48 he offered a bill to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia. It was his opinion that Congress had control over
the institution of slavery in the District of Columbia and the
territories, and he evidenced his desire for the freedom of the slaves
by offering a bill to abolish it in the District, and he afterwards
strenuously advocated the elimination of slavery from the territories.

In 1864, about the time of the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law,
President Lincoln said to some gentlemen from the West: "There have been
men base enough to propose to me to return to slavery our black warriors
of Port Hudson and Olustee, and thus win the respect of the masters they
fought. Should I do so, I should deserve to be damned in time and
eternity."

Through all the mighty struggle of the Civil War when bowed in sorrow,
and when it was truly said of him "That he was a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief," he was ever heard to say, "It is my desire that
all men be free."

If President Lincoln were not in favor of the freedom of the slaves, why
did he write the Emancipation Proclamation without the knowledge of his
Cabinet and, when reading it to them, informed them that he did not do
so to have them make any changes, but simply to apprise them of its
contents? I answer, because he saw the time had come, the opportune time
for which he had longed, when he, as President of these United States,
could free the slaves. The South was so certain that it was Mr.
Lincoln's intention to liberate the slaves, that, upon his election as
President, they seceded from the Union. They felt that the institution
which they had struggled so long to maintain was doomed.

His famous letter to Horace Greeley, so diplomatically written, shows
him to be in favor of the emancipation of slaves. Said he; "My paramount
object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery.
If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves I would do it; if I
could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could do
it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. I
shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt
new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views. I have here
stated my purpose according to my views of official duty, and I intend
no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men
everywhere could be free."

Had President Lincoln not desired the freedom of