Lincoln said that by the death of his son Willie he was touched; by the
victory of Gettysburg made a believer. It is plain that, after this, a
fortitude replaced the despondency stamping him. It may be due to this
conviction of being one of the chosen, like Cromwell and Gordon,
soldiers of Christ, that he met all adjurations for him to take care of
his precious life with fanatical unconcern. He communicated to the
Cabinet, at the close of the conflict, how he had appointed to confer
alone and without guards to terrify the emissary, a noted Confederate.
They were to discuss peace--and by that word, Lincoln was drawn to any
one. He answered the cautions with the simple saying:
"I am but an individual, and my removal will not in any way advance the
other folks in their endeavors."
In fact, it was so--the misdeed was a double-edged blade which cut both
ways. It will never be known, probably, how near a massacre followed
the explosion of indignation at that maniac's murder of the
Emancipator. Fortunately for the unsullied robe of Columbia, a hundred
advocates of leaving retribution to Heaven echoed Garfield's appeasing
address.
Lincoln met the intermediator, but the ultimate negotiation fell
through, like the others all. He came home from City Point with
sadness, but from his seed has outcome the Universal Peace Tribunal of
The Hague. Professor Martens based his original plea of the czar's on
the Lincolnian guide for the soldiers in our war.
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