ence of the Northern people. Not
only was he determined to postpone all movement until his army was
properly equipped, his ranks recruited, his cavalry remounted, and
his administrative services reorganised, but the military authorities
at Washington were very slow in meeting his demands. Notwithstanding,
then, the orders of the President, the remonstrances of Halleck, and
the clamour of the press, for more than five weeks after the battle
of Sharpsburg he remained inactive on the Potomac. It may be that in
the interests of the army he was perfectly right in resisting the
pressure brought to bear upon him. He was certainly the best judge of
the temper of his troops, and could estimate more exactly than either
Lincoln or Halleck the chances of success if he were to encounter
Lee's veterans on their native soil. However this may be, his
inaction was not in accordance with the demands of the political
situation. The President, immediately the Confederates retired from
Maryland, had taken a step which changed the character of the war.
Hitherto the Northerners had fought for the restoration of the Union
on the basis of the Constitution, as interpreted by themselves. Now,
after eighteen months of conflict, the Constitution was deliberately
violated. For the clause which forbade all interference with the
domestic institutions of the several States, a declaration that
slavery should no longer exist within the boundaries of the Republic
was substituted, and the armies of the Union were called upon to
fight for the freedom of the negro.

In the condition of political parties this measure Was daring. It was
not approved by the Democrats, and many of the soldiers were
Democrats; or by those--and they were not a few--who believed that
compromise was the surest means of restoring peace; or by those--and
they were numerous--who thought the dissolution of the Union a
smaller evil than the continuance of the war. The opposition was very
strong, and there was but one means of reconciling it--vigorous
action on the part of the army, the immediate invasion of Virginia,
and a decisive victory. Delay would expose the framers of the measure
to the imputation of having promised more than they could perform, of
wantonly tampering with the Constitution, and of widening the breach
between North and South beyond all hope of healing.

In consequence, therefore, of McClellan's refusal to move forward,
the friction between the Federal Government an