er, too, that it
will be civil war--kin against kin, brother against brother."

"I remember. All war is devilish, but ours will be the most devilish
that the world has ever known. It isn't only the feeding of fresh young
boys to rebel batteries that grieves me, though God knows that's not a
thing that bears thinking about. It's the bitterness and hate within the
people. Will it ever die down, Mr. Secretary?"

Lincoln was very grave, and his face was set like a man in anguish.
Seward, deeply moved, rose and stood beside him, laying a hand on his
shoulder.

"And for what, Mr. President?" he cried. "That is the question I ask
myself. We are faced by such a problem as no man ever before had
to meet. If five and a half million white men deeply in earnest are
resolved to secede, is there any power on earth that can prevent them?
You may beat them in battle, but can you ever force them again inside
the confines of the nation? Remember Chatham's saying: 'Conquer a free
population of three million souls--the thing is impossible.' They stand
on the rights of democracy, the right of self-government, the right to
decide their own future."

Lincoln passed a hand over his brow. His face had suddenly became very
worn and weary.

"I've been pondering a deal over the position of the South," he said. "I
reckon I see their point of view, and I'll not deny there's sense in it.
There's a truth in their doctrine of State rights, but they've got
it out of focus. If I had been raised in South Carolina, loving the
slave-system because I had grown up with it and thinking more of my
State than of the American nation, maybe I'd have followed Jeff Davis.
I'm not saying there's no honesty in the South, I'm not saying there's
not truth on their side, but I do say that ours is the bigger truth and
the better truth. I hold that a nation is too sacred a thing to tamper
with--even for good reasons. Why, man, if you once grant the right of a
minority to secede you make popular government foolish. I'm willing to
fight to prevent democracy becoming a laughing-stock."

"It's a fine point to make war about," said the other.

"Most true points are fine points. There never was a dispute between
mortals where both sides hadn't a bit of right. I admit that the margin
is narrow, but if it's made of good rock it's sufficient to give us a
foothold. We've got to settle once for all the question whether in a
free Government the minority have a right to break u