What, now, had Lincoln to say to the people of the North?
The biographers of Lincoln have not satisfactorily revealed the
state of his mind between election and inauguration. We may
safely guess that his silence covered a great internal struggle.
Except for his one action in defeating the Compromise, he had
allowed events to drift; but by that one action he had taken upon
himself the responsibility for the drift. Though the country at
that time did not fully appreciate this aspect of the situation,
who now can doubt that Lincoln did? His mind was always a lonely
one. His very humor has in it, so often, the note of solitude,
of one who is laughing to make the best of things, of one who is
spiritually alone. During those months when the country drifted
from its moorings, and when war was becoming steadily more
probable, Lincoln, after the manner of the prophets, wrestled
alone with the problems which he saw before him. From the little
we know of his inward state, it is hard for us to conclude that
he was happy. A story which is told by his former partner, Mr.
Herndon, seems significant. As Lincoln was leaving his
unpretentious law-office for the last time, he turned to Mr.
Herndon and asked him not to take down their old sign.
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