In this
moment of comparative ease, the aged Chief Justice Taney died,
and Lincoln appointed to that high position his ungenerous rival,
Chase.
Even now Lincoln had not established himself as a leader superior
to party, but he had the satisfaction, early in 1865, of seeing
the ranks of the opposition begin to break. Naturally, the
Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery
throughout the United States, appeared to Lincoln as in a way the
consummation of his labors. When the House voted on the
resolution to send this amendment to the States, several
Democrats joined the government forces. Two nights afterward,
speaking to a serenading party at the White House, Lincoln made a
brief speech, part of which is thus reported by his secretaries:
"He thought this measure was a very fitting if not an
indispensable adjunct to the winding up of the great difficulty.
He wished the reunion of all the States perfected, and so
effected as to remove all causes of disturbance in the future;
and to attain this end, it was necessary that the original
disturbing cause should, if possible, be rooted out."
An event which in its full detail belongs to Confederate rather
than to Union history took place soon after this. At Hampton
Roads, Lincoln and Seward met Confederate commissioners who had
asked for a parley--with regard to peace.
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