The  new  President  confronted  grave  responsibilities.  The  least
reflecting  among  those  who  took  part  in  the  mighty  struggle  per
ceived  that  the  duties  devolved  upon  the  Government  by  victory  —
if  less  exacting  and  less  critical  than  those  imposed  by  actual  war  —
were  more  delicate  in  their  nature,  and  required  statesmanship  of  a
different  character.  The  problem  of  reconstructing  the  Union,  and
adapting  its  varied  interests  to  its  changed  condition,  demanded
the  highest  administrative  ability.  Many  of  the  questions  involved
were  new,  and,  if  only  for  that  reason,  perplexing.  No  experience
of  our  own  had  established  precedents ;  none  in  other  countries
afforded  even  close  analogies.  Rebellions  and  civil  wars  had,  it  is
true,  been  frequent,  but  they  had  been  chiefly  among  peoples  con
solidated  under  one  government,  ruled  in  all  their  affairs,  domestic
and  external,  by  one  central  power.  The  overthrow  of  armed  resist-
.ance  in  such  cases  was  the  end  of  trouble,  and  political  society  and
public  order  were  rapidly  re-formed  under  the  restraint  which  the
triumphant  authority  was  so  easily  able  to  impose.
