He had waited until the harvest was ripe.

With unerring sagacity he realized that the triumph of freedom was at hand.

He entered upon the conflict with the deepest conviction that the perpetuity of the Republic required the extinction of slavery.

So, adopting as his motto, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand,' he girded himself for the contest.

The years from 1854 to 1860 were on his part years of constant, active, and unwearied effort.