of time have such words been heard above the din
of fierce conflict as his sublime utterances but a brief time before
his tragic death--

"'With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness
in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on
to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds; to
care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow
and his orphan, to do all which may achieve a lasting peace
among ourselves, and with all nations.'

"No fitter occasion than this can ever arise in which to refer
to two historical events that at crucial moments tested to the
utmost the safe and far-seeing statesmanship of President Lincoln.
The first was the seizure upon the high seas of Mason and Slidell,
the accredited representatives from the Southern Confederacy to
the courts of England and France, respectively. The seizure was
in November, 1861, by Captain Wilkes of our navy; and the envoys
named were taken by him from the _Trent,_ a mail-carrying steamer of
the British Government. The act of Captain Wilkes met with
enthusiastic commendation throughout the entire country; he was
voted the thanks of Congress, and his act publicly approved by the
Secretary of the Navy.

"The demand by the British government for reparation upon the part
of the United States was prompt and explicit. The perils that then
environed us were such as rarely shadow the pathway of nations.
Save Russia alone, our Government had no friend among the crowned heads
of Europe. Menaced by the peril of the recognition of the Southern
Confederacy by England and France, with the very stars apparently warring
against us in their courses, the position of the President was
in the last degree trying. To surrender the Confederate envoys
was in a measure humiliating and in opposition to the popular
impulse; their retention, the signal for the probable recognition of
the Southern Confederacy by the European powers, and the certain
and immediate declaration of war by England.

"The good genius of President Lincoln--rather his wise, just,
far-seeing statesmanship--stood him well in hand at the critical
moment. Had a rash and impulsive man then held the executive
office, what a sea of troubles might have overwhelmed us! How the
entire current of our history might have been changed!

"The calm, wise President, in his council chamber, aided by his
closest official adviser, Secretary Seward, discerned clearly