It was only when the exigencies of the war plainly demanded it that he issued the proclamation, and then only as a military measure.

His delay was ascribed to every possible motive. Many trusted him and were ready to await the opportunity which should be approved by his judgment. Others fretted and bewailed his hesitation and sought to end it by every means in their power. Pressure was brought to bear upon him from all quarters. Delegations of clergymen quoted the words of the Crusaders of old "God wills it." Philanthropists besought him in the name of humanity; statesmen demanded it as a political necessity; Abolitionists asked it as a consummation of their half century of labor and suffering; military officers told him that it was the only thing that would quell the rising disaffection in the army and unite in the support of the Union all right-minded people. Countless delegations thronged his reception rooms and the mails were flooded with appeals, yet he could not be moved by any of them. Though deeply affected, neither prayers, commands nor threats could induce him to take action until his judgment approved the opportunity.

The will of one man alone stood between the country and incalculable disasters, but that will was strong as adamant.

He made himself not only the civil but military leader of the country. In every department of the Army and Navy, his directing influence was felt. Necessarily the most of the details were intrusted to his subordinates and wherever an official proved himself worthy he gave him the widest latitude.

Had Lincoln been in the field in command of the national forces the war would have been fought more vigorously and more quickly. Strict military tactics might not always have been regarded, and some movements not recognized by the manual, might have been executed, but even if it were unconventionally waged, the war would have lacked nothing of vigor and directness.

It is detracting nothing from the glorious services of officers and men, whether in the Cabinet and Capitol or on the field, to say that the President formed one of the chief elements in the success of the Federal arms.

Mr. Lincoln never had the opportunity to demonstrate his sagacity in the solution of the great problems developed by the successful issue of the war. The reconstruction of the seceded States involved many complicated questions and delicate considerations. There were many theories whose value could only be proven by application, and their application might be disastrous.

He had given a long and careful consideration to the matter, and it is known that he had early formulated a policy by which to guide his actions. This policy was a generous one, more generous than ever a conqueror had dictated to a conquered people before. It was never subjected to a satisfactory test for he was assassinated before the opportunity arrived. There is little reason to doubt, however, that it would have been at least as successful as the one which was afterwards put in force.

The angularities of his character often overshadowed his great merits, but the verdict of history

is unaffected by many of the characteristics which were most evident to his associates. His greatness grows as time passes by and his character is better appreciated.

CHAPTER XXV.

IN regard to his religious views he was always extremely reticent. He seldom referred to the subject in conversation, even with his friends, yet it is plain that during the last years of his life he was actuated by high religious principles. Now and then a chance utterance, together with the deep reverence which pervades his proclamations and other public addresses, afford nearly all the authentic testimony we have on the subject.

He cared little for doctrinal beliefs or sectarian differences, but rather grasped the broad principles of religion which are common to all devout people of whatever denomination.

Mr. Fell, an old acquaintance, says of him: "His religious views were eminently practical and are summed up, as I think, in these two propositions : the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. He fully believed in a superintending and overruling Providence that guides and controls the operations of the world, but maintained that law and order, and not their violation or suspension, are the appointed means by which this Providence is exercised. "1

Mrs. Lincoln once said to Mr. Herndon : 66 Mr. Lincoln had no faith and no hope in the usual accept

Herndon's "Life of Lincoln," p. 444.

ation of those words. He never joined a church; but still, as I believe, he was a religious man by nature. He first seemed to think about the subject when our boy Willie died, and then more than ever about the time he went to Gettysburg; but it was a kind of poetry in his nature and he was never a technical Christian."'

Mr. Herndon, who had exceptional opportunities to observe his inner life, says "The world has always insisted on making an orthodox Christian of him, and to analyze his sayings or sound his beliefs is but to break the idol. It only remains to say that whether orthodox or not, he believed in God and immortality; and even if he questioned the existence of future eternal punishment, he hoped to find a rest from trouble and a heaven beyond the grave. If at any time in his life he was skeptical of the Divine origin of the Bible, he ought not for that reason to be condemned; for he accepted the practical precepts of the great Book as binding alike on his head and conscience. The benevolence of his impulses, the seriousness of his convictions, and the nobility of his character are evidences unimpeachable that his soul was ever filled with the exalted purity and sublime faith of natural religion."

"2

He was particularly impressed with the efficacy of prayer and more than once bore testimony to his belief in it.

"I have been driven many times to my knees," he once remarked, "by the overwhelming conviction. that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and 'Herndon's "Life of Lincoln," p. 445.

2 The same p. 446.