General Grant fired a salute1 in honor of the Atlanta victory with shotted guns from every battery on his siege lines of thirty-seven miles before Richmond and Petersburg. To Sherman he sent a remarkable2 message—the kind which great men know how to pen:
"You have accomplished3 the most gigantic undertaking4 given to any General in this war, with a skill and ability which will be acknowledged in history as unsurpassed if not unequaled."
From the depths of despair the North swung to the wildest enthusiasm and in the election which followed Abraham Lincoln was swept into power again on a tidal wave. He received in round numbers two million five hundred thousand votes, McClellan two millions. His majority by States in the electoral college was overwhelming—two hundred and twelve to his opponent's twenty-one.
The closing words of his second Inaugural5 rang clear and quivering with emotion over the vast crowd:
"With malice6 toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind7 up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting8 peace among ourselves and with all nations."
As the last echo died away among the marble pillars above, the sun burst through the clouds and flooded the scene. A mighty9 cheer swept the throng10 and the guns boomed their second salute. The war was closing in lasting peace and the sun shining on the finished dome11 of the Capitol of a new nation.
Betty Winter, leaning on John Vaughan's arm, was among the first to grasp his big, outstretched hand:
"A glorious day for us, sir," she cried, "a proud one for you!"
With a far-away look the President slowly answered:
"And all that I am in this world, Miss Betty, I owe to a woman—my angel mother—blessings on her memory!"
"I trust her spirit heard that beautiful speech," the girl responded tenderly.
She paused, looked up at John, blushed and added:
"We are to be married next week, Mr. President——"
"Is it so?" he said joyfully12. "I wish I could be there, my children—but I'm afraid 'Old Grizzly13' might bite me. So I'll say it now—God bless you!"
He took their hands in his and pressed them heartily14. His eyes suddenly rested on a shining black face grinning behind John Vaughan.
"My, my, can this be Julius C?sar Thornton?" he laughed.
"Yassah," the black man grinned. "Hit's me—ole reliable, sah, right here—I'se gwine ter cook fur 'em!"
From the moment of Abraham Lincoln's election the end of the war with a restored union was a foregone conclusion.
In the fall of Atlanta the heart of the Confederacy was pierced, and it ceased to beat. Lee's army, cut off from their supplies, slowly but surely began to starve behind their impregnable breastworks. Sherman's march to the sea and through the Carolinas was merely a torchlight parade. The fighting was done.
When Lee's emaciated15 men, living on a handful of parched16 corn a day, staggered out of their trenches17 in the spring and tried to join Johnston's army they marched a few miles to Appomattox, dropping from exhaustion18, and surrendered.
When the news of this tremendous event reached Washington, the Cabinet was in session. Led by the President, in silence and tears, they fell on their knees in a prayer of solemn thanks to Almighty19 God.
General Grant won the gratitude20 of the South by his generous treatment of Lee and his ragged21 men. He had received instructions from the loving heart in the White House.
Long before the surrender in April, 1865, the end was sure. The President knowing this, proposed to his Cabinet to give the South four hundred millions of dollars, the cost of the war for a hundred days, in payment for their slaves, if they would lay down their arms at once. His ministers unanimously voted against his offer and he sadly withdrew it. Among all his councillors there was not one whose soul was big enough to understand the far-seeing wisdom of his generous plan. He would heal at once one of the Nation's ugliest wounds by soothing22 the bitterness of defeat. He knew that despair would send the older men of the South to their graves.
Edmund Ruffin, who had fired the first shot against Sumter and returned to his Virginia farm when his State seceded23, was a type of these ruined, desperate men. On the day that Lee surrendered he placed the muzzle25 of his gun in his mouth, pulled the trigger with his foot, and blew his own head into fragments.
When Senator Winter demanded proscription26 and vengeance27 against the leaders of the Confederacy, the President shook his head:
"No—let down the bars—let them all go—scare them off!"
He threw up his big hands in a vivid gesture as if he were shooing a flock of troublesome sheep out of his garden.
"Triumphant28 now, you will receive our enemies with open arms?" the Senator sneered29.
"Enemies? There are no such things. The Southern States have never really been out of the union. Their Acts of Secession were null and void. They know now that the issue is forever settled. The restored union will be a real one. The Southern people at heart are law-abiding. It was their reverence30 for the letter of the old law which led them to ignore progress and claim the right to secede24 under the Constitution. They will be true to Lee's pledge of surrender. I'm going to trust them as my brethren. Let us fold up our banners now and smelt31 the guns—Love rules—let her mightier32 purpose run!"
So big and generous, so broad and statesmanlike was his spirit that in this hour of victory his personality became in a day the soul of the New Republic. The South had already unconsciously grown to respect the man who had loved yet fought her for what he believed to be her highest good.
He was entering now a new phase of power. His influence over the people was supreme33. No man or set of men in Congress, or outside of it, could defeat his policies. Even through the years of stunning34 defeats and measureless despair his enemies had never successfully opposed a measure on which he had set his heart.
His first great work accomplished in destroying slavery and restoring the union, there remained but two tasks on which his soul was set—to heal the bitterness of the war and remove the negro race from physical contact with the white.
He at once addressed himself to this work with enthusiasm. That he could do it he never doubted for a moment.
His first care was to remove the negro soldiers from the country as quickly as possible. He summoned General Butler and set him to work on his scheme to use these one hundred and eighty thousand black troops to dig the Panama Canal. He summoned Bradley, the Vermont contractor35, and put him to work on estimates for moving the negroes by ship to Africa or by train to an undeveloped Western Territory.
His prophetic soul had pierced the future and seen with remorseless logic36 that two such races as the Negro and Caucasian could not live side by side in a free democracy. The Radical37 theorists of Congress were demanding that these black men, emerging from four thousand years of slavery and savagery38 should receive the ballot39 and the right to claim the white man's daughter in marriage. They could only pass these measures over the dead body of Abraham Lincoln.
The assassin came at last—a vain, foolish dreamer who had long breathed the poisoned air of hatred40. It needed but the flash of this madman's pistol on the night of the 14th of April to reveal the grandeur41 of Lincoln's character, the marvel42 of his patience and his wisdom.
The curtains of the box in Ford's theatre were softly drawn43 apart by an unseen hand. The Angel of Death entered, paused at the sight of the smile on his rugged44, kindly45 face, touched the drooping46 shoulders, called him to take the place he had won among earth's immortals47 and left to us "the gentlest memory of our world."
THE END
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1
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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2
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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3
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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5
inaugural
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| adj.就职的；n.就职典礼 | |
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6
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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7
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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8
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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9
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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10
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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11
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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12
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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13
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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14
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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15
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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16
parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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17
trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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18
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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19
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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20
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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21
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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22
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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23
seceded
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| v.脱离，退出( secede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
secede
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| v.退出，脱离 | |
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25
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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26
proscription
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| n.禁止，剥夺权利 | |
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27
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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28
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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29
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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31
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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32
mightier
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| adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其 | |
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33
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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34
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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35
contractor
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| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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36
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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37
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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38
savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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39
ballot
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| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
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40
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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41
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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42
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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43
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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44
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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45
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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46
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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47
immortals
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| 不朽的人物( immortal的名词复数 )； 永生不朽者 | |
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