A ruler, publicly receiving the trust of four years more of power, felt called upon to set before the people the result of his profound study and analysis of the Divine Providence, as presented in the Scriptures, and to call upon them to join him in acknowledging the wisdom and justice of God. He also, having many times already called upon them to pray with him, deemed it well to refer to the nature of both prayer and its answers. As for his policy as a ruler, he was able, in talking to such a people, to sum it all up in a condensed paraphrase of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.

It was not exactly a "state paper," and there was in it a strangely solemn and mournful undertone, not so much heard as felt. It was a Farewell Address of a man whose work was nearly done and who, somehow, was dimly aware of that fact.

Abraham Lincoln's work was indeed done, for all that even then remained was for the hands of others. He had only a few short weeks to wait before turning over all his power and responsibility and toil to those who were to follow. At the same time his education was completed, so far as it could be in this present world. His mind and soul had reached their full development, in a religious life so unconsciously intense and absorbing that it could not otherwise than utter itself in the grand sentences of his last address to the people. The knowledge had come, and the faith had come, and the charity had come; and with all had come the love of God, which put away all thought of rebellious resistance to the will of God, leading as in his earlier days of trial to despair and insanity.

CHAPTER LV.

AT LAST.

A Proclamation of Pardon-Going to the Army-The Death Struggle of the Rebellion-Hemmed in by the Hunters-The President in Richmond-Surrenders of Lee and Johnson-Cessation of the Civil War.

MR. FESSENDEN retired from the Treasury Department, on account of ill-health, on the 6th of March, and Hugh McCulloch, of Indiana, was appointed in his stead; but no other changes were made in the Cabinet. The machinery of the government was all in good order and worked right on, without a pause or a break. There was no occasion for the presence of anxious crowds of office-seekers, as in 1861. This was not in any wise a new Administration. Nevertheless, for a fortnight, there was an increase in the rush and pressure of official duties. In pursuance of an Act of Congress, a proclamation was issued, on the 11th of March, offering pardon to all deserters who should at once return to their posts. A draft for three hundred thousand men more began on the 15th, as if in preparation for possible needs of the army. All matters were settled and adjusted, and then the President, for the first time, indulged himself in what bore a weird and somber likeness to a vacation. On the 22d of the month he went down the Potomac to City Point, to be with the army during the closing struggles of the war. He was very weary, in heart and brain, and he could there escape from many of his daily and hourly tormentors. Not even the very good people who only desired to see him and shake hands with him could all follow him to City Point.

General Sherman's army reached Goldsborough, North Carolina, on the 22d, and the General left it there and came up to consult as to further operations.

There was to have been a grand review of the troops on the 23d, but on that day occurred a desperate battle for the possession of Fort Steadman. The Rebels having once taken it, they were driven out of it with heavy losses, and Mr. Lincoln visited the scene of the combat. The enthusiasm with which he was everywhere received by the soldiers enabled him to say, "This is better than a review."

General Sherman arrived and attended a council of war, held on the 28th, at which were also present Mr. Lincoln and Generals Grant, Sheridan, Meade, and Ord. He then shortly rejoined his army, and the results of the consultation followed with terrific rapidity. The operations under Grant began in a few hours after the adjournment of the council. There was some sharp fighting on the next day, Wednesday. Thursday was so stormy as somewhat to interfere with activity, but through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday there was a continuous succession of bloody engagements along the entire front. Mr. Lincoln remained at City Point, receiving reports of the progress-making and sending frequent dispatches to the people. On Sunday he was able to announce "the triumphant success of our armies, after three days of hard fighting, in which both sides displayed unsurpassed valor."

The results were indeed a triumphant success, for the army under Lee had lost one half of its effective men. Twelve thousand of them were prisoners in the hands of the victors, with fifty pieces of artillery. There was no longer any possibility of holding Richmond. There had not been any, in reality, for a long time, and the most obstinate courage was compelled to admit it now. The evacuation was made by the Rebel authorities, civil and military, at once and in haste. What remained of the Rebel fleet in the James River was blown up before the departure, and as little was left of other war-material as the time and opportunity given for destruction or removal permitted.

The Union troops nearest the city were those under General