMENDMENT ABOLIs.h.i.+NG SLAVERY.

As the great leader in the overthrow of slavery, he had seen his action sanctioned by an emphatic majority of the people, and now the const.i.tutional majority of two-thirds of both branches of Congress had voted to submit to the States this amendment of the organic law.

Illinois, the home of Lincoln, as was fit, took the lead in ratifying this amendment, and other States rapidly followed, until more than the requisite number was obtained, and the amendment adopted. Meanwhile, military successes continued, until the victory over slavery and rebellion was won.

LINCOLN'S SECOND INAUGURATION.

It was known, by a dispatch received at the Capitol at midnight, on the 3d of March, 1865, that Lee had sought an interview with Grant, to arrange terms of surrender. On the next day Lincoln again stood on the eastern colonnade of the Capitol, again to swear fidelity to the Republic, her Const.i.tution, and laws; but, how changed the scene from his first inauguration. No traitors now occupied high places under the Government. Crowds of citizens and soldiers who would have died for their beloved Chief Magistrate now thronged the area. Liberty loyalty, and victory had crowned the eagles of our armies. No conspirators were now mingling in the crowd, unless perchance the a.s.sa.s.sin Booth might have been lurking there. Many patriots and statesmen were in their graves. Douglas was dead, and Ellsworth, and Baker, and McPherson, and Reynolds, and Wadsworth, and a host of martyrs, had given their lives that liberty and the Republic might triumph. It was a very touching spectacle to see the long lines of invalid and wounded soldiers, from the great hospitals about Was.h.i.+ngton, some on crutches, some who had lost an arm, many pale from unhealed wounds, who gathered to witness the scene. As Lincoln ascended the platform, and his tall form, towering above all his a.s.sociates, was recognized, cheers and shouts of welcome filled the air, and not until he raised his arm motioning for silence, could the acclamations be hushed. He paused a moment, looked over the scene, and still hesitated. What thronging memories pa.s.sed through his mind! Here, four years before, he had stood pleading, oh, how earnestly, for _peace_. But, even while he pleaded, the rebels took up the sword, and he was forced to ”_accept war_.”

Now four long, b.l.o.o.d.y, weary years of devastating war had pa.s.sed, and those who made the war were everywhere discomfited, and being overthrown. That barbarous inst.i.tution which had caused the war, had been destroyed, and the dawn of peace already brightened the sky. Such the scene, and such the circ.u.mstances under which Lincoln p.r.o.nounced his second Inaugural, a speech which has no parallel since Christ's Sermon on the Mount.

Who shall say that I am irreverent when I declare, that the pa.s.sage, ”Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this _mighty scourge_ of war _may speedily pa.s.s away_! yet, if G.o.d wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsmen's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and every drop of blood drawn by the lash, shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so it must be said now, that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether,” could only have been inspired by that _Holy Book_, which daily he read, and from which he ever sought guidance?

Where, but from the teachings of Christ, could he have learned that charity in which he so unconsciously described his own moral nature, ”_With malice toward none, with charity for all_, with firmness in the right, as G.o.d gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in, _to bind up the nation's wounds_, to care for him who hath borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace, among ourselves and among all nations.”

END OF THE WAR.

And now Mr. Lincoln gave his whole attention to the movements of the armies, which, as he confidently hoped, were on the eve of final and complete triumph. On the 27th of March he visited the head-quarters of General Grant, at City Point, to concert with his most trusted military chiefs the final movements against Lee, and Johnston. Grant was still at bay before Petersburg. Sherman with his veterans, after occupying Georgia and South Carolina, had reached Goldsboro', North Carolina, on his victorious march north. It was the hope and purpose of the two great leaders, whose generous friends.h.i.+p for each other made them ever like brothers, now and there to crush the armies of Lee and Johnston, and finish the ”job.”

An artist has worthily painted the scene of the meeting of Lincoln and his cabinet, when he first announced and read to them his proclamation of Emanc.i.p.ation. Another artist is now recording for the American people the scene of this memorable meeting of the President and the Generals, which took place in the cabin of the steamer ”River Queen,” lying at the dock in the James River. Three men more unlike personally and mentally, and yet of more distinguished ability, have rarely been called together.

Although so entirely unlike, each was a type of American character, and all had peculiarities not only American, but Western.

Lincoln's towering form had acquired dignity by his great deeds, and the great ideas to which he had given expression. His rugged features, lately so deeply furrowed with care and responsibility, were now radiant with hope and confidence. He met the two great leaders with grateful cordiality; with clear intelligence he grasped the military situation, and listened with eager confidence to their details of the final moves which should close this terrible game of war.

Contrasting, with the giant-like stature of Lincoln, was the short, st.u.r.dy, resolute form of the hero of Fort Donelson and Vicksburg, so firm and iron-like, every feature of his face and every att.i.tude and movement so quiet, yet all expressive of inflexible will and never faltering determination, ”to fight it out on this line.”

There, too, was Sherman, with his broad intellectual forehead, his restless eye, his nervous energy, his sharply outlined features bronzed by that magnificent campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta and from Atlanta to the Sea, and now fresh from the conquest of Georgia and South Carolina. On the eve of final triumph, Lincoln, with characteristic humanity deplored the necessity which all realized, of one more hard and deadly battle. They separated, Sherman hastening to his post, and Grant commenced those brilliant movements which in ten days ended the war. Now followed in rapid succession the fall of Richmond, the surrender of Lee, the capitulation of Johnston and his army, the capture of Jefferson Davis, and the final overthrow of the rebellion.