chief, repeatedly a
member of the Illinois Legislature, once a member of Congress. He spoke
with ease and clearness, but not with eloquence. He wrote concisely and
to the point, but was unskilled in the use of the pen. He had no
accurate knowledge of the public defences of the country, no exact
conception of its foreign relations, no comprehensive perception of his
duties. The qualities of his nature were not suited to hardy action. His
temper was soft and gentle and yielding; reluctant to refuse anything
that presented itself to him as an act of kindness; loving to please and
willing to confide; not trained to confine acts of good-will within the
stern limits of duty. He was of the temperament called melancholic,
scarcely concealed by an exterior of lightness of humor,--having a deep
and fixed seriousness, jesting lips, and wanness of heart. And this man
was summoned to stand up directly against a power with which Henry Clay
had never directly grappled, before which Webster at last had quailed,
which no President had offended and yet successfully administered the
Government, to which each great political party had made concessions, to
which in various measures of compromise the country had repeatedly
capitulated, and with which he must now venture a struggle for the life
or death of the nation.

The credit of the country had not fully recovered from the shock it had
treacherously received in the former administration. A part of the
navy-yards were intrusted to incompetent agents or enemies. The social
spirit of the city of Washington was against him, and spies and enemies
abounded in the circles of fashion. Every executive department swarmed
with men of treasonable inclinations, so that it was uncertain where to
rest for support. The army officers had been trained in unsound
political principles. The chief of staff of the highest of the general
officers, wearing the mask of loyalty, was a traitor at heart. The
country was ungenerous towards the negro, who in truth was not in the
least to blame,--was impatient that such a strife should have grown out
of his condition, and wished that he were far away. On the side of
prompt decision the advantage was with the Rebels; the President sought
how to avoid war without compromising his duty; and the Rebels, who knew
their own purpose, won incalculable advantages by the start which they
thus gained. The country stood aghast, and would not believe in the full
extent of the conspi