The War of the Rebellion revealed to the people--in fact, to the whole
world--the many sides of Abraham Lincoln’s character. It showed him as
a real ruler of men--not a ruler by the mere power of might, but by
the power of a great brain. In his Cabinet were the ablest men in the
country, yet they all knew that Lincoln was abler than any of them.
Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, was a man famed in statesmanship
and diplomacy. During the early stages of the Civil War, when France
and England were seeking an excuse to interfere and help the Southern
Confederacy, Mr. Seward wrote a letter to our minister in London,
Charles Francis Adams, instructing him concerning the attitude of
the Federal government on the question of interference, which would
undoubtedly have brought about a war with England if Abraham Lincoln had
not corrected and amended the letter. He did this, too, without yielding
a point or sacrificing in any way his own dignity or that of the
country.