From the first he urged the emancipation and enlistment of the Southern negroes, — a policy which was
ultimately adopted with successful results; and when in 1864, at the darkest hour of the struggle, there was danger of a
fatal compromise, he actively promoted that great mass meeting in the hall of the Cooper Union which marked the
turning - point of the struggle, carried the State of New York for Lincoln, and secured the triumph of the Union.