87/98 He told Seward, "You will go on, of course, preparing your answer, which, as I understood it, will state the reasons why they ought to be given up. Now, I have a mind to try my hand at stating the reasons why they ought _not_ to be given up. We will compare the points on each side." Lincoln's idea was, in short, to return an answer to Great Britain, proposing arbitration (Bancroft, _Seward_, II, 234).] [Footnote 473: Mass.Hist.Soc._Proceedings_, XLV, 155. |