ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 167 



country rather by what is thought of it than by what 

 it is, that our war has not been distinctly and avow- 

 edly 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 con- 

 stitutional obligations even toward those who had ab- 

 solved us by their own act from the letter of our duty. 

 We are speaking of the government which, legally in- 

 stalled for the whole country, was bound, so long as 

 it was possible, not to overstep the limits of orderly pre- 

 scription, and could not, without abnegating its own 

 very nature, take the lead in making rebellion an ex- 

 cuse 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 repre- 

 sents 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 antislavery 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. 



Meanwhile he must solve the riddle of this new 

 Sphinx, or be devoured. Though Mr. Lincoln's policy 

 in this critical affair has not been such as to satisfy 



