And all the while conciliation was as active as vindication was stern.  He reasoned and pleaded with the anger of the South; he gave insurrection time to repent; he forbore to execute retaliation; he offered recompense to slaveholders; he pardoned treason.

What but lifetime schooling in disappointment; what but the pioneer’s self-reliance and freedom from prejudice; what but the patient faith, the clear perceptions of natural right, the unwarped sympathy and unbounding charity of this man with spirit so humble and soul so great, could have carried him through the labors he wrought to the victory he attained?

As the territory may be said to be its body, and its material activities its blood, so patriotism may be said to be the vital breath of a nation.  When patriotism dies, the nation dies, and its resources as well as its territory go to other peoples with stronger vitality.

Patriotism can in no way be more effectively cultivated than by studying and commemorating the achievements and virtues of our great men—­the men who have lived and died for the nation, who have advanced its prosperity, increased its power, added to its glory.  In our brief history the United States can boast of many great men, and the achievement by its sons of many great deeds; and if we accord the first rank to Washington as founder, so we must unhesitatingly give to Lincoln the second place as preserver and regenerator of American liberty.  So far, however from being opposed or subordinated either to the other, the popular heart has already canonized these two as twin heroes in our national pantheon, as twin stars in the firmament of our national fame.

INDEX

=Able, Mrs.=, sister of Mary Owens, 55, 60

=Adams, Charles Francis=, member of Congress, United States minister
  to England, sent to England, 211

=Alabama=, State of, admitted as State, 1819, 19

=Alabama=, the, Confederate cruiser, sunk by the Kearsarge, 525

=Albemarle=, the, Confederate ironclad, destruction of,
  October 27, 1864, 525

=Albert=, Prince Consort, drafts note to Lord Russell about Trent
  affair, 247

=Alexander II=, Czar of Russia, emancipates Russian serfs, 101

=Alexandria=, Virginia, occupation of, 214

=American Party=, principles of, 101, 102;
  nominates Millard Fillmore for President, 1856, 102

=Anderson, Robert=, brevet major-general United States army,
  transfers his command to Fort Sumter, 177, 178;
  reports condition of Fort Sumter, 182;
  notified of coming relief, 188;
  defense and surrender of Fort Sumter, 189, 190;
  telegram about Fremont’s proclamation, 240;
  sends Sherman to Nashville, 254;
  turns over command to Sherman, 254;
  raises flag over Fort Sumter, 531

=Antietam=, Maryland, battle of, September 17, 1862, 31