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" A prolonged war
precipitated the destruction of slavery; a short war might only have
prolonged its death struggle. Lincoln saw this clearly; but he saw also
that, in a protracted death struggle, it might still have kept disloyal
sentiments alive, bred distracting commotions, and caused great mischief
to the country. He therefore hoped that slavery would not survive the
war.
But the question how he could rightfully employ his power to bring on its
speedy destruction was to him not a question of mere sentiment. He
himself set forth his reasoning upon it, at a later period, in one of his
inimitable letters. "I am naturally antislavery," said he. "If slavery
is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember the time when I did
not so think and feel. And yet I have never understood that the
Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act upon that
judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would, to the
best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the
United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath.


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