Mr. Lincoln, one day, was talking with the Rev. Dr. Sunderland about the
Emancipation Proclamation and the future of the negro. Suddenly a ripple
of amusement broke the solemn tone of his voice. “As for the negroes,
Doctor, and what is going to become of them: I told Ben Wade the other
day, that it made me think of a story I read in one of my first books,
‘Aesop’s Fables.’ It was an old edition, and had curious rough wood
cuts, one of which showed three white men scrubbing a negro in a potash
kettle filled with cold water. The text explained that the men thought
that by scrubbing the negro they might make him white. Just about the
time they thought they were succeeding, he took cold and died. Now, I
am afraid that by the time we get through this War the negro will catch
cold and die.”