a vast multitude landed upon the shores
in New York, at the very time when there was a scarcity of labour in the
shops and factories. At the very hour when Lincoln was afraid that it
might become impossible to clothe the army and equip it, the providence
of God raised up foreigners who stepped into the place made vacant by
the newly enlisted soldier; thereafter the North throughout the war
actually increased in population, in wealth, in manufacturing interests.
The Civil War ended with the North richer and more prosperous than when
it began; while in 1861 slavery had impoverished the South, and war left
the Confederacy crushed to the very earth, peeled and stripped, famished
and utterly broken. For the South never yielded until she had cast in
the last earthly possession, and knew that only life and breath were
left.

Despite the abundant harvests, during the early part of the war the
Northern people passed through gloom, anxiety and bitter disappointment.
At first the colleges and universities were empty, because the students
had all gone to the front, but the common schools were as full as usual.
The churches were better attended than formerly, while the newspapers
were more widely read than ever before. The crisis sobered the people.
The serious note was manifest. One by one luxuries were given up,
amusements seemed paltry, and people forgot their usual diversions.
After Bull Run came a succession of calamities. Longfellow writes:
"Sumner came to dine last night, but the evening was most gloomy, and
all went away in tears." Governor Morton of Indiana wrote Lincoln,
"Another three months like the last six, and we are lost." Robert
Winthrop of Boston came down to New York, and spoke of three scenes that
he had witnessed. The first was a group of soldiers on their way home,
in charge of friends, some crippled, some emaciated, gaunt and broken,
and the rest carried on stretchers. At another station he saw a group of
young soldiers, intelligent, athletic and sturdy, climbing on the car to
start to the front, but on the platform was a group of pale-cheeked and
weeping women, wives, mothers and sweethearts. "Oh, it was terrible! It
is all black, black, black!" said Winthrop.

But after the battle of Gettysburg, the high-water mark of the war,
men's spirits began to rise. The North became inured to excitement. The
emotion was converted into hard work and endurance, and that dogged
determination to produce the raiment, the w