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wrath of the people, and the capture was regarded by many as a threatening answer to those governments. The people everywhere were filled with animated joy over the capture of the Rebel envoys. The demand of the British Government that the envoys, having been taken from under the British flag, and in spite of the protests of the commander of the Trent, should be surrendered, only inflamed the popular indignation. "They shall never be given up!" was the cry everywhere. The Rebels, on the other hand, were overjoyed at the turn that affairs had taken. They said that there would now be war between England and the United States, and, in the commotion, their Confederacy would secure independence. In England, very few men, apparently, sympathized with the United States in its struggle to preserve the Union, and the seizure of Mason and Slidell was regarded as a menace, an insult. The London newspapers declared that the war would now be terrible; the power of England would be with the South, and the result would be the eternal division of the States, North and South.

None of these things seemed to move the people of the loyal States. They were determined that the envoys should never be surrendered. Congress passed a vote of thanks to Captain Wilkes. The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Gideon Welles, wrote him a letter congratulating him on "the great public service" he had rendered to the country, and Mr. Stanton, who afterwards replaced Mr. Cameron as Secretary of War, cordially approved of the capture of the Rebel emissaries. Secretary Seward was also

opposed to making any concession to the demands of the British Government.

In the midst of all this excitement and debate, Lincoln remained thoughtful, anxious, determined. From the first he was doubtful of the lawfulness of the seizure. And, as he examined the case and studied its bearings, he became convinced that the emissaries must be given up. Now that the world has seen and acknowledged the justice as well as the wisdom of Lincoln's position, we may well admire the courage and the sagacity with which he stood out for what was then regarded as a cowardly and ill-advised action. He was firm in the face of popular clamor and popular rage. And it is difficult for those who did not feel the influence of those exciting times to realize how easy it would have been to swim with the tide and rush into a war with England, as our people were then bent on doing. Said Lincoln: 'Once we fought Great Britain for doing just what Captain Wilkes has done. If Great Britain protests against this act and demands their release, we must adhere to our principles of 1812. We must give up these prisoners. Besides, one war at a time."

This declaration from Lincoln filled the country with dismay. Give up the Rebel emissaries? The thought was madness. If the proposition had come from any man but Abraham Lincoln, it would have been laughed down, overwhelmed with popular derision, no matter what was the official function of the man who made it. As it was, not a few of the more radical and violent politicians were greatly incensed against the President. Thus John P. Hale, as Sena

tor from New Hampshire, said: "If this administration will not listen to the voice of the people, they will find themselves engulfed in a fire that will consume them like stubble; they will be helpless before a power that will hurl them from their places." Nevertheless, Lincoln remained firm. The envoys must be surrendered. Lincoln could not follow the dictates of passion or prejudice in this matter; and it required a lofty regard for what was right, just, and expedient for him to rise above the commotions of the hour and insist that the claim of Great Britain must be allowed at any cost of private resentment. Secretary Seward was won over to Lincoln's view of the case, and, in a paper of singular ingenuity and skill, he gave answer to the demand of the British Government. The envoys were surrendered.

Great was the derision of the Rebels over this act. Great also was the wrath and humiliation of most of the loyal people of the North. The Rebel Government, always hoping for full recognition and assistance from foreign governments, were dismayed and angry that this provocation to war had been averted by Lincoln's sagacity and sense of justice. They heaped upon his head every possible epithet to denote their contempt and hatred. And in the North, it must be admitted, men were slow in arriving at the rational conclusion that Lincoln had done the Republic a service invaluable. His enemies and critics were clamorous and bitter. But, serene, confident of the strength of the position he had taken in this weighty affair, Lincoln remained silent; he waited for time to vindicate the wisdom of his course.

During all those years of darkness and trial, the attitude of the European governments was most unfriendly towards the United States. Our envoys were, however, instructed to assure the courts to which they were sent, that under no circumstances would the Government of the United States consent that the Civil War should be regarded by any foreign nation as other than a domestic disturbance, to be dealt with after our own ideas of public policy, and to be ended by an exercise of the sovereign power of the Republic. But it required all of Lincoln's magnanimity, all his wisdom, all his influence with the people of the United States, to restrain and guide public opinion so that the Republic should not be hurried into an unnecessary war. Smarting under repeated insults offered to the American name and flag in foreign lands, Americans everywhere were irritated and resentful towards English leaders and European governments. But Lincoln never, as President, allowed his resentments to influence his public policy. As the man Lincoln had been patient under great provocation, forgiving, kind, and merciful, so the President showed in his high office the same noble qualities, the same elevated character.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE SLAVERY QUESTION ARISES.

Frémont's Troubles in Missouri-His Policy Disapproved by the President-Gen. Hunter's Proclamation Revoked-Irritation in the Border States-Lincoln Invites a Conference-Arming the Freedmen Proposed-Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley-The Emancipation Proclamation Issued.

NEW

EW trials of patience and sagacity now arose. The irrepressible slavery question came to the surface and would not be long disregarded. Two generals of the Federal army, McClellan and Frémont, took views on this question that were directly opposed to each other. Lincoln stood between. McClellan, by a series of brilliant victories in West Virginia, and by his short and pungent bulletins announcing the same, had won the hearts of the people, and had inspired the popular belief that he was the great military genius that was to put down the rebellion. Frémont, who had been the Presidential candidate of the Republicans four years before Lincoln's election, had hurried home from Europe on the breaking out of the Rebellion, and had thrown himself enthusiastically into the war for the preservation of the Union. Almost on the same day in July, 1861, Frémont was commissioned a majorgeneral and McClellan was assigned to command of the Army of the Potomac, then numbering about

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