Terrible as was that war in the sacrifice of precious life, and in the destruction of property, it was unquestionably inevitable.
Mr.Seward was right when he called the conflict "irrepressible." Abraham Lincoln was a true prophet when he declared, at Springfield, Ill., in June, 1858, that "A house divided against itself cannot stand; I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." When in my early life I spoke to my good mother about some anti-slavery addresses that had been delivered, she said to me, with wonderful foresight, "These speeches will avail but little; _slavery will go down in blood."_ That it has gone down even at the cost of so much blood and treasure is to-day as much a matter for congratulation in the South as it is in the North.
My first glimpse of the long predicted conflict was the sight of the Seventh Regiment,--composed of the flower of New York,--swinging down Broadway in April, 1861, on its way to the protection of Washington,--amid the thundering cheers of the bystanders.

Before long I offered my services to the "Christian commission" which had been organized by that noble and godly minded patriot, George H.Stuart, of Philadelphia, and I went on to Washington to preach to our soldiers.

I found Washington a huge military encampment; the hills around were white with tents, and Pennsylvania Avenue was filled almost every day with troops of horsemen, or with trains of artillery.

While I was in Washington I lodged with my beloved college professor, that eminent Christian philosopher, Joseph Henry,--in the Smithsonian Institution, of which he was the head.

One night, after I had been out addressing our boys in blue at one of the camps, and had retired for the night, Professor Henry came into my room and, sitting down by my bed, discussed the aspects of the struggle.