Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say the same and they will find it so. Douglas don't care whether slavery is voted up or down, but God cares and humanity cares and I care; and with God's help I shall not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come and I shall be vindicated and these men will find that they have not read their Bible right."

The election came off in November, and Mr. Lincoln found the people had read their Bibles' right on slavery and elected him by a tremendous majority.

March 4, 1861, Mr. Lincoln stood at the Capitol building to deliver his inaugural address as president of the United States. He did not see a place to put his hat and Mr. Douglas reached forward, took it and held it while Mr. Lincoln spoke.

Now you see the outcome of these two men. One compromised with this great principle, and, after thus holding the hat of his successful rival, who would not compromise with the principle, went out and died a few months afterward with a broken heart for his lost ambition. Before he died, however, Mr. Douglas became an outspoken defender of the Union and opposed to the war of the rebellion. On the other hand, Mr. Lincoln, true to this principle suffered defeat for many years, but in the end won the greatest honor and became the greatest president of our nation. It pays to be true to principle, no matter how unpopular it may be and though seeming defeat of our ambitions stare us in the face. "This above all things, to thine own self be true," was the wise advice of Polonius to his son in Shakespeare's play of Hamlet.

The preceding president had been favorable to the South and slavery and many of their men were in command of the military posts and other important parts. The navy was scattered to distant ports and large quantities of arms and ammunition were stored in the Southern forts. The election of Mr. Lincoln seemed to anger the Southern men beyond endurance and there were loud threats of secession. When he delivered his inaugural address he saw many scowling, angry faces in front of him. In great kindness he appealed to them and his last thought was very beautiful when he said:

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, are the momentous issues of civil war.

"You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government. While I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.

"We are not enemies, but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

It was all in vain and South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas in turn led off in secession. They met at Montgomery, Alabama and formed the "Confederate States of America," with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi as president and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia as vice-president. Arsenals, custom-houses, forts and ships of the United States were seized. Fort Sumter was fired upon by Gen. Beauregard April 14, 1861, and the great Civil war, the greatest in history, began.

This was the hardest place a president of the United States was ever in. There was but a small army, and as I said the navy was scattered. President Lincoln at once called for volunteer troops. The attack on Fort Sumter so aroused the North that men rapidly left their families and homes, that which one most loves, and rushed to enlist as volunteer soldiers. They had a song in which were these words:

"We are coming Father Abraham, Three hundred thousand strong."

Thus they called the great president "Father Abraham" and showed how much they loved him.

Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the army. The first battle of any note was that of Bull Run, near Washington. In this the Northern soldiers were driven back and beaten. It seemed very discouraging then for the cause of the Union.

More soldiers enlisted and the army was trained and drilled until Mr. Lincoln thought they ought to attack Gen. Lee, who commanded the Confederate army. He felt sure as they had more men they could defeat him and capture Richmond, which was now the capital of the Confederate States. General McClellan seemed to be afraid to move forward and wanted more time to drill the men he had and make other preparations and also wanted more men. In the meantime, of course Gen. Lee was making stronger his army and preparing more defences around Richmond so that it was harder to defeat him.

The army in the West was not doing very well either. But at last Illinois furnished another son in the person of General Grant, who won great and decisive victories. Vicksburg, which was the great stronghold of the Southern army in the West surrendered to him July 4, 1863. President Lincoln had been trying in every way to get General McClellan to move on the enemy but could not, and at last the general was moved from command. General Meade had command of the Eastern army which fought the battle of Gettysburg and won that great victory on the same Fourth of July that General Grant captured Vicksburg.

The battle of Gettysburg is said to have been about the greatest in history; 23,000 soldiers were killed. Now there was great rejoicing in the North. In these early years of the war, President Lincoln was placed in a very hard position. The abolitionists abused him because he did not issue the emancipation proclamation, freeing the slaves; the Middle states, that had not seceded, threatened to do so if he did. Some of his own Cabinet were not true to him. The people cried out because General McClellan would not move forward, and Mr. Lincoln tried in vain to get him to do so. Therefore these great victories of Vicksburg and Gettysburg came to him as a wonderful blessing and relief from the awful strain he had been enduring. General Grant had won some other grand victories preceding the capture of Vicksburg, and the Union, as the old ship of state, seemed to be sailing into more peaceful waters.