the furnace of prosperity.

The war was virtually decided, but not yet ended. Sherman was
irresistibly carrying the Union flag through the South. Grant had his
iron hand upon the ramparts of Richmond. The days of the Confederacy
were evidently numbered. Only the last blow remained to be struck. Then
Lincoln's second inauguration came, and with it his second inaugural
address. Lincoln's famous "Gettysburg speech" has been much and justly
admired. But far greater, as well as far more characteristic, was that
inaugural in which he poured out the whole devotion and tenderness of his
great soul. It had all the solemnity of a father's last admonition and
blessing to his children before he lay down to die. These were its
closing words: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty
scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue
until all the wealth piled up by the bondman's two hundred and fifty
years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood
drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was
said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, `The judgments
of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' With malice toward none,
with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see
the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in; to bind up the
nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for
his widow and his orphan; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just
and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

This was like a sacred poem. No American President had ever spoken words
like these to the American people. America never had a President who
found such words in the depth of his heart.

Now followed the closing scenes of the war. The Southern armies fought