Lincoln, in his speeches before the beginning of the war, cleared the public mind as to the fundamental issues and made it plain that the first sublime task was to save the Union. In a vague manner all men knew that the establishment of a national slave-labor absolutism in the South meant the development of an aristocratic slave-made oligarchy that would cause perpetual war, or, otherwise, bring about the slave-holding mastery of America. Perhaps no clearer illustration of his mission, as he saw it, is in evidence than may be taken from one of the many characteristic incidents. While en route to Washington for his first inauguration the train conveying Mr. Lincoln came to a temporary stop at Dunkirk, N. Y., and an old farmer in the crowd surrounding the train shouted: "Mr. Lincoln, what are you going to do when you get to Washington?" Reaching for one of the little flags that decorated the train, he held it aloft and said: "By the help of Almighty God and the assistance of the loyal people of this country I am going to uphold and defend the Stars and Stripes." The preservation of the Union, regardless of all the turmoil and clamor on other issues, was the one clear-sighted object of Lincoln. It is quite true that up to the beginning of the war there was little sentiment in the North for the abolition of slavery. It was the beginning of war that crystalized resentment against slave-holding power, because it was thus capable of destroying the union in the furtherance of its own dominion. But never was a nation more divided into mutually injurious confusions. It is always so in democracies where every one thinks, talks and acts. Authority was regarded as tyrannical and Lincoln soon became widely berated as a despot. But his patience and devotion never swerved. He had already experienced the life-long lessons of holding true. The situation is well represented in the way General McClellan treated Lincoln. He began to show contempt for his commander-in-chief by causing Lincoln to wait outside like any other caller, and once he went to bed ignoring Lincoln's call. General McClellan seemed to believe himself so much greater than Lincoln that he more and more publicly ignored the President. When the mistreatment became notorious, Lincoln replied, "I will hold McClellan's horse if he will only bring success." "On to Richmond," was the cry of the nation, but McClellan remained preparing in what was bitterly called "masterly inactivity." Lincoln said one day sadly, "McClellan is a great engineer, but his special talent is for a stationary engine." One of the popular songs of the time, reflecting the bitterness of the seemingly interminable delay, has for its first and last stanzas the following: "All quiet along the Potomac, they say, Except now and then a stray picket Is shot, as he walks on his beat, to and fro, By a rifleman hid in the thicket.