Ii6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



question with which Mr. Lincoln was called on to deal, and 

 it was one which no man in his position, whatever his 

 opinions, could evade : for, though he might withstand the 

 clamour of partisans, he must sooner or later yield to the 

 persistent importunacy of circumstances, which thrust the 

 problem upon him at every turn and in every shape. 



It has been brought against us as an accusation abroad, 

 and repeated here by people who measure their country 

 rather by what is thought of it than by what it is, that our 

 war has not been distinctly and avowedly for the extinction 

 of slavery, but* a war rather for the preservation of our 

 national power and greatness, in which the emancipation of 

 the negro has been forced upon us by circumstances and 

 accepted as a necessity. We are very far from denying 

 this ; nay, we admit that it is so far true that we were slow 

 to renounce our constitutional obligations even toward those 

 who had absolved us by their own act from the letter of our 

 duty. We are speaking of the government which, legally 

 installed for the whole country, was bound, so long as it 

 was possible, not to overstep the limits of orderly prescrip 

 tion, and could not, without abnegating its own very nature, 

 take the lead in making rebellion an excuse for revolution. 

 There were, no doubt, many ardent and sincere persons 

 who seemed to think this as simple a thing to do as to lead 

 off a Virginia reel. They forgot what should be forgotten 

 least of all in a system like ours, that the administration 

 for the time being represents not only the majority which 

 elects it, but the minority as well a minority in this case 

 powerful, and so little ready for emancipation that it was 

 opposed even to war. Mr. Lincoln had not been chosen as 

 general agent of an anti-slavery society, but President of the 

 United States, to perform certain functions exactly denned 

 by law. Whatever were his wishes, it was no less duty 

 than policy to mark out for himself a line of action that 

 would not further distract the country, by raising before 

 their time questions which plainly would soon enough 

 compel attention, and for which every day was making the 

 answer more easy. 



