ld be absurd to imagine that the spirit
which could champion the rights of the negro and yet face fairly the
abiding difficulty of his case died in America with Lincoln, but it
lost for many a year to come its only great exponent.

But the question of overwhelming importance, between the principles of
slavery and of freedom, was ready for final decision when local opinion
in six slave States was already moving as we have seen. The Republican
Convention of 1864, which again chose Lincoln as its candidate for the
Presidency, declared itself in favour of a Constitutional Amendment to
abolish slavery once for all throughout America. Whether the first
suggestion came from him or not, it is known that Lincoln's private
influence was energetically used to procure this resolution of the
Convention. In his Message to Congress in 1864 he urged the initiation
of this Amendment. Observation of elections made it all but certain
that the next Congress would be ready to take this action, but Lincoln
pleaded with the present doubtful Congress for the advantage which
would be gained by ready, and if possible, unanimous concurrence in the
North in the course which would soon prevail. The necessary Resolution
was passed in the Senate, but in the House of Representatives till
within a few hours of the vote it was said to be "the toss of a copper"
whether the majority of two-thirds, required for such a purpose, would
be obtained. In the efforts made on either side to win over the few
doubtful voters Lincoln had taken his part. Right or wrong, he was not
the man to see a great and beneficent Act in danger of postponement
without being tempted to secure it if he could do so by terrifying some
unprincipled and white-livered opponents. With the knowledge that he
was always acquiring of the persons in politics, he had been able to
pick out two Democratic Congressmen who were fit for his
purpose--presumably they lay under suspicion of one of those
treasonable practices which martial law under Lincoln treated very
unceremoniously. He sent for them. He told them that the gaining of a
certain number of doubtful votes would secure the Resolution. He told
them that he was President of the United States. He told them that the
President of the United States in war time exercised great and dreadful
powers. And he told them that he looked to them personally to get him
those votes. Whether this wrong manoeuvre affected the result or not,
on J