Lincoln, the unknown

LINCOLN THE UNKNOWN• 191hesitation through dread and fear," she began, "I have at lastconcluded to inform you of my troubles." The man to whomshe had been engaged for some years had joined the army, hadlater been permitted to go home to vote, and they had, as sheput it,"very foolishly indulged too freely in matrimonial affairs."And now "the results of our indulgences are going to bringupon us both an unlawful family providing you do not takemercy upon us and grant him a leave of absence in order toratify past events. ... I hope and pray to God that you willnot cast me aside in scorn and dismay."Reading the letter, Lincoln was deeply touched. He stared outthe window with unseeing eyes in which there were doubtlesslytears. . . .Picking up his pen, Lincoln wrote the following words toStanton across the bottom of the girl's letter: "Send him toher by all means."The terrible summer of 1864 dragged to an end, and theautumn brought good news: Sherman had taken Atlanta andwas marching through Georgia. Admiral Farragut, after a dramaticnaval battle, had captured Mobile Bay and tightened theblockade in the Gulf of Mexico. Sheridan had won brilliantand spectacular victories in the Shenandoah Valley. And Leewas now afraid to come out in the open; so Grant was layingsiege to Petersburg and Richmond. . . .The Confederacy had almost reached the end.Lincoln's generals were winning now, his policy had beenvindicated, and the spirits of the North rose as on wings; so, inNovember, he was elected for a second term. But instead oftaking it as a personal triumph, he remarked laconically thatevidently the people had not thought it wise "to swap horseswhile crossing a stream."After four years of fighting, there was no hatred in Lincoln'sheart for the people of the South. Time and again he said:" 'Judge not that ye be not judged.' They are just what we wouldbe in their position."So in February, 1865, while the Confederacy was alreadycrumbling to dust, and Lee's surrender was only two monthsaway, Lincoln proposed that the Federal Government pay theSouthern States four hundred million dollars for their slaves; butevery member of his Cabinet was unfriendly to the idea and hedropped it.