al
resentment."

Lincoln and Johnson received a popular majority of 411,281, and 212 out
of 233 electoral votes--only those of New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky,
twenty-one in all, being cast for McClellan.

For Mr. Lincoln this was one of the most solemn days of his life.
Assured of his personal success, and made devoutly confident by the
military victories of the last few weeks that the end of the war was at
hand, he felt no sense of triumph over his opponents. The thoughts that
filled his mind found expression in the closing sentences of the little
speech that he made to some serenaders who greeted him in the early
morning hours of November 9, as he left the War Department to return to
the White House:

"I am thankful to God for this approval of the people; but while deeply
grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know my heart,
my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph.... It is no
pleasure to me to triumph over anyone, but I give thanks to the Almighty
for this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by free government
and the rights of humanity."

Mr. Lincoln's inauguration for his second term as President took place
at the time appointed, on March 4, 1865. There is little variation
in the simple but impressive pageantry with which the ceremony is
celebrated. The principal novelty commented on by the newspapers was the
share which the people who had up to that time been slaves, had for the
first time in this public and political drama. Associations of negro
citizens joined in the procession, and a battalion of negro soldiers
formed part of the military escort. The central act of the occasion
was President Lincoln's second inaugural address, which enriched the
political literature of the nation with another masterpiece. He said:

"Fellow-countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the
presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address
than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a
course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration
of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly
called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still
absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little
that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all
else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and
it is, I trust, reasona