wherever the ground was a little damp they have been and
made their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great Republic--for the
principle it lives by and keeps alive--for man's vast
future--thanks to all. Peace does not appear so distant as it did.
I hope it will come soon and come to stay; and so come as to be
worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved
that among freemen there can be no successful appeal from the
ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are sure
to lose their case and pay the cost. And there will be some black
men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clinched teeth,
and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind
on to this great consummation; while I fear there will be some
white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful
speech they have striven to hinder it. Still, let us not be
over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us be quite sober. Let
us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just God, in
His own good time, will give us the rightful result.

In a public proclamation, issued October 3, the President gives more
formal expression to his satisfaction and gratitude, and calls upon the
loyal people of the Union to unite in a day of thanksgiving for the
improved prospects of the country.

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these
bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to
forget the source from which they come, others have been added
which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to
penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible
to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a
civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes
seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of foreign states,
peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been
maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony
has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military
conflict, while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the
advancing armies and navies of the Union. The needful diversion of
wealth and strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the
national defense