Were they slaves or free? Could they be
considered fugitive slaves when their masters had run away and
left them? How should they be disposed of? It was a knotty
problem, and upon its solution might depend the loyalty or
secession of the border slave States of Maryland, West Virginia,
Kentucky and Missouri, which, up to that time, had not decided
whether to remain in the Union or to cast their fortunes with the
South.
In dealing with this perplexing subject. Mr. Lincoln kept in mind
one of his favorite stories: the one on the Methodist Presiding
Elder who was riding about his circuit during the spring
freshets. A young and anxious companion asked how they should
ever be able to cross the swollen waters of Fox River, which they
were approaching, and the elder quieted him by saying that he
made it the rule of his life never to cross Fox River until he
came to it. The President, following this rule, did not
immediately decide the question, but left it to be treated at the
discretion of each commander. Under this theory some commanders
admitted black people to their camps, while others refused to
receive them. The curt formula of General Orders: "We are neither
negro stealers nor negro catchers," was easily read to justify
either course. Congress greatly advanced the problem, shortly
after the battle of Bull Run, by passing a law which took away a
master's right to his slave, when, with his consent, such slave
was employed in service or labor hostile to the United States.
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