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diff --git a/old/11728.txt b/old/11728.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..79a97a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11728.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7181 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Abraham Lincoln, by George Haven Putnam + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Abraham Lincoln + +Author: George Haven Putnam + +Release Date: March 27, 2004 [eBook #11728] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABRAHAM LINCOLN*** + + +E-text prepared by Steve Schulze and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 11728-h.htm or 11728-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/7/2/11728/11728-h/11728-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/7/2/11728/11728-h.zip) + + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN + +The People's Leader in the Struggle for National Existence + +By + +GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM, LITT. D. + +Author of +"Books and Their Makers in the Middle Ages," +"The Censorship of the Church," etc. + +With the above is included the speech delivered by Lincoln in New York, +February 27, 1860; with an introduction by Charles C. Nott, late Chief +Justice of the Court of Claims, and annotations by Judge Nott and by +Cephas Brainerd of New York Bar. + +1909 + + + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE + + +The twelfth of February, 1909, was the hundredth anniversary of the +birth of Abraham Lincoln. In New York, as in other cities and towns +throughout the Union, the day was devoted to commemoration exercises, +and even in the South, in centres like Atlanta (the capture of which in +1864 had indicated the collapse of the cause of the Confederacy), +representative Southerners gave their testimony to the life and +character of the great American. + +The Committee in charge of the commemoration in New York arranged for a +series of addresses to be given to the people of the city and it was my +privilege to be selected as one of the speakers. It was an indication of +the rapid passing away of the generation which had had to do with the +events of the War, that the list of orators, forty-six in all, included +only four men who had ever seen the hero whose life and character they +were describing. + +In writing out later, primarily for the information of children and +grandchildren, my own address (which had been delivered without notes), +I found myself so far absorbed in the interest of the subject and in the +recollections of the War period, that I was impelled to expand the paper +so that it should present a more comprehensive study of the career and +character of Lincoln than it had been possible to attempt within the +compass of an hour's talk, and should include also references, in +outline, to the constitutional struggle that had preceded the contest +and to the chief events of the War itself with which the great War +President had been most directly concerned. The monograph, therefore, +while in the form of an essay or historical sketch, retains in certain +portions the character of the spoken address with which it originated. + +It is now brought into print in the hope that it may be found of +interest for certain readers of the younger generation and may serve as +an incentive to the reading of the fuller histories of the War period, +and particularly of the best of the biographies of the great American +whom we honour as the People's leader. + +I have been fortunate enough to secure (only, however, after this +monograph had been put into type) a copy of the pamphlet printed in +September, 1860, by the Young Men's Republican Union of New York, in +which is presented the text, as revised by the speaker, of the address +given by Lincoln at the Cooper Institute in February,--the address which +made him President. + +This edition of the speech, prepared for use in the Presidential +campaign, contains a series of historical annotations by Cephas Brainerd +of the New York Bar and Charles C. Nott, who later rendered further +distinguished service to his country as Colonel of the 176th Regiment, +N.Y.S. Volunteers, and (after the close of the War) as chief justice of +the Court of Claims. + +These young lawyers (not yet leaders of the Bar) appear to have realised +at once that the speech was to constitute the platform upon which the +issues of the Presidential election were to be contested. Not being +prophets, they were, of course, not in a position to know that the same +statements were to represent the contentions of the North upon which the +Civil War was fought out. + +I am able to include, with the scholarly notes of the two lawyers, a +valuable introduction to the speech, written (as late as February, 1908) +by Judge Nott; together with certain letters which in February, 1860, +passed between him (as the representative of the Committee) and Mr. +Lincoln. + +The introduction and the letters have never before been published, and +(as is the case also with the material of the notes) are now in print +only in the present volume. + +I judge, therefore, that I may be doing a service to the survivors of +the generation of 1860 and also to the generations that have grown up +since the War, by utilising the occasion of the publication of my own +little monograph for the reprinting of these notes in a form for +permanent preservation and for reference on the part of students of the +history of the Republic. + +G.H.P. + +NEW YORK, April 2, 1909. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. THE EVOLUTION OF THE MAN + + II. WORK AT THE BAR AND ENTRANCE INTO POLITICS + + III. THE FIGHT AGAINST THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY + + IV. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT ORGANISES THE PEOPLE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF + NATIONAL EXISTENCE + + V. THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR + + VI. THE DARK. DAYS OF 1862 + + VII. THE THIRD AND CRUCIAL YEAR OF THE WAR + +VIII. THE FINAL CAMPAIGN + + IX. LINCOLN'S TASK ENDED + + APPENDIX--LINCOLN'S COOPER INSTITUTE ADDRESS: + + INTRODUCTORY NOTE + + CORRESPONDENCE WITH ROBERT LINCOLN, NOTT, AND BRAINERD + + INTRODUCTION + + CORRESPONDENCE WITH LINCOLN + + TITLE PAGE OF ORIGINAL ISSUE + + OFFICERS OF THE REPUBLICAN UNION + + PREFACE TO THE LINCOLN ADDRESS + + THE COOPER INSTITUTE ADDRESS + + INDEX + + FOOTNOTES + + + + + +I + +THE EVOLUTION OF THE MAN + + +On the twelfth of February, 1909, the hundredth anniversary of the birth +of Abraham Lincoln, Americans gathered together, throughout the entire +country, to honour the memory of a great American, one who may come to +be accepted as the greatest of Americans. It was in every way fitting +that this honour should be rendered to Abraham Lincoln and that, on such +commemoration day, his fellow-citizens should not fail to bear also in +honoured memory the thousands of other good Americans who like Lincoln +gave their lives for their country and without whose loyal devotion +Lincoln's leadership would have been in vain. + +The chief purpose, however, as I understand, of a memorial service is +not so much to glorify the dead as to enlighten and inspire the living. +We borrow the thought of his own Gettysburg address (so eloquent in its +exquisite simplicity) when we say that no words of ours can add any +glory to the name of Abraham Lincoln. His work is accomplished. His fame +is secure. It is for us, his fellow-citizens, for the older men who had +personal touch with the great struggle in which Lincoln was the nation's +leader, for the younger men who have grown up in the generation since +the War, and for the children by whom are to be handed down through the +new century the great traditions of the Republic, to secure from the +life and character of our great leader incentive, illumination, and +inspiration to good citizenship, in order that Lincoln and his +fellow-martyrs shall not have died in vain. + +It is possible within the limits of this paper simply to touch upon the +chief events and experiences in Lincoln's life. It has been my endeavour +to select those that were the most important in the forming or in the +expression of his character. The term "forming" is, however, not +adequate to indicate the development of a personality like Lincoln's. We +rather think of his sturdy character as having been _forged_ into its +final form through the fiery furnace of fierce struggle, as hammered +out under the blows of difficulties and disasters, and as pressed +beneath the weight of the nation's burdens, until was at last produced +the finely tempered nature of the man we know, the Lincoln of history, +that exquisite combination of sweetness of nature and strength of +character. The type is described in Schiller's Song of the Founding of +the Bell: + + Denn, wo das strenge mit dem zarten, + Wo mildes sich und starkes paarten, + Da giebt es einen guten Klang. + +There is a tendency to apply the term "miraculous" to the career of +every hero, and in a sense such description is, of course, true. The +life of every man, however restricted its range, is something of a +miracle; but the course of a single life, like that of humanity, is +assuredly based on a development that proceeds from a series of +causations. Holmes says that the education of a man begins two centuries +before his birth. We may recall in this connection that Lincoln came of +good stock. It is true that his parents belonged to the class of poor +whites; but the Lincoln family can be traced from an eastern county of +England (we might hope for the purpose of genealogical harmony that the +county was Lincolnshire) to Hingham in Massachusetts, and by way of +Pennsylvania and Virginia to Kentucky. The grandfather of our Abraham +was killed, while working in his field on the Kentucky farm, by +predatory Indians shooting from the cover of the dense forest. Abraham's +father, Thomas, at that time a boy, was working in the field where his +father was murdered. Such an incident in Kentucky simply repeated what +had been going on just a century before in Massachusetts, at Deerfield +and at dozens of other settlements on the edge of the great forest which +was the home of the Indians. During the hundred years, the frontier of +the white man's domain had been moved a thousand miles to the south-west +and, as ever, there was still friction at the point of contact. + +The record of the boyhood of our Lincoln has been told in dozens of +forms and in hundreds of monographs. We know of the simplicity, of the +penury, of the family life in the little one-roomed log hut that formed +the home for the first ten years of Abraham's life. We know of his +little group of books collected with toil and self-sacrifice. The +series, after some years of strenuous labour, comprised the Bible, +_Aesop's Fables_, a tattered copy of Euclid's _Geometry_, and Weems's +_Life of Washington_. The _Euclid_ he had secured as a great prize from +the son of a neighbouring farmer. Abraham had asked the boy the meaning +of the word "demonstrate." His friend said that he did not himself know, +but that he knew the word was in a book which he had at school, and he +hunted up the _Euclid_. After some bargaining, the _Euclid_ came into +Abraham's possession. In accordance with his practice, the whole +contents were learned by heart. Abraham's later opponents at the Bar or +in political discussion came to realise that he understood the meaning +of the word "demonstrate." In fact, references to specific problems of +Euclid occurred in some of his earlier speeches at the Bar. + +A year or more later, when the Lincoln family had crossed the river to +Indiana, there was added to the "library" a copy of the revised Statutes +of the State. The Weems's _Washington_ had been borrowed by Lincoln from +a neighbouring farmer. The boy kept it at night under his pillow, and on +the occasion of a storm, the water blew in through the chinks of the +logs that formed the wall of the cabin, drenching the pillow and the +head of the boy (a small matter in itself) and wetting and almost +spoiling the book. This was a grave misfortune. Lincoln took his +damaged volume to the owner and asked how he could make payment for the +loss. It was arranged that the boy should put in three days' work +shucking corn on the farm. "Will that work pay for the book or only for +the damage?" asked the boy. It was agreed that the labour of three days +should be considered sufficient for the purchase of the book. + +The text of this biography and the words of each valued volume in the +little "library" were absorbed into the memory of the reader. It was his +practice when going into the field for work, to take with him +written-out paragraphs from the book that he had at the moment in mind +and to repeat these paragraphs between the various chores or between the +wood-chopping until every page was committed by heart. Paper was scarce +and dear and for the boy unattainable. He used for his copying bits of +board shaved smooth with his jack-knife. This material had the advantage +that when the task of one day had been mastered, a little labour with +the jack-knife prepared the surface of the board for the work of the +next day. As I read this incident in Lincoln's boyhood, I was reminded +of an experience of my own in Louisiana. It happened frequently during +the campaign of 1863 that our supplies were cut off through the capture +of our waggon trains by that active Confederate commander, General +Taylor. More than once, we were short of provisions, and, in one +instance, a supply of stationery for which the adjutants of the brigade +had been waiting, was carried off to serve the needs of our opponents. +We tore down a convenient and unnecessary shed and utilised from the +roof the shingles, the clean portions of which made an admirable +substitute for paper. For some days, the morning reports of the brigade +were filed on shingles. + +Lincoln's work as a farm-hand was varied by two trips down the river to +New Orleans. The opportunity had been offered to the young man by the +neighbouring store-keeper, Gentry, to take part in the trip of a +flat-boat which carried the produce of the county to New Orleans, to be +there sold in exchange for sugar or rum. Lincoln was, at the time of +these trips, already familiar with certain of the aspects and conditions +of slavery, but the inspection of the slave-market in New Orleans +stamped upon his sensitive imagination a fresh and more sombre picture, +and made a lasting impression of the iniquity and horror of the +institution. From the time of his early manhood, Lincoln hated slavery. +What was exceptional, however, in his state of mind was that, while +abominating the institution, he was able to give a sympathetic +understanding to the opinions and to the prejudices of the slave-owners. +In all his long fight against slavery as the curse both of the white and +of the black, and as the great obstacle to the natural and wholesome +development of the nation, we do not at any time find a trace of +bitterness against the men of the South who were endeavouring to +maintain and to extend the system. + +It was of essential importance for the development of Lincoln as a +political leader, first for his State, and later in the contest that +became national, that he should have possessed an understanding, which +was denied to many of the anti-slavery leaders, of the actual nature, +character, and purpose of the men against whom he was contending. It +became of larger importance when Lincoln was directing from Washington +the policy of the national administration that he should have a +sympathetic knowledge of the problems of the men of the Border States +who with the outbreak of the War had been placed in a position of +exceptional difficulty, and that he should have secured and retained the +confidence of these men. It seems probable that if the War President +had been a man of Northern birth and Northern prejudices, if he had been +one to whom the wider, the more patient and sympathetic view of these +problems had been impossible or difficult, the Border States could not +have been saved to the Union. It is probable that the support given to +the cause of the North by the sixty thousand or seventy thousand loyal +recruits from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, and Virginia, may +even have proved the deciding factor in turning the tide of events. The +nation's leader for the struggle seems to have been secured through a +process of natural selection as had been the case a century earlier with +Washington. We may recall that Washington died but ten years before +Lincoln was born; and from the fact that each leader was at hand when +the demand came for his service, and when without such service the +nation might have been pressed to destruction, we may grasp the hope +that in time of need the nation will always be provided with the leader +who can meet the requirement. + +After Lincoln returned from New Orleans, he secured employment for a +time in the grocery or general store of Gentry, and when he was +twenty-two years of age, he went into business with a partner, some +twenty years older than himself, in carrying on such a store. He had so +impressed himself upon the confidence of his neighbours that, while he +was absolutely without resources, there was no difficulty in his +borrowing the money required for his share of the capital. The +undertaking did not prove a success. Lincoln had no business experience +and no particular business capacity, while his partner proved to be +untrustworthy. The partner decamped, leaving Lincoln to close up the +business and to take the responsibility for the joint indebtedness. It +was seventeen years before Lincoln was able, from his modest earnings as +a lawyer, to clear off this indebtedness. The debt became outlawed in +six years' time but this could not affect Lincoln's sense of the +obligation. After the failure of the business, Lincoln secured work as +county surveyor. In this, he was following the example of his +predecessor Washington, with whose career as a surveyor the youngster +who knew Weems's biography by heart, was of course familiar. His new +occupation took him through the county and brought him into personal +relations with a much wider circle than he had known in the village of +New Salem, and in his case, the personal relation counted for much; the +history shows that no one who knew Lincoln failed to be attracted by +him or to be impressed with the fullest confidence in the man's +integrity of purpose and of action. + + + + +II + +WORK AT THE BAR AND ENTRANCE INTO POLITICS + + +In 1834, when he was twenty-five years old, Lincoln made his first +entrance into politics, presenting himself as candidate for the +Assembly. His defeat was not without compensations; he secured in his +own village or township, New Salem, no less than 208 out of the 211 +votes cast. This prophet had honour with those who knew him. Two years +later, he tried again and this time with success. His journeys as a +surveyor had brought him into touch with, and into the confidence of, +enough voters throughout the county to secure the needed majority. + +Lincoln's active work as a lawyer lasted from 1834 to 1860, or for about +twenty-six years. He secured in the cases undertaken by him a very large +proportion of successful decisions. Such a result is not entirely to be +credited to his effectiveness as an advocate. The first reason was that +in his individual work, that is to say, in the matters that were taken +up by himself rather than by his partner, he accepted no case in the +justice of which he did not himself have full confidence. As his fame as +an advocate increased, he was approached by an increasing number of +clients who wanted the advantage of the effective service of the young +lawyer and also of his assured reputation for honesty of statement and +of management. Unless, however, he believed in the case, he put such +suggestions to one side even at the time when the income was meagre and +when every dollar was of importance. + +Lincoln's record at the Bar has been somewhat obscured by the value of +his public service, but as it comes to be studied, it is shown to have +been both distinctive and important. His law-books were, like those of +his original library, few, but whatever volumes he had of his own and +whatever he was able to place his hands upon from the shelves of his +friends, he mastered thoroughly. His work at the Bar gave evidence of +his exceptional powers of reasoning while it was itself also a large +influence in the development of such powers. The counsel who practised +with and against him, the judges before whom his arguments were +presented, and the members of the juries, the hard-headed working +citizens of the State, seem to have all been equally impressed with the +exceptional fairness with which the young lawyer presented not only his +own case but that of his opponent. He had great tact in holding his +friends, in convincing those who did not agree with him, and in winning +over opponents; but he gave no futile effort to tasks which his judgment +convinced him would prove impossible. He never, says Horace Porter, +citing Lincoln's words, "wasted any time in trying to massage the back +of a political porcupine." "A man might as well," says Lincoln, +"undertake to throw fleas across the barnyard with a shovel." + +He had as a youngster won repute as a teller of dramatic stories, and +those who listened to his arguments in court were expecting to have his +words to the jury brightened and rendered for the moment more effective +by such stories. The hearers were often disappointed in such +expectation. Neither at the Bar, nor, it may be said here, in his later +work as a political leader, did Lincoln indulge himself in the telling a +story for the sake of the story, nor for the sake of the laugh to be +raised by the story, nor for the momentary pleasure or possible +temporary advantage of the discomfiture of the opponent. The story was +used, whether in law or in politics, only when it happened to be the +shortest and most effective method of making clear an issue or of +illustrating a statement. In later years, when he had upon him the +terrible burdens of the great struggle, Lincoln used stories from time +to time as a vent to his feelings. The impression given was that by an +effort of will and in order to keep his mind from dwelling too +continuously upon the tremendous problems upon which he was engaged, he +would, by the use of some humorous reminiscence, set his thoughts in a +direction as different as possible from that of his cares. A third and +very valuable use of the story which grew up in his Washington days was +to turn aside some persistent but impossible application; and to give to +the applicant, with the least risk of unnecessary annoyance to his +feelings, the "no" that was necessary. It is doubtless also the case +that, as has happened to other men gifted with humour, Lincoln's +reputation as a story-teller caused to be ascribed to him a great series +of anecdotes and incidents of one kind or another, some of which would +have been entirely outside of, and inconsistent with, his own standard +and his own method. There is the further and final word to be said about +Lincoln's stories, that they were entitled to the geometrical +commendation of "being neither too long nor too broad." + +In 1846, Lincoln was elected to Congress as a Whig. The circle of +acquaintances whom he had made in the county as surveyor had widened out +with his work as a lawyer; he secured a unanimous nomination and was +elected without difficulty in a constituency comprising six counties. I +find in the record of the campaign the detail that Lincoln returned to +certain of his friends who had undertaken to find the funds for election +expenses, $199.90 out of the $200 subscribed. + +In 1847, Lincoln was one of the group of Whigs in Congress who opposed +the Mexican War. These men took the ground that the war was one of +aggression and spoliation. Their views, which were quite prevalent +throughout New England, are effectively presented in Lowell's _Biglow +Papers._ When the army was once in the field, Lincoln was, however, +ready to give his Congressional vote for the fullest and most energetic +support. A year or more later, he worked actively for the election of +General Taylor. He took the ground that the responsibility for the war +rested not with the soldiers who had fought it to a successful +conclusion, but with the politicians who had devised the original +land-grabbing scheme. + +In 1849, we find Lincoln's name connected with an invention for lifting +vessels over shoals. His sojourn on the Sangamon River and his memory of +the attempt, successful for the moment but ending in failure, to make +the river available for steamboats, had attracted his attention to the +problem of steering river vessels over shoals. + +In 1864, when I was campaigning on the Red River in Louisiana, I noticed +with interest a device that had been put into shape for the purpose of +lifting river steamers over shoals. This device took the form of stilts +which for the smaller vessels (and only the smaller steamers could as a +rule be managed in this way) were fastened on pivots from the upper deck +on the outside of the hull and were worked from the deck with a force of +two or three men at each stilt. The difficulty on the Red River was that +the Rebel sharp-shooters from the banks made the management of the +stilts irregular. + +In 1854, Douglas carried through Congress the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. This +bill repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and cancelled also the +provisions of the series of compromises of 1850. Its purpose was to +throw open for settlement and for later organisation as Slave States the +whole territory of the North-west from which, under the Missouri +Compromise, slavery had been excluded. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill not only +threw open a great territory to slavery but re-opened the whole slavery +discussion. The issues that were brought to the front in the discussions +about this bill, and in the still more bitter contests after the passage +of the bill in regard to the admission of Kansas as a Slave State, were +the immediate precursors of the Civil War. The larger causes lay further +back, but the War would have been postponed for an indefinite period if +it had not been for the pressing on the part of the South for the right +to make Slave States throughout the entire territory of the country, and +for the readiness on the part of certain Democratic leaders of the +North, of whom Douglas was the chief, to accept this contention, and +through such expedients to gain, or to retain, political control for the +Democratic party. + +In one of the long series of debates in Congress on the question of the +right to take slaves into free territory, a planter from South Carolina +drew an affecting picture of his relations with his old coloured +foster-mother, the "mammy" of the plantation. "Do you tell me," he said, +addressing himself to a Free-soil opponent, "that I, a free American +citizen, am not to be permitted, if I want to go across the Missouri +River, to take with me my whole home circle? Do you say that I must +leave my old 'Mammy' behind in South Carolina?" "Oh!" replied the +Westerner, "the trouble with you is not that you cannot take your +'Mammy' into this free territory, but that you are not to be at liberty +to sell her when you get her there." + +Lincoln threw himself with full earnestness of conviction and ardour +into the fight to preserve for freedom the territory belonging to the +nation. In common with the majority of the Whig party, he held the +opinion that if slavery could be restricted to the States in which it +was already in existence, if no further States should be admitted into +the Union with the burden of slavery, the institution must, in the +course of a generation or two, die out. He was clear in his mind that +slavery was an enormous evil for the whites as well as for the blacks, +for the individual as for the nation. He had himself, as a young man, +been brought up to do toilsome manual labour. He would not admit that +there was anything in manual labour that ought to impair the respect of +the community for the labourer or the worker's respect for himself. Not +the least of the evils of slavery was, in his judgment, its inevitable +influence in bringing degradation upon labour and the labourer. + +The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act made clear to the North that the +South would accept no limitations for slavery. The position of the +Southern leaders, in which they had the substantial backing of their +constituents, was that slaves were property and that the Constitution, +having guaranteed the protection of property to all the citizens of the +commonwealth, a slaveholder was deprived of his constitutional rights as +a citizen if his control of this portion of his property was in any way +interfered with or restricted. The argument in behalf of this extreme +Southern claim had been shaped most eloquently and most forcibly by John +C. Calhoun during the years between 1830 and 1850. The Calhoun opinion +was represented a few years later in the Presidential candidacy of John +C. Breckinridge. The contention of the more extreme of the Northern +opponents of slavery voters, whose spokesmen were William Lloyd +Garrison, Wendell Phillips, James G. Birney, Owen Lovejoy, and others, +was that the Constitution in so far as it recognised slavery (which it +did only by implication) was a compact with evil. They held that the +Fathers had been led into this compact unwittingly and without full +realisation of the responsibilities that they were assuming for the +perpetuation of a great wrong. They refused to accept the view that +later generations of American citizens were to be bound for an +indefinite period by this error of judgment on the part of the Fathers. +They proposed to get rid of slavery, as an institution incompatible with +the principles on which the Republic was founded. They pointed out that +under the Declaration of Independence all men had an equal right to +"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and that there was no +limitation of this claim to men of white race. If it was not going to be +possible to argue slavery out of existence, these men preferred to have +the Union dissolved rather than to bring upon States like Massachusetts +a share of the responsibility for the wrong done to mankind and to +justice under the laws of South Carolina. + +The Whig party, whose great leader, Henry Clay, had closed his life in +1852, just at the time when Lincoln was becoming prominent in politics, +held that all citizens were bound by the compact entered into by their +ancestors, first under the Articles of Confederation of 1783, and later +under the Constitution of 1789. Our ancestors had, for the purpose of +bringing about the organisation of the Union, agreed to respect the +institution of slavery in the States in which it existed. The Whigs of +1850, held, therefore, that in such of the Slave States as had been part +of the original thirteen, slavery was an institution to be recognised +and protected under the law of the land. They admitted, further, that +what their grandfathers had done in 1789, had been in a measure +confirmed by the action of their fathers in 1820. The Missouri +Compromise of 1820, in making clear that all States thereafter organised +north of the line thirty-six thirty were to be Free States, made clear +also that States south of that line had the privilege of coming into the +Union with the institution of slavery and that the citizens in these +newer Slave States should be assured of the same recognition and rights +as had been accorded to those of the original thirteen. + +The Missouri Compromise permitted also the introduction of Missouri +itself into the Union as a Slave State (as a counterpoise to the State +of Maine admitted the same year), although almost the entire territory +of the State of Missouri was north of the latitude 36 deg. 30'. + +We may recall that, under the Constitution, the States of the South, +while denying the suffrage to the negro, had secured the right to +include the negro population as a basis for their representation in the +lower House. In apportioning the representatives to the population, five +negroes were to be counted as the equivalent of three white men. The +passage, in 1854, of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the purpose of which was +to confirm the existence of slavery and to extend the institution +throughout the country, was carried in the House by thirteen votes. The +House contained at that time no less than twenty members representing +the negro population. The negroes were, therefore, in this instance +involuntarily made the instruments for strengthening the chains of their +own serfdom. + +It was in 1854 that Lincoln first propounded the famous question, "Can +the nation endure half slave and half free?" This question, slightly +modified, became the keynote four years later of Lincoln's contention +against the Douglas theory of "squatter sovereignty." The organisation +of the Republican party dates from 1856. Various claims have been made +concerning the precise date and place at which were first presented the +statement of principles that constituted the final platform of the +party, and in regard to the men who were responsible for such statement. +At a meeting held as far back as July, 1854, at Jackson, Michigan, a +platform was adopted by a convention which had been brought together to +formulate opposition to any extension of slavery, and this Jackson +platform did contain the substance of the conclusions and certain of the +phrases which later were included in the Republican platform. In +January, 1856, Parke Godwin published in _Putnam's Monthly_, of which he +was political editor, an article outlining the necessary constitution of +the new party. This article gave a fuller expression than had thus far +been made of the views of the men who were later accepted as the leaders +of the Republican party. In May, 1856, Lincoln made a speech at +Bloomington, Illinois, setting forth the principles for the anti-slavery +campaign as they were understood by his group of Whigs. In this speech, +Lincoln speaks of "that perfect liberty for which our Southern +fellow-citizens are sighing, the liberty of making slaves of other +people"; and again, "It is the contention of Mr. Douglas, in his claim +for the rights of American citizens, that if _A_ sees fit to enslave +_B_, no other man shall have the right to object." Of this Bloomington +speech, Herndon says: "It was logic; it was pathos; it was enthusiasm; +it was justice, integrity, truth, and right. The words seemed to be set +ablaze by the divine fires of a soul maddened by a great wrong. The +utterance was hard, knotty, gnarly, backed with wrath." + +From this time on, Lincoln was becoming known throughout the country as +one of the leaders in the new issues, able and ready to give time and +service to the anti-slavery fight and to the campaign work of the +Republican organisation. This political service interfered to some +extent with his work at the Bar, but he did not permit political +interests to stand in the way of any obligations that had been assumed +to his clients. He simply accepted fewer cases, and to this extent +reduced his very moderate earnings. In his work as a lawyer, he never +showed any particular capacity for increasing income or for looking +after his own business interests. It was his principle and his practice +to discourage litigation. He appears, during the twenty-five years in +which he was in active practice, to have made absolutely no enemies +among his professional opponents. He enjoyed an exceptional reputation +for the frankness with which he would accept the legitimate contentions +of his opponents or would even himself state their case. Judge David +Davis, before whom Lincoln had occasion during these years to practise, +says that the Court was always prepared to accept as absolutely fair and +substantially complete Lincoln's statement of the matters at issue. +Davis says it occasionally happened that Lincoln would supply some +consideration of importance on his opponent's side of the case that the +other counsel had overlooked. It was Lincoln's principle to impress upon +himself at the outset the full strength of the other man's position. It +was also his principle to accept no case in the justice of which he had +not been able himself to believe. He possessed also by nature an +exceptional capacity for the detection of faulty reasoning; and his +exercise of the power of analysis in his work at the Bar proved of great +service later in widening his influence as a political leader. The power +that he possessed, when he was assured of the justice of his cause, of +convincing court and jury became the power of impressing his convictions +upon great bodies of voters. Later, when he had upon his shoulders the +leadership of the nation, he took the people into his confidence; he +reasoned with them as if they were sitting as a great jury for the +determination of the national policy, and he was able to impress upon +them his perfect integrity of purpose and the soundness of his +conclusions,--conclusions which thus became the policy of the nation. + +He calls himself a "mast-fed lawyer" and it is true that his +opportunities for reading continued to be most restricted. Davis said in +regard to Lincoln's work as a lawyer: "He had a magnificent equipoise of +head, conscience, and heart. In non-essentials he was pliable; but on +the underlying principles of truth and justice, his will was as firm as +steel." We find from the record of Lincoln's work in the Assembly and +later in Congress that he would never do as a Representative what he was +unwilling to do as an individual. His capacity for seeing the humorous +side of things was of course but a phase of a general clearness of +perception. The man who sees things clearly, who is able to recognise +both sides of a matter, the man who can see all round a position, the +opposite of the man in blinders, that man necessarily has a sense of +humour. He is able, if occasion presents, to laugh at himself. Lincoln's +capacity for absorbing and for retaining information and for having this +in readiness for use at the proper time was, as we have seen, something +that went back to his boyhood. He says of himself: "My mind is something +like a piece of steel; it is very hard to scratch anything on it and +almost impossible after you have got it there to rub it out." + +Lincoln's correspondence has been preserved with what is probably +substantial completeness. The letters written by him to friends, +acquaintances, political correspondents, individual men of one kind or +another, have been gathered together and have been brought into print +not, as is most frequently the case, under the discretion or judgment of +a friendly biographer, but by a great variety of more or less +sympathetic people. It would seem as if but very few of Lincoln's +letters could have been mislaid or destroyed. One can but be impressed, +in reading these letters, with the absolute honesty of purpose and of +statement that characterises them. There are very few men, particularly +those whose active lives have been passed in a period of political +struggle and civil war, whose correspondence could stand such a test. +There never came to Lincoln requirement to say to his correspondent, +"Burn this letter." + + + + +III + +THE FIGHT AGAINST THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY + + +In 1856, the Supreme Court, under the headship of Judge Taney, gave out +the decision of the Dred Scott case. The purport of this decision was +that a negro was not to be considered as a person but as a chattel; and +that the taking of such negro chattel into free territory did not cancel +or impair the property rights of the master. It appeared to the men of +the North as if under this decision the entire country, including in +addition to the national territories the independent States which had +excluded slavery, was to be thrown open to the invasion of the +institution. The Dred Scott decision, taken in connection with the +repeal of the Missouri Compromise (and the two acts were doubtless a +part of one thoroughly considered policy), foreshadowed as their logical +and almost inevitable consequence the bringing of the entire nation +under the control of slavery. The men of the future State of Kansas made +during 1856-57 a plucky fight to keep slavery out of their borders. The +so-called Lecompton Constitution undertook to force slavery upon Kansas. +This constitution was declared by the administration (that of President +Buchanan) to have been adopted, but the fraudulent character of the +voting was so evident that Walker, the Democratic Governor, although a +sympathiser with slavery, felt compelled to repudiate it. This +constitution was repudiated also by Douglas, although Douglas had +declared that the State ought to be thrown open to slavery. Jefferson +Davis, at that time Secretary of War, declared that "Kansas was in a +state of rebellion and that the rebellion must be crushed." Armed bands +from Missouri crossed the river to Kansas for the purpose of casting +fraudulent votes and for the further purpose of keeping the Free-soil +settlers away from the polls. + +This fight for freedom in Kansas gave a further basis for Lincoln's +statement "that a house divided against itself cannot stand; this +government cannot endure half slave and half free." It was with this +statement as his starting-point that Lincoln entered into his famous +Senatorial campaign with Douglas. Douglas had already represented +Illinois in the Senate for two terms and had, therefore, the advantage +of possession and of a substantial control of the machinery of the +State. He had the repute at the time of being the leading political +debater in the country. He was shrewd, forcible, courageous, and, in the +matter of convictions, unprincipled. He knew admirably how to cater to +the prejudices of the masses. His career thus far had been one of +unbroken success. His Senatorial fight was, in his hope and expectation, +to be but a step towards the Presidency. The Democratic party, with an +absolute control south of Mason and Dixon's Line and with a very +substantial support in the Northern States, was in a position, if +unbroken, to control with practical certainty the Presidential election +of 1860. Douglas seemed to be the natural leader of the party. It was +necessary for him, however, while retaining the support of the Democrats +of the North, to make clear to those of the South that his influence +would work for the maintenance and for the extension of slavery. + +The South was well pleased with the purpose and with the result of the +Dred Scott decision and with the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. It +is probable, however, that if the Dred Scott decision had not given to +the South so full a measure of satisfaction, the South would have been +more ready to accept the leadership of a Northern Democrat like Douglas. +Up to a certain point in the conflict, they had felt the need of Douglas +and had realised the importance of the support that he was in a position +to bring from the North. When, however, the Missouri Compromise had been +repealed and the Supreme Court had declared that slaves must be +recognised as property throughout the entire country, the Southern +claims were increased to a point to which certain of the followers of +Douglas were not willing to go. It was a large compliment to the young +lawyer of Illinois to have placed upon him the responsibility of +leading, against such a competitor as Douglas, the contest of the Whigs, +and of the Free-soilers back of the Whigs, against any further extension +of slavery, a contest which was really a fight for the continued +existence of the nation. + +Lincoln seems to have gone into the fight with full courage, the courage +of his convictions. He felt that Douglas was a trimmer, and he believed +that the issue had now been brought to a point at which the trimmer +could not hold support on both sides of Mason and Dixon's Line. He +formulated at the outset of the debate a question which was pressed +persistently upon Douglas during the succeeding three weeks. This +question was worded as follows: "Can the people of a United States +territory, prior to the formation of a State constitution or against the +protest of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery?" Lincoln's +campaign advisers were of opinion that this question was inadvisable. +They took the ground that Douglas would answer the question in such way +as to secure the approval of the voters of Illinois and that in so doing +he would win the Senatorship. Lincoln's response was in substance: "That +may be. I hold, however, that if Douglas answers this question in a way +to satisfy the Democrats of the North, he will inevitably lose the +support of the more extreme, at least, of the Democrats of the South. We +may lose the Senatorship as far as my personal candidacy is concerned. +If, however, Douglas fails to retain the support of the South, he cannot +become President in 1860. The line will be drawn directly between those +who are willing to accept the extreme claims of the South and those who +resist these claims. A right decision is the essential thing for the +safety of the nation." The question gave no little perplexity to +Douglas. He finally, however, replied that in his judgment the people of +a United States territory had the right to exclude slavery. When asked +again by Lincoln how he brought this decision into accord with the Dred +Scott decision, he replied in substance: "Well, they have not the right +to take constitutional measures to exclude slavery but they can by local +legislation render slavery practically impossible." The Dred Scott +decision had in fact itself overturned the Douglas theory of popular +sovereignty or "squatter sovereignty." Douglas was only able to say that +his sovereignty contention made provision for such control of domestic +or local regulations as would make slavery impossible. + +The South, rendered autocratic by the authority of the Supreme Court, +was not willing to accept the possibility of slavery being thus +restricted out of existence in any part of the country. The Southerners +repudiated Douglas as Lincoln had prophesied they would do. Douglas had +been trying the impossible task of carrying water on both shoulders. He +gained the Senatorship by a narrow margin; he secured in the vote in the +Legislature a majority of eight, but Lincoln had even in this fight won +the support of the people. His majority on the popular vote was four +thousand. + +The series of debates between these two leaders came to be of national +importance. It was not merely a question of the representation in the +Senate from the State of Illinois, but of the presentation of arguments, +not only to the voters of Illinois but to citizens throughout the entire +country, in behalf of the restriction of slavery on the one hand or of +its indefinite expansion and protection on the other. The debate was +educational not merely for the voters who listened, but for the +thousands of other voters who read the reports. It would be an enormous +advantage for the political education of candidates and for the +education of voters if such debates could become the routine in +Congressional and Presidential campaigns. Under the present routine, we +have, in place of an assembly of voters representing the conflicting +views of the two parties or of the several political groups, a +homogeneous audience of one way of thinking, and speakers who have no +opponent present to check the temptation to launch forth into wild +statements, personal abuse, and irresponsible conclusions. An +interruption of the speaker is considered to be a disturbance of order, +and the man who is not fully in sympathy with the views of the audience +is likely to be put out as an interloper. With a system of joint +debates, the speakers would be under an educational repression. False +or exaggerated statements would not be made, or would not be made +consciously, because they would be promptly corrected by the other +fellow. There would of necessity come to be a better understanding and a +larger respect for the positions of the opponent. The men who would be +selected as leaders or speakers to enforce the contentions of the party, +would have to possess some reasoning faculty as well as oratorical +fluency. The voters, instead of being shut in with one group of +arguments more or less reasonable, would be brought into touch with the +arguments of other groups of citizens. I can conceive of no better +method for bringing representative government on to a higher plane and +for making an election what it ought to be, a reasonable decision by +reasoning voters, than the institution of joint debates. + +I cite certain of the incisive statements that came into Lincoln's seven +debates. "A slave, says Judge Douglas (on the authority of Judge Taney), +is a human being who is legally not a person but a thing." "I contend +[says Lincoln] that slavery is founded on the selfishness of man's +nature. Slavery is a violation of the eternal right, and as long as God +reigns and as school-children read, that black evil can never be +consecrated into God's truth." "A man does not lose his right to a piece +of property which has been stolen. Can a man lose a right to himself if +he himself has been stolen?" The following words present a summary of +Lincoln's statements: + +Judge Douglas contends that if any one man chooses to enslave another, +no third man has a right to object. Our Fathers, in accepting slavery +under the Constitution as a legal institution, were of opinion, as is +clearly indicated by the recorded utterances, that slavery would in the +course of a few years die out. They were quite clear in their minds that +the slave-trade must be abolished and for ever forbidden and this +decision was arrived at under the leadership of men like Jefferson and +without a protest from the South. Jefferson was himself the author of +the Ordinance of 1787, which in prohibiting the introduction of slavery, +consecrated to freedom the great territory of the North-west, and this +measure was fully approved by Washington and by the other great leaders +from the South. Where slavery exists, full liberty refuses to enter. It +was only through this wise action of the Fathers that it was possible to +bring into existence, through colonisation, the great territories and +great States of the North-west. It is this settlement, and the later +adjustment of 1820, that Douglas and his friends in the South are +undertaking to overthrow. Slavery is not, as Judge Douglas contends, a +local issue; it is a national responsibility. The repeal of the Missouri +Compromise throws open not only a great new territory to the curse of +slavery; it throws open the whole slavery question for the embroiling of +the present generation of Americans. Taking slaves into free territory +is the same thing as reviving the slave-trade. It perpetuates and +develops interstate slave-trade. Government derives its just powers from +the consent of the governed. The Fathers did not claim that "the right +of the people to govern negroes was the right of the people to govern +themselves." + +The policy of Judge Douglas was based on the theory that the people did +not care, but the people did care, as was evinced two years later by the +popular vote for President throughout the North. One of those who heard +these debates says: "Lincoln loved truth for its own sake. He had a +deep, true, living conscience; honesty was his polar star. He never +acted for stage effect. He was cool, spirited, reflective, +self-possessed, and self-reliant. His style was clear, terse, compact +... He became tremendous in the directness of his utterance when, as his +soul was inspired with the thought of human right and Divine justice, +he rose to impassioned eloquence, and at such times he was, in my +judgment, unsurpassed by Clay or by Mirabeau." + +As the debates progressed, it was increasingly evident that Douglas +found himself hard pushed. Lincoln would not allow himself to be swerved +from the main issue by any tergiversation or personal attacks. He +insisted from day to day in bringing Douglas back to this issue: "What +do you, Douglas, propose to do about slavery in the territories? Is it +your final judgment that there is to be no further reservation of free +territory in this country? Do you believe that it is for the advantage +of this country to put no restriction to the extension of slavery?" +Douglas wriggled and squirmed under this direct questioning and his +final replies gave satisfaction neither to the Northern Democrats nor to +those of the South. The issue upon which the Presidential contest of +1860 was to be fought out had been fairly stated. It was the same issue +under which, in 1861, the fighting took the form of civil war. It was +the issue that took four years to fight out and that was finally decided +in favour of the continued existence of the nation as a free state. In +this fight, Lincoln was not only, as the contest was finally shaped, the +original leader; he was the final leader; and at the time of his death +the great question had been decided for ever. + +Horace White, in summing up the issues that were fought out in debate +between Lincoln and Douglas, says: + +"Forty-four years have passed away since the Civil War came to an end +and we are now able to take a dispassionate view of the question in +dispute. The people of the South are now generally agreed that the +institution of slavery was a direful curse to both races. We of the +North must confess that there was considerable foundation for the +asserted right of States to secede. Although the Constitution did in +distinct terms make the Federal Government supreme, it was not so +understood at first by the people either North or South. Particularism +prevailed everywhere at the beginning. Nationalism was an aftergrowth +and a slow growth proceeding mainly from the habit into which people +fell of finding their common centre of gravity at Washington City and of +viewing it as the place whence the American name and fame were blazoned +to the world. During the first half century of the Republic, the North +and South were changing coats from time to time, on the subject of State +Rights and the right to secede, but meanwhile the Constitution itself +was working silently in the North to undermine the particularism of +Jefferson and to strengthen the nationalism of Hamilton. It had +accomplished its work in the early thirties, when it found its perfect +expression in Webster's reply to Hayne. But the Southern people were +just as firmly convinced that Hayne was the victor in that contest as +the Northern people were that Webster was. The vast material interests +bottomed on slavery offset and neutralised the unifying process in the +South, while it continued its wholesome work in the North, and thus the +clashing of ideas paved the way for the clash of arms. That the +behaviour of the slaveholders resulted from the circumstances in which +they were placed and not from any innate deviltry is a fact now conceded +by all impartial men. It was conceded by Lincoln both before the War and +during the War, and this fact accounts for the affection bestowed upon +him by Southern hearts to-day." + +Lincoln carried into politics the same standard of consistency of action +that had characterised his work at the Bar. He writes, in 1859, to a +correspondent whom he was directing to further the organisation of the +new party: "Do not, in order to secure recruits, lower the standard of +the Republican party. The true problem for 1860, is to fight to prevent +slavery from becoming national. We must, however, recognise its +constitutional right to exist in the States in which its existence was +recognised under the original Constitution." This position was +unsatisfactory to the Whigs of the Border States who favoured a +continuing division between Slave States and Free States of the +territory yet to be organised into States. It was also unsatisfactory to +the extreme anti-slavery Whigs of the new organisation who insisted upon +throttling slavery where-ever it existed. It is probable that the raid +made by John Brown, in 1859, into Virginia for the purpose of rousing +the slaves to fight for their own liberty, had some immediate influence +in checking the activity of the more extreme anti-slavery group and in +strengthening the conservative side of the new organisation. Lincoln +disapproved entirely of the purpose of Brown and his associates, while +ready to give due respect to the idealistic courage of the man. + +In February, 1860, Lincoln was invited by certain of the Republican +leaders in New York to deliver one of a series of addresses which had +been planned to make clear to the voters the purposes and the +foundations of the new party. His name had become known to the +Republicans of the East through the debates with Douglas. It was +recognised that Lincoln had taken the highest ground in regard to the +principles of the new party, and that his counsels should prove of +practical service in the shaping of the policy of the Presidential +campaign. It was believed also that his influence would be of value in +securing voters in the Middle West. The Committee of Invitation +included, in addition to a group of the old Whigs (of whom my father was +one), representative Free-soil Democrats like William C. Bryant and John +King. Lincoln's methods as a political leader and orator were known to +one or two men on the committee, but his name was still unfamiliar to an +Eastern audience. It was understood that the new leader from the West +was going to talk to New York about the fight against slavery. It is +probable that at least the larger part of the audience expected +something "wild and woolly." The West at that time seemed very far off +from New York and was still but little understood by the Eastern +communities. New Yorkers found it difficult to believe that a man who +could influence Western audiences could have anything to say that would +count with the cultivated citizens of the East. The more optimistic of +the hearers were hoping, however, that perhaps a new Henry Clay had +arisen and were looking for utterances of the ornate and grandiloquent +kind such as they had heard frequently from Clay and from other +statesmen of the South. + +The first impression of the man from the West did nothing to contradict +the expectation of something weird, rough, and uncultivated. The long, +ungainly figure upon which hung clothes that, while new for this trip, +were evidently the work of an unskilful tailor; the large feet, the +clumsy hands of which, at the outset, at least, the orator seemed to be +unduly conscious; the long, gaunt head capped by a shock of hair that +seemed not to have been thoroughly brushed out, made a picture which did +not fit in with New York's conception of a finished statesman. The first +utterance of the voice was not pleasant to the ear, the tone being harsh +and the key too high. As the speech progressed, however, the speaker +seemed to get into control of himself; the voice gained a natural and +impressive modulation, the gestures were dignified and appropriate, and +the hearers came under the influence of the earnest look from the +deeply-set eyes and of the absolute integrity of purpose and of devotion +to principle which were behind the thought and the words of the speaker. +In place of a "wild and woolly" talk, illumined by more or less +incongruous anecdotes; in place of a high-strung exhortation of general +principles or of a fierce protest against Southern arrogance, the New +Yorkers had presented to them a calm but forcible series of +well-reasoned considerations upon which their action as citizens was to +be based. It was evident that the man from the West understood +thoroughly the constitutional history of the country; he had mastered +the issues that had grown up about the slavery question; he knew +thoroughly, and was prepared to respect, the rights of his political +opponents; he knew with equal thoroughness the rights of the men whose +views he was helping to shape and he insisted that there should be no +wavering or weakening in regard to the enforcement of those rights; he +made it clear that the continued existence of the nation depended upon +having these issues equitably adjusted and he held that the equitable +adjustment meant the restriction of slavery within its present +boundaries. He maintained that such restrictions were just and necessary +as well for the sake of fairness to the blacks as for the final welfare +of the whites. He insisted that the voters in the present States in the +Union had upon them the largest possible measure of responsibility in so +controlling the great domain of the Republic that the States of the +future, the States in which their children and their grandchildren were +to grow up as citizens, must be preserved in full liberty, must be +protected against any invasion of an institution which represented +barbarity. He maintained that such a contention could interfere in no +way with the due recognition of the legitimate property rights of the +present owners of slaves. He pointed out to the New Englander of the +anti-slavery group that the restriction of slavery meant its early +extermination. He insisted that war for the purpose of exterminating +slavery from existing slave territory could not be justified. He was +prepared, for the purpose of defending against slavery the national +territory that was still free, to take the risk of the war which the +South threatened because he believed that only through such defence +could the existence of the nation be maintained; and he believed, +further, that the maintenance of the great Republic was essential, not +only for the interests of its own citizens, but for the interests of +free government throughout the world. He spoke with full sympathy of the +difficulties and problems resting upon the South, and he insisted that +the matters at issue could be adjusted only with a fair recognition of +these difficulties. Aggression from either side of Mason and Dixon's +Line must be withstood. + +I was but a boy when I first looked upon the gaunt figure of the man who +was to become the people's leader, and listened to his calm but forcible +arguments in behalf of the principles of the Republican party. It is not +likely that at the time I took in, with any adequate appreciation, the +weight of the speaker's reasoning. I have read the address more than +once since and it is, of course, impossible to separate my first +impressions from my later direct knowledge. I do remember that I was at +once impressed with the feeling that here was a political leader whose +methods differed from those of any politician to whom I had listened. +His contentions were based not upon invective or abuse of "the other +fellow," but purely on considerations of justice, on that everlasting +principle that what is just, and only what is just, represents the +largest and highest interests of the nation as a whole. I doubt whether +there occurred in the whole speech a single example of the stories which +had been associated with Lincoln's name. The speaker was evidently +himself impressed with the greatness of the opportunity and with the +dignity and importance of his responsibility. The speech in fact gave +the keynote to the coming campaign. + +It is hardly necessary to add that it also decided the selection of the +national leader not only for the political campaign, but through the +coming struggle. If it had not been for the impression made upon New +York and the East generally by Lincoln's speech and by the man himself, +the vote of New York could not have been secured in the May convention +for the nomination of the man from Illinois. + +Robert Lincoln (writing to me in July, 1908) says: + + "After my father's address in New York in February, 1860, he made a + trip to New England in order to visit me at Exeter, N.H., where I + was then a student in the Phillips Academy. It had not been his plan + to do any speaking in New England, but, as a result of the address + in New York, he received several requests from New England friends + for speeches, and I find that before returning to the West, he spoke + at the following places: Providence, R.I., Manchester, N.H., Exeter, + N.H., Dover, N.H., Concord, N.H., Hartford, Conn., Meriden, Conn., + New Haven, Conn., Woonsocket, R.I., Norwalk, Conn., and Bridgeport, + Conn. I am quite sure that coming and going he passed through + Boston merely as an unknown traveller." + +Mr. Lincoln writes to his wife from Exeter, N.H., March 4, 1860, as +follows: + + "I have been unable to escape this toil. If I had foreseen it, I + think I would not have come East at all. The speech at New York, + being within my calculation before I started, went off passably well + and gave me no trouble whatever. The difficulty was to make nine + others, before reading audiences who had already seen all my ideas + in print."[1] + +An edition of Mr. Lincoln's address was brought into print in September, +1860, by the Young Men's Republican Union of New York, with notes by +Charles C. Nott (later Colonel, and after the war Judge of the Court of +Claims in Washington) and Cephas Brainerd. The publication of this +pamphlet shows that as early as September, 1860, the historic importance +and permanent value of this speech were fairly realised by the national +leaders of the day. In the preface to the reprint, the editors say: + + "The address is characterised by wisdom, truthfulness and learning + ...From the first line to the last--from his premises to his + conclusion, the speaker travels with a swift, unerring directness + that no logician has ever excelled. His argument is complete and is + presented without the affectation of learning, and without the + stiffness which usually accompanies dates and details ...A single + simple sentence contains a chapter of history that has taken days of + labour to verify, and that must have cost the author months of + investigation to acquire. The reader may take up this address as a + political pamphlet, but he will leave it as an historical + treatise--brief, complete, perfect, sound, impartial truth--which + will serve the time and the occasion that called it forth, and which + will be esteemed hereafter no less for its unpretending modesty than + for its intrinsic worth."[2] + +Horace White, who was himself present at the Chicago Convention, writes +(in 1909) as follows: + + "To anybody looking back at the Republican National Convention of + 1860, it must be plain that there were only two men who had any + chance of being nominated for President. + + "These were Lincoln and Seward. I was present at the Convention as a + spectator and I knew this fact at the time, but it seemed to me at + the beginning that Seward's chances were the better. One third of + the delegates of Illinois preferred Seward and expected to vote for + him after a few complimentary ballots for Lincoln. If there had been + no Lincoln in the field, Seward would certainly have been nominated + and then the course of history would have been very different from + what it was, for if Seward had been nominated and elected there + would have been no forcible opposition to the withdrawal of such + States as then desired to secede. And as a consequence the + Republican party would have been rent in twain and disabled from + making effectual resistance to other demands of the South. + + "It was Seward's conviction that the policy of non-coercion would + have quieted the secession movement in the Border States and that + the Gulf States would, after a while, have returned to the Union + like repentant prodigal sons. His proposal to Lincoln to seek a + quarrel with four European nations, who had done us no harm, in + order to arouse a feeling of Americanism in the Confederate States, + was an outgrowth of this conviction. It was an indefensible + proposition, akin to that which prompted Bismarck to make use of + France as an anvil on which to hammer and weld Germany together, but + it was not an unpatriotic one, since it was bottomed on a desire to + preserve the Union without civil war." + +Never was a political leadership more fairly, more nobly, and more +reasonably won. When the ballot boxes were opened on the first Tuesday +in November, Lincoln was found to have secured the electoral vote of +every Northern State except New Jersey, and in New Jersey four electors +out of seven. Breckinridge, the leader of the extreme Southern +Democrats, had back of him only the votes of the Southern States outside +of the Border States, these latter being divided between Bell and +Douglas. Douglas and his shallow theories of "squatter sovereignty" had +been buried beneath the good sense of the voters of the North. + + + + +IV + +LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT ORGANISES THE PEOPLE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF +NATIONAL EXISTENCE + + +After the election of November, 1860, events moved swiftly. On the 20th +of December, comes the first act of the Civil War, the secession of +South Carolina. The secession of Georgia had for a time been delayed by +the influence of Alexander H. Stephens who, on the 14th of November, had +made a great argument for the maintenance of the Union. His chief local +opponent at the time was Robert Toombs, the Southern leader who proposed +in the near future to "call the roll-call of his slaves on Bunker Hill." +Lincoln was still hopeful of saving to the cause of the Union the Border +States and the more conservative divisions of States, like North +Carolina, which had supported the Whig party. + +In December, we find correspondence between Lincoln and Gilmer of North +Carolina, whom he had known in Washington. "The essential difference," +says Lincoln, "between your group and mine is that you hold slavery to +be in itself desirable and as something to be extended. I hold it to be +an essential evil which, with due regard to existing rights, must be +restricted and in the near future exterminated." + +On the 23d of February, 1861, Lincoln reaches Washington where he is to +spend a weary and anxious two weeks of waiting for the burden of his new +responsibilities. He is at this time fifty-two years of age. In one of +his brief addresses on the way to Washington he says: + + "It is but little to a man of my age, but a great deal to thirty + millions of the citizens of the United States, and to posterity in + all coming time, if the Union of the States and the liberties of the + people are to be lost. If the majority is not to rule, who would be + the judge of the issue or where is such judge to be found?" + +It is difficult to imagine a more exasperating condition of affairs than +obtained in Washington while Lincoln was awaiting the day of +inauguration. The government appeared to be crumbling away under the +nerveless direction, or lack of direction, of President Buchanan and his +associates. In his last message to Congress, Buchanan had taken the +ground that the Constitution made no provision for the secession of +States or for the breaking up of the Union; but that it also failed to +contain any provision for measures that could prevent such secession and +the consequent destruction of the nation. The old gentleman appeared to +be entirely unnerved by the pressure of events. He could not see any +duty before him. He certainly failed to realise that the more immediate +cause of the storm was the breaking down, through the repeal of the +Missouri Compromise, of the barriers that had in 1820, and in 1850, been +placed against the extension of slavery. He evidently failed to +understand that it was his own action in backing up the infamous +Lecompton Constitution, and the invasion of Kansas by the slave-owners, +which had finally aroused the spirit of the North, and further that it +was the influence of his administration which had given to the South the +belief that it was now in a position to control for slavery the whole +territory of the Republic. + +It has before now been pointed out that, under certain contingencies, +the long interval between the national election and the inaugural of the +new President from the first Tuesday in November until the fourth day of +March must, in not a few instances, bring inconvenience, disadvantage, +and difficulty not only to the new administration but to the nation. +These months in which the members of an administration which had +practically committed itself to the cause of disintegration, were left +in charge of the resources of the nation gave a most serious example and +evidence of such disadvantage. This historic instance ought to have been +utilised immediately after the War as an influence for bringing about a +change in the date for bringing into power the administration that has +been chosen in November. + +By the time when Lincoln and the members of his Cabinet had placed in +their hands the responsibilities of administration, the resources at the +disposal of the government had, as far as practicable, been scattered or +rendered unavailable. The Secretary of the Navy, a Southerner, had taken +pains to send to the farthest waters of the Pacific as many as possible +of the vessels of the American fleet; the Secretary of War, also a +Southerner, had for months been busy in transferring to the arsenals of +the South the guns and ammunition that had been stored in the Federal +arsenals of the North; the Secretary of the Treasury had had no +difficulty in disposing of government funds in one direction or another +so that there was practically no balance to hand over to his successor +available for the most immediate necessities of the new administration. + +One of the sayings quoted from Washington during these weeks was the +answer given by Count Gurowski to the inquiry, "Is there anything in +addition this morning?" "No," said Gurowski, "it is all in subtraction." + +By the day of the inaugural, the secession of seven States was an +accomplished fact and the government of the Confederacy had already been +organised in Montgomery. Alexander H. Stephens had so far modified his +original position that he had accepted the post of Vice-President and in +his own inaugural address had used the phrase, "Slavery is the +corner-stone of our new nation," a phrase that was to make much mischief +in Europe for the hopes of the new Confederacy. + +In the first inaugural, one of the great addresses in a noteworthy +series, Lincoln presented to the attention of the leaders of the South +certain very trenchant arguments against the wisdom of their course. He +says of secession for the purpose of preserving the institution of +slavery: + + "You complain that under the government of the United States your + slaves have from time to time escaped across your borders and have + not been returned to you. Their value as property has been lessened + by the fact that adjoining your Slave States were certain States + inhabited by people who did not believe in your institution. How is + this condition going to be changed by war even under the assumption + that the war may be successful in securing your independence? Your + slave territory will still adjoin territory inhabited by free men + who are inimical to your institution; but these men will no longer + be bound by any of the restrictions which have obtained under the + Constitution. They will not have to give consideration to the rights + of slave-owners who are fellow-citizens. Your slaves will escape as + before and you will have no measure of redress. Your indignation may + produce further wars, but the wars can but have the same result + until finally, after indefinite loss of life and of resources, the + institution will have been hammered out of existence by the + inevitable conditions of existing civilisation." + +Lincoln points out further in this same address the difference between +his responsibilities and those of the Southern leaders who are +organising for war. "You," he says, "have no oath registered in Heaven +to destroy this government, while I have the most solemn oath to +preserve, direct, and defend it." + + "It was not necessary," says Lincoln, "for the Constitution to + contain any provision expressly forbidding the disintegration of the + state; perpetuity and the right to maintain self-existence will be + considered as a fundamental law of all national government. If the + theory be accepted that the United States was an association or + federation of communities, the creation or continued existence of + such federation must rest upon contract; and before such contract + can be rescinded, the consent is required of both or of all of the + parties assenting to it." + +He closes with the famous invocation to the fellow Americans of the +South against whom throughout the whole message there had not been one +word of bitterness or rancour: "We are not enemies but friends. We must +not be enemies. Though passion may have strained our relations, it must +not break our bonds of affection." + +It was, however, too late for argument, and too late for invocations of +friendship. The issue had been forced by the South and the war for which +the leaders of the South had for months, if not for years, been making +preparation was now to be begun by Southern action. It remained to make +clear to the North, where the people up to the last moment had been +unwilling to believe in the possibility of civil war, that the nation +could be preserved only by fighting for its existence. It remained to +organise the men of the North into armies which should be competent to +carry out this tremendous task of maintaining the nation's existence. + +It was just after the great inaugural and when his head must have been +full of cares and his hands of work, that Lincoln took time to write a +touching little note that I find in his correspondence. It was addressed +to a boy who had evidently spoken with natural pride of having met the +President and whose word had been questioned: + + "The White House, March 18, 1861. + + "I did see and talk in May last at Springfield, Illinois, with + Master George Edward Patten." + +With the beginning of the work of the administration, came trouble with +the members of the Cabinet. The several secretaries were, in form at +least, the choice of the President, but as must always be the case in +the shaping of a Cabinet, and as was particularly necessary at a time +when it was of first importance to bring into harmonious relations all +of the political groups of the North which were prepared to be loyal to +the government, the men who took office in the first Cabinet of Lincoln +represented not any personal preference of the President, but political +or national requirements. The Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, had, as we +know, been Lincoln's leading opponent for the Presidential nomination +and had expressed with some freedom of criticism his disappointment that +he, the natural leader of the party, should be put to one side for an +uncultivated, inexperienced Westerner. Mr. Seward possessed both +experience and culture; more than this, he was a scholar, and came of a +long line of gentlefolk. He had public spirit, courage, legitimate +political ambition, and some of the qualities of leadership. His nature +was, however, not quite large enough to stand the pressure of political +disappointment nor quite elastic enough to develop rapidly under the +tremendous urgency of absolutely new requirements. It is in evidence +that more than once in the management of the complex and serious +difficulties of the State Department during the years of war, Seward +lost his head. It is also on record that the wise-minded and fair-minded +President was able to supply certain serious gaps and deficiencies in +the direction of the work of the Department, and further that his +service was so rendered as to save the dignity and the repute of the +Secretary. Seward's subjectivity, not to say vanity, was great, and it +took some little time before he was able to realise that his was not the +first mind or the strongest will-power in the new administration. On the +first of April, 1861, less than thirty days after the organisation of +the Cabinet, Seward writes to Lincoln complaining that the "government +had as yet no policy; that its action seemed to be simply drifting"; +that there was a lack of any clear-minded control in the direction of +affairs within the Cabinet, in the presentation to the people of the +purposes of the government, and in the shaping of the all-important +relations with foreign states. "Who," said Seward, "is to control the +national policy?" The letter goes on to suggest that Mr. Seward is +willing to take the responsibility, leaving, if needs be, the credit to +the nominal chief. The letter was a curious example of the weakness and +of the bumptiousness of the man, while it gave evidence also, it is fair +to say, of a real public-spirited desire that things should go right and +that the nation should be saved. It was evident that he had as yet no +adequate faith in the capacity of the President. + +Lincoln's answer was characteristic of the man. There was no irritation +with the bumptiousness, no annoyance at the lack of confidence on the +part of his associate. He states simply: "There must, of course, be +control and the responsibility for this control must rest with me." He +points out further that the general policy of the administration had +been outlined in the inaugural, that no action since taken had been +inconsistent with this. The necessary preparations for the defence of +the government were in train and, as the President trusted, were being +energetically pushed forward by the several department heads. "I have a +right," said Lincoln, "to expect loyal co-operation from my associates +in the Cabinet. I need their counsel and the nation needs the best +service that can be secured from our united wisdom." The letter of +Seward was put away and appears never to have been referred to between +the two men. It saw the light only after the President's death. If he +had lived it might possibly have been suppressed altogether. A month +later, Seward said to a friend, "There is in the Cabinet but one vote +and that is cast by the President." + +The post next in importance under the existing war conditions was that +of Secretary of War. The first man to hold this post was Simon Cameron +of Pennsylvania. Cameron was very far from being a friend of Lincoln's. +The two men had had no personal relations and what Lincoln knew of him +he liked not at all. The appointment had been made under the pressure of +the Republicans of Pennsylvania, a State whose support was, of course, +all important for the administration. It was not the first nor the last +time that the Republicans of this great State, whose Republicanism seems +to be much safer than its judgment, have committed themselves to +unworthy and undesirable representatives, men who were not fitted to +stand for Pennsylvania and who were neither willing nor able to be of +any service to the country. The appointment of Cameron had, as appears +from the later history, been promised to Pennsylvania by Judge Davis in +return for the support of the Pennsylvania delegation for the nomination +of Lincoln. Lincoln knew nothing of the promise and was able to say with +truth, and to prove, that he had authorised no promises and no +engagements whatsoever. He had, in fact, absolutely prohibited Davis and +the one or two other men who were supposed to have some right to speak +for him in the convention, from the acceptance of any engagements or +obligations whatsoever. Davis made the promise to Pennsylvania on his +own responsibility and at his own risk; Lincoln felt under too much +obligation to Davis for personal service and for friendly loyalty to be +willing, when the claim was finally pressed, to put it to one side as +unwarranted. The appointment of Cameron was made and proved to be +expensive for the efficiency of the War Department and for the repute of +the administration. It became necessary within a comparatively short +period to secure his resignation. It was in evidence that he was +trafficking in appointments and in contracts. He was replaced by Edwin +M. Stanton, who was known later as "the Carnot of the War." Stanton's +career as a lawyer had given him no direct experience of army affairs. +He showed, however, exceptional ability, great will power, and an +enormous capacity for work. He was ambitious, self-willed, and most +arbitrary in deed and in speech. The difficulty with Stanton was that he +was as likely to insult and to browbeat some loyal supporter of the +government as to bring to book, and, when necessary, to crush, greedy +speculators and disloyal tricksters. His judgment in regard to men was +in fact very often at fault. He came into early and unnecessary conflict +with his chief and he found there a will stronger than his own. The +respect of the two men for each other grew into a cordial regard. Each +recognised the loyalty of purpose and the patriotism by which the +actions of both were influenced. Lincoln was able to some extent to +soften and to modify the needless truculency of the great War Secretary, +and notwithstanding a good deal of troublesome friction, armies were +organised and the troops were sent to the front. + +The management of the Treasury, a responsibility hardly less in +importance under the war conditions than that of the organisation of the +armies, was placed in the hands of Senator Chase. He received from his +precursor an empty treasury while from the administration came demands +for immediate and rapidly increasing weekly supplies of funds. The task +came upon him first of establishing a national credit and secondly of +utilising this credit for loans such as the civilised world had not +before known. The expenditures extended by leaps and bounds until by the +middle of 1864 they had reached the sum of $2,000,000 a day. Blunders +were made in large matters and in small, but, under the circumstances, +blunders were not to be avoided and the chief purpose was carried out. A +sufficient credit was established, first with the citizens at home and +later with investors abroad, to make a market for the millions of bonds +in the two great issues, the so-called seven-thirties and +five-twenties. The sales of these bonds, together with a wide-reaching +and, in fact, unduly complex system of taxation, secured the funds +necessary for the support of the army and the navy. At the close of the +War, the government, after meeting this expenditure, had a national war +debt of something over four thousand millions of dollars. The gross +indebtedness resulting from the War was of course, however, much larger +because each State had incurred war expenditures and counties as well as +States had issued bonds for the payment of bounties, etc. The criticism +was made at the time by the opponents of the financial system which was +shaped by the Committee of Ways and Means in co-operation with the +Secretary, a criticism that has often been repeated since, that the War +expenditure would have been much less if the amounts needed beyond what +could be secured by present taxation had been supplied entirely by the +proceeds of bonds. In addition, however, to the issues of bonds, the +government issued currency to a large amount, which was made legal +tender and which on the face of it was not made subject to redemption. + +In addition to the bills ranging in denomination from one dollar to one +thousand, the government brought into distribution what was called +"postal currency." I landed in New York in August, 1862, having returned +from a University in Germany for the purpose of enlisting in the army. I +was amused to see my father make payment in the restaurant for my first +lunch in postage stamps. He picked the requisite number, or the number +that he believed would be requisite, from a ball of stamps which had, +under the influence of the summer heat, stuck together so closely as to +be very difficult to handle. Many of the stamps were in fact practically +destroyed and were unavailable. Some question arose between the +restaurant keeper and my father as to the availability of one or two of +the stamps that had been handed over. My father explained to me that +immediately after the outbreak of the War, specie, including even the +nickels and copper pennies, had disappeared from circulation, and the +people had been utilising for the small change necessary for current +operations the postage stamps, a use which, in connection with the large +percentage of destruction, was profitable to the government, but +extravagant for the community. A little later, the postal department was +considerate enough to bring into print a series of postage stamps +without any gum on the back. These could, of course, be handled more +easily, but were still seriously perishable. Towards the close of the +year, the Treasury department printed from artistically engraved plates +a baby currency in notes of about two and a half inches long by one and +a half inches wide. The denominations comprised ten cents, fifteen +cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, and seventy-five cents. The +fifteen cents and the seventy-five cents were not much called for, and +were probably not printed more than once. They would now be scarce as +curiosities. The postal currency was well printed on substantial paper, +but in connection with the large requirement for handling that is always +placed upon small currency, these little paper notes became very dirty +and were easily used up. The government must have made a large profit +from the percentage that was destroyed. The necessary effect of this +distribution of government "I.O.U.'s," based not upon any redemption +fund of gold but merely upon the general credit of the government, was +to appreciate the value of gold. In June, 1863, just before the battle +of Gettysburg, the depreciation of this paper currency, which +represented of course the appreciation of gold, was in the ratio of 100 +to 290. It happened that the number 290, which marked the highest price +reached by gold during the War, was the number that had been given in +Laird's ship-yard (on the Mersey) to the Confederate cruiser _Alabama_. + +Chase was not only a hard-working Secretary of the Treasury but an +ambitious, active-minded, and intriguing politician. He represented in +the administration the more extreme anti-slavery group. He was one of +those who favoured from the beginning immediate action on the part of +the government in regard to the slaves in the territory that was still +controlled by the government. It is doubtless the case that he held +these anti-slavery views as a matter of honest conviction. It is in +evidence also from his correspondence that he connected with these views +the hope and the expectation of becoming President. His scheming for the +nomination for 1864 was carried on with the machinery that he had at his +disposal as Secretary of the Treasury. The issues between Chase and +Seward and between Chase and Stanton were many and bitter. The pressure +on the part of the conservative Republicans to get Chase out of the +Cabinet was considerable. Lincoln, believing that his service was +valuable, refused to be influenced by any feeling of personal antagonism +or personal rivalry. He held on to the Secretary until the last year of +the War, when deciding that the Cabinet could then work more smoothly +without him, he accepted his resignation. Even then, however, although +he had had placed in his hands a note indicating a measure of what might +be called personal disloyalty on the part of Chase, Lincoln was +unwilling to lose his service for the country and appointed him as Chief +Justice. + +Montgomery Blair was put into the Cabinet as Postmaster-General more +particularly as the representative of the loyalists of the Border +States. His father was a leader in politics in Missouri, in which the +family had long been of importance. His brother, Frank P. Blair, served +with credit in the army, reaching the rank of Major-General. The Blair +family was quite ready to fight for the Union, but was very unwilling to +do any fighting for the black man. They wanted the Union restored as it +had been, Missouri Compromise and all. It was Blair who had occasion +from time to time to point out, and with perfect truth, that if, through +the influence of Chase and of the men back of Chase in Massachusetts and +northern Ohio, immediate action should be taken to abolish slavery in +the Border States, fifty thousand men who had marched out of those +States to the support of the Union might be and probably would be +recalled. "By a stroke of the pen," said Blair, "Missouri, eastern +Tennessee, western Maryland, loyal Kentucky, now loyally supporting the +cause of the nation, will be thrown into the arms of the Confederacy." +During the first two years of the War, and in fact up to September, +1863, the views of Blair and his associates prevailed, and with the +fuller history before us, we may conclude that it was best that they +should have prevailed. This was, at least, the conclusion of Lincoln, +the one man who knew no sectional prejudices, who had before him all the +information and all the arguments, and who had upon him the pressure +from all quarters. It was not easy under the circumstances to keep peace +between Blair and Chase. Probably no man but Lincoln could have met the +requirement. + +The Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, while not a +man of brilliancy or of great initiative, appears to have done his part +quietly and effectively in the great work of the building and organising +of a new fleet. He contributed nothing to the friction of the Cabinet +and he was from the beginning a loyal supporter of the President. What +we know now about the issues that arose between the different members +of the Cabinet family comes to us chiefly through the Diary of Welles, +who has described with apparent impartiality the idiosyncrasies of each +of the secretaries and whose references to the tact, patience, and +gracefully exercised will-power of the President are fully in line with +the best estimates of Lincoln's character. + +One of the first and most difficult tasks confronting the President and +his secretaries in the organisation of the army and of the navy was in +the matter of the higher appointments. The army had always been a +favourite provision for the men from the South. The representatives of +Southern families were, as a rule, averse to trade and there were, in +fact, under the more restricted conditions of business in the Southern +States, comparatively few openings for trading on the larger or +mercantile scale. As a result of this preference, the cadetships in West +Point and the commissions in the army had been held in much larger +proportion (according to the population) by men of Southern birth. This +was less the case in the navy because the marine interests of New +England and of the Middle States had educated a larger number of +Northern men for naval interests. When the war began, a very +considerable number of the best trained and most valuable officers in +the army resigned to take part with their States. The army lost the +service of men like Lee, Johnston, Beauregard, and many others. A few +good Southerners, such as Thomas of Virginia and Anderson of Kentucky, +took the ground that their duty to the Union and to the flag was greater +than their obligation to their State. In the navy, Maury, Semmes, +Buchanan, and other men of ability resigned their commissions and +devoted themselves to the (by no means easy) task of building up a navy +for the South; but Farragut of Tennessee remained with the navy to carry +the flag of his country to New Orleans and to Mobile. + +It was easy and natural during the heat of 1861 to characterise as +traitors the men who went with their States to fight against the flag of +their country. Looking at the matter now, forty-seven years later, we +are better able to estimate the character and the integrity of the +motives by which they were actuated. We do not need to-day to use the +term traitors for men like Lee and Johnston. It was not at all unnatural +that with their understanding of the government of the States in which +they had been born, and with their belief that these States had a right +to take action for themselves, they should have decided that their +obligation lay to the State rather than to what they had persisted in +thinking of not as a nation but as a mere confederation. We may rather +believe that Lee was as honest in his way as Thomas and Farragut in +theirs, but the view that the United States is a nation has been +maintained through the loyal services of the men who held with Thomas +and with Farragut. + + + + +V + +THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR + + +On April 12, 1861, came with the bombardment of Fort Sumter the actual +beginning of the War. The foreseeing shrewdness of Lincoln had resisted +all suggestions for any such immediate action on the part of the +government as would place upon the North the responsibility for the +opening of hostilities. Shortly after the fall of Sumter, a despatch was +drafted by Seward for the guidance of American ministers abroad. The +first reports in regard to the probable action of European governments +gave the impression that the sympathy of these governments was largely +with the South. In France and England, expressions had been used by +leading officials which appeared to foreshadow an early recognition of +the Confederacy. Seward's despatch as first drafted was unwisely angry +and truculent in tone. If brought into publication, it would probably +have increased the antagonism of the men who were ruling England. It +appeared in fact to foreshadow war with England. Seward had assumed that +England was going to take active part with the South and was at once +throwing down the gauntlet of defiance. It was Lincoln who insisted that +this was no time, whatever might be the provocation, for the United +States to be shaking its fist at Europe. The despatch was reworded and +the harsh and angry expressions were eliminated. The right claimed by +the United States, in common with all nations, to maintain its own +existence was set forth with full force, while it was also made clear +that the nation was strong enough to maintain its rights against all +foes whether within or without its boundaries. It is rather strange to +recall that throughout the relations of the two men, it was the trained +and scholarly statesman of the East who had to be repressed for unwise +truculency and that the repression was done under the direction of the +comparatively inexperienced representative of the West, the man who had +been dreaded by the conservative Republicans of New York as likely to +introduce into the national policy "wild and woolly" notions. + +In Lincoln's first message to Congress, he asks the following question: +"Must a government be of necessity too strong for the liberties of its +own people or too weak to maintain its own existence? Is there in all +republics this inherent weakness?" The people of the United States were +able under the wise leadership of Lincoln to answer this question "no." +Lincoln begins at once with the public utterances of the first year of +the War to take the people of the United States into his confidence. He +is their representative, their servant. He reasons out before the +people, as if it constituted a great jury, the analysis of their +position, of their responsibilities, and the grounds on which as their +representative this or that decision is arrived at. Says Schurz: +"Lincoln wielded the powers of government when stern resolution and +relentless force were the order of the day, and, won and ruled the +popular mind and heart by the tender sympathies of his nature." + +The attack on Sumter placed upon the administration the duty of +organising at once for the contest now inevitable the forces of the +country. This work of organisation came at best but late because those +who were fighting to break up the nation had their preparations well +advanced. The first call for troops directed the governors of the loyal +States to supply seventy-five thousand men for the restoration of the +authority of the government. Massachusetts was the first State to +respond by despatching to the front, within twenty-four hours of the +publication of the call, its Sixth Regiment of Militia; the Seventh of +New York started twenty-four hours later. The history of the passage of +the Sixth through Baltimore, of the attack upon the columns, and of the +deaths, in the resulting affray, of soldiers and of citizens has often +been told. When word came to Washington that Baltimore was obstructing +the passage of troops bound southward, troops called for the defence of +the capital, the isolation of the government became sadly apparent. For +a weary and anxious ten days, Lincoln and his associates were dreading +from morning to morning the approach over the long bridge of the troops +from Virginia whose camp-fires could be seen from the southern windows +of the White House, and were looking anxiously northward for the arrival +of the men on whose prompt service the safety of the capital was to +depend. I have myself stood in Lincoln's old study, the windows of which +overlook the Potomac, and have recalled to mind the fearful pressure of +anxiety that must have weighed upon the President during those long +days; as looking across the river, he could trace by the smoke the +picket lines of the Virginia troops. He must have thought of the +possibility that he was to be the last President of the United States, +that the torch handed over to him by the faltering hands of his +predecessor was to expire while he was responsible for the flame. The +immediate tension was finally broken by the appearance of the weary and +battered companies of the Massachusetts troops and the arrival two days +later, by the way of Annapolis, of the New York Seventh with an +additional battalion from Boston. + +It was, however, not only in April, 1861, that the capital was in peril. +The anxiety of the President (never for himself but only for his +responsibilities) was to be repeated in July, 1863, when Lee was in +Maryland, and in July, 1864, at the time of Early's raid. + +We may remember the peculiar burdens that come upon the +commander-in-chief through his position at the rear of the armies he is +directing. The rear of a battle is, even in the time of victory, a place +of demoralising influence. It takes a man of strong nerve not to lose +heart when the only people with whom he is in immediate contact are +those who through disability or discouragement are making their way to +the rear. The sutlers, the teamsters, the wounded men, the panic-struck +(and with the best of soldiers certain groups do lose heart from time to +time, men who in another action when started right are ready to take +their full share of the fighting)--these are the groups that in any +action are streaming to the rear. It is impossible not to be affected by +the undermining of their spirits and of their hopefulness. If the battle +is going wrongly, if in addition to those who are properly making their +way to the rear, there come also bodies of troops pushed out of their +position who have lost heart and who have lost faith in their +commanders, the pressure towards demoralisation is almost irresistible. + +We may recall that during the entire four years of War, Lincoln, the +commander-in-chief, was always in the rear. Difficult as was the task of +the men who led columns into action, of the generals in the field who +had the immediate responsibility for the direction of those columns and +of the fighting line, it was in no way to be compared with the pressure +and sadness of the burden of the man who stood back of all the lines, +and to whom came all the discouragements, the complaints, the growls, +the criticisms, the requisitions or demands for resources that were not +available, the reports of disasters, sometimes exaggerated and +sometimes unduly smoothed over, the futile suggestions, the conflicting +counsels, the indignant protests, the absurd schemes, the self-seeking +applications, that poured into the White House from all points of the +field of action and from all parts of the Border States and of the +North. The man who during four years could stand that kind of battering +and pressure and who, instead of having his hopefulness crushed out of +him, instead of losing heart or power of direction or the full control +of his responsibilities, steadily developed in patience, in strength, in +width of nature, and in the wisdom of experience, so that he was able +not only to keep heart firm and mind clear but to give to the soldiers +in the front and to the nation behind the soldiers the influence of his +great heart and clear mind and of his firm purpose, that man had within +him the nature of the hero. Selected in time of need to bear the burdens +of the nation, he was able so to fulfil his responsibilities that he +takes place in the world's history as a leader of men. + +In July, 1861, one of the special problems to be adjusted was the +attitude of the Border States. Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West +Virginia had not been willing at the outset to cast in their lot with +the South, but they were not prepared to give any assured or active +support to the authority of the national government. The Governor and +the Legislature of Kentucky issued a proclamation of neutrality; they +demanded that the soil of the State should be respected and that it +should not be traversed by armed forces from either side. The Governor +of Missouri, while not able to commit the State to secession, did have +behind him what was possibly a majority of the citizens in the policy of +attempting to prevent the Federal troops from entering the State. +Maryland, or at least eastern Maryland, was sullen and antagonistic. +Thousands of the Marylanders had in fact already made their way into +Virginia for service with the Confederacy. On the other hand, there were +also thousands of loyal citizens in these States who were prepared, +under proper guidance and conservative management, to give their own +direct aid to the cause of nationality. In the course of the succeeding +two years, the Border States sent into the field in the Union ranks some +fifty thousand men. At certain points of the conflict, the presence of +these Union men of Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, and Missouri was the +deciding factor. While these men were willing to fight for the Union, +they were strongly opposed to being used for the destruction of slavery +and for the freeing of the blacks. The acceptance, therefore, of the +policy that was pressed by the extreme anti-slavery group, for immediate +action in regard to the freeing of the slaves, would have meant at once +the dissatisfaction of this great body of loyalists important in number +and particularly important on account of their geographical position. +Lincoln was able, although with no little difficulty, to hold back the +pressure of Northern sentiment in regard to anti-slavery action until +the course of the War had finally committed the loyalists of the Border +States to the support of the Union. For the support of this policy, it +became necessary to restrain certain of the leaders in the field who +were mixing up civil and constitutional matters with their military +responsibilities. Proclamations issued by Fremont in Missouri and later +by Hunter in South Carolina, giving freedom to the slaves within the +territory of their departments, were promptly and properly disavowed. +Said Lincoln: "A general cannot be permitted to make laws for the +district in which he happens to have an army." + +The difficulties in regard to the matter of slavery during the war +brought Lincoln into active correspondence with men like Beecher and +Greeley, anti-slavery leaders who enjoyed a large share of popular +confidence and support. In November, 1861, Lincoln says of Greeley: "His +backing is as good as that of an army of one hundred thousand men." +There could be no question of the earnest loyalty of Horace Greeley. +Under his management, the New York _Tribune_ had become a great force in +the community. The paper represented perhaps more nearly than any paper +in the country the purpose and the policy of the new Republican party. +Unfortunately, Mr. Greeley's judgment and width of view did not develop +with his years and with the increasing influence of his journal. He +became unduly self-sufficient; he undertook not only to lay down a +policy for the guidance of the constitutional responsibilities of the +government, but to dictate methods for the campaigns. The _Tribune_ +articles headed "On to Richmond!" while causing irritation to commanders +in the field and confusion in the minds of quiet citizens at home, were +finally classed with the things to be laughed at. In the later years of +the War, the influence of the _Tribune_ declined very considerably. +Henry J. Raymond with his newly founded _Times_ succeeded to some of the +power as a journalist that had been wielded by Greeley. + +In November, 1861, occurred an incident which for a time threatened a +very grave international complication, a complication that would, if +unwisely handled, have determined the fate of the Republic. Early in the +year, the Confederate government had sent certain representatives across +the Atlantic to do what might be practicable to enlist the sympathies of +European governments, or of individuals in these governments, to make a +market for the Confederate cotton bonds, to arrange for the purchase of +supplies for the army and navy, and to secure the circulation of +documents presenting the case of the South. Mr. Yancey of Mississippi +was the best-known of this first group of emissaries. With him was +associated Judge Mann of Virginia and it was Mann who in November, 1861, +was in charge of the London office of the Confederacy. In this month, +Mr. Davis appointed as successor to Mann, Mr. Mason of Virginia, to whom +was given a more formal authorisation of action. At the same time, Judge +Slidell of Louisiana was appointed as the representative to France. +Mason and Slidell made their way to Jamaica and sailed from Jamaica to +Liverpool in the British mail steamer _Trent_. Captain Charles Wilkes, +in the United States frigate _San Jacinto_, had been watching the West +Indies waters with reference to blockade runners and to Wilkes came +knowledge of the voyage of the two emissaries. Wilkes took the +responsibility of stopping the _Trent_ when she was a hundred miles or +more out of Kingston and of taking from her as prisoners the two +commissioners. The commissioners were brought to Boston and were there +kept under arrest awaiting the decision from Washington as to their +status. This stopping on the high seas of a British steamer brought out +a great flood of indignation in Great Britain. It gave to Palmerston and +Russell, who were at that time in charge of the government, the +opportunity for which they had been looking to place on the side of the +Confederacy the weight of the influence of Great Britain. It +strengthened the hopes of Louis Napoleon for carrying out, in +conjunction with Great Britain, a scheme that he had formulated under +which France was to secure a western empire in Mexico, leaving England +to do what she might find convenient in the adjustment of the affairs of +the so-called United States. + +The first report secured from the law officers of the Crown took the +ground that the capture was legal under international law and under the +practice of Great Britain itself. This report was, however, pushed to +one side, and Palmerston drafted a demand for the immediate surrender of +the commissioners. This demand was so worded that a self-respecting +government would have had great difficulty in assenting to it without +risk of forfeiting support with its own citizens. It was in fact +intended to bring about a state of war. Under the wise influence of +Prince Albert, Queen Victoria refused to give her approval to the +document. It was reworded by Albert in such fashion as to give to the +government of the United States an opportunity for adjustment without +loss of dignity. Albert was clear in his mind that Great Britain ought +not to be committed to war for the destruction of the great Republic of +the West and for the establishment of a state of which the corner-stone +was slavery. Fortunately, Victoria was quite prepared to accept in this +matter Albert's judgment. Palmerston protested and threatened +resignation, but finally submitted. + +When the news of the capture of the commissioners came to Washington, +Seward for once was in favour of a conservative rather than a truculent +course of action. He advised that the commissioners should be +surrendered at once rather than to leave to Great Britain the +opportunity for making a dictatorial demand. Lincoln admitted the risk +of such demand and the disadvantage of making the surrender under +pressure, but he took the ground that if the United States waited for +the British contention, a certain diplomatic advantage could be gained. +When the demand came, Lincoln was able, with a rewording (not for the +first time) of Seward's despatch, to take the ground that the government +of the United States was "well pleased that Her Majesty's government +should have finally accepted the old-time American contention that +vessels of peace should not be searched on the high seas by vessels of +war." It may be recalled that the exercise of the right of search had +been one of the most important of the grievances which had brought about +the War of 1812-1814. In the discussion of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, +the English and American commissioners, while agreeing that this right +of search must be given up, had not been able to arrive at a form of +words, satisfactory to both parties, for its revocation. Both sets of +commissioners were very eager to bring their proceedings to a close. The +Americans could of course not realise that if they had waited a few +weeks the news of the battle of New Orleans, fought in January, 1815, +would have greatly strengthened their position. It was finally agreed +"as between gentlemen" that the right of search should be no longer +exercised by Great Britain. This right was, however, not formally +abrogated until December, 1861, nearly half a century later. This little +diplomatic triumph smoothed over for the public of the North the +annoyance of having to accept the British demand. It helped to +strengthen the administration, which in this first year of the War was +by no means sure of its foundations. It strengthened also the opinion of +citizens generally in their estimate of the wise management and +tactfulness of the President. + +Some of the most serious of the perplexities that came upon Lincoln +during the first two years of the War were the result of the peculiar +combination of abilities and disabilities that characterised General +McClellan. McClellan's work prior to the War had been that of an +engineer. He had taken high rank at West Point and later, resigning from +the army, had rendered distinguished service in civil engineering. At +the time of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, McClellan was president of the +Illinois Central Railroad. He was a close friend and backer of Douglas +and he had done what was practicable with the all-important machinery +of the railroad company to render comfortable the travelling of his +candidate and to insure his success. Returning to the army with the +opening of the War, he had won success in a brief campaign in Virginia +in which he was opposed by a comparatively inexperienced officer and by +a smaller force than his own. Placed in command of the army of the +Potomac shortly after the Bull Run campaign, he had shown exceptional +ability in bringing the troops into a state of organisation. He was +probably the best man in the United States to fit an army for action. +There were few engineer officers in the army who could have rendered +better service in the shaping of fortifications or in the construction +of an entrenched position. He showed later that he was not a bad leader +for a defeated army in the supervision of the retreat. He had, however, +no real capacity for leadership in an aggressive campaign. His +disposition led him to be full of apprehension of what the other fellow +was doing. He suffered literally from nightmares in which he exaggerated +enormously the perils in his paths, making obstacles where none existed, +multiplying by two or by three the troops against him, insisting upon +the necessity of providing not only for probable contingencies but for +very impossible contingencies. He was never ready for an advance and he +always felt proudly triumphant, after having come into touch with the +enemy, that he had accomplished the task of saving his army. + +The only thing about which he was neither apprehensive nor doubtful was +his ability as a leader, whether military or political. While he found +it difficult to impress his will upon an opponent in the field, +he was very sturdy with his pen in laying down the law to the +Commander-in-chief (the President) and in emphasising the importance of +his own views not only in things military but in regard to the whole +policy of the government. The peculiarity about the nightmares and +miscalculations of McClellan was that they persisted long after the data +for their correction were available. In a book brought into print years +after the War, when the Confederate rosters were easily accessible in +Washington, McClellan did not hesitate to make the same statements in +regard to the numbers of the Confederate forces opposed to him that he +had brought into the long series of complaining letters to Lincoln in +which he demanded reinforcements that did not exist. + +The records now show that at the time of the slow advance of +McClellan's army by the Williamsburg Peninsula, General Magruder had +been able, with a few thousand men and with dummy guns made of logs, to +give the impression that a substantial army was blocking the way to +Richmond. McClellan's advance was, therefore, made with the utmost +"conservatism," enabling General Johnston to collect back of Magruder +the army that was finally to drive McClellan back to his base. It is +further in evidence from the later records that when some weeks later +General Johnston concentrated his army at Gaines's Mill upon Porter, who +was separated from McClellan by the Chickahominy, there was but an +inconsiderable force between McClellan and Richmond. + +At the close of the seven days' retreat, McClellan, who had with a +magnificent army thrown away a series of positions, writes to Lincoln +that he (Lincoln) "had sacrificed the army." In another letter, +McClellan lays down the laws of a national policy with a completeness +and a dictatorial utterance such as would hardly have been justified if +he had succeeded through his own military genius in bringing the War to +a close, but which, coming from a defeated general, was ridiculous +enough. Lincoln's correspondence with McClellan brings out the infinite +patience of the President, and his desire to make sure that before +putting the General to one side as a vainglorious incompetent, he had +been allowed the fullest possible test. Lincoln passes over without +reference and apparently without thought the long series of impertinent +impersonalities of McClellan. In this correspondence, as in all his +correspondence, the great captain showed himself absolutely devoted to +the cause he had in mind. Early in the year, months before the +Peninsular campaign, when McClellan had had the army in camp for a +series of months without expressing the least intention of action, +Lincoln had in talking with the Secretary of War used the expression: +"If General McClellan does not want to use the army just now, I +would like to borrow it for a while." That was as far as the +Commander-in-chief ever went in criticism of the General in the field. +While operations in Virginia, conducted by a vacillating and +vainglorious engineer officer, gave little encouragement, something was +being done to advance the cause of the Union in the West. In 1862, a +young man named Grant, who had returned to the army and who had been +trusted with the command of a few brigades, captured Fort Donelson and +thus opened the Tennessee River to the advance of the army southward. +The capture of Fort Donelson was rendered possible by the use of mortars +and was the first occasion in the war in which mortars had been brought +to bear. I chanced to come into touch with the record of the preparation +of the mortars that were supplied to Grant's army at Cairo. Sometime in +the nineties I was sojourning with the late Abram S. Hewitt at his home +in Ringwood, New Jersey. I noticed, in looking out from the piazza, a +mortar, properly mounted on a mortar-bed and encompassed by some yards +of a great chain, placed on the slope overlooking the little valley +below, as if to protect the house. I asked my host what was the history +of this piece of ordnance. "Well," he said, "the chain you might have +some personal interest in. It is a part of the chain your great-uncle +Israel placed across the river at West Point for the purpose of blocking +or at least of checking the passage of the British vessels. The chain +was forged here in the Ringwood foundry and I have secured a part of it +as a memento. The mortar was given to me by President Lincoln, as also +was the mortar-bed." This report naturally brought out the further +question as to the grounds for the gift. "I made this mortar-bed," said +Hewitt, "together with some others, and Lincoln was good enough to say +that I had in this work rendered a service to the State. It was in +December, 1861, when the expedition against Fort Donelson and Fort Henry +was being organised at Fort Cairo under the leadership of General Grant. +Grant reported that the field-pieces at his command would not be +effective against the earthworks that were to be shelled and made +requisition for mortars." The mortar I may explain to my unmilitary +readers is a short carronade of large bore and with a comparatively +short range. The mortar with a heavy charge throws its missile at a +sharp angle upwards, so that, instead of attempting to go through an +earthwork, it is thrown into the enclosure. The recoil from a mortar is +very heavy, necessitating the construction of a foundation called a +mortar-bed which is not only solid but which possesses a certain amount +of elasticity through which the shock of the recoil is absorbed. It is +only through the use of such a bed that a mortar can be fired from the +deck of a vessel. Without such, protection, the shock would smash +through the deck and might send the craft to the bottom. + +The Ordnance Department reported to the Secretary of War and the +Secretary to Lincoln that mortars were on hand but that no mortar-beds +were available. It was one of the many cases in which the unpreparedness +of the government had left a serious gap in the equipment. The further +report was given to Lincoln that two or three months' time would be +required to manufacture the thirty mortar-beds that were needed. A delay +of any such period would have blocked the entire purpose of Grant's +expedition. In his perplexity, Lincoln remembered that in his famous +visit to New York two years before, he had been introduced to Mr. +Hewitt, "a well-known iron merchant," as "a man who does things." +Lincoln telegraphed to Hewitt asking if Hewitt could make thirty +mortar-beds and how long it would take. Hewitt told me that the message +reached him on a Saturday evening at the house of a friend. He wired an +acknowledgment with the word that he would send a report on the +following day. Sunday morning he looked up the ordnance officer of New +York for the purpose of ascertaining where the pattern mortar-bed was +kept. "It was rather important, Major," said Hewitt to me, "that I +should have an opportunity of examining this pattern for I had never +seen a mortar-bed in my life, but this of course I did not admit to the +ordnance officer." The pattern required was, it seemed, in the armory +at Springfield. Hewitt wired to Lincoln asking that the bed should be +forwarded by the night boat to him in New York. Hewitt and his men met +the boat, secured the pattern bed, and gave some hours to puzzling over +the construction. At noon on Monday, Hewitt wired to Lincoln that he +could make thirty mortar-beds in thirty days. In another hour he +received by wire instructions from Lincoln to go ahead. In twenty-eight +days he had the thirty mortar-beds in readiness; and Tom Scott, who had +at the time, very fortunately for the country, taken charge of the +military transportation, had provided thirty flat-cars for the transit +of the mortar-beds to Cairo. The train was addressed to "U.S. Grant, +Cairo," and each car contained a notification, painted in white on a +black ground, "not to be switched on the penalty of death." That train +got through and as other portions of the equipment had also been +delayed, the mortars were not so very late. Six schooners, each equipped +with a mortar, were hurried up the river to support the attack of the +army on Fort Donelson. A first assault had been made and had failed. The +field artillery was, as Grant had anticipated, ineffective against the +earthworks, while the fire of the Confederate infantry, protected by +their works, had proved most severe. The instant, however, that from +behind a point on the river below the fort shells were thrown from the +schooners into the inner circle of the fortifications, the Confederate +commander, Floyd, recognised that the fort was untenable. He slipped +away that night leaving his junior, General Buckner, to make terms with +Grant, and those terms were "unconditional surrender," which were later +so frequently connected with the initials of U.S.G. + +Buckner's name comes again into history in a pleasant fashion. Years +after the War, when General Grant had, through the rascality of a Wall +Street "pirate," lost his entire savings, Buckner, himself a poor man, +wrote begging Grant to accept as a loan, "to be repaid at his +convenience," a check enclosed for one thousand dollars. Other friends +came to the rescue of Grant, and through the earnings of his own pen, he +was before his death able to make good all indebtedness and to leave a +competency to his widow. The check sent by Buckner was not used, but the +prompt friendliness was something not to be forgotten. + +Hewitt's mortar-beds were used again a few weeks later for the capture +of Island Number Ten and they also proved serviceable, used in the same +fashion from the decks of schooners, in the capture of Forts Jackson and +St. Philip which blocked the river below New Orleans. It was only +through the fire from these schooners, which were moored behind a point +on the river below the forts, that it was possible to reach the inner +circle of the works. + +I asked Hewitt whether he had seen Lincoln after this matter of the +mortar-beds. "Yes," said Hewitt, "I saw him a year later and Lincoln's +action was characteristic. I was in Washington and thought it was proper +to call and pay my respects. I was told on reaching the White House that +it was late in the day and that the waiting-room was very full and that +I probably should not be reached. 'Well,' I said, 'in that case, I will +simply ask you to take in my card.' No sooner had the card been +delivered than the door of the study opened and Lincoln appeared +reaching out both hands. 'Where is Mr. Hewitt?' he said; 'I want to see, +I want to thank, the man who does things.' I sat with him for a time, a +little nervous in connection with the number of people who were waiting +outside, but Lincoln would not let me go. Finally he asked, 'What are +you in Washington for?' 'Well, Mr. Lincoln,' said I, 'I have some +business here. I want to get paid for those mortar-beds.' 'What?' said +Lincoln, 'you have not yet got what the nation owes you? That is +disgraceful.' He rang the bell violently and sent an aid for Secretary +Stanton and when the Secretary appeared, he was questioned rather +sharply. 'How about Mr. Hewitt's bill against the War Department? Why +does he have to wait for his money?' 'Well, Mr. Lincoln,' said Stanton, +'the order for those mortar-beds was given rather irregularly. It never +passed through the War Department and consequently the account when +rendered could not receive the approval of any ordnance officer, and +until so approved could not be paid by the Treasury.' 'If,' said +Lincoln, 'I should write on that account an order to have it paid, do +you suppose the Secretary of the Treasury would pay it?' 'I suppose that +he would,' said Stanton. The account was sent for and Lincoln wrote at +the bottom: 'Pay this bill now. A. Lincoln.' 'Now, Mr. Stanton,' said +Lincoln, 'Mr. Hewitt has been very badly treated in this matter and I +want you to take a little pains to see that he gets his money. I am +going to ask you to go over to the Treasury with Mr. Hewitt and to get +the proper signatures on this account so that Mr. Hewitt can carry a +draft with him back to New York.' Stanton, rather reluctantly, accepted +the instruction and," said Hewitt, "he walked with me through the +various departments of the Treasury until the final signature had been +placed on the bill and I was able to exchange this for a Treasury +warrant. I should," said Hewitt, "have been much pleased to retain the +bill with that signature of Lincoln beneath the words, 'Pay this now.' + +"Towards the end of the War," he continued, "when there was no further +requirement for mortars, I wrote to Mr. Lincoln and asked whether I +might buy a mortar with its bed. Lincoln replied promptly that he had +directed the Ordnance Department to send me mortar and bed with 'the +compliments of the administration.' I am puzzled to think," said Hewitt, +"how that particular item in the accounts of the Ordnance Department was +ever adjusted, but I am very glad to have this reminiscence of the War +and of the President." + +Lincoln's relations with McClellan have already been touched upon. There +would not be space in this paper to refer in detail to the action taken +by Lincoln with other army commanders East and West. The problem that +confronted the Commander-in-chief of selecting the right leaders for +this or that undertaking, and of promoting the men who gave evidence of +the greater capacity that was required for the larger armies that were +being placed in the field, was one of no little difficulty. The reader +of history, looking back to-day, with the advantage of the full record +of the careers of the various generals, is tempted to indulge in easy +criticism of the blunders made by the President. Why did the President +put up so long with the vaingloriousness and ineffectiveness of +McClellan? Why should he have accepted even for one brief and +unfortunate campaign the service of an incompetent like Pope? Why was a +slow-minded closet-student like Halleck permitted to fritter away in the +long-drawn-out operations against Corinth the advantage of position and +of force that had been secured by the army of the West? Why was a +political trickster like Butler, with no army experience, or a +well-meaning politician like Banks with still less capacity for the +management of troops, permitted to retain responsibilities in the field, +making blunders that involved waste of life and of resources and the +loss of campaigns? Why were not the real men like Sherman, Grant, +Thomas, McPherson, Sheridan, and others brought more promptly into the +important positions? Why was the army of the South permitted during the +first two years of the War to have so large an advantage in skilled and +enterprising leadership? A little reflection will show how unjust is the +criticism implied through such questions. We know of the incapacity of +the generals who failed and of the effectiveness of those who succeeded, +only through the results of the campaigns themselves. Lincoln could only +study the men as he came to know about them and he experimented first +with one and then with another, doing what seemed to be practicable to +secure a natural selection and the survival of the fittest. Such +watchful supervision and painstaking experimenting was carried out with +infinite patience and with an increasing knowledge both of the +requirements and of the men fitted to fill the requirements. + +We must also recall that, Commander-in-chief as he was, Lincoln was not +free to exercise without restriction his own increasingly valuable +judgment in the appointment of the generals. It was necessary to give +consideration to the opinion of the country, that is to say, to the +individual judgments of the citizens whose loyal co-operation was +absolutely essential for the support of the nation's cause. These +opinions of the citizens were expressed sometimes through the appeals of +earnestly loyal governors like Andrew of Massachusetts, or Curtin of +Pennsylvania, and sometimes through the articles of a strenuous editor +like Greeley, whose influence and support it was, of course, all +important to retain. Greeley's absolute ignorance of military conditions +did not prevent him from emphasising with the President and the public +his very decided conclusions in regard to the selection of men and the +conduct of campaigns. In this all-perplexing problem of the shaping of +campaigns, Lincoln had to consider the responsibilities of +representative government. The task would, of course, have been much +easier if he had had power as an autocrat to act on his own decisions +simply. The appointment of Butler and Banks was thought to be necessary +for the purpose of meeting the views of the loyal citizens of so +important a State as Massachusetts, and other appointments, the results +of which were more or less unfortunate, may in like manner be traced to +causes or influences outside of a military or army policy. + +General Frank V. Greene, in a paper on Lincoln as Commander-in-chief, +writes in regard to his capacity as a leader as follows: + +"As time goes on, Lincoln's fame looms ever larger and larger. Great +statesman, astute politician, clear thinker, classic writer, master of +men, kindly, lovable man,--these are his titles. To these must be +added--military leader. Had he failed in that quality, the others would +have been forgotten. Had peace been made on any terms but those of the +surrender of the insurgent forces and the restoration of the Union, +Lincoln's career would have been a colossal failure and the Emancipation +Proclamation a subject of ridicule. The prime essential was military +success. Lincoln gained it. Judged in the retrospect of nearly half a +century, with his every written word now in print and with all the facts +of the period brought out and placed in proper perspective by the +endless studies, discussions, and arguments of the intervening years, it +becomes clear that, first and last and at all times during his +Presidency, in military affairs his was not only the guiding but the +controlling hand." + +It is interesting, as the War progressed, to trace the development of +Lincoln's own military judgment. He was always modest in regard to +matters in which his experience was limited, and during the first twelve +months in Washington, he had comparatively little to say in regard to +the planning or even the supervision of campaigns. His letters, however, +to McClellan and his later correspondence with Burnside, with Hooker, +and with other commanders give evidence of a steadily developing +intelligence in regard to larger military movements. History has shown +that Lincoln's judgment in regard to the essential purpose of a +campaign, and the best methods for carrying out such purpose, was in a +large number of cases decidedly sounder than that of the general in the +field. When he emphasised with McClellan that the true objective was the +Confederate army in the field and not the city of Richmond, he laid down +a principle which seems to us elementary but to which McClellan had been +persistently blinded. Lincoln writes to Hooker: "We have word that the +head of Lee's army is near Martinsburg in the Shenandoah Valley while +you report that you have a substantial force still opposed to you on the +Rappahannock. It appears, therefore that the line must be forty miles +long. The animal is evidently very slim somewhere and it ought to be +possible for you to cut it at some point." Hooker had the same +information but did not draw the same inference. + +Apart from Lincoln's work in selecting, and in large measure in +directing, the generals, he had a further important relation with the +army as a whole. We are familiar with the term "the man behind the +gun." It is a truism to say that the gun has little value whether for +offence or for defence unless the man behind it possesses the right kind +of spirit which will infuse and guide his purpose and his action with +the gun. For the long years of the War, the Commander-in-chief was the +man behind all the guns in the field. The men in the front came to have +a realising sense of the infinite patience, the persistent hopefulness, +the steadiness of spirit, the devoted watchfulness of the great captain +in Washington. It was through the spirit of Lincoln that the spirit in +the ranks was preserved during the long months of discouragement and the +many defeats and retreats. The final advance of Grant which ended at +Appomattox, and the triumphant march of Sherman which culminated in the +surrender at Goldsborough of the last of the armies of the Confederacy, +were the results of the inspiration, given alike to soldier and to +general, from the patient and devoted soul of the nation's leader. + +In March, 1862, Lincoln received the news of the victory won at Pea +Ridge, in Arkansas, by Curtis and Sigel, a battle which had lasted three +days. The first day was a defeat and our troops were forced back; the +fighting of the second resulted in what might be called a drawn battle; +but on the third, our army broke its way through the enclosing lines, +bringing the heavier loss to the Confederates, and regained its base. +This battle was in a sense typical of much of the fighting of the War. +It was one of a long series of fights which continued for more than one +day. The history of the War presents many instances of battles that +lasted two days, three days, four days, and in one case seven days. It +was difficult to convince the American soldier, on either side of the +line, that he was beaten. The general might lose his head, but the +soldiers, in the larger number of cases, went on fighting until, with a +new leader or with more intelligent dispositions on the part of the +original leader, a first disaster had been repaired. There is no example +in modern history of fighting of such stubborn character, or it is +fairer to say, there was no example until the Russo-Japanese War in +Manchuria. The record shows that European armies, when outgeneralled or +outmanoeuvred, had the habit of retiring from the field, sometimes in +good order, more frequently in a state of demoralisation. The American +soldier fought the thing out because he thought the thing out. The +patience and persistence of the soldier in the field was characteristic +of, and, it may fairly be claimed, was in part due to, the patience and +persistence of the great leader in Washington. + + + + +VI + +THE DARK DAYS OF 1862 + + +The dark days of 1862 were in April brightened by the all-important news +that Admiral Farragut had succeeded in bringing the Federal fleet, or at +least the leading vessels in this fleet, past the batteries of Forts St. +Philip and Jackson on the Mississippi, and had compelled the surrender +of New Orleans. The opening of the Mississippi River had naturally been +included among the most essential things to be accomplished in the +campaign for the restoration of the national authority. It was of first +importance that the States of the North-west and the enormous contiguous +territory which depended upon the Mississippi for its water connection +with the outer world should not be cut off from the Gulf. The prophecy +was in fact made more than once that in case the States of the South had +succeeded in establishing their independence, there would have come into +existence on the continent not two confederacies, but probably four. The +communities on the Pacific Coast would naturally have been tempted to +set up for themselves, and a similar course might also naturally have +been followed by the great States of the North-west whose interests were +so closely bound up with the waterways running southward. It was +essential that no effort should be spared to bring the loyal States of +the West into control of the line of the Mississippi. More than twelve +months was still required after the capture of New Orleans on the first +of May, 1862, before the surrender of Vicksburg to Grant and of Port +Hudson to Banks removed the final barriers to the Federal control of the +great river. The occupation of the river by the Federals was of +importance in more ways than one. The States to the west of the +river--Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas--were for the first two years of +the War important sources of supplies for the food of the Confederate +army. Corn on the cob or in bags was brought across the river by boats, +while the herds of live cattle were made to swim the stream, and were +then most frequently marched across country to the commissary depots of +the several armies. After the fall of Port Hudson, the connection for +such supplies was practically stopped; although I may recall that even +as late as 1864, the command to which I was attached had the +opportunity of stopping the swimming across the Mississippi of a herd of +cattle that was in transit for the army of General Joe Johnston. + +In April, 1862, just after the receipt by Lincoln of the disappointing +news of the first repulse at Vicksburg, he finds time to write a little +autograph note to a boy, "Master Crocker," with thanks for a present of +a white rabbit that the youngster had sent to the President with the +suggestion that perhaps the President had a boy who would be pleased +with it. + +During the early part of 1862, Lincoln is giving renewed thought to the +great problem of emancipation. He becomes more and more convinced that +the success of the War calls for definite action on the part of the +administration in the matter of slavery. He was, as before pointed out, +anxious, not only as a matter of justice to loyal citizens, but on the +ground of the importance of retaining for the national cause the support +of the Border States, to act in such manner that the loyal citizens of +these States should be exposed to a minimum loss and to the smallest +possible risk of disaffection. In July, 1862, Lincoln formulated a +proposition for compensated emancipation. It was his idea that the +nation should make payment of an appraised value in freeing the slaves +that were in the ownership of citizens who had remained loyal to the +government. It was his belief that the funds required would be more than +offset by the result in furthering the progress of the War. The daily +expenditure of the government was at the time averaging about a million +and a half dollars a day, and in 1864 it reached two million dollars a +day. If the War could be shortened a few months, a sufficient amount of +money would be saved to offset a very substantial payment to loyal +citizens for the property rights in their slaves. + +The men of the Border States were, however, still too bound to the +institution of slavery to be prepared to give their assent to any such +plan. Congress was, naturally, not ready to give support to such a +policy unless it could be made clear that it was satisfactory to the +people most concerned. The result of the unwise stubbornness in this +matter of the loyal citizens of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and +Maryland was that they were finally obliged to surrender without +compensation the property control in their slaves. When the plan for +compensated emancipation had failed, Lincoln decided that the time had +come for unconditional emancipation. In July, 1862, he prepares the +first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was his judgment, which +was shared by the majority of his Cabinet, that the issue of the +proclamation should, however, be deferred until after some substantial +victory by the armies of the North. It was undesirable to give to such a +step the character of an utterance of despair or even of discouragement. +It seemed evident, however, that the War had brought the country to the +point at which slavery, the essential cause of the cleavage between the +States, must be removed. The bringing to an end of the national +responsibility for slavery would consolidate national opinion throughout +the States of the North and would also strengthen the hands of the +friends of the Union in England where the charge had repeatedly been +made that the North was fighting, not against slavery or for freedom of +any kind, but for domination. The proclamation was held until after the +battle of Antietam in September, 1862, and was then issued to take +effect on the first of January, 1863. It did produce the hoped-for +results. The cause of the North was now placed on a consistent +foundation. It was made clear that when the fight for nationality had +reached a successful termination, there was to be no further national +responsibility for the great crime against civilisation. The management +of the contrabands, who were from week to week making their way into the +lines of the Northern armies, was simplified. There was no further +question of holding coloured men subject to the possible claim of a +possibly loyal master. The work of organising coloured troops, which had +begun in Massachusetts some months earlier in the year, was now pressed +forward with some measure of efficiency. Boston sent to the front the +54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments composed of coloured troops and +led by such men as Shaw and Hallowell. The first South Carolina coloured +regiment was raised and placed under the command of Colonel Higginson. + +I had myself some experience in Louisiana with the work of moulding +plantation hands into disciplined soldiers and I was surprised at the +promptness of the transformation. A contraband who made his way into the +camp from the old plantation with the vague idea that he was going to +secure freedom was often in appearance but an unpromising specimen out +of which to make a soldier. He did not know how to hold himself upright +or to look the other man in the face. His gait was shambly, his +perceptions dull. It was difficult for him either to hear clearly, or to +understand when heard, the word of instruction or command. When, +however, the plantation rags had been disposed of and (possibly after a +souse in the Mississippi) the contraband had been put into the blue +uniform and had had the gun placed on his shoulder, he developed at once +from a "chattel" to a man. He was still, for a time at least, clumsy and +shambly. The understanding of the word of command did not come at once +and his individual action, if by any chance he should be left to act +alone, was, as a rule, less intelligent, less to be depended upon, than +that of the white man. But he stood up straight in the garb of manhood, +looked you fairly in the face, showed by his expression that he was +anxious for the privilege of fighting for freedom and for citizenship, +and in Louisiana, and throughout the whole territory of the War, every +black regiment that came into engagement showed that it could be +depended upon. Before the War was closed, some two hundred thousand +negroes had been brought into the ranks of the Federal army and their +service constituted a very valuable factor in the final outcome of the +campaigns. A battle like that at Milliken's Bend, Mississippi, +inconsiderable in regard to the numbers engaged, was of distinctive +importance in showing what the black man was able and willing to do when +brought under fire for the first time. A coloured regiment made up of +men who only a few weeks before had been plantation hands, had been left +on a point of the river to be picked up by an expected transport. The +regiment was attacked by a Confederate force of double or treble the +number, the Southerners believing that there would be no difficulty in +driving into the river this group of recent slaves. On the first volley, +practically all of the officers (who were white) were struck down and +the loss with the troops was also very heavy. The negroes, who had but +made a beginning with their education as soldiers, appeared, however, +not to have learned anything about the conditions for surrender and they +simply fought on until no one was left standing. The percentage of loss +to the numbers engaged was the heaviest of any action in the War. The +Southerners, in their contempt for the possibility of negroes doing any +real fighting, had in their rushing attack exposed themselves much and +had themselves suffered seriously. When, in April, 1865, after the +forcing back of Lee's lines, the hour came, so long waited for and so +fiercely fought for, to take possession of Richmond, there was a certain +poetic justice in allowing the negro division, commanded by General +Weitzel, to head the column of advance. + +Through 1862, and later, we find much correspondence from Lincoln in +regard to the punishment of deserters. The army penalty for desertion +when the lines were in front of the enemy, was death. Lincoln found it +very difficult, however, to approve of a sentence of death for any +soldier. Again and again he writes, instructing the general in the field +to withhold the execution until he, Lincoln, had had an opportunity of +passing upon the case. There is a long series of instances in which, +sometimes upon application from the mother, but more frequently through +the personal impression gained by himself of the character of the +delinquent, Lincoln decided to pardon youngsters who had, in his +judgment, simply failed to realise their full responsibility as +soldiers. Not a few of these men, permitted to resume their arms, gained +distinction later for loyal service. + +In December, 1862, Jefferson Davis issued an order which naturally +attracted some attention, directing that General Benjamin F. Butler, +when captured, should be "reserved for execution." Butler never fell +into the hands of the Confederates and it is probable that if he had +been taken prisoner, the order would have remained an empty threat. From +Lincoln came the necessary rejoinder that a Confederate officer of equal +rank would be held as hostage for the safety of any Northern general +who, as prisoner, might not be protected under the rules of war. + +Lincoln's correspondence during 1862, a year which was in many ways the +most discouraging of the sad years of the war, shows how much he had to +endure in the matter of pressure of unrequested advice and of undesired +counsel from all kinds of voluntary advisers and active-minded citizens, +all of whom believed that their views were important, if not essential, +for the salvation of the state. In September, 1862, Lincoln writes to a +friend: + +"I am approached with the most opposite opinions expressed on the part +of religious men, each of whom is equally certain that he represents the +divine will." + +To one of these delegations of ministers, Lincoln gave a response which +while homely in its language must have presented to his callers a vivid +picture of the burdens that were being carried by the leader of the +state: + + "Gentlemen," he said, "suppose all the property you possess were in + gold, and you had placed it in the hands of Blondin to carry across + the Niagara River on a rope. With slow, cautious, steady steps he + walks the rope, bearing your all. Would you shake the cable and keep + shouting to him, 'Blondin, stand up a little straighter! Blondin, + stoop a little more; go a little faster; lean more to the south! Now + lean a little more to north! Would that be your behaviour in such an + emergency? No, you would hold your breath, every one of you, as well + as your tongues. You would keep your hands off until he was safe on + the other side." + +Another delegation, which had been urging some months in advance of what +Lincoln believed to be the fitting time for the issuing of the +Proclamation of Emancipation, called asking that there should be no +further delay in the action. One of the ministers, as he was retiring, +turned and said to Lincoln: "What you have said to us, Mr. President, +compels me to say to you in reply that it is a message to you from our +Divine Master, through me, commanding you, sir, to open the doors of +bondage, that the slave may go free!" Lincoln replied: "That may be, +sir, for I have studied this question by night and by day, for weeks +and for months, but if it is, as you say, a message from your Divine +Master, is it not odd that the only channel He could send it by was that +roundabout route through the wicked city of Chicago?" + +Another version of the story omits the reference to Chicago, and makes +Lincoln's words: + +"I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable +that God would reveal His will to others on a point so connected with my +duty, it might be supposed He would reveal it directly to me.... +Whatever shall appear to be God's will, I will do." + +In September, 1862, General Lee carried his army into Maryland, +threatening Baltimore and Washington. It is probable that the purpose of +this invasion was more political than military. The Confederate +correspondence shows that Davis was at the time hopeful of securing the +intervention of Great Britain and France, and it was natural to assume +that the prospects of such intervention would be furthered if it could +be shown that the Southern army, instead of being engaged in the defence +of its own capital, was actually threatening Washington and was possibly +strong enough to advance farther north. + +General Pope had, as a result of his defeat at the second Bull Run, in +July, 1862, lost the confidence of the President and of the country. The +defeat alone would not necessarily have undermined his reputation, which +had been that of an effective soldier. He had, however, the fatal +quality, too common with active Americans, of talking too much, whether +in speech or in the written word, of promising things that did not come +off, and of emphasising his high opinion of his own capacity. Under the +pressure of the new peril indicated by the presence of Lee's troops +within a few miles of the capital, Lincoln put to one side his own grave +doubts in regard to the effectiveness and trustworthiness of McClellan +and gave McClellan one further opportunity to prove his ability as a +soldier. The personal reflections and aspersions against his +Commander-in-chief of which McClellan had been guilty, weighed with +Lincoln not at all; the President's sole thought was at this time, as +always, how with the material available could the country best be +served. + +McClellan had his chance (and to few men is it given to have more than +one great opportunity) and again he threw it away. His army was stronger +than that of Lee and he had the advantage of position and (for the +first time against this particular antagonist) of nearness to his base +of supplies. Lee had been compelled to divide his army in order to get +it promptly into position on the north side of the Potomac. McClellan's +tardiness sacrificed Harper's Ferry (which, on September 15th, was +actually surrounded by Lee's advance) with the loss of twelve thousand +prisoners. Through an exceptional piece of good fortune, there came into +McClellan's hands a despatch showing the actual position of the +different divisions of Lee's army and giving evidence that the two wings +were so far separated that they could not be brought together within +twenty-four hours. The history now makes clear that for twenty-four +hours McClellan had the safety of Lee's army in his hands, but those +precious hours were spent by McClellan in "getting ready," that is to +say, in vacillating. + +Finally, there came the trifling success at South Mountain and the drawn +battle of Antietam. Lee's army was permitted to recross the Potomac with +all its trains and even with the captured prisoners, and McClellan lay +waiting through the weeks for something to turn up. + +A letter written by Lincoln on the 13th of October shows a wonderfully +accurate understanding of military conditions, and throws light also +upon the character and the methods of thought of the two men: + + "Are you not overcautious when you assume that you cannot do what + the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least + his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim? As I understand, you + telegraphed General Halleck that you cannot subsist your army at + Winchester unless the railroad from Harper's Ferry to that point be + put in working order. But the enemy does now subsist his army at + Winchester, at a distance nearly twice as great as you would have to + do, without the railroad last named. He now waggons from Culpeper + Court House, which is just about twice as far as you would have to + do from Harper's Ferry. He is certainly not more than half as well + provided with waggons as you are.... Again, one of the standard + maxims of war, as you know, is to 'operate upon the enemy's + communications without exposing your own.' You seem to act as if + this applies against you, but cannot apply it in your favour. Change + positions with the enemy, and think you not he would break your + communication with Richmond in twenty-four hours?... You are now + nearer Richmond than the enemy is by the route you can and he must + take. Why can you not reach there before him, unless you admit that + he is more than your equal on a march? His route is the arc of a + circle, while yours is the chord. The roads are as good on your side + as on his ... If he should move northward, I would follow him + closely, holding his communications. If he should prevent our + seizing his communications and move towards Richmond, I would press + closely to him, fight him, if a favourable opportunity should + present, and at least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside + track. I say 'Try'; if we never try, we shall never succeed.... If + we cannot beat him when he bears the wastage of coming to us, we + never can when we bear the wastage of going to him.... As we must + beat him somewhere or fail finally, we can do it, if at all, easier + near to us than far away.... It is all easy if our troops march as + well as the enemy, and it is unmanly to say that they cannot do it." + +The patience of Lincoln and that of the country behind Lincoln were at +last exhausted. McClellan was ordered to report to his home in New +Jersey and the General who had come to the front with such flourish of +trumpets and had undertaken to dictate a national policy at a time when +he was not able to keep his own army in position, retires from the +history of the War. + +The responsibility again comes to the weary Commander-in-chief of +finding a leader who could lead, in whom the troops and the country +would have confidence, and who could be trusted to do his simple duty as +a general in the field without confusing his military responsibilities +with political scheming. The choice first fell upon Burnside. Burnside +was neither ambitious nor self-confident. He was a good division +general, but he doubted his ability for the general command. Burnside +loyally accepts the task, does the best that was within his power and, +pitted against a commander who was very much his superior in general +capacity as well as in military skill, he fails. Once more has the +President on his hands the serious problem of finding the right man. +This time the commission was given to General Joseph Hooker. With the +later records before us, it is easy to point out that this selection +also was a blunder. There were better men in the group of +major-generals. Reynolds, Meade, or Hancock would doubtless have made +more effective use of the power of the army of the Potomac, but in +January, 1863, the relative characters and abilities of these generals +were not so easily to be determined. Lincoln's letter to Hooker was +noteworthy, not only in the indication that it gives of Hooker's +character but as an example of the President's width of view and of his +method of coming into the right relation with men. He writes: + + "You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable if not an + indispensable quality.... I think, however, that during General + Burnside's command of the army, you have taken counsel of your + ambition and have thwarted him as much as you could, in which you + did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and + honourable brother officer. I have heard of your recently saying + that both the army and the government needed a dictator. Of course + it was not for this but in spite of it that I have given you the + command. Only those generals who gain success can set up as + dictators. What I now ask of you is military success and I will risk + the dictatorship. The government will support you to the best of its + ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do + for all its commanders.... Beware of rashness, but with energy and + sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories." + +Hooker, like Burnside, undoubtedly did the best that he could. He was a +loyal patriot and had shown himself a good division commander. It is +probable, however, that the limit of his ability as a general in the +field was the management of an army corps; he seems to have been +confused in the attempt to direct the movements of the larger body. At +Chancellorsville, he was clearly outwitted by his opponents, Lee and +Jackson. The men of the army of the Potomac fought steadily as always +but with the discouraging feeling that the soldiers on the other side of +the line had the advantage of better brain power behind them. It is +humiliating to read in the life of Jackson the reply given by him to Lee +when Lee questioned the safety of the famous march planned by Jackson +across the front of the Federal line. Said Lee: "There are several +points along the line of your proposed march at which your column could +be taken in flank with disastrous results." "But, General Lee," replies +Jackson, "we must surely in planning any military movements take into +account the personality of the leaders to whom we are opposed." + + + + +VII + +THE THIRD AND CRUCIAL YEAR OF THE WAR + + +Chancellorsville was fought and lost, and again, under political +pressure from Richmond rather than with any hope of advantage on simple +military lines, Lee leads his army to an invasion of the North. For this +there were at the time several apparent advantages; the army of the +Potomac had been twice beaten and, while by no means demoralised, was +discouraged and no longer had faith in its commander. There was much +inevitable disappointment throughout the North that, so far from making +progress in the attempt to restore the authority of the government, the +national troops were on the defensive but a few miles from the national +capital. The Confederate correspondence from London and from Paris gave +fresh hopes for the long expected intervention. + +Lee's army was cleverly withdrawn from Hooker's front and was carried +through western Maryland into Pennsylvania by the old line of the +Shenandoah Valley and across the Potomac at Falling Waters. Hooker +reports to Lincoln under date of June 4th that the army or an army is +still in his front on the line of the Rappahannock, Lincoln writes to +Hooker under date of June 5th, "We have report that Lee's army is moving +westward and that a large portion of it is already to the west of the +Blue Ridge. The 'bull' [Lee's army] is across the fence and it surely +ought to be possible to worry him." On June 14th, Lincoln writes again, +reporting to Hooker that Lee with the body of his troops is approaching +the Potomac at a point forty miles away from the line of the +entrenchments on the Rappahannock. "The animal [Lee's army] is extended +over a line of forty miles. It must be very slim somewhere. Can you not +cut it?" The phrases are not in military form but they give evidence of +sound military judgment. Hooker was unable to grasp the opportunity, and +realising this himself, he asked to be relieved. The troublesome and +anxious honour of the command of the army now falls upon General Meade. +He takes over the responsibility at a time when Lee's army is already +safely across the Potomac and advancing northward, apparently towards +Philadelphia. His troops are more or less scattered and no definite +plan of campaign appears to have been formulated. The events of the next +three weeks constitute possibly the best known portion of the War. Meade +shows good energy in breaking up his encampment along the Rappahannock +and getting his column on to the road northward. Fortunately, the army +of the Potomac for once has the advantage of the interior line so that +Meade is able to place his army in a position that protects at once +Washington on the south-west, Baltimore on the east, and Philadelphia on +the north-east. We can, however, picture to ourselves the anxiety that +must have rested upon the Commander-in-chief in Washington during the +weeks of the campaign and during the three days of the great battle +which was fought on Northern soil and miles to the north of the Northern +capital. If, on that critical third day of July, the Federal lines had +been broken and the army disorganised, there was nothing that could +prevent the national capital from coming into the control of Lee's army. +The surrender of Washington meant the intervention of France and +England, meant the failure of the attempt to preserve the nation's +existence, meant that Abraham Lincoln would go down to history as the +last President of the United States, the President under whose +leadership the national history had come to a close. But the Federal +lines were not broken. The third day of Gettysburg made clear that with +equality of position and with substantial equality in numbers there was +no better fighting material in the army of the grey than in the army of +the blue. The advance of Pickett's division to the crest of Cemetery +Ridge marked the high tide of the Confederate cause. Longstreet's men +were not able to prevail against the sturdy defence of Hancock's second +corps and when, on the Fourth of July, Lee's army took up its line of +retreat to the Potomac, leaving behind it thousands of dead and wounded, +the calm judgment of Lee and his associates must have made clear to them +that the cause of the Confederacy was lost. The army of Northern +Virginia had shattered itself against the defences of the North, and +there was for Lee no reserve line. For a long series of months to come, +Lee, magnificent engineer officer that he was, and with a sturdy +persistency which withstood all disaster, was able to maintain defensive +lines in the Wilderness, at Cold Harbor, and in front of Petersburg, but +as his brigades crumbled away under the persistent and unceasing attacks +of the army of the Potomac, he must have realised long before the day +of Appomattox that his task was impossible. What Gettysburg decided in +the East was confirmed with equal emphasis by the fall of Vicksburg in +the West. On the Fourth of July, 1863, the day on which Lee, defeated +and discouraged, was taking his shattered army out of Pennsylvania, +General Grant was placing the Stars and Stripes over the earthworks of +Vicksburg. The Mississippi was now under the control of the Federalists +from its source to the mouth, and that portion of the Confederacy lying +to the west of the river was cut off so that from this territory no +further co-operation of importance could be rendered to the armies +either of Johnston or of Lee. + +Lincoln writes to Grant after the fall of Vicksburg giving, with his +word of congratulation, the admission that he (Lincoln) had doubted the +wisdom or the practicability of Grant's movement to the south of +Vicksburg and inland to Jackson. "You were right," said Lincoln, "and I +was wrong." + +On the 19th of November, 1863, comes the Gettysburg address, so eloquent +in its simplicity. It is probable that no speaker in recorded history +ever succeeded in putting into so few words so much feeling, such +suggestive thought, and such high idealism. The speech is one that +children can understand and that the greatest minds must admire. + + [Illustration: + + FACSIMILE OF GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. + + + Address delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg. + + Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this + continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the + proposition that all men are created equal. + + Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that + nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long + endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come + to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for + those who here gave their lives that their nation might live. It is + altogether fitting and proper that we should this. + + But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we + cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who + struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add + or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say + here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the + living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they + who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us + to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that + from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for + which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here + highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that + this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that + government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not + perish from the earth. + + Abraham Lincoln + + November 19, 1863] + +There was disappointment that Meade had not shown more energy after +Gettysburg in the pursuit of Lee's army and that some attempt, at least, +had not been made to interfere with the retreat across the Potomac. +Military critics have in fact pointed out that Meade had laid himself +open to criticism in the management of the battle itself. At the time of +the repulse of Pickett's charge, Meade had available at the left and in +rear of his centre the sixth corps which had hardly been engaged on the +previous two days, and which included some of the best fighting material +in the army. It has been pointed out more than once that if that corps +had been thrown in at once with a countercharge upon the heels of the +retreating divisions of Longstreet, Lee's right must have been curled up +and overwhelmed. If this had happened, Lee's army would have been so +seriously shattered that its power for future service would have been +inconsiderable. Meade was accepted as a good working general but the +occasion demanded something more forcible in the way of leadership and, +early in 1864, Lincoln sends for the man who by his success in the West +had won the hopeful confidence of the President and the people. + +Before this appointment of General-in-chief was given to General Grant, +and he came to the East to take charge of the armies in Virginia, he had +brought to a successful conclusion a dramatic campaign, of which +Chattanooga was the centre. In September, 1863, General Rosecrans, who +had occupied Chattanooga, was defeated some twenty miles to the south on +the field of Chickamauga, a defeat which was the result of too much +confidence on the part of the Federal commander, who in pressing his +advance had unwisely separated the great divisions of his army, and of +excellent skill and enterprise on the part of the Confederate commander, +General Bragg. If the troops of Rosecrans had not been veterans, and if +the right wing had not been under the immediate command of so sturdy and +unconquered a veteran as General Thomas, the defeat might have become a +rout. As it was, the army retreated with some discouragement but in good +fighting force, to the lines of Chattanooga. By skilful disposition of +his forces across the lines of connection between Chattanooga and the +base of supplies, General Bragg brought the Federals almost to the point +of starvation, and there was grave risk that through the necessary +falling back of the army to secure supplies, the whole advantage of the +previous year's campaign might be lost. Grant was placed in charge of +the forces in Chattanooga, and by a good management of the resources +available, he succeeded in reopening the river and what became known as +"the cracker line," and in November, 1863, in the dramatic battles of +Lookout Mountain, fought more immediately by General Hooker, and of +Missionary Ridge, the troops of which were under the direct command of +General Sherman, overwhelmed the lines of Bragg, and pressed his forces +back into a more or less disorderly retreat. An important factor in the +defeat of Bragg was the detaching from his army of the corps under +Longstreet which had been sent to Knoxville in a futile attempt to crush +Burnside and to reconquer East Tennessee for the Confederacy. This plan, +chiefly political in purpose, was said to have originated with President +Davis. The armies of the West were now placed under the command of +General Sherman, and early in 1864, Grant was brought to Virginia to +take up the perplexing problem of overcoming the sturdy veterans of +General Lee. + +The first action of Grant as commander of all the armies in the field +was to concentrate all the available forces against the two chief armies +of the Confederacy. The old policy of occupying outlying territory for +the sake of making a show of political authority was given up. If +Johnston in the West and Lee in the East could be crushed, the national +authority would be restored in due season, and that was the only way in +which it could be restored. Troops were gathered in from Missouri and +Arkansas and Louisiana and were placed under the command of Sherman for +use in the final effort of breaking through the centre of the +Confederacy, while in the East nothing was neglected on the part of the +new administration to secure for the direction of the new commander all +resources available of men and of supplies. + +Grant now finds himself pitted against the first soldier of the +continent, the leader who is to go down to history as probably the +greatest soldier that America has ever produced. Lee's military career +is a wonderful example of a combination of brilliancy, daring ingenuity +of plan, promptness of action, and patient persistence under all kinds +of discouragement, but it was not only through these qualities that it +was possible for him to retain control, through three years of heavy +fighting, of the territory of Virginia, which came to be the chief +bulwark of the Confederacy. Lee's high character, sweetness of nature, +and unselfish integrity of purpose had impressed themselves not only +upon the Confederate administration which had given him the command but +upon every soldier in that command. For the army of Northern Virginia +Lee was the man behind the guns just as Lincoln came to be for all the +men in blue. There never was a more devoted army and there probably +never was a better handled army than that with which Lee defended for +three years the lines across Northern Virginia and the remnants of which +were finally surrendered at Appomattox. + +Grant might well have felt concerned with such an opponent in front of +him. He had on his hands (as had been the almost uniform condition for +the army of the Potomac) the disadvantage of position. His advance must +be made from exterior lines and nearly every attack was to be against +well entrenched positions that had been first selected years back and +had been strengthened from season to season. On the other hand, Grant +was able to depend upon the loyal support of the administration through +which came to his army the full advantage of the great resources of the +North. His ranks as depleted were filled up, his commissary trains need +never be long unsupplied, his ammunition waggons were always equipped. +For Lee, during the years following the Gettysburg battle, the problem +was unending and increasing: How should the troops be fed and whence +should they secure the fresh supplies of ammunition? + +Between Grant and Lincoln there came to be perfect sympathy of thought +and action. The men had in their nature (though not in their mental +equipment) much in common. Grant carries his army through the spring of +1864, across the much fought over territory, marching and fighting from +day to day towards the south-west. The effort is always to outflank +Lee's right, getting in between him and his base at Richmond, but after +each fight, Lee's army always bars the way. Marching out of the +Wilderness after seven days' fierce struggle, Grant still finds the line +of grey blocking his path to Richmond. The army of the Potomac had been +marching and fighting without break for weeks. There had been but little +sleep, and the food in the trains was often far out of the reach of the +men in the fighting line. Men and officers were alike exhausted. While +advantages had been gained at one point or another along the line, and +while it was certain that the opposing army had also suffered severely, +there had been no conclusive successes to inspirit the troops with the +feeling that they were to seize victory out of the campaign. + +In emerging from the Wilderness, the head of the column reached the +cross-roads the left fork of which led back to the Potomac and the right +fork to Richmond or to Petersburg. In the previous campaigns, the army +of the Potomac, after doing its share of plucky fighting and taking more +than its share of discouragement, had at such a point been withdrawn for +rest and recuperation. It was not an unnatural expectation that this +course would be taken in the present campaign. The road to the right +meant further fatigue and further continuous fighting for men who were +already exhausted. In the leading brigade it was only the brigade +commander and the adjutant who had knowledge of the instructions for the +line of march. When, with a wave of the hand of the adjutant, the guidon +flag of the brigade was carried to the right and the head of the column +was set towards Richmond, a shout went up from the men marching behind +the guidon. It was an utterance not of discouragement but of +enthusiasm. Exhausting as the campaign had been, the men in the ranks +preferred to fight it out then and to get through with it. Old soldiers +as they were, they were able to understand the actual issue of the +contest. Their plucky opponents were as exhausted as themselves and +possibly even more exhausted. It was only through the hammering of Lee's +diminishing army out of existence that the War could be brought to a +close. The enthusiastic shout of satisfaction rolled through the long +column reaching twenty miles back, as the news passed from brigade to +brigade that the army was not to be withdrawn but was, as Grant's report +to Lincoln was worded, "to fight it out on this line if it took all +summer." When this report reached Lincoln, he felt that the selection of +Grant as Lieutenant-General had been justified. He said: "We need this +man. He fights." + +In July, 1864, Washington is once more within reach if not of the +invader at least of the raider. The Federal forces had been concentrated +in Grant's lines along the James, and General Jubal Early, one of the +most energetic fighters of the Southern army, tempted by the apparently +unprotected condition of the capital, dashed across the Potomac on a +raid that became famous. It is probable that in this undertaking, as in +some of the other movements that have been referred to on the part of +the Southern leaders, the purpose was as much political as military. +Early's force of from fifteen to sixteen thousand men was, of course, in +no way strong enough to be an army of invasion. The best success for +which he could hope would be, in breaking through the defences of +Washington, to hold the capital for a day or even a few hours. The +capture of Washington in 1864, as in 1863 or in 1862, would in all +probability have brought about the long-hoped-for intervention of France +and England. General Lew Wallace, whose name became known in the years +after the War through some noteworthy romances, _Ben Hur_ and _The Fair +God_, and who was in command of a division of troops stationed west of +Washington, and composed in part of loyal Marylanders and in part of +convalescents who were about to be returned to the front, fell back +before Early's advance to Monocacy Creek. He disposed his thin line +cleverly in the thickets on the east side of the creek in such fashion +as to give the impression of a force of some size with an advance line +of skirmishers. Early's advance was checked for some hours before he +realised that there was nothing of importance in front of him; when +Wallace's division was promptly overwhelmed and scattered. The few hours +that had thus been saved were, however, of first importance for the +safety of Washington. Early reached the outer lines of the +fortifications of the capital some time after sunset. His immediate +problem was to discover whether the troops which were, as he knew, being +hurried up from the army of the James, had reached Washington or whether +the capital was still under the protection only of its so-called +home-guard of veteran reserves. These reserves were made up of men more +or less crippled and unfit for work in the field but who were still able +to do service on fortifications. They comprised in all about six +thousand men and were under the command of Colonel Wisewell. The force +was strengthened somewhat that night by the addition of all of the male +nurses from the hospitals (themselves convalescents) who were able to +bear arms. That night the women nurses, who had already been in +attendance during the hours of the day, had to render double service. +Lincoln had himself in the afternoon stood on the works watching the +dust of the Confederate advance. Once more there came to the President +who had in his hands the responsibility for the direction of the War +the bitterness of the feeling, if not of possible failure, at least of +immediate mortification. He knew that within twenty-four or thirty-six +hours Washington could depend upon receiving the troops that were being +hurried up from Grant's army, but he also realised what enormous +mischief might be brought about by even a momentary occupation of the +national capital by Confederate troops. I had some personal interest in +this side campaign. The 19th army corps, to which my own regiment +belonged, had been brought from Louisiana to Virginia and had been +landed on the James River to strengthen the ranks of General Butler. +There had not been time to assign to us posts in the trenches and we +had, in fact, not even been placed in position. We were more nearly in +marching order than any other troops available and it was therefore the +divisions of the 19th army corps that were selected to be hurried up to +Washington. To these were added two divisions of the 6th corps. + +Colonel Wisewell, commanding the defences of the city, realised the +nature of his problem. He had got to hold the lines of Washington, cost +what it might, until the arrival of the troops from Grant. He took the +bold step of placing on the picket line that night every man within +reach, or at least every loyal man within reach (for plenty of the men +in Washington were looking and hoping for the success of the South). The +instructions usually given to pickets were in this instance reversed. +The men were ordered, in place of keeping their positions hidden and of +maintaining absolute quiet, to move from post to post along the whole +line, and they were also ordered, without any reference to the saving of +ammunition, to shoot off their carbines on the least possible pretext +and without pretext. The armories were then beginning to send to the +front Sharp's repeating carbines. The invention of breech-loading rifles +came too late to be of service to the infantry on either side, but +during the last year of the War, certain brigades of cavalry were armed +with Sharp's breech-loaders. The infantry weapon used through the War by +the armies of the North as by those of the South was the muzzle-loading +rifle which bore the name on our side of the Springfield and on the +Confederate side of the Enfield. The larger portion of the Northern +rifles were manufactured in Springfield, Massachusetts, while the +Southern rifles, in great part imported from England, took their name +from the English factory. It was of convenience for both sides that the +two rifles were practically identical so that captured pieces and +captured ammunition could be interchanged without difficulty. + +Early's skirmish line was instructed early in the night to "feel" the +Federal pickets, an instruction which resulted in a perfect blaze of +carbine fire from Wisewell's men. The report that went to Early was that +the picket line must be about six thousand strong. The conclusion on the +part of the old Confederate commander was that the troops from the army +of the Potomac must have reached the city. If that were true, there was, +of course, no chance that on the following day he could break through +the entrenchments, while there was considerable risk that his retreat to +the Shenandoah might be cut off. Early the next morning, therefore, the +disappointed Early led his men back to Falling Waters. + +I happened during the following winter, when in prison in Danville, to +meet a Confederate lieutenant who had been on Early's staff and who had +lost an arm in this little campaign. He reported that when Early, on +recrossing the Potomac, learned that he had had Washington in his grasp +and that the divisions marching to its relief did not arrive and could +not have arrived for another twenty-four hours, he was about the +maddest Early that the lieutenant had ever seen. "And," added the +lieutenant, "when Early was angry, the atmosphere became blue." + + + + +VIII + +THE FINAL CAMPAIGN + + +After this close escape, it was clear to Grant as it had been clear to +Lincoln that whatever forces were concentrated before Petersburg, the +line of advance for Confederate invaders through the Shenandoah must be +blocked. General Sheridan was placed in charge of the army of the +Shenandoah and the 19th corps, instead of returning to the trenches of +the James, marched on from Washington to Martinsburg and Winchester. + +In September, the commander in Washington had the satisfaction of +hearing that his old assailant Early had been sent "whirling through +Winchester" by the fierce advance of Sheridan. Lincoln recognised the +possibility that Early might refuse to stay defeated and might make use, +as had so often before been done by Confederate commanders in the +Valley, of the short interior line to secure reinforcements from +Richmond and to make a fresh attack. On the 29th of September, twenty +days before this attack came off, Lincoln writes to Grant: "Lee may be +planning to reinforce Early. Care should be taken to trace any movement +of troops westward." On the 19th of October, the persistent old fighter +Early, not willing to acknowledge himself beaten and understanding that +he had to do with an army that for the moment did not have the advantage +of Sheridan's leadership, made his plucky, and for the time successful, +fight at Cedar Creek. The arrival of Sheridan at the critical hour in +the afternoon of the 19th of October did not, as has sometimes been +stated, check the retreat of a demoralised army. Sheridan found his army +driven back, to be sure, from its first position, but in occupation of a +well supported line across the pike from which had just been thrown back +the last attack made by Early's advance. It was Sheridan however who +decided not only that the battle which had been lost could be regained, +but that the work could be done to best advantage right away on that +day, and it was Sheridan who led his troops through the too short hours +of the October afternoon back to their original position from which +before dark they were able to push Early's fatigued fighters across +Cedar Creek southward. Lincoln had found another man who could fight. He +was beginning to be able to put trust in leaders who, instead of having +to be replaced, were with each campaign gathering fresh experience and +more effective capacity. + +From the West also came reports, in this autumn of 1864, from a fighting +general. Sherman had carried the army, after its success at Chattanooga, +through the long line of advance to Atlanta, by outflanking movements +against Joe Johnston, the Fabius of the Confederacy, and when Johnston +had been replaced by the headstrong Hood, had promptly taken advantage +of Hood's rashness to shatter the organisation of the army of Georgia. +The capture of Atlanta in September, 1864, brought to Lincoln in +Washington and to the North the feeling of certainty that the days of +the Confederacy were numbered. + +The second invasion of Tennessee by the army of Hood, rendered possible +by the march of Sherman to the sea, appeared for the moment to threaten +the control that had been secured of the all-important region of which +Nashville was the centre, but Hood's march could only be described as +daring but futile. He had no base and no supplies. His advance did some +desperate fighting at the battle of Franklin and succeeded in driving +back the rear-guard of Thomas's army, ably commanded by General +Schofield, but the Confederate ranks were so seriously shattered that +when they took position in front of Nashville they no longer had +adequate strength to make the siege of the city serious even as a +threat. Thomas had only to wait until his own preparations were +completed and then, on the same day in December on which Sherman was +entering Savannah, Thomas, so to speak, "took possession" of Hood's +army. After the fight at Nashville, there were left of the Confederate +invaders only a few scattered divisions. + +It was just before the news of the victory at Nashville that Lincoln +made time to write the letter to Mrs. Bixby whose name comes into +history as an illustration of the thoughtful sympathy of the great +captain: + + "I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of + the adjutant-general of Massachusetts that you are the mother of + five sons who died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how + weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to + beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming, but I cannot + refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in + the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our + Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and + leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost and the + pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the + altar of freedom." + +In March, 1864, Lincoln writes to Grant: "New York votes to give votes +to the soldiers. Tell the soldiers." The decision of New York in regard +to the collection from the soldiers in each field of the votes for the +coming Presidential election was in line with that arrived at by all of +the States. The plan presented difficulties and, in connection with the +work of special commissioners, it involved also expense. It was, +however, on every ground desirable that the men who were risking their +lives in defence of the nation should be given the opportunity of taking +part in the selection of the nation's leader, who was also under the +Constitution the commander-in-chief of the armies in the field. The +votes of some four hundred thousand men constituted also an important +factor in the election itself. I am not sure that the attempt was ever +made to separate and classify the soldiers' vote but it is probable that +although the Democratic candidate was McClellan, a soldier who had won +the affection of the men serving under him, and the opposing candidate +was a civilian, a substantial majority of the vote of the soldiers was +given to Lincoln. + +Secretary Chase had fallen into the habit of emphasising what he +believed to be his indispensability in the Cabinet by threatening to +resign, or even by submitting a resignation, whenever his suggestions or +conclusions met with opposition. These threats had been received with +patience up to the point when patience seemed to be no longer a virtue; +but finally, when (in May, 1864) such a resignation was tendered under +some aggravation of opposition or of criticism, very much to Chase's +surprise the resignation was accepted. + +The Secretary had had in train for some months active plans for becoming +the Republican candidate for the Presidential campaign of 1864. Evidence +had from time to time during the preceding year been brought to Lincoln +of Chase's antagonism and of his hopes of securing the leadership of the +party. Chase's opposition to certain of Lincoln's policies was doubtless +honest enough. He had brought himself to believe that Lincoln did not +possess the force and the qualities required to bring the War to a +close. He had also convinced himself that he, Chase, was the man, and +possibly was the only man, who was fitted to meet the special +requirements of the task. Mr. Chase did possess the confidence of the +more extreme of the anti-slavery groups throughout the country. His +administration of the Treasury had been able and valuable, but the +increasing difficulty that had been found in keeping the Secretary of +the Treasury in harmonious relations with the other members of the +administration caused his retirement to be on the whole a relief. +Lincoln came to the conclusion that more effective service could be +secured from some other man, even if possessing less ability, whose +temperament made it possible for him to work in co-operation. The +unexpected acceptance of the resignation caused to Chase and to Chase's +friends no little bitterness, which found vent in sharp criticisms of +the President. Neither bitterness nor criticisms could, however, prevent +Lincoln from retaining a cordial appreciation for the abilities and the +patriotism of the man, and, later in the year, Lincoln sent in his +nomination as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Chase himself, in his +lack of capacity to appreciate the self-forgetfulness of Lincoln's +nature, was probably more surprised by his nomination as Chief Justice +than he had been by the acceptance of his resignation as Secretary of +the Treasury. + +In July, 1864, comes a fresh risk of international complications +through the invasion of Mexico by a French army commanded by Bazaine, +seven years later to be known as the (more or less) hero of Metz. Lotus +Napoleon had been unwilling to give up his dream of a French empire, or +of an empire instituted under French influence, in the Western +Hemisphere. He was still hopeful, if not confident, that the United +States would not be able to maintain its existence; and he felt assured +that if the Southern Confederacy should finally be established with the +friendly co-operation of France, he would be left unmolested to carry +out his own schemes in Mexico. He had induced an honest-minded but not +very clearheaded Prince, Maximilian, the brother of the Emperor of +Austria, to accept a throne in Mexico to be established by French +bayonets, and which, as the result showed, could sustain itself only +while those bayonets were available. The presence of French troops on +American soil brought fresh anxieties to the administration; but it was +recognised that nothing could be done for the moment, and Lincoln and +his advisers were hopeful that the Mexicans, before their capital had +been taken possession of by the invader, would be able to maintain some +national government until, with the successful close of its own War, +the United States could come to the defence of the sister republic. + +The extreme anti-slavery group of the Republican party had, as +indicated, never been fully satisfied with the thoroughness of the +anti-slavery policy of the administration and Mr. Chase retained until +the action of the convention in June the hope that he might through the +influence of this group secure the Presidency. Lincoln remarks in +connection with this candidacy: "If Chase becomes President, all right. +I hope we may never have a worse man." From the more conservative wing +of the Republican party came suggestions as to the nomination of Grant +and this plan brought from Lincoln the remark: "If Grant takes Richmond, +by all means let him have the nomination." When the delegates came +together, however, in Baltimore, it was evident that, representing as +they did the sober and well-thought-out convictions of the people, no +candidacy but that of Lincoln could secure consideration and his +nomination was practically unanimous. + +The election in November gave evidence that, even in the midst of civil +war, a people's government can sustain the responsibility of a national +election. The large popular majorities in nearly all of the voting +States constituted not only a cordial recognition of the service that +was being rendered by Lincoln and by Lincoln's administration, but a +substantial assurance that the cause of nationality was to be sustained +with all the resources of the nation. The Presidential election of this +year gave the final blow to the hopes of the Confederacy. + +I had myself a part in a very small division of this election, a +division which could have no effect in the final gathering of the votes, +but which was in a way typical of the spirit of the army. On the 6th of +November, 1864, I was in Libby Prison, having been captured at the +battle of Cedar Creek in October. It was decided to hold a Presidential +election in the prison, although some of us were rather doubtful as to +the policy and anxious in regard to the result. The exchange of +prisoners had been blocked for nearly a year on the ground of the +refusal on the part of the South to exchange the coloured troops or +white officers who held commissions in coloured regiments. Lincoln took +the ground, very properly, that all of the nation's soldiers must be +treated alike and must be protected by a uniform policy. Until the +coloured troops should be included in the exchange, "there can," said +Lincoln, "be no exchanging of prisoners." This decision, while sound, +just, and necessary, brought, naturally, a good deal of dissatisfaction +to the men in prison and to their friends at home. When I reached Libby +in October, I found there men who had been prisoners for six or seven +months and who (as far as they lived to get out) were to be prisoners +for five months more. Through the winter of 1864-65, the illness and +mortality in the Virginia prisons of Libby and Danville were very +severe. It was in fact a stupid barbarity on the part of the Confederate +authorities to keep any prisoners in Richmond during that last winter of +the War. It was not easy to secure by the two lines of road (one of +which was continually being cut by our troops) sufficient supplies for +Lee's army. It was difficult to bring from the granaries farther south, +in addition to the supplies required for the army, food for the +inhabitants of the town. It was inevitable under the circumstances that +the prisoners should be neglected and that in addition to the deaths +from cold (the blankets, the overcoats, and the shoes had been taken +from the prisoners because they were needed by the rebel troops) there +should be further deaths from starvation. + +It was not unnatural that under such conditions the prisoners should +have ground not only for bitter indignation with the prison authorities, +but for discontent with their own administration. One may in fact be +surprised that starving and dying men should have retained any assured +spirit of loyalty. When the vote for President came to be counted, we +found that we had elected Lincoln by more than three to one. The +soldiers felt that Lincoln was the man behind the guns. The prison +votes, naturally enough, reached no ballot boxes and my individual +ballot in any case would not have been legal as I was at the time but +twenty years of age. I can but feel, however, that this vote of the +prisoners was typical and important, and I have no doubt it was so +recognised when later the report of the voting reached Washington. + +In December, 1864, occurred one of the too-frequent cabals on the part +of certain members of the Cabinet. Pressure was brought to bear upon +Lincoln to get rid of Seward. Lincoln's reply made clear that he +proposed to remain President. He says to the member reporting for +himself and his associates the protest against Seward: "I propose to be +the sole judge as to the dismissal or appointment of the members of my +Cabinet." Lincoln could more than once have secured peace within the +Cabinet and a smoother working of the administrative machinery if he had +been willing to replace the typical and idiosyncratic men whom he had +associated with himself in the government by more commonplace citizens, +who would have been competent to carry on the routine responsibilities +of their posts. The difficulty of securing any consensus of opinion or +any working action between men differing from each other as widely as +did Chase, Stanton, Blair, and Seward, in temperament, in judgment, and +in honest convictions as to the proper policy for the nation, was an +attempt that brought upon the chief daily burdens and many keen +anxieties. Lincoln insisted, however, that it was all-important for the +proper carrying on of the contest that the Cabinet should contain +representatives of the several loyal sections of the country and of the +various phases of opinion. The extreme anti-slavery men were entitled to +be heard even though their spokesman Chase was often intemperate, +ill-judged, bitter, and unfair. The Border States men had a right to be +represented and it was all-essential that they should feel that they had +a part in the War government even though their spokesman Blair might +show himself, as he often did show himself, quite incapable of +understanding, much less of sympathising with, the real spirit of the +North. Stanton might be truculent and even brutal, but he was willing to +work, he knew how to organise, he was devotedly loyal. Seward, scholar +and statesman as he was, had been ready to give needless provocation to +Europe and was often equally ill-judged in his treatment of the +conservative Border States on the one hand and of the New England +abolitionists on the other, but Seward was a patriot as well as a +scholar and was a representative not only of New York but of the best of +the Whig Republican sentiment of the entire North, and Seward could not +be spared. It is difficult to recall in history a government made up of +such discordant elements which through the patience, tact, and genius of +one man was made to do effective work. + +In February, 1865, in response to suggestions from the South which +indicated the possibility of peace, Lincoln accepted a meeting with +Alexander H. Stephens and two other commissioners to talk over measures +for bringing the War to a close. The meeting was held on a gun-boat on +the James River. It seems probable from the later history that Stephens +had convinced himself that the Confederacy could not conquer its +independence and that it only remained to secure the best terms +possible for a surrender. On the other hand, Jefferson Davis was not yet +prepared to consider any terms short of a recognition of the +independence of the Confederacy, and Stephens could act only under the +instructions received from Richmond. It was Lincoln's contention that +the government of the United States could not treat with rebels (or, +dropping the word "rebels," with its own citizens) in arms. "The first +step in negotiations, must," said Lincoln, "be the laying down of arms. +There is no precedent in history for a government entering into +negotiations with its own armed citizens." + +"But there is a precedent, Mr. Lincoln," said Stephens, "King Charles of +England treated with the Cromwellians." + +"Yes," said Lincoln, "I believe that is so. I usually leave historical +details to Mr. Seward, who is a student. It is, however, my memory that +King Charles lost his head." + +It soon became evident that there was no real basis for negotiations, +and Stephens and his associates had to return to Richmond disappointed. +In the same month, was adopted by both Houses of Congress the Thirteenth +Amendment, which prohibited slavery throughout the whole dominion of the +United States. By the close of 1865, this amendment had been confirmed +by thirty-three States. It is probable that among these thirty-three +there were several States the names of which were hardly familiar to +some of the older citizens of the South, the men who had accepted the +responsibility for the rebellion. The state of mind of these older +Southerners in regard more particularly to the resources of the +North-west was recalled to me years after the War by an incident related +by General Sherman at a dinner of the New England Society. Sherman said +that during the march through Georgia he had found himself one day at +noon, when near the head of his column, passing below the piazza of a +comfortable-looking old plantation house. He stopped to rest on the +piazza with one or two of his staff and was received by the old planter +with all the courtliness that a Southern gentleman could show, even to +an invader, when doing the honours of his own house. The General and the +planter sat on the piazza, looking at the troops below and discussing, +as it was inevitable under the circumstances that they must discuss, the +causes of the War. + +"General," said the planter, "what troops are those passing below?" The +General leans over the piazza, and calls to the standard bearers, +"Throw out your flag, boys," and as the flag was thrown out, he reports +to his host, "The 30th Wisconsin." + +"Wisconsin?" said the planter, "Wisconsin? Where is Wisconsin?" + +"It is one of the States of the North-west," said Sherman. + +"When I was studying geography," said the planter, "I knew of Wisconsin +simply as the name of a tribe of Indians. How many men are there in a +regiment?" + +"Well, there were a thousand when they started," said Sherman. + +"Do you mean to say," said the planter, "that there is a State called +Wisconsin that has sent thirty thousand men into your armies?" + +"Oh, probably forty thousand," answered Sherman. + +With the next battalion the questions and the answers are repeated. The +flag was that of a Minnesota regiment, say the 32d. The old planter had +never heard that there was such a State. + +"My God!" he said when he had figured out the thousands of men who had +come to the front, from these so-called Indian territories, to maintain +the existence of the nation, "If we in the South had known that you had +turned those Indian territories into great States, we never should have +gone into this war." The incident throws a light upon the state of mind +of men in the South, even of well educated men in the South, at the +outbreak of the War. They might, of course, have known by statistics +that great States had grown up in the North-west, representing a +population of millions and able themselves to put into the field armies +to be counted by the thousand. They might have realised that these great +States of the North-west were vitally concerned with the necessity of +keeping the Mississippi open for their trade from its source to the Gulf +of Mexico. They might have known that those States, largely settled from +New England, were absolutely opposed to slavery. This knowledge was +within their reach but they had not realised the facts of the case. It +was their feeling that in the coming contest they would have to do only +with New England and the Middle States and they felt that they were +strong enough to hold their own against this group of opponents. That +feeling would have been justified. The South could never have been +overcome and the existence of the nation could never have been +maintained if it had not been for the loyal co-operation and the +magnificent resources of men and of national wealth that were +contributed to the cause by the States of the North-west. In 1880, I had +occasion, in talking to the two thousand students of the University of +Minnesota, to recall the utterance of the old planter. The students of +that magnificent University, placed in a beautiful city of two hundred +and fifty thousand inhabitants, found it difficult on their part to +realise, amidst their laughter at the ignorance of the old planter, just +what the relations of the South had been before the War to the new free +communities of the North-west. + +In February, 1865, with the fall of Fort Fisher and the capture of +Wilmington, the control of the coast of the Confederacy became complete. +The Southerners and their friends in Great Britain and the Bahamas (a +group of friends whose sympathies for the cause were very much enhanced +by the opportunity of making large profits out of their friendly +relations) had shown during the years of the War exceptional ingenuity, +daring, and persistence in carrying on the blockade-running. The ports +of the British West Indies were very handy, and, particularly during the +stormy months of the winter, it was hardly practicable to maintain an +absolutely assured barrier of blockades along a line of coast +aggregating about two thousand miles. The profits on a single voyage on +the cotton taken out and on the stores brought back were sufficient to +make good the loss of both vessel and cargo in three disastrous trips. +The blockade-runners, Southerners and Englishmen, took their lives in +their hands and they fairly earned all the returns that came to them. I +happened to have early experience of the result of the fall of Fort +Fisher and of the final closing of the last inlet for British goods. I +was at the time in prison in Danville, Virginia. I was one of the few +men in the prison (the group comprised about a dozen) who had been +fortunate enough to retain a tooth-brush. We wore our tooth-brushes +fastened into the front button-holes of our blouses, partly possibly +from ostentation, but chiefly for the purpose of keeping them from being +stolen. I was struck by receiving an offer one morning from the +lieutenant of the prison guard of $300 for my tooth-brush. The "dollars" +meant of course Confederate dollars and I doubtless hardly realised from +the scanty information that leaked into the prison how low down in +February, 1865, Confederate currency had depreciated. But still it was a +large sum and the tooth-brush had been in use for a number of months. +It then leaked out from a word dropped by the lieutenant that no more +English tooth-brushes could get into the Confederacy and those of us who +had been studying possibilities on the coast realised that Fort Fisher +must have fallen. + +In this same month of February, into which were crowded some of the most +noteworthy of the closing events of the War, Charleston was evacuated as +Sherman's army on its sweep northward passed back of the city. I am not +sure whether the fiercer of the old Charlestonians were not more annoyed +at the lack of attention paid by Sherman to the fire-eating little city +in which four years back had been fired the gun that opened the War, +than they would have been by an immediate and strenuous occupation. +Sherman had more important matters on hand than the business of looking +after the original fire-eaters. He was hurrying northward, close on the +heels of Johnston, to prevent if possible the combination of Johnston's +troops with Lee's army which was supposed to be retreating from +Virginia. + +On the 4th of March comes the second inaugural, in which Lincoln speaks +almost in the language of a Hebrew prophet. The feeling is strong upon +him that the clouds of war are about to roll away but he cannot free +himself from the oppression that the burdens of the War have produced. +The emphasis is placed on the all-important task of bringing the +enmities to a close with the end of the actual fighting. He points out +that responsibilities rest upon the North as well as upon the South and +he invokes from those who under his leadership are bringing the contest +to a triumphant close, their sympathy and their help for their +fellow-men who have been overcome. The address is possibly the most +impressive utterance ever made by a national leader and it is most +characteristic of the fineness and largeness of nature of the man. I +cite the closing paragraph: + + "If we shall suppose that slavery is one of those offences which in + the providence of God needs must come, and which having continued + through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He + gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe to those + by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure + from those Divine attributes, which the believers in the Living God + always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that + this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills + that it should continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsmen + in two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and + until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid for by + another drop of blood drawn by the War, as was said two thousand + years ago so still it must be said, that the judgments of the Lord + are true, and righteous altogether.... With malice towards none, + with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to + see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind + up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the + battle and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all which may + achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and + with all nations." + +After the election of 1864, Lincoln's word had been "a common cause, a +common interest, and a common country." The invocation in this last +inaugural is based upon the understanding that there is again a common +country and that in caring for those who have been in the battle and in +the binding up of the wounds, there is to be no distinction between the +men of the grey and those of the blue. + +At the close of February, Lee, who realises that his weakened lines +cannot much longer be maintained, proposes to Grant terms of adjustment. +Grant replies that his duties are purely military and that he has no +authority to discuss any political relations. On the first of April, the +right wing of Lee's army is overwhelmed and driven back by Sheridan at +Five Forks, and on the day following Richmond is evacuated by the +rear-guard of Lee's army. The defence of Richmond during the long years +of the War (a defence which was carried on chiefly from the +entrenchments of Petersburg), by the skill of the engineers and by the +patient courage of the troops, had been magnificent. It must always take +a high rank in the history of war operations. The skilful use made of +positions of natural strength, the high skill shown in the construction +of works to meet first one emergency and then another, the economic +distribution of constantly diminishing resources, the clever disposition +of forces, (which during the last year were being steadily reduced from +month to month), in such fashion that at the point of probable contact +there seemed to be always men enough to make good the defence, these +things were evidence of the military skill, the ingenuity, the +resourcefulness, and the enduring courage of the leaders. The skill and +character of Lee and his associates would however of course have been in +vain and the lines would have been broken not in 1865, but in 1863 or in +1862, if it had not been for the magnificent patience and heroism of the +rank and file that fought in the grey uniform under the Stars and Bars +and whose fighting during the last of those months was done in tattered +uniforms and with a ration less by from one quarter to one half than +that which had been accepted as normal. + +On the second of April, the Stars and Stripes are borne into Richmond by +the advance brigade of the right wing of Grant's army under the command +of General Weitzel. There was a certain poetic justice in the decision +that the responsibility for making first occupation of the city should +be entrusted to the coloured troops. The city had been left by the +rear-guard of the Confederate army in a state of serious confusion. The +Confederate general in charge (Lee had gone out in the advance hoping to +be able to break his way through to North Carolina) had felt justified, +for the purpose of destroying such army stores (chiefly ammunition) as +remained, in setting fire to the storehouses, and in so doing he had +left whole quarters of the city exposed to flame. White stragglers and +negroes who had been slaves had, as would always be the case where all +authority is removed, yielded to the temptation to plunder, and the city +was full of drunken and irresponsible men. The coloured troops restored +order and appear to have behaved with perfect discipline and +consideration. The marauders were arrested, imprisoned, and, when +necessary, shot. The fires were put out as promptly as practicable, but +not until a large amount of very unnecessary damage and loss had been +brought upon the stricken city. The women who had locked themselves into +their houses, more in dread of the Yankee invader than of their own +street marauders, were agreeably surprised to find that their immediate +safety and the peace of the town depended upon the invaders and that the +first battalions of these were the despised and much hated blacks. + +Upon the 4th of April, against the counsel and in spite of the +apprehensions of nearly all his advisers, Lincoln insisted upon coming +down the river from Washington and making his way into the Rebel +capital. There was no thought of vaingloriousness or of posing as the +victor. He came under the impression that some civil authorities would +probably have remained in Richmond with whom immediate measures might be +taken to stop unnecessary fighting and to secure for the city and for +the State a return of peaceful government. Thomas Nast, who while not a +great artist was inspired to produce during the War some of the most +graphic and storytelling records in the shape of pictures of events, +made a drawing which was purchased later by the New York Union League +Club, showing Lincoln on his way through Main Street, with the coloured +folks of the town and of the surrounding country crowding about the man +whom they hailed as their deliverer, and in their enthusiastic adoration +trying to touch so much as the hem of his garment. The picture is +history in showing what actually happened and it is pathetic history in +recalling how great were the hopes that came to the coloured people from +the success of the North and from the certainty of the end of slavery. +It is sad to recall the many disappointments that during the forty years +since the occupation of Richmond have hampered the uplifting of the +race. Lincoln's hope that some representative of the Confederacy might +have remained in Richmond, if only for the purpose of helping to bring +to a close as rapidly as possible the waste and burdens of continued +war, was not realised. The members of the Confederate government seem to +have been interested only in getting away from Richmond and to have +given no thought to the duty they owed to their own people to cooperate +with the victors in securing a prompt return of law and order. + +On the 9th of April, came the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, four +years, less three days, from the date of the firing of the first gun of +the War at Charleston. The muskets turned in by the ragged and starving +files of the remnants of Lee's army represented only a small portion of +those which a few days earlier had been holding the entrenchments at +Petersburg. As soon as it became evident that the army was not going to +be able to break through the Federal lines and begin a fresh campaign in +North Carolina, the men scattered from the retreating columns right and +left, in many cases carrying their muskets to their own homes as a +memorial fairly earned by plucky and persistent service. There never was +an army that did better fighting or that was better deserving of the +recognition, not only of the States in behalf of whose so-called +"independence" the War had been waged, but on the part of opponents who +were able to realise the character and the effectiveness of the +fighting. + +The scene in the little farm-house where the two commanders met to +arrange the terms of surrender was dramatic in more ways than one. +General Lee had promptly given up his own baggage waggon for use in +carrying food for the advance brigade and as he could save but one suit +of clothes, he had naturally taken his best. He was, therefore, +notwithstanding the fatigues and the privations of the past week, in +full dress uniform. He was one of the handsomest men of his generation, +and his beauty was not only of feature but of expression of character. +Grant, who never gave much thought to his personal appearance, had for +days been away from his baggage train, and under the urgency of keeping +as near as possible to the front line with reference to the probability +of being called to arrange terms for surrender, he had not found the +opportunity of securing a proper coat in place of his fatigue blouse. I +believe that even his sword had been mislaid, but he was able to borrow +one for the occasion from a staff officer. When the main details of the +surrender had been talked over, Grant looked about the group in the +room, which included, in addition to two staff officers who had come +with Lee, a group of five or six of his own assistants, who had managed +to keep up with the advance, to select the aid who should write out the +paper. His eye fell upon Colonel Ely Parker, a brigade commander who had +during the past few months served on Grant's staff. "Colonel Parker, I +will ask you," said Grant, "as the only real American in the room, to +draft this paper." Parker was a full-blooded Indian, belonging to one of +the Iroquois tribes of New York. + +Grant's suggestion that the United States had no requirement for the +horses of Lee's army and that the men might find these convenient for +"spring ploughing" was received by Lee with full appreciation. The first +matter in order after the completion of the surrender was the issue of +rations to the starving Southern troops. "General Grant," said Lee, "a +train was ordered by way of Danville to bring rations to meet my army +and it ought to be now at such a point," naming a village eight or nine +miles to the south-west. General Sheridan, with a twinkle in his eye, +now put in a word: "The train from the south is there, General Lee, or +at least it was there yesterday. My men captured it and the rations will +be available." General Lee turns, mounts his old horse Traveller, a +valued comrade, and rides slowly through the ranks first of the blue and +then of the grey. Every hat came off from the men in blue as an +expression of respect to a great soldier and a true gentleman, while +from the ranks in grey there was one great sob of passionate grief and +finally, almost for the first time in Lee's army, a breaking of +discipline as the men crowded forward to get a closer look at, or +possibly a grasp of the hand of, the great leader who had fought and +failed but whose fighting and whose failure had been so magnificent. + + + + +IX + +LINCOLN'S TASK ENDED + + +On the 11th of April, Lincoln makes his last public utterance. In a +brief address to some gathering in Washington, he says, "There will +shortly be announcement of a new policy." It is hardly to be doubted +that the announcement which he had in mind was to be concerned with the +problem of reconstruction. He had already outlined in his mind the +essential principles on which the readjustment must be made. In this +same address, he points out that "whether or not the seceded States be +out of the Union, they are out of their proper relations to the Union." +We may feel sure that he would not have permitted the essential matters +of readjustment to be delayed while political lawyers were arguing over +the constitutional issue. On one side was the group which maintained +that in instituting the Rebellion and in doing what was in their power +to destroy the national existence, the people of the seceding States had +forfeited all claims to the political liberty of their communities. +According to this contention, the Slave States were to be treated as +conquered territory, and it simply remained for the government of the +United States to reshape this territory as might be found convenient or +expedient. According to the other view, as secession was itself +something which was not to be admitted, being, from the constitutional +point of view, impossible, there never had in the legal sense of the +term been any secession. The instant the armed rebellion had been +brought to an end, the rebelling States were to be considered as having +resumed their old-time relations with the States of the North and with +the central government. They were under the same obligations as before +for taxation, for subordination in foreign relations, and for the +acceptance of the control of the Federal government on all matters +classed as Federal. On the other hand, they were entitled to the +privileges that had from the beginning been exercised by independent +States: namely, the control of their local affairs on matters not +classed as Federal, and they had a right to their proportionate +representation in Congress and to their proportion of the electoral vote +for President. It has been very generally recognised in the South as in +the North that if Lincoln could have lived, some of the most serious of +the difficulties that arose during the reconstruction period through the +friction between these conflicting theories would have been avoided. The +Southerners would have realised that the head of the government had a +cordial and sympathetic interest in doing what might be practicable not +only to re-establish their relations as citizens of the United States, +but to further in every way the return of their communities to +prosperity, a prosperity which, after the loss of the property in their +slaves and the enormous destruction of their general resources, seemed +to be sadly distant. + +On the 14th of April, comes the dramatic tragedy ending on the day +following in the death of Lincoln. The word dramatic applies in this +instance with peculiar fitness. While the nation mourned for the loss of +its leader, while the soldiers were stricken with grief that their great +captain should have been struck down, while the South might well be +troubled that the control and adjustment of the great interstate +perplexities was not to be in the hands of the wise, sympathetic, and +patient ruler, for the worker himself the rest after the four years of +continuous toil and fearful burdens and anxieties might well have been +grateful. The great task had been accomplished and the responsibilities +accepted in the first inaugural had been fulfilled. + +In March, 1861, Lincoln had accepted the task of steering the nation +through the storm of rebellion, the divided opinions and counsels of +friends, and the fierce onslaught of foes at home and abroad. In April, +1865, the national existence was assured, the nation's credit was +established, the troops were prepared to return to their homes and +resume their work as citizens. At no time in history had any people been +able against such apparently overwhelming perils and difficulties to +maintain a national existence. There was, therefore, notwithstanding the +great misfortune, for the people South and North, in the loss of the +wise ruler at a time when so many difficulties remained to be adjusted, +a dramatic fitness in having the life of the leader close just as the +last army of antagonists was laying down its arms. The first problem of +the War that came to the administration of 1861 was that of restoring +the flag over Fort Sumter. On the 14th of April, the day when Booth's +pistol was laying low the President, General Anderson, who four years +earlier had so sturdily defended Sumter, was fulfilling the duty of +restoring the Stars and Stripes. + +The news of the death of Lincoln came to the army of Sherman, with +which my own regiment happened at the time to be associated, on the 17th +of April. On leaving Savannah, Sherman had sent word to the north to +have all the troops who were holding posts along the coasts of North +Carolina concentrated on a line north of Goldsborough. It was his dread +that General Johnston might be able to effect a junction with the +retreating forces of Lee and it was important to do whatever was +practicable, either with forces or with a show of forces, to delay +Johnston and to make such combination impossible. A thin line of Federal +troops was brought into position to the north of Johnston's advance, but +Sherman himself kept so closely on the heels of his plucky and +persistent antagonist that, irrespective of any opposing line to the +north, Johnston would have found it impossible to continue his progress +towards Virginia. He was checked at Goldsborough after the battle of +Bentonville and it was at Goldsborough that the last important force of +the Confederacy was surrendered. + +We soldiers learned only later some of the complications that preceded +that surrender. President Davis and his associates in the Confederate +government had, with one exception, made their way south, passing to +the west of Sherman's advance. The exception was Post-master-General +Reagan, who had decided to remain with General Johnston. He appears to +have made good with Johnston the claim that he, Reagan, represented all +that was left of the Confederate government. He persuaded Johnston to +permit him to undertake the negotiations with Sherman, and he had, it +seems, the ambition of completing with his own authority the +arrangements that were to terminate the War. Sherman, simple-hearted man +that he was, permitted himself, for the time, to be confused by Reagan's +semblance of authority. He executed with Reagan a convention which +covered not merely the surrender of Johnston's army but the +preliminaries of a final peace. This convention was of course made +subject to the approval of the authorities in Washington. When it came +into the hands of President Johnson, it was, under the counsel of Seward +and Stanton, promptly disavowed. Johnson instructed Grant, who had +reported to Washington from Appomattox, to make his way at once to +Goldsborough and, relieving Sherman, to arrange for the surrender of +Johnston's army on the terms of Appomattox. Grant's response was +characteristic. He said in substance: "I am here, Mr. President, to +obey orders and under the decision of the Commander-in-chief I will go +to Goldsborough and will carry out your instructions. I prefer, however, +to act as a messenger simply. I am entirely unwilling to take out of +General Sherman's hands the command of the army that is so properly +Sherman's army and that he has led with such distinctive success. +General Sherman has rendered too great a service to the country to make +it proper to have him now humiliated on the ground of a political +blunder, and I at least am unwilling to be in any way a party to his +humiliation." + +Stanton was disposed to approve of Johnson's first instruction and to +have Sherman at once relieved, but the man who had just come from +Appomattox was too strong with the people to make it easy to disregard +his judgment on a matter which was in part at least military. The +President was still new to his office and he was still prepared to +accept counsel. The matter was, therefore, arranged as Grant desired. +Grant took the instructions and had his personal word with Sherman, but +this word was so quietly given that none of the men in Sherman's army, +possibly no one but Sherman himself, knew of Grant's visit. Grant took +pains so to arrange the last stage of his journey that he came into the +camp at Goldsborough well after dark, and, after an hour's interview +with Sherman, he made his way at once northward outside of our lines and +of our knowledge. + +On Grant's arrival, Sherman at once assumed that he was to be +superseded. "No, no," said Grant; "do you not see that I have come +without even a sword? There is here no question of superseding the +commander of this army, but simply of correcting an error and of putting +things as they were. This convention must be cancelled. You will have no +further negotiation with Mr. Reagan or with any civilian claiming to +represent the Confederacy. Your transactions will be made with the +commander of the Confederate army, and you will accept the surrender of +that army on the terms that were formulated at Appomattox." Sherman was +keen enough to understand what must have passed in Washington, and was +able to appreciate the loyal consideration shown by General Grant in the +successful effort to protect the honour and the prestige of his old +comrade. The surrender was carried out on the 26th of April, eleven days +after the death of Lincoln. Johnston's troops, like those of Lee, were +distributed to their homes. The officers retained their side-arms, and +the men, leaving their rifles, took with them not only such horses and +mules as they still had with them connected with the cavalry or +artillery, but also a number of horses and mules which had been captured +by Sherman's army and which had not yet been placed on the United States +army roster. Sherman understood, as did Grant, the importance of giving +to these poor farmers whatever facilities might be available to enable +them again to begin their home work. Word was at once sent to General +Johnston after Grant's departure that the, only terms that could be +considered was a surrender of the army, and that the details of such +surrender Sherman would himself arrange with Johnston. Reagan slipped +away southward and is not further heard of in history. + +The record of Lincoln's relations to the events of the War would not be +complete without a reference to the capture of Jefferson Davis. On +returning to Washington after his visit to Richmond, Lincoln had been +asked what should be done with Davis when he was captured. The answer +was characteristic: "I do not see," said Lincoln, "that we have any use +for a white elephant." Lincoln's clear judgment had at once recognised +the difficulties that would arise in case Davis should become a +prisoner. The question as to the treatment of the ruler of the late +Confederacy was very different from, and much more complicated than, the +fixing of terms of surrender for the Confederate armies. If Davis had +succeeded in getting out of the country, it is probable that the South, +or at least a large portion of the South, would have used him as a kind +of a scapegoat. Many of the Confederate soldiers were indignant with +Davis for his bitter animosities to some of their best leaders. Davis +was a capable man and had in him the elements of statesmanship. He was, +however, vain and, like some other vain men, placed the most importance +upon the capacities in which he was the least effective. He had had a +brief and creditable military experience, serving as a lieutenant with +Scott's army in Mexico, and he had impressed himself with the belief +that he was a great commander. Partly on this ground, and partly +apparently as a result of general "incompatibility of temper," Davis +managed to quarrel at different times during the War with some of the +generals who had shown themselves the most capable and the most +serviceable. He would probably have quarrelled with Lee, if it had been +possible for any one to make quarrel relations with that fine-natured +gentleman, and if Lee had not been too strongly entrenched in the hearts +of his countrymen to make any interference with him unwise, even for the +President. Davis had, however, managed to interfere very seriously with +the operations of men like Beauregard, Sidney Johnson, Joseph Johnston, +and other commanders whose continued leadership was most important for +the Confederacy. It was the obstinacy of Davis that had protracted the +War through the winter and spring of 1865, long after it was evident +from the reports of Lee and of the other commanders that the resources +of the Confederacy were exhausted and that any further struggle simply +meant an inexcusable loss of life on both sides. As a Northern soldier +who has had experience in Southern prisons, I may be excused also from +bearing in mind the fearful responsibility that rests upon Davis for the +mismanagement of those prisons, a mismanagement which caused the death +of thousands of brave men on the frozen slopes of Belle Isle, on the +foul floors of Libby and Danville, and on the rotten ground used for +three years as a living place and as a dying place within the stockade +at Andersonville. Davis received from month to month the reports of the +conditions in these and in the other prisons of the Confederacy. Davis +could not have been unaware of the stupidity and the brutality of +keeping prisoners in Richmond during the last winter of the War when the +lines of road still open were absolutely inadequate to supply the troops +in the trenches or the people of the town. Reports were brought to Davis +more than once from Andersonville showing that a large portion of the +deaths that were there occurring were due to the vile and rotten +condition of the hollow in which for years prisoners had been huddled +together; but the appeal made to Richmond for permission to move the +stockade to a clean and dry slope was put to one side as a matter of no +importance. The entire authority in the matter was in the hands of Davis +and a word from him would have remedied some of the worst conditions. He +must share with General Winder, the immediate superintendent of the +prisons, the responsibility for the heedless and brutal +mismanagement,--a mismanagement which brought death to thousands and +which left thousands of others cripples for life. + +As a result of the informal word given by Lincoln, it was generally +understood, by all the officers, at least, in charge of posts and picket +lines along the eastern slope, that Davis was not to be captured. +Unfortunately it had not proved possible to get this informal +expression of a very important piece of policy conveyed throughout the +lines farther west. An enterprising and over-zealous captain of cavalry, +riding across from the Mississippi to the coast, heard of Davis's party +in Florida and, "butting in," captured, on May 10th, "the white +elephant." + +The last commands of the Confederate army were surrendered with General +Taylor in Louisiana on the 4th of May and with Kirby Smith in Texas on +the 26th of May. As Lincoln had foreshadowed, not a few complications +resulted from this unfortunate capture of Davis, complications that were +needlessly added to by the lack of clear-headedness or of definite +policy on the part of a confused and vacillating President. During the +months in which Davis was a prisoner at Fortress Monroe, and while the +question of his trial for treason was being fiercely debated in +Washington, the sentiment of the Confederacy naturally concentrated upon +its late President. He was, as the single prisoner, the surviving emblem +of the contest. His vanities, irritability, and blunders were forgotten. +It was natural that, under the circumstances, his people, the people of +the South, should hold in memory only the fact that he had been their +leader and that he had through four strenuous years borne the burdens +of leadership with unflagging zeal, with persistent courage, and with an +almost foolhardy hopefulness. He had given to the Confederacy the best +of his life, and he was entitled to the adoration that the survivors of +the Confederacy gave to him as representing the ideal of the lost cause. + +The feeling with which Lincoln was regarded by the men in the front, for +whom through the early years of their campaigning he had been not only +the leader but the inspiration, was indicated by the manner in which the +news of his death was received. I happened myself on the day of those +sad tidings to be with my division in a little village just outside of +Goldsborough, North Carolina. We had no telegraphic communication with +the North, but were accustomed to receive despatches about noon each +day, carried across the swamps from a station through which connection +was made with Wilmington and the North. In the course of the morning, I +had gone to the shanty of an old darky whom I had come to know during +the days of our sojourn, for the purpose of getting a shave. The old +fellow took up his razor, put it down again and then again lifted it up, +but his arm was shaking and I saw that he was so agitated that he was +not fitted for the task. "Massa," he said, "I can't shave yer this +mornin'." "What is the matter?" I inquired. "Well," he replied, +"somethin's happened to Massa Linkum." "Why!" said I, "nothing has +happened to Lincoln. I know what there is to be known. What are you +talking about?" "Well!" the old man replied with a half sob, "we +coloured folks--we get news or we get half news sooner than you-uns. I +dun know jes' what it is, but somethin' has gone wrong with Massa +Linkum." I could get nothing more out of the old man, but I was +sufficiently anxious to make my way to Division headquarters to see if +there was any news in advance of the arrival of the regular courier. The +coloured folks were standing in little groups along the village street, +murmuring to each other or waiting with anxious faces for the bad news +that they were sure was coming. I found the brigade adjutant and those +with him were puzzled like myself at the troubled minds of the darkies, +but still sceptical as to the possibility of any information having +reached them which was not known through the regular channels. + +At noon, the courier made his appearance riding by the wood lane across +the fields; and the instant he was seen we all realised that there was +bad news. The man was hurrying his pony and yet seemed to be very +unwilling to reach the lines where his report must be made. In this +instance (as was, of course, not usually the case) the courier knew what +was in his despatches. The Division Adjutant stepped out on the porch of +the headquarters with the paper in his hand, but he broke down before he +could begin to read. The Division Commander took the word and was able +simply to announce: "Lincoln is dead." The word "President" was not +necessary and he sought in fact for the shortest word. I never before +had found myself in a mass of men overcome by emotion. Ten thousand +soldiers were sobbing together. No survivor of the group can recall the +sadness of that morning without again being touched by the wave of +emotion which broke down the reserve and control of these war-worn +veterans on learning that their great captain was dead. + +The whole people had come to have with the President a relation similar +to that which had grown up between the soldiers and their +Commander-in-chief. With the sympathy and love of the people to sustain +him, Lincoln had over them an almost unlimited influence. His capacity +for toil, his sublime patience, his wonderful endurance, his great mind +and heart, his out-reaching sympathies, his thoughtfulness for the needs +and requirements of all, had bound him to his fellow-citizens by an +attachment of genuine sentiment. His appellation throughout the country +had during the last year of the war become "Father Abraham." We may +recall in the thought of this relation to the people the record of +Washington. The first President has come into history as the "Father of +his Country," but for Washington this role of father is something of +historic development. During Washington's lifetime, or certainly at +least during the years of his responsibilities as General and as +President, there was no such general recognition of the leader and ruler +as the father of his country. He was dear to a small circle of +intimates; he was held in respectful regard by a larger number of those +with whom were carried on his responsibilities in the army, and later in +the nation's government. To many good Americans, however, Washington +represented for years an antagonistic principle of government. He was +regarded as an aristocrat and there were not a few political leaders, +with groups of voters behind them, who dreaded, and doubtless honestly +dreaded, that the influence of Washington might be utilised to build up +in this country some fresh form of the monarchy that had been +overthrown. The years of the Presidency had to be completed and the +bitter antagonisms of the seven years' fighting and of the issues of the +Constitution-building had to be outgrown, before the people were able to +recognise as a whole the perfect integrity of purpose and consistency of +action of their great leader, the first President. Even then when the +animosities and suspicions had died away, while the people were ready to +honour the high character and the accomplishments of Washington, the +feeling was one of reverence rather than of affection. This sentiment +gave rise later to the title of the "Father of his Country"; but there +was no such personal feeling towards Washington as warranted, at least +during his life, the term father of the people. Thirty years later, the +ruler of the nation is Andrew Jackson, a man who was, like Lincoln, +eminently a representative of the common people. His fellow-citizens +knew that Jackson understood their feelings and their methods and were +ready to have full confidence in Jackson's patriotism and honesty of +purpose. His nature lacked, however, the sweet sympathetic qualities +that characterised Lincoln; and while to a large body of his +fellow-citizens he commended himself for sturdiness, courage, and +devotion to the interests of the state, he was never able for himself to +overcome the feeling that a man who failed to agree with a Jackson +policy must be either a knave or a fool. He could not place himself in +the position from which the other fellow was thinking or acting. He +believed that it was his duty to maintain what he held to be the popular +cause against the "schemes of the aristocrats," the bugbear of that day. +He was a fighter from his youth up and his theory of government was that +of enforcing the control of the side for which he was the partisan. Such +a man could never be accepted as the father of the people. + +Lincoln, coming from those whom he called the common people, feeling +with their feelings, sympathetic with their needs and ideals, was able +in the development of his powers to be accepted as the peer of the +largest intellects in the land. While knowing what was needed by the +poor whites of Kentucky, he could understand also the point of view of +Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. In place of emphasising antagonisms, +he held consistently that the highest interest of one section of the +country must be the real interest of the whole people, and that the +ruler of the nation had upon him the responsibility of so shaping the +national policy that all the people should recognise the government as +their government. It was this large understanding and width of sympathy +that made Lincoln in a sense which could be applied to no other ruler of +this country, the people's President, and no other ruler in the world +has ever been so sympathetically, so effectively in touch with all of +the fellow-citizens for whose welfare he made himself responsible. The +Latin writer, Aulus Gellius, uses for one of his heroes the term "a +classic character." These words seem to me fairly to apply to Abraham +Lincoln. + +An appreciative Englishman, writing in the London _Nation_ at the time +of the Centennial commemoration, says of Lincoln: + + The greatness of Lincoln was that of a common man raised to a high + dimension. The possibility, still more the existence, of such a man + is itself a justification of democracy. We do not say that so + independent, so natural, so complete a man cannot in older societies + come to wield so large a power over the affairs and the minds of + men; we can only say that amid all the stirring movements of the + nineteenth century he has not so done. The existence of what may be + called a widespread commonalty explains the rarity of personal + eminence in America. There has been and still remains a higher + general level of personality than in any European country, and the + degree of eminence is correspondingly reduced. It is just because + America has stood for opportunity that conspicuous individuals have + been comparatively rare. Strong personality, however, has not been + rare; it is the abundance of such personality that has built up + silently into the rising fabric of the American Commonwealth, + pioneers, roadmakers, traders, lawyers, soldiers, teachers, toiling + terribly over the material and moral foundation of the country, few + of whose names have emerged or survived. Lincoln was of this stock, + was reared among these rude energetic folk, had lived all those + sorts of lives. He was no "sport"; his career is a triumphant + refutation of the traditional views of genius. He had no special + gift or quality to distinguish him; he was simply the best type of + American at a historic juncture when the national safety wanted such + a man. The confidence which all Americans express that their country + will be equal to any emergency which may threaten it, is not so + entirely superstitious as it seems at first sight. For the career of + Lincoln shows how it has been done in a country where the "necessary + man" can be drawn not from a few leading families, or an educated + class, but from the millions. + +Rabbi Schechter, in an eloquent address delivered at the Centennial +celebration, speaks of Lincoln's personality as follows: + + The half century that has elapsed since Lincoln's death has + dispelled the mists that encompassed him on earth. Men now not only + recognise the right which he championed, but behold in him the + standard of righteousness, of liberty, of conciliation, and truth. + In him, as it were personified, stands the Union, all that is best + and noblest and enduring in its principles in which he devoutly + believed and served mightily to save. When to-day, the world + celebrates the century of his existence, he has become the ideal of + both North and South, of a common country, composed not only of the + factions that once confronted each other in war's dreadful array, + but of the myriad thousands that have since found in the American + nation the hope of the future and the refuge from age-entrenched + wrong and absolutism. To them, Lincoln, his life, his history, his + character, his entire personality, with all its wondrous charm and + grace, its sobriety, patience, self-abnegation, and sweetness, has + come to be the very prototype of a rising humanity. + +Carl Schurz, himself a man of large nature and wide and sympathetic +comprehension, says of Lincoln: + + In the most conspicuous position of the period, Lincoln drew upon + himself the scoffs of polite society; but even then he filled the + souls of mankind with utterances of wonderful beauty and grandeur. + It was distinctly the weird mixture in him of qualities and forces, + of the lofty with the common, the ideal with the uncouth, of that + which he had become with that which he had not ceased to be, that + made him so fascinating a character among his fellow-men, that gave + him his singular power over minds and hearts, that fitted him to be + the greatest leader in the greatest crisis of our national life. + + He possessed the courage to stand alone--that courage which is the + first requisite of leadership in a great cause. The charm of + Lincoln's oratory flooded all the rare depth and genuineness of his + convictions and his sympathetic feelings were the strongest element + in his nature. He was one of the greatest Americans and the best of + men. + +The poet Whittier writes: + + The weary form that rested not + Save in a martyr's grave; + The care-worn face that none forgot, + Turned to the kneeling slave. + + We rest in peace where his sad eyes + Saw peril, strife, and pain; + His was the awful sacrifice, + And ours the priceless gain. + +Says Bryant: + + That task is done, the bound are free, + We bear thee to an honoured grave, + Whose noblest monument shall be + The broken fetters of the slave. + + Pure was thy life; its bloody close + Hath blessed thee with the sons of light, + Among the noble host of those + Who perished in the cause of right. + +Says Lowell: + + Our children shall behold his fame, + The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, + Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame; + New birth of our new soil, the first American. + +Ordinary men die when their physical life is brought to a close, if +perhaps not at once, yet in a brief space, with the passing of the +little circle of those to whom they were dear. + +The man of distinction lives for a time after death. His achievements +and his character are held in appreciative remembrance by the community +and the generation he has served. The waves of his influence ripple out +in a somewhat wider circle before being lost in the ocean of time. We +call that man great to whom it is given so to impress himself upon his +fellow-men by deed, by creation, by service to the community, by +character, by the inspiration from on high that has been breathed +through his soul, that he is not permitted to die. Such a man secures +immortality in this world. The knowledge and the influence of his life +are extended throughout mankind and his memory gathers increasing fame +from generation to generation. + +It is thus that men are to-day honouring the memory of Abraham Lincoln. +To-day, one hundred years after his birth, and nearly half a century +since the dramatic close of his life's work, Lincoln stands enshrined in +the thought and in the hearts of his countrymen. He is our "Father +Abraham," belonging to us, his fellow-citizens, for ideals, for +inspiration, and for affectionate regard; but he belongs now also to all +mankind, for he has been canonised among the noblest of the world's +heroes. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + + +THE ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN + +Delivered at Cooper Institute, New York, + +February 27, 1860. + + +With Introduction by Charles C. Nott; Historical and Analytical Notes by +Charles C. Nott and Cephas Brainerd, and with the Correspondence between +Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Nott as Representative of the Committee of the Young +Men's Republican Union. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE + + +The address delivered by Lincoln at the Cooper Institute in February, +1860 in response to the invitation of certain representative New +Yorkers, was, as well in its character as in its results, the most +important of all of his utterances. + +The conscientious study of the historical and constitutional record, and +the arguments and conclusions based upon the analysis of this record, +were accepted by the Republican leaders as constituting the principles +and the policy to be maintained during the Presidential campaign of +1860, a campaign in which was involved not merely the election of a +President, but the continued existence of the republic. + +Under the wise counsels represented by the words of Lincoln, the +election was fought out substantially on two contentions: + +First, that the compact entered into by the Fathers and by their +immediate successors should be loyally carried out, and that slavery +should not be interfered with in the original slave States, or in the +additional territory that had been conceded to it under the Missouri +Compromise; and, secondly, that not a single further square mile of +soil, that was still free, should be left available, or should be made +available, for the incursion of slavery. + +It was the conviction of Lincoln and of his associates, as it had been +the conviction of the Fathers, that under such a restriction slavery +must certainly in the near future come to an end. It was because these +convictions, both in the debates with Douglas and in the Cooper +Institute speech, were presented by Lincoln more forcibly and more +conclusively than had been done by any other political leader, that +Lincoln secured the nomination and the presidency. The February address +was assuredly a deciding factor in the great issue of the time, and it +certainly belongs, therefore, with the historic documents of the +republic. + +G.H.P. + +NEW YORK, September 1, 1909. + + + + +CORRESPONDENCE WITH LINCOLN, NOTT, AND BRAINERD + +(_From Robert Lincoln_) + + MANCHESTER, VERMONT, + + July 27, 1909. + + DEAR MAJOR PUTNAM: + + Your letter of July 23rd reaches me here, and I beg to express my + thanks for your kind remembrances of me in London.... I am much + interested in learning that you were present at the time my father + made his speech at Cooper Institute. I, of course, remember the + occasion very well, although I was not present. I was at that time + in the middle of my year at Phillips Exeter Academy, preparing for + the Harvard entrance examination of the summer of 1860.... After the + Cooper Institute address, my father came to Exeter to see how I was + getting along, and this visit resulted in his making a number of + speeches in New England on his way and on his return, and at Exeter + he wrote to my mother a letter which was mainly concerned with me, + but which did make reference to these speeches.... He said that he + had had some embarrassment with these New England speeches, because + in coming East he had anticipated making no speech excepting the + one at the Cooper Institute, and he had not prepared himself for + anything else.... In the later speeches, he was addressing reading + audiences who had, as he thought probable, seen the report of his + Cooper Institute speech, and he was obliged, therefore, from day to + day (he made about a dozen speeches in New England in all) to bear + that fact in mind. + + Sincerely yours, + + ROBERT LINCOLN. + + +(_From Judge Nott_) + + WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS., + + July 26, 1909. + + DEAR PUTNAM: + + I consider it very desirable that the report of Mr. Lincoln's + speech, embodying the final revision, should be preserved in book + form.... The text in the pamphlet now in your hands is authentic and + conclusive. Mr. Lincoln read the proof both of the address and of + the notes. I am glad that you are to include in your reprint the + letters from Mr. Lincoln, as these letters authenticate this copy of + the address as the copy which was corrected by him with his own + hand.... + + The preface to the address, written in September, 1860, has interest + because it shows what we thought of the address at that time.... + Your worthy father was, if I remember rightly, one of the + vice-presidents of the meeting.... + + Yours faithfully, + + CHARLES C. NOTT. + + +_(From Cephas Brainerd)_ + + NEW YORK, August 18, 1909. + + DEAR MAJOR PUTNAM: + + I am very glad to learn that there is good prospect that the real + Lincoln Cooper Institute address, with the evidence in regard to it, + will now be available for the public.... I am glad also that with + the address you are proposing to print the letters received by Judge + Nott from Mr. Lincoln. One or two of these have, unfortunately, not + been preserved. I recall in one an observation made by Lincoln to + the effect that he "was not much of a literary man." + + I did not see much of Mr. Lincoln when he was in New York, as my + most active responsibility in regard to the meeting was in getting + up an audience.... I remember in handing some weeks earlier to John + Sherman, who, like Lincoln, had never before spoken in New York, + five ten-dollar gold pieces, that he said he "had not expected his + expenses to be paid." At a lunch that was given to Sherman a long + time afterward, I referred to that meeting. Sherman cocked his eye + at me and said: "Yes, I remember it very well; I never was so scar't + in all my life." ... + + The observations of Judge Nott in regard to the meeting are about + as just as anything that has ever been put into print, and as I + concur fully in the accuracy of these recollections, I do not + undertake to give my own impressions at any length. I was expecting + to hear some specimen of Western stump-speaking as it was then + understood. You will, of course, observe that the speech contains + nothing of the kind. I do remember, however, that Lincoln spoke of + the condition of feeling between the North and the South.... He + refers to the treatment which Northern men received in the South, + and he remarked, parenthetically, that he had never known of a man + who had been able "to whip his wife into loving him," an observation + that produced laughter. + + In making up the notes, we ransacked, as you may be sure, all the + material available in the libraries in New York, and I also had + interviews as to one special point with Mr. Bancroft, with Mr. + Hildreth, and with Dr. William Goodell, who was in those times a + famous anti-slavery man. + + Your father[3] and William Curtis Noyes were possibly more + completely in sympathy than any other two men in New York, with the + efforts of these younger men; they impressed me as standing in that + respect on the same plane. The next man to them was Charles Wyllis + Elliott, the author of a _History of New England_. We never went to + your father for advice or assistance when he failed to help us, and + he was always so kindly and gentle in what he did and said that + every one of us youngsters acquired for him a very great affection. + He always had time to see us and was always on hand when he was + wanted, and if we desired to have anything, we got it if he had it. + Neither your father, nor Mr. Noyes, nor for that matter Mr. Elliott, + ever suggested that we were "young" or "fresh" or anything of that + sort. The enthusiasm which young fellows have was always recognised + by these men as an exceedingly valuable asset in the cause.... + Pardon all this from a "veteran," and believe me, + + Sincerely yours, + + CEPHAS BRAINERD. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +BY CHARLES C. NOTT + + +The Cooper Institute address is one of the most important addresses ever +delivered in the life of this nation, for at an eventful time it changed +the course of history. When Mr. Lincoln rose to speak on the evening of +February 27, 1860, he had held no administrative office; he had +endeavoured to be appointed Commissioner of Patents, and had failed; he +had sought to be elected United States Senator, and had been defeated; +he had been a member of Congress, yet it was not even remembered; he was +a lawyer in humble circumstances, persuasive of juries, but had not +reached the front rank of the Illinois Bar. The record which Mr. Lincoln +himself placed in the Congressional Directory in 1847 might still be +taken as the record of his public and official life: "Born February +12th, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. Education defective. Profession +a lawyer. Have been a captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk War. +Postmaster in a very small office. Four times a member of the Illinois +Legislature and a member of the lower house of Congress." Was this the +record of a man who should be made the head of a nation in troubled +times? In the estimation of thoughtful Americans east of the Alleghanies +all that they knew of Mr. Lincoln justified them in regarding him as +only "a Western stump orator"--successful, distinguished, but nothing +higher than that--a Western stump orator, who had dared to brave one of +the strongest men in the Western States, and who had done so with +wonderful ability and moral success. When Mr. Lincoln closed his address +he had risen to the rank of statesman, and had stamped himself a +statesman peculiarly fitted for the exigency of the hour. + +Mr. William Cullen Bryant presided at the meeting; and a number of the +first and ablest citizens of New York were present, among them Horace +Greeley. Mr. Greeley was pronounced in his appreciation of the address; +it was the ablest, the greatest, the wisest speech that had yet been +made; it would reassure the conservative Northerner; it was just what +was wanted to conciliate the excited Southerner; it was conclusive in +its argument, and would assure the overthrow of Douglas. Mr. Horace +White has recently written: "I chanced to open the other day his Cooper +Institute speech. This is one of the few printed speeches that I did not +hear him deliver in person. As I read the concluding pages of that +speech, the conflict of opinion that preceded the conflict of arms then +sweeping upon the country like an approaching solar eclipse seemed +prefigured like a chapter of the Book of Fate. Here again he was the +Old Testament prophet, before whom Horace Greeley bowed his head, saying +that he had never listened to a greater speech, although he had heard +several of Webster's best." Later, Mr. Greeley became the leader of the +Republican forces opposed to the nomination of Mr. Seward and was +instrumental in concentrating those forces upon Mr. Lincoln. +Furthermore, the great New York press on the following morning carried +the address to the country, and before Mr. Lincoln left New York he was +telegraphed from Connecticut to come and aid in the campaign of the +approaching spring election. He went, and when the fateful moment came +in the Convention, Connecticut was one of the Eastern States which first +broke away from the Seward column and went over to Mr. Lincoln. When +Connecticut did this, the die was cast. + +It is difficult for younger generations of Americans to believe that +three months before Mr. Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency he was +neither appreciated nor known in New York. That fact can be better +established by a single incident than by the opinions and assurances of +a dozen men. + +After the address had been delivered, Mr. Lincoln was taken by two +members of the Young Men's Central Republican Union--Mr. Hiram Barney, +afterward Collector of the Port of New York, and Mr. Nott, one of the +subsequent editors of the address--to their club, The Athenaeum, where +a very simple supper was ordered, and five or six Republican members of +the club who chanced to be in the building were invited in. The supper +was informal--as informal as anything could be; the conversation was +easy and familiar; the prospects of the Republican party in the coming +struggle were talked over, and so little was it supposed by the +gentlemen who had not heard the address that Mr. Lincoln could possibly +be the candidate that one of them, Mr. Charles W. Elliott, asked, +artlessly: "Mr. Lincoln, what candidate do you really think would be +most likely to carry Illinois?" Mr. Lincoln answered by illustration: +"Illinois is a peculiar State, in three parts. In northern Illinois, Mr. +Seward would have a larger majority than I could get. In middle +Illinois, I think I could call out a larger vote than Mr. Seward. In +southern Illinois, it would make no difference who was the candidate." +This answer was taken to be merely illustrative by everybody except, +perhaps, Mr. Barney and Mr. Nott, each of whom, it subsequently +appeared, had particularly noted Mr. Lincoln's reply. + +The little party broke up. Mr. Lincoln had been cordially received, but +certainly had not been flattered. The others shook him by the hand and, +as they put on their overcoats, said: "Mr. Nott is going down town and +he will show you the way to the Astor House." Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Nott +started on foot, but the latter observing that Mr. Lincoln was +apparently Walking with some difficulty said, "Are you lame, Mr. +Lincoln?" He replied that he had on new boots and they hurt him. The two +gentlemen then boarded a street car. When they reached the place where +Mr. Nott would leave the car on his way home, he shook Mr. Lincoln by +the hand and, bidding him good-bye, told him that this car would carry +him to the side door of the Astor House. Mr. Lincoln went on alone, the +only occupant of the car. The next time he came to New York, he rode +down Broadway to the Astor House standing erect in an open barouche +drawn by four white horses. He bowed to the patriotic thousands in the +street, on the sidewalks, in the windows, on the house-tops, and they +cheered him as the lawfully elected President of the United States and +bade him go on and, with God's help, save the Union. + +His companion in the street car has often wondered since then what Mr. +Lincoln thought about during the remainder of his ride that night to the +Astor House. The Cooper Institute had, owing to a snowstorm, not been +full, and its intelligent, respectable, non-partisan audience had not +rung out enthusiastic applause like a concourse of Western auditors +magnetised by their own enthusiasm. Had the address--the most carefully +prepared, the most elaborately investigated and demonstrated and +verified of all the work of his life--been a failure? But in the matter +of quality and ability, if not of quantity and enthusiasm, he had never +addressed such an audience; and some of the ablest men in the Northern +States had expressed their opinion of the address in terms which left no +doubt of the highest appreciation. Did Mr. Lincoln regard the address +which he had just delivered to a small and critical audience as a +success? Did he have the faintest glimmer of the brilliant effect which +was to follow? Did he feel the loneliness of the situation--the want of +his loyal Illinois adherents? Did his sinking heart infer that he was +but a speck of humanity to which the great city would never again give a +thought? He was a plain man, an ungainly man; unadorned, apparently +uncultivated, showing the awkwardness of self-conscious rusticity. His +dress that night before a New York audience was the most unbecoming that +a fiend's ingenuity could have devised for a tall, gaunt man--a black +frock coat, ill-setting and too short for him in the body, skirt, and +arms--a rolling collar, low-down, disclosing his long thin, shrivelled +throat uncovered and exposed. No man in all New York appeared that night +more simple, more unassuming, more modest, more unpretentious, more +conscious of his own defects than Abraham Lincoln; and yet we now know +that within his soul there burned the fires of an unbounded ambition, +sustained by a self-reliance and self-esteem that bade him fix his gaze +upon the very pinnacle of American fame and aspire to it in a time so +troubled that its dangers appalled the soul of every American. What were +this man's thoughts when he was left alone? Did a faint shadow of the +future rest upon his soul? Did he feel in some mysterious way that on +that night he had crossed the Rubicon of his life-march--that care and +trouble and political discord, and slander and misrepresentation and +ridicule and public responsibilities, such as hardly ever before +burdened a conscientious soul, coupled with war and defeat and disaster, +were to be thenceforth his portion nearly to his life's end, and that +his end was to be a bloody act which would appall the world and send a +thrill of horror through the hearts of friends and enemies alike, so +that when the woeful tidings came the bravest of the Southern brave +should burst into tears and cry aloud, "Oh! the unhappy South, the +unhappy South!" + +The impression left on his companion's mind as he gave a last glance at +him in the street car was that he seemed sad and lonely; and when it was +too late, when the car was beyond call, he blamed himself for not +accompanying Mr. Lincoln to the Astor House--not because he was a +distinguished stranger, but because he seemed a sad and lonely man. + +_February 12, 1908_. + + + + +CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. LINCOLN + + 69 Wall St., New York, + + February 9, 1860. + + _Dear Sir_: + + The "Young Men's Central Republican Union" of this city very + cordially desire that you should deliver during the ensuing + month--what I may term--_a political lecture_. The peculiarities of + the case are these--A series of lectures has been determined + upon--The first was delivered by Mr. Blair of St. Louis a short time + ago--the second will be in a few days by Mr. C.M. Clay, and the + third we would prefer to have from you, rather than from any other + person. Of the audience I should add that it is not that of an + ordinary political meeting. These lectures have been _contrived_ to + call out our better, but busier citizens, who never attend political + meetings. A large part of the audience would also consist of ladies. + The time we should prefer, would be about the middle of March, but + if any earlier or later day will be more convenient for you we would + alter our arrangements. + + Allow me to hope that we shall have the pleasure of welcoming you to + New York. You are, I believe, an entire stranger to your Republican + brethren here; but they have, for you, the highest esteem, and your + celebrated contest with Judge Douglas awoke their warmest sympathy + and admiration. Those of us who are "in the ranks" would regard your + presence as very material aid, and as an honor and pleasure which I + cannot sufficiently express. + + Respectfully, + + Charles C. Nott. + + + To Hon. Abram Lincoln. + + 69 Wall St., New York, + + May 23, 1860. + + _Dear Sir_: + + I enclose a copy of your address in New York. + + We (the Young Men's Rep. Union) design to publish a new edition in + larger type and better form, with such notes and references as will + best attract readers seeking information. Have you any memoranda of + your investigations which you would approve of inserting? + + You and your Western friends, I think, underrate this speech. It has + produced a greater effect here than any other single speech. It is + the real platform in the Eastern States, and must carry the + conservative element in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. + + Therefore I desire that it should be as nearly perfect as may be. + Most of the emendations are trivial and do not affect the + substance--all are merely suggested for your judgment. + + I cannot help adding that this speech is an extraordinary example + of condensed English. After some experience in criticising for + Reviews, I find hardly anything to touch and nothing to omit. It is + the only one I know of which I cannot _shorten_, and--like a good + arch--moving one word tumbles a whole sentence down. + + Finally--it being a bad and foolish thing for a candidate to write + letters, and you having doubtless more to do of that than is + pleasant or profitable, we will not add to your burden in that + regard, but if you will let any friend who has nothing to do, advise + us as to your wishes, in this or any other matter, we will try to + carry them out. + + Respectfully, + + Charles C. Nott. + + To Hon. Abraham Lincoln. + + Springfield, Ills., May 31, 1860. + + Charles C. Nott, Esq. + + _My Dear Sir_: + + Yours of the 23rd, accompanied by a copy of the speech delivered by + me at the Cooper Institute, and upon which you have made some notes + for emendations, was received some days ago--Of course I would not + object to, but would be pleased rather, with a more perfect edition + of that speech. + + I did not preserve memoranda of my investigations; and I could not + now re-examine, and make notes, without an expenditure of time + which I can not bestow upon it--Some of your notes I do not + understand. + + So far as it is intended merely to improve in grammar, and elegance + of composition, I am quite agreed; but I do not wish the sense + changed, or modified, to a hair's breadth--And you, not having + studied the particular points so closely as I have, can not be quite + sure that you do not change the sense when you do not intend it--For + instance, in a note at bottom of first page, you propose to + substitute "Democrats" for "Douglas"--But what I am saying there is + _true_ of Douglas, and is not true of "Democrats" generally; so that + the proposed substitution would be a very considerable blunder--Your + proposed insertion of "residences" though it would do little or no + harm, is not at all necessary to the sense I was trying to + convey--On page 5 your proposed grammatical change would certainly + do no harm--The "_impudently absurd"_ I stick to--The striking out + "_he"_ and inserting "_we"_ turns the sense exactly wrong--The + striking out "_upon it_" leaves the sense too general and + incomplete--The sense is "act as they acted _upon that question_ + "--not as they acted generally. + + After considering your proposed changes on page 7, I do not think + them material, but I am willing to defer to you in relation to them. + + On page 9, striking out "_to us_" is probably right--The word + "_lawyer's"_ I wish retained. The word "_Courts"_ struck out twice, + I wish reduced to "Court" and retained--"Court" as a collection more + properly governs the plural "have" as I understand--"The" preceding + "Court," in the latter case, must also be retained--The words + "quite," "as," and "or" on the same page, I wish retained. The + italicising, and quotation marking, I have no objection to. + + As to the note at bottom, I do not think any too much is + admitted--What you propose on page 11 is right--I return your copy + of the speech, together with one printed here, under my own hasty + supervising. That at New York was printed without any supervision by + me--If you conclude to publish a new edition, allow me to see the + proof-sheets. + + And now thanking you for your very complimentary letter, and your + interest for me generally, I subscribe myself. + + Your friend and servant, + + A. Lincoln. + + 69 Wall Street, New York. + + August 28, 1860. + + _Dear Sir_: + + Mr. Judd insists on our printing the revised edition of your Cooper + Ins. speech _without waiting to send you the_ proofs. + + If this is so determined, I wish you to know, that I have made no + alterations other than those you sanctioned, except-- + + 1. I do not find that Abraham Baldwin voted on the Ordinance of '87. + On the contrary he appears _not_ to have acted with Congress during + the sitting of the Convention. Wm. Pierce seems to have taken his + place then; and his name is recorded as voting for the Ordinance. + This makes no difference in the result, but I presume you will not + wish the historical inaccuracy (if it is such) to stand. I will + therefore (unless you write to the contrary) strike out his name in + that place and reduce the number from "four" to "three" where you + sum up the number of times he voted. + + 2. In the quotations from the Constitution I have given its exact + language; as "delegated" instead of "granted," etc. As it is given + in _quo_. marks, I presume the exact letter of the text should be + followed. + + _If these are not correct please write immediately_. + + _Our_ apology for the delay is that we have been weighed down by + other matters; _mine_ that I have but to-day returned to town. + + Respectfully, + + Charles C. Nott. + + To Hon. Abraham Lincoln. + + 69 WALL STREET, N.Y. + + Sept. 17, 1860. + + _Dear Sir_: + + We forward you by this day's express 250 copies, with the last + corrections. I delayed sending, thinking that you would prefer these + to those first printed. + + The "Abraham Baldwin letter" referred to in your last I regret to + say has _not_ arrived. From your not touching the proofs in that + regard, I inferred (and hope) that the correction was not itself an + error. + + Should you wish a larger number of copies do not hesitate to let us + know; it will afford us much pleasure to furnish them and no + inconvenience whatever. + + Respectfully, etc., + + CHARLES C. NOTT. + + Hon. A. Lincoln. + + + SPRINGFIELD, ILLS., Sept. 22, 1860. + + CHARLES C. NOTT, Esq., + + _My Dear Sir_: + + Yours of the 17th was duly received--The 250 copies have not yet + arrived--I am greatly obliged to you for what you have done, and + what you propose to do. + + The "Abraham Baldwin letter" in substance was that I could not find + the Journal of the Confederation Congress for the session at which + was passed the Ordinance of 1787--and that in stating Mr. Baldwin + had voted for its passage, I had relied on a communication of Mr. + Greeley, over his own signature, published in the New York _Weekly + Tribune_ of October 15, 1859. If you will turn to that paper, you + will there see that Mr. Greeley apparently copies from the Journal, + and places the name of Mr. Baldwin among those of the men who voted + for the measure. + + Still; if the Journal itself shows differently, of course it is + right. + + Yours very truly, + + A. LINCOLN. + +The Address of + +THE HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, + +In Vindication of the Policy of the Framers of the + +Constitution and the Principles of the + +Republican Party. + +Delivered at Cooper Institute, February 27th, 1860. + +Issued by the Young Men's Republican Union. + +With Notes by + +CHARLES C. NOTT and CEPHAS BRAINERD, + +Members of the Board of Control. + +OFFICERS OF THE UNION + +CHARLES T. RODGERS, President. +DEXTER A. HAWKINS, Vice-President. +ERASMUS STERLING, Secretary. +WILLIAM M. FRANKLIN, Treasurer. + +EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE + +CEPHAS BRAINERD, Chairman. +BENJAMIN P. MANIERRE, +RICHARD C. McCORMICK, +CHARLES C. NOTT, +CHARLES H. COOPER, +P.G. DEGRAW, +JAMES H. WELSH, +E.C. JOHNSON, +LEWIS M. PECK. + +ADVISORY BOARD + +WM. CULLEN BRYANT, +DANIEL DREW, +HIRAM BARNEY, +WILLIAM V. BRADY, +JOHN JAY, +GEORGE W. BLUNT, +HENRY A. HURLBUT, +ABIJAH MANN, JR., +HAMILTON FISH, +FRANCIS HALL, +HORACE GREELEY, +CHARLES A. PEABODY, +EDGAR KETCHUM, +JAMES KELLY, +GEORGE FOLSOM, +WILLIAM CURTIS NOYES, +BENJAMIN F. MANIERRE. + + + + +PREFACE + + +This edition of Mr. Lincoln's address has been prepared and published by +the Young Men's Republican Union of New York, to exemplify its wisdom, +truthfulness, and learning. No one who has not actually attempted to +verify its details can understand the patient research and historical +labor which it embodies. The history of our earlier politics is +scattered through numerous journals, statutes, pamphlets, and letters; +and these are defective in completeness and accuracy of statement, and +in indices and tables of contents. Neither can any one who has not +travelled over this precise ground appreciate the accuracy of every +trivial detail, or the self-denying impartiality with which Mr. Lincoln +has turned from the testimony of "the Fathers," on the general question +of slavery, to present the single question which he discusses. From the +first line to the last--from his premises to his conclusion, he travels +with swift, unerring directness which no logician ever excelled--an +argument complete and full, without the affectation of learning, and +without the stiffness which usually accompanies dates and details. A +single, easy, simple sentence of plain Anglo-Saxon words contains a +chapter of history that, in some instances, has taken days of labor to +verify and which must have cost the author months of investigation to +acquire. And, though the public should justly estimate the labor +bestowed on the facts which are stated, they cannot estimate the greater +labor involved on those which are omitted--how many pages have been +read--how many works examined--what numerous statutes, resolutions, +speeches, letters, and biographies have been looked through. Commencing +with this address as a political pamphlet, the reader will leave it as +an historical work--brief, complete, profound, impartial, +truthful--which will survive the time and the occasion that called it +forth, and be esteemed hereafter, no less for its intrinsic worth than +its unpretending modesty. + +NEW YORK, September, 1860. + + + + +ADDRESS + + MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF NEW YORK:--The facts with which + I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor is there + anything new in the general use I shall make of them. If there shall + be any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting the facts, and + the inferences and observations following that presentation. + + In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in the New + York _Times_, Senator Douglas said: + + "_Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we live, + understood this question just as well, and even better than we do + now_." + + I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. I + so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed + starting-point for a discussion between Republicans and that wing of + the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the + inquiry: "_What was the understanding those fathers had of the + question mentioned_?" + + What is the frame of Government under which we live? + + The answer must be: "The Constitution of the United States." That + Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1787, (and under + which the present Government first went into operation,) and twelve + subsequently framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed + in 1789.[4] + + Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I suppose the + "thirty-nine" who signed the original instrument may be fairly + called our fathers who framed that part of the present Government. + It is almost exactly true to say they framed it, and it is + altogether true to say they fairly represented the opinion and + sentiment of the whole nation at that time. Their names, being + familiar to nearly all, and accessible to quite all, need not now be + repeated.[5] + + + I take these "thirty-nine" for the present, as being "our fathers + who framed the Government under which we live." + + What is the question which, according to the text, those fathers + understood "just as well, and even better than we do now"? + + It is this: Does the proper division of local from federal + authority, or anything in the Constitution, forbid _our Federal + Government_ to control as to slavery in _our Federal Territories_? + + Upon this, Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans + the negative. This affirmation and denial form an issue; and this + issue--this question--is precisely what the text declares our + fathers understood "better than we." + + Let us now inquire whether the "thirty-nine," or any of them, ever + acted upon this question; and if they did, how they acted upon + it--how they expressed that better understanding. + + In 1784, three years before the Constitution--the United States then + owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other,[6] the Congress of + the Confederation had before them the question of prohibiting + slavery in that Territory; and four of the "thirty-nine" who + afterward framed the Constitution, were in that Congress, and voted + on that question. Of these, Roger Sherman, Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh + Williamson voted for the prohibition,[7] thus showing that, in their + understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor + anything else, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as + to slavery in federal territory. The other of the four--James + M'Henry--voted against the prohibition, showing that, for some + cause, he thought it improper to vote for it.[8] + + In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the Convention was + in session framing it, and while the Northwestern Territory still + was the only territory owned by the United States, the same question + of prohibiting Slavery in the Territories again came before the + Congress of the Confederation; and two more of the "thirty-nine" who + afterward signed the Constitution, were in that Congress, and voted + on the question. They were William Blount and William Few[9]; and + they both voted for the prohibition--thus showing that, in their + understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor + anything else, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as + to slavery in federal territory. This time, the prohibition became a + law, being part of what is now well known as the Ordinance of + '87.[10] + + The question of federal control of slavery in the territories, seems + not to have been directly before the Convention which framed the + original Constitution; and hence it is not recorded that the + "thirty-nine," or any of them, while engaged on that instrument, + expressed any opinion on that precise question.[11] + + In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution, an + act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of '87, including the + prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. The bill for + this act was reported by one of the "thirty-nine," Thomas + Fitzsimmons, then a member of the House of Representatives from + Pennsylvania. It went through all its stages without a word of + opposition, and finally passed both branches without yeas and nays, + which is equivalent to an unanimous passage.[12] In this Congress, + there were sixteen of the thirty-nine fathers who framed the + original Constitution. They were John Langdon, Nicholas Oilman, Wm. + S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thos. Fitzsimmons, William + Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William Paterson, George Clymer, + Richard Bassett, George Read, Pierce Butler, Daniel Carroll, James + Madison.[13] + + + This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from + federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, properly + forbade Congress to prohibit slavery in the federal territory; else + both their fidelity to correct principle, and their oath to support + the Constitution, would have constrained them to oppose the + prohibition. + + Again, George Washington, another of the "thirty-nine," was then + President of the United States, and, as such, approved and signed + the bill; thus completing its validity as a law, and thus showing + that, in his understanding, no line dividing local from federal + authority, nor anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal + Government to control as to slavery in federal territory. + + No great while after the adoption of the original Constitution, + North Carolina ceded to the Federal Government the country now + constituting the State of Tennessee; and a few years later Georgia + ceded that which now constitutes the States of Mississippi and + Alabama. In both deeds of cession it was made a condition by the + ceding States that the Federal Government should not prohibit + slavery in the ceded country.[14] Besides this, slavery was then + actually in the ceded country. Under these circumstances, Congress, + on taking charge of these countries, did not absolutely prohibit + slavery within them. But they did interfere with it--take control of + it--even there to a certain extent. In 1798, Congress organized the + Territory of Mississippi. In the act of organization, they + prohibited the bringing of slaves into the Territory, from any place + without the United States, by fine, and giving freedom to slaves so + brought.[15] This act passed both branches of Congress without yeas + and nays. In that Congress were three of the "thirty-nine" who + framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon, George + Read and Abraham Baldwin.[16] They all, probably, voted for it. + Certainly they would have placed their opposition to it upon record, + if, in their understanding, any line dividing local from federal + authority, or anything in the Constitution, properly forbade the + Federal Government to control as to slavery in federal territory. + + In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana country. Our + former territorial acquisitions came from certain of our own States; + but this Louisiana country was acquired from a foreign nation. In + 1804, Congress gave a territorial organization to that part of it + which now constitutes the State of Louisiana. New Orleans, lying + within that part, was an old and comparatively large city. There + were other considerable towns and settlements, and slavery was + extensively and thoroughly intermingled with the people. Congress + did not, in the Territorial Act, prohibit slavery; but they did + interfere with it--take control of it--in a more marked and + extensive way than they did in the case of Mississippi. The + substance of the provision therein made, in relation to slaves, was: + + _First_. That no slave should be imported into the territory from + foreign parts. + + _Second_. That no slave should be carried into it who had been + imported into the United States since the first day of May, 1798. + + _Third_. That no slave should be carried into it, except by the + owner, and for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all the + cases being a fine upon the violator of the law, and freedom to the + slave.[17] + + This act also was passed without yeas and nays. In the Congress + which passed it, there were two of the "thirty-nine." They were + Abraham Baldwin and Jonathan Dayton.[18] As stated in the case of + Mississippi, it is probable they both voted for it. They would not + have allowed it to pass without recording their opposition to it, + if, in their understanding, it violated either the line properly + dividing local from federal authority, or any provision of the + Constitution. + + In 1819-20, came and passed the Missouri question. Many votes were + taken, by yeas and nays, in both branches of Congress, upon the + various phases of the general question. Two of the + "thirty-nine"--Rufus King and Charles Pinckney--were members of + that Congress.[19] Mr. King steadily voted for slavery prohibition + and against all compromises, while Mr. Pinckney as steadily voted + against slavery prohibition and against all compromises. By this, + Mr. King showed that, in his understanding, no line dividing local + from federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, was + violated by Congress prohibiting slavery in federal territory; while + Mr. Pinckney, by his votes, showed that, in his understanding, there + was some sufficient reason for opposing such prohibition in that + case.[20] + + The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the "thirty-nine," + or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to + discover. + + To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in 1784, two + in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two in 1804, and two in + 1819-20--there would be thirty of them. But this would be counting + John Langdon, Roger Sherman, William Few, Rufus King, and George + Read each twice, and Abraham Baldwin three times. The true number of + those of the "thirty-nine" whom I have shown to have acted upon the + question, which, by the text, they understood better than we, is + twenty-three, leaving sixteen not shown to have acted upon it in + anyway.[21] + + Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our thirty-nine fathers "who + framed the Government under which we live," who have, upon their + official responsibility and their corporal oaths, acted upon the + very question which the text affirms they "understood just as well, + and even better than we do now"; and twenty-one of them--a clear + majority of the whole "thirty-nine"--so acting upon it as to make + them guilty of gross political impropriety and wilful perjury, if, + in their understanding, any proper division between local and + federal authority, or anything in the Constitution they had made + themselves, and sworn to support, forbade the Federal Government to + control as to slavery in the federal territories. Thus the + twenty-one acted; and, as actions speak louder than words, so + actions under such responsibility speak still louder. + + Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of + slavery in the federal territories, in the instances in which they + acted upon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not + known. They may have done so because they thought a proper division + of local from federal authority, or some provision or principle of + the Constitution, stood in the way; or they may, without any such + question, have voted against the prohibition on what appeared to + them to be sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn to + support the Constitution can conscientiously vote for what he + understands to be an unconstitutional measure, however expedient he + may think it; but one may and ought to vote against a measure which + he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, he deems it + inexpedient. It, therefore, would be unsafe to set down even the two + who voted against the prohibition, as having done so because, in + their understanding, any proper division of local from federal + authority, or anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal + Government to control as to slavery in federal territory.[22] + + The remaining sixteen of the "thirty-nine," so far as I have + discovered, have left no record of their understanding upon the + direct question of federal control of slavery in the federal + territories. But there is much reason to believe that their + understanding upon that question would not have appeared different + from that of their twenty-three compeers, had it been manifested at + all.[23] + + For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely + omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested by any + person, however distinguished, other than the thirty-nine fathers + who framed the original Constitution; and, for the same reason, I + have also omitted whatever understanding may have been manifested by + any of the "thirty-nine" even, on any other phase of the general + question of slavery. If we should look into their acts and + declarations on those other phases, as the foreign slave trade, and + the morality and policy of slavery generally, it would appear to us + that on the direct question of federal control of slavery in federal + territories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all, would probably + have acted just as the twenty-three did. Among that sixteen were + several of the most noted anti-slavery men of those times--as Dr. + Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Gouverneur Morris--while there was + not one now known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John + Rutledge, of South Carolina.[24] + + The sum of the whole is, that of our thirty-nine fathers who framed + the original Constitution, twenty-one--a clear majority of the + whole--certainly understood that no proper division of local from + federal authority, nor any part of the Constitution, forbade the + Federal Government to control slavery in the federal territories; + while all the rest probably had the same understanding. Such, + unquestionably, was the understanding of our fathers who framed the + original Constitution; and the text affirms that they understood the + question "better than we." + + But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of the + question manifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In + and by the original instrument, a mode was provided for amending it; + and, as I have already stated, the present frame of "the Government + under which we live" consists of that original, and twelve + amendatory articles framed and adopted since. Those who now insist + that federal control of slavery in federal territories violates the + Constitution, point us to the provisions which they suppose it thus + violates; and, as I understand, they all fix upon provisions in + these amendatory articles and not in the original instrument. The + Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, plant themselves upon the + fifth amendment, which provides that no person shall be deprived of + "life, liberty or property without due process of law"; while + Senator Douglas and his peculiar adherents plant themselves upon the + tenth amendment, providing that "the powers not delegated to the + United States by the Constitution" "are reserved to the States + respectively, or to the people."[25] + + Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed by the first + Congress which sat under the Constitution--the identical Congress + which passed the act already mentioned, enforcing the prohibition of + slavery in the Northwestern Territory. Not only was it the same + Congress, but they were the identical same individual men who, at + the same session, and at the same time within the session had under + consideration, and in progress toward maturity, these Constitutional + amendments, and this act prohibiting slavery in all the territory + the nation then owned. The Constitutional amendments were introduced + before, and passed after, the act enforcing the Ordinance of '87; so + that, during the whole pendency of the act to enforce the Ordinance, + the Constitutional amendments were also pending.[26] + + The seventy-six members of that Congress, including sixteen of the + framers of the original Constitution, as before stated, were + pre-eminently our fathers who framed that part of "the Government + under which we live," which is now claimed as forbidding the Federal + Government to control slavery in the federal territories. + + Is it not a little presumptuous in any one at this day to affirm + that the two things which that Congress deliberately framed, and + carried to maturity at the same time, are absolutely inconsistent + with each other? And does not such affirmation become impudently + absurd when coupled with the other affirmation from the same mouth, + that those who did the two things, alleged to be inconsistent, + understood whether they really were inconsistent better than + we--better than he who affirms that they are inconsistent? + + It is surely safe to assume that the thirty-nine framers of the + original Constitution, and the seventy-six members of the Congress + which framed the amendments thereto, taken together, do certainly + include those who may be fairly called "our fathers who framed the + Government under which we live."[27] And so assuming, I defy any man + to show that any one of them ever, in his whole life, declared that, + in his understanding, any proper division of local from federal + authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal + Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories. I go + a step further. I defy any one to show that any living man in the + whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the present + century, (and I might almost say prior to the beginning of the last + half of the present century,) declare that, in his understanding, + any proper division of local from federal authority, or any part of + the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to + slavery in the federal territories. To those who now so declare, I + give, not only "our fathers who framed the Government under which we + live," but with them all other living men within the century in + which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not be + able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them. + + Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood. I + do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever our + fathers did. To do so, would be to discard all the lights of current + experience--to reject all progress--all improvement. What I do say + is, that if we would supplant the opinions and policy of our fathers + in any case, we should do so upon evidence so conclusive, and + argument so clear, that even their great authority, fairly + considered and weighed, cannot stand; and most surely not in a case + whereof we ourselves declare they understood the question better + than we. + + If any man at this day sincerely believes that a proper division of + local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, + forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the + federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his + position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can. + But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to + history, and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that + "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," were + of the same opinion--thus substituting falsehood and deception for + truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man at this day + sincerely believes "our fathers who framed the Government under + which we live," used and applied principles, in other cases, which + ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of local + from federal authority or some part of the Constitution, forbids the + Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal + territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the same time, + brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his opinion, he + understands their principles better than they did themselves; and + especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting that + they "understood the question just as well, and even better, than we + do now." + + But enough! _Let all who believe that "our fathers, who framed the + Government under which we live, understood this question just as + well, and even better, than we do now," speak as they spoke, and act + as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask--all Republicans + desire--in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so let + it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be + tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual + presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity. + Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, + but fully and fairly maintained_. For this Republicans contend, and + with this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content. + + And now, if they would listen--as I suppose they will not--I would + address a few words to the Southern people. + + I would say to them: You consider yourselves a reasonable and a just + people; and I consider that in the general qualities of reason and + justice you are not inferior to any other people. Still, when you + speak of us Republicans, you do so only to denounce us as reptiles, + or, at the best, as no better than outlaws. You will grant a hearing + to pirates or murderers, but nothing like it to "Black Republicans." + In all your contentions with one another each of you deems an + unconditional condemnation of "Black Republicanism" as the first + thing to be attended to. Indeed, such condemnation of us seems to be + an indispensable prerequisite--licence, so to speak--among you to be + admitted or permitted to speak at all. Now, can you, or not, be + prevailed upon to pause and to consider whether this is quite just + to us, or even to yourselves? Bring forward your charges and + specifications, and then be patient long enough to hear us deny or + justify. + + You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an issue; and the + burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; and what is + it? Why, that our party has no existence in your section--gets no + votes in your section. The fact is substantially true; but does it + prove the issue? If it does, then in case we should, without change + of principle, begin to get votes in your section, we should thereby + cease to be sectional. You cannot escape this conclusion; and yet, + are you willing to abide by it? If you are, you will probably soon + find that we have ceased to be sectional, for we shall get votes in + your section this very year. You will then begin to discover, as the + truth plainly is, that your proof does not touch the issue. The fact + that we get no votes in your section, is a fact of your making, and + not of ours. And if there be fault in that fact, that fault is + primarily yours, and remains so until you show that we repel you by + some wrong principle or practice. If we do repel you by any wrong + principle or practice, the fault is ours; but this brings you to + where you ought to have started--to a discussion of the right or + wrong of our principle. If our principle, put in practice, would + wrong your section for the benefit of ours, or for any other object, + then our principle, and we with it, are sectional, and are justly + opposed and denounced as such. Meet us, then, on the question of + whether our principle, put in practice, would wrong your section; + and so meet us as if it were possible that something may be said on + our side. Do you accept the challenge? No! Then you really believe + that the principle which "our fathers who framed the Government + under which we live" thought so clearly right as to adopt it, and + indorse it again and again, upon their official oaths, is in fact so + clearly wrong as to demand your condemnation without a moment's + consideration. + + Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning against + sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell Address. Less + than eight years before Washington gave that warning, he had, as + President of the United States, approved and signed an act of + Congress, enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern + Territory, which act embodied the policy of the Government upon that + subject up to and at the very moment he penned that warning; and + about one year after he penned it, he wrote Lafayette that he + considered that prohibition a wise measure, expressing in the same + connection his hope that we should at some time have a confederacy + of free States.[28] + + + Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since arisen + upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your hands + against us, or in our hands against you? Could Washington himself + speak, would he cast the blame of that sectionalism upon us, who + sustain his policy, or upon you who repudiate it? We respect that + warning of Washington, and we commend it to you, together with his + example pointing to the right application of it. + + But you say you are conservative--eminently conservative--while we + are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is + conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the + new and untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old policy + on the point in controversy which was adopted by "our fathers who + framed the Government under which we live"; while you with one + accord reject, and scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist + upon substituting something new. True, you disagree among yourselves + as to what that substitute shall be. You are divided on new + propositions and plans, but you are unanimous in rejecting and + denouncing the old policy of the fathers. Some of you are for + reviving the foreign slave trade; some for a Congressional + Slave-Code for the Territories; some for Congress forbidding the + Territories to prohibit Slavery within their limits; some for + maintaining Slavery in the Territories through the judiciary; some + for the "gur-reat pur-rinciple" that "if one man would enslave + another, no third man should object," fantastically called "Popular + Sovereignty"; but never a man among you in favor of federal + prohibition of slavery in federal territories, according to the + practice of "our fathers who framed the Government under which we + live." Not one of all your various plans can show a precedent or an + advocate in the century within which our Government originated. + Consider, then, whether your claim of conservatism for yourselves, + and your charge of destructiveness against us, are based on the most + clear and stable foundations. + + Again, you say we have made the slavery question more prominent than + it formerly was. We deny it. We admit that it is more prominent, but + we deny that we made it so. It was not we, but you, who discarded + the old policy of the fathers. We resisted, and still resist, your + innovation; and thence comes the greater prominence of the question. + Would you have that question reduced to its former proportions? Go + back to that old policy. What has been will be again, under the same + conditions. If you would have the peace of the old times, readopt + the precepts and policy of the old times. + + You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We deny + it; and what is your proof? Harper's Ferry! John Brown!! John Brown + was no Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single + Republican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise. If any member of our + party is guilty in that matter, you know it or you do not know it. + If you do know it, you are inexcusable for not designating the man + and proving the fact. If you do not know it, you are inexcusable for + asserting it, and especially for persisting in the assertion after + you have tried and failed to make the proof. You need not be told + that persisting in a charge which one does not know to be true, is + simply malicious slander.[29] + + Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided or encouraged + the Harper's Ferry affair; but still insist that our doctrines and + declarations necessarily lead to such results. We do not believe it. + We know we hold to no doctrine, and make no declaration, which was + not held to and made by "our fathers who framed the Government under + which we live." You never dealt fairly by us in relation to this + affair. When it occurred, some important State elections were near + at hand, and you were in evident glee with the belief that, by + charging the blame upon us, you could get an advantage of us in + those elections. The elections came, and your expectations were not + quite fulfilled. Every Republican man knew that, as to himself at + least, your charge was a slander, and he was not much inclined by it + to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines and + declarations are accompanied with a continual protest against any + interference whatever with your slaves, or with you about your + slaves. Surely, this does not encourage them to revolt. True, we do, + in common with "our fathers, who framed the Government under which + we live," declare our belief that slavery is wrong; but the slaves + do not hear us declare even this. For anything we say or do, the + slaves would scarcely know there is a Republican party. I believe + they would not, in fact, generally know it but for your + misrepresentations of us, in their hearing. In your political + contests among yourselves, each faction charges the other with + sympathy with Black Republicanism; and then, to give point to the + charge, defines Black Republicanism to simply be insurrection, blood + and thunder among the slaves. + + Slave insurrections are no more common now than they were before the + Republican party was organized. What induced the Southampton + insurrection, twenty-eight years ago, in which, at least, three + times as many lives were lost as at Harper's Ferry?[30] You can + scarcely stretch your very elastic fancy to the conclusion that + Southampton was "got up by Black Republicanism." In the present + state of things in the United States, I do not think a general, or + even a very extensive slave insurrection, is possible. The + indispensable concert of action cannot be attained. The slaves have + no means of rapid communication; nor can incendiary freemen, black + or white, supply it. The explosive materials are everywhere in + parcels; but there neither are, nor can be supplied, the + indispensable connecting trains. + + Much is said by Southern people about the affection of slaves for + their masters and mistresses; and a part of it, at least, is true. A + plot for an uprising could scarcely be devised and communicated to + twenty individuals before some one of them, to save the life of a + favorite master or mistress, would divulge it. This is the rule; and + the slave revolution in Hayti was not an exception to it, but a case + occurring under peculiar circumstances,[31] The gunpowder plot of + British history, though not connected with slaves, was more in + point. In that case, only about twenty were admitted to the secret; + and yet one of them, in his anxiety to save a friend, betrayed the + plot to that friend, and, by consequence, averted the calamity. + Occasional poisonings from the kitchen, and open or stealthy + assassinations in the field, and local revolts extending to a score + or so, will continue to occur as the natural results of slavery; but + no general insurrection of slaves, as I think, can happen in this + country for a long time. Whoever much fears, or much hopes for such + an event, will be alike disappointed. + + In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, "It is + still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and + deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil + will wear off insensibly; and their places be, _pari passu_, filled + up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force + itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up."[32] + + Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of + emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia; + and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding + States only. The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the + power of restraining the extension of the institution--the power to + insure that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American + soil which is now free from slavery. + + John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection. + It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in + which the slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd + that the slaves, with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it + could not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds with + the many attempts, related in history, at the assassination of kings + and emperors. An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people + till he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He + ventures the attempt, which ends in little else than his own + execution. Orsini's attempt on Louis Napoleon, and John Brown's + attempt at Harper's Ferry were, in their philosophy, precisely the + same. The eagerness to cast blame on old England in the one case, + and on New England in the other, does not disprove the sameness of + the two things. + + And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use of John + Brown, Helper's Book, and the like, break up the Republican + organization? Human action can be modified to some extent, but human + nature cannot be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling against + slavery in this nation, which cast at least a million and a half of + votes. You cannot destroy that judgment and feeling--that + sentiment--by breaking up the political organization which rallies + around it. You can scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has + been formed into order in the face of your heaviest fire; but if + you could, how much would you gain by forcing the sentiment which + created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some + other channel? What would that other channel probably be? Would the + number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the operation? + + But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a denial of + your Constitutional rights.[33] + + That has a somewhat reckless sound; but it would be palliated, if + not fully justified, were we proposing, by the mere force of + numbers, to deprive you of some right, plainly written down in the + Constitution. But we are proposing no such thing. + + When you make these declarations, you have a specific and + well-understood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of + yours, to take slaves into the federal territories, and to hold them + there as property. But no such right is specifically written in the + Constitution. That instrument is literally silent about any such + right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a right has any existence + in the Constitution, even by implication. + + Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy the + Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the + Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and + us. You will rule or ruin in all events. + + This, plainly stated, is your language. Perhaps you will say the + Supreme Court has decided the disputed Constitutional question in + your favor. Not quite so. But waiving the lawyer's distinction + between dictum and decision, the Court have decided the question for + you in a sort of way. The Court have substantially said, it is your + Constitutional right to take slaves into the federal territories, + and to hold them there as property. When I say the decision was made + in a sort of way, I mean it was made in a divided Court, by a bare + majority of the Judges, and they not quite agreeing with one another + in the reasons for making it;[34] that it is so made as that its + avowed supporters disagree with one another about its meaning, and + that it was mainly based upon a mistaken statement of fact--the + statement in the opinion that "the right of property in a slave is + distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution."[35] + + An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of + property in a slave is not "_distinctly_ and _expressly_ affirmed" + in it. Bear in mind, the Judges do not pledge their judicial opinion + that such right is _impliedly_ affirmed in the Constitution; but + they pledge their veracity that it is "_distinctly_ and _expressly_" + affirmed there--"distinctly," that is, not mingled with anything + else--"expressly," that is, in words meaning just that, without the + aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning. + + If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such right is + affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be open to + others to show that neither the word "slave" nor "slavery" is to be + found in the Constitution, nor the word "property" even, in any + connection with language alluding to the things slave, or slavery, + and that wherever in that instrument the slave is alluded to, he is + called a "person";--and wherever his master's legal right in + relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken of as "service or labor + which may be due,"--as a debt payable in service or labor.[36] Also, + it would be open to show, by contemporaneous history, that this mode + of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of speaking of them, was + employed on purpose to exclude from the Constitution the idea that + there could be property in man. + + To show all this, is easy and certain.[37] + + When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought to their + notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the + mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it? + + And then it is to be remembered that "our fathers, who framed the + Government under which we live"--the men who made the + Constitution--decided this same Constitutional question in our + favor, long ago--decided it without division among themselves, when + making the decision; without division among themselves about the + meaning of it after it was made, and, so far as any evidence is + left, without basing it upon any mistaken statement of facts. + + Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves + justified to break up this Government, unless such a court decision + as yours is, shall be at once submitted to as a conclusive and final + rule of political action? But you will not abide the election of a + Republican President! In that supposed event, you say, you will + destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having + destroyed it will be upon us! That is cool. A highwayman holds a + pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, "Stand and deliver + or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!" + + To be sure, what the robber demanded of me--my money--was my own; + and I had a clear right to keep it; but it was no more my own than + my vote is my own; and the threat of death to me, to extort my + money, and the threat of destruction to the Union, to extort my + vote, can scarcely be distinguished in principle. + + A few words now to Republicans. _It is exceedingly desirable that + all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace and in + harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our part to have it + so. Even though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and + ill temper. Even though the Southern people will not so much as + listen to us, let us calmly consider their demands, and yield to + them if, in our deliberate view of our duty, we possibly can_.[38] + Judging by all they say and do, and by the subject and nature of + their controversy with us, let us determine, if we can, what will + satisfy them. + + Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally + surrendered to them? We know they will not. In all their present + complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely mentioned. + Invasions and insurrections are the rage now. Will it satisfy them, + if, in the future, we have nothing to do with invasions and + insurrections? We know it will not. We so know, because we know we + never had anything to do with invasions and insurrections; and yet + this total abstaining does not exempt us from the charge and the + denunciation. + + The question recurs, what will satisfy them? Simply this: We must + not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, convince them that we + do let them alone. This, we know by experience, is no easy task. We + have been so trying to convince them from the very beginning of our + organization, but with no success. In all our platforms and speeches + we have constantly protested our purpose to let them alone; but this + has had no tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing to convince + them, is the fact that they have never detected a man of us in any + attempt to disturb them. + + These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, what will + convince them? This, and this only; cease to call slavery _wrong_, + and join them in calling it _right_. And this must be done + thoroughly--done in _acts_ as well as in _words_. Silence will not + be tolerated--we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Senator + Douglas's new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, suppressing + all declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in politics, + in presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and return + their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down our + Free State constitutions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected + from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to + believe that all their troubles proceed from us. + + I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this way. + Most of them would probably say to us, "Let us alone, _do_ nothing + to us, and _say_ what you please about slavery." But we do let them + alone--have never disturbed them--so that, after all, it is what we + say, which dissatisfies them. They will continue to accuse us of + doing, until we cease saying. + + I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms, demanded the + overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions.[39] Yet those + Constitutions declare the wrong of slavery, with more solemn + emphasis, than do all other sayings against it; and when all these + other sayings shall have been silenced, the overthrow of these + Constitutions will be demanded, and nothing be left to resist the + demand. It is nothing to the contrary, that they do not demand the + whole of this just now. Demanding what they do, and for the reason + they do, they can voluntarily stop nowhere short of this + consummation. Holding, as they do, that slavery is morally right, + and socially elevating, they cannot cease to demand a full national + recognition of it, as a legal right, and a social blessing.[40] + + Nor can we justifiably withhold this on any ground save our + conviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all words, + acts, laws, and constitutions against it, are themselves wrong, and + should be silenced, and swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly + object to its nationality--its universality; if it is wrong, they + cannot justly insist upon its extension--its enlargement. All they + ask, we could readily grant, if we thought slavery right; all we + ask, they could as readily grant, if they thought it wrong.[41] + Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise + fact upon which depends the whole controversy. Thinking it right, as + they do, they are not to blame for desiring its full recognition, as + being right; but, thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them? + Can we cast our votes with their view, and against our own? In view + of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do + this? + + Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone + where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from + its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will + prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and to + overrun us here in these Free States? If our sense of duty forbids + this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let + us be diverted by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith + we are so industriously plied and belabored--contrivances such as + groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong, + vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor + a dead man--such as a policy of "don't care" on a question about + which all true men do care--such as Union appeals beseeching true + Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine rule, and + calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to repentance--such as + invocations to Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington + said, and undo what Washington did. + + Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations + against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the + Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. LET US HAVE FAITH THAT + RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO + OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT. + + + + +INDEX + +A + +Andersonville, responsibility for, 190 +Andrew, John. A., 105 +Antietam, battle of, 115 +Appomattox, the surrender at, 177 ff. +Atlanta, capture of, 151 + + +B + +Bahamas, trade of the, with the Confederacy, 167 ff. +Banks, General N.P., 103 +Bazaine, General, in command of French army in Mexico, 156 +Belle Isle, the prison of, 189 +Bentonville, battle of, 183 +Bixby, Mrs., letter to, from Lincoln, 152 +"Black Republicans," the, 250 +Blair, Prank P., difficulties with, 161 +Blount, William, 237 +Border States, the, and emancipation, 114 ff. +Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 136 ff. +Brainerd, Cephas, on the Cooper Union address, 211 +Brown, John, raid of, 254 +Bryant on Lincoln, 202 +Buckner, Gen. S.B., 99 +Bull Run, second battle of, 122 +Burnside, Gen. Ambrose F., + and the Army of the Potomac, 127; + and the defence of Knoxville, 137 +Butler, Benjamin F., 103, 120 + + +C + +Cabinet, cabals in the, 160 +Cedar Creek, the battle of, 150 ff. +Chancellorsville, battle of, 129 +Charleston, evacuation of, 169 +Chase, Salmon P., + and the Presidential election of 1864, 154; + resignation of, 154; + appointed chief justice, 155; + efforts of, for the Presidency, 157; + difficulties with, in the Cabinet, 161 +Chickamauga, battle of, 136 +Clay, Cassius M., 223 +Congress and slavery in the Territories, 246 ff. +Constitution, + the 13th amendment to, 163 ff.; + defined by Lincoln, 236 ff.; + and property in slaves, 260 ff. +"Crocker, Master", 113 +Curtin, Gov. A.G., 105 +Curtis, Gen. S.R., 108 + + +D + +Danville, the prison of, 147, 189 ff.; + mortality in, 159 +Davis, Jefferson, and Benj. F. Butler, 120; + and the Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 163; + capture of, 187; + and the other leaders of the South, 189; + and the management of the Southern +prisons, 190 ff; + as a prisoner and martyr, 191 +Douglas, Stephen A., and the debate with Lincoln, cited, 235; + and the sedition act, 263; + and the Dred Scott decision, 246 +Dred Scott case, the, 246 + + +E + +Early, Jubal A., raid of on Washington, 142 ff.; + and the battle of Winchester, 149; + and the battle of Cedar Creek, 150 +Elliott, Charles W., 213 +Emancipation Proclamation, the, 115 ff. +Enfield rifles, use of, by Confederates, 146 + + +F + +Farragut, Admiral D.G., 111 +Few, William, 237 +Fisher, Fort, capture of, 167 +Fitzsimmons, Thomas, 238 +Floyd, General John B., 99 +Franklin, battle of, 151 ff. +Franklin, Benjamin, 245 + + +G + +Georgia, cession of territory by, 239 +Gettysburg, campaign of, 132 ff. +Goldsborough, surrender of Johnston's army at, 183 +Goodell, Dr. Wm., 212 +Grant, Gen. U.S., captures Fort Donelson, 99; + and the Vicksburg campaign, 134; + and the Chattanooga campaign, 136; + commander of the armies, 137 ff.; + suggested for the Presidency, 157; + declines to consider terms of peace, 171; + at Appomattox, 177 ff.; + at Goldsborough, 184 ff. +Greeley, Horace, 105 +Greene, Frank V., on Lincoln, 106 + + +H + +Halleck, Gen. H.W., 103 +Hallowell, Col. Norwood, 116 +Hamilton, Alexander, 245 +Hancock, Gen. W.S., 127 +Harper's Ferry, 124; + John Brown's raid at, 254 +Helper, H.R., the "Impending Crisis" of, 258 +Hewitt, Abram S., 99 ff. +Higginson, Col. T.W., 116 +Hood, Gen. John B., 151 ff. +Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 107, 127, 130 ff., 137 + + +I + +Intervention of France and England threatened, 122 + + +J + +Jefferson, Thomas, on emancipation, 257 +Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 138, 151, 169, 183 ft. + + +K + +King, Rufus, 241 +Knoxville, siege of, 137 + + +L + +Lee, Gen. Robert E. and the Antietam campaign, 122; + and the campaign of Gettysburg, 130 ff.; + and the defence of Virginia, 137 ff.; + proposes treaty of peace, 171; + defeated at Five Forks, 171; + at Appomattox, 171 +Libby prison, Presidential election in, 158; + mortality in, 159; + record of, 189 ff. +Lincoln, Abraham, and Hewitt, A.S., 100 ff.; + writes to "Master Crocker", 113; + as commander-in-chief, 103 ff.; + and the death penalty for soldiers, 119; + campaign methods of McClellan, 125 ff.; + letter of, appointing Hooker, 128; + to Grant on the fall of Vicksburg, 134; + address of, at Gettysburg, 134; + letter of, to Mrs. Bixby, 152; + re-election of, as President, 157; + and the exchange of prisoners, 158 ff.; + and the control of the administration, 160; + and the Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 162 ff.; + second inaugural of, 169 ff.; + last public address of, 178; + death of, 181; + and the proposed capture of Jefferson Davis, 188; + death of, reported to the army at Goldsborough, 190; + comparison of, with Washington and Jackson, 195 ff.; + Cooper Union address of, 205 ff.; + writes to Nott, 225 ff. +Lincoln, Robert, on the Cooper Union address, 209 +Longstreet, Gen. James, 133, 137 +Lookout Mountain, battle of, 137 +Louisiana, purchase of, 240 +Lowell on Lincoln, 202 + + +M + +Maximilian, Prince, and the invasion of Mexico, 156 +McClellan, Gen. George B. 102 ff.; + and the Antietam campaign, 122 ff.; + ordered to report to New Jersey, 126 +Meade, Gen. Geo. G., 127, 131 +Mifflin, Thomas, 237 +Milliken's Bend, battle of, 118 +Minnesota, troops from, 165; + university of, 167 +Missionary Ridge, battle of, 137 +Mississippi, organisation of the Territory of, 240 +Missouri, admission of, 241 +Missouri Compromise, the, 31, 38 +Monocacy Creek, battle of, 143 +Morgan, Gen. John, 177 +Morris, Gouverneur, 245 + + +N + +Napoleon, Louis, and the invasion of Mexico, 156 +Nashville, battle of, 151 ff. +_Nation_, the London, on the character of Lincoln, 198 ff. +New Orleans, capture of, 111 ff. +Nineteenth Army Corps and Early's raid, 145 +North Carolina, cession of territory by, 239 +Northwestern Territory, the, of the U.S., 237 +Nott, Chas. C., + introduction to the Cooper Union address, 215 ff.; + letter of, to Lincoln, 224 ff. +Noyes, Wm. Curtis, 212 + + +O + +Ordinance of 1787, 238 ff. + + +P + +Pea Ridge, battle of, 108 +Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 162 +Pickett, Gen. G.E., 133 +Pinckney, Charles, 241 ff. +Pope, Gen. John, 103, 122 +Port Hudson, surrender of, 112 +Presidential election in Libby prison, 158 +Prisoners, the exchange of, 158 +Putnam, George Palmer, and the Cooper Union address, 212 + + +R + +Reagan, Postmaster-general, at Goldsborough, 184 +Reconstruction, Lincoln's views on, 180 ff. +Republican party, the, and slavery in the Territories, 249 ff. +Republican Union, the Young Men's, 223, 232 +Reynolds, Gen. J.T., 127 +Rosecrans, Gen. Wm. S., and the Chattanooga campaign, 136 +Rutledge, John, 245 + + +S + +Schechter, Rabbi, on the character of Lincoln, 200 +Schofield, Gen. Geo. W., 152 +Schurz, Carl, on the character of Lincoln, 201 +Seward, W.H., 64, 160 +Sharp's breech-loaders introduced in 1864, 146 +Shaw, Col. R.G., 116 +Shenandoah, campaign in the valley of the, 149 +Sheridan, Gen. Philip, + in the Shenandoah, 149 ff.; + wins battle of Five Forks, 171 +Sherman, Roger, 237 +Sherman, Gen. Wm. T., + at Missionary Ridge, 137; + captures Atlanta, 151; + and the Georgia planter, 164; + passes by Charleston, 169; + at Goldsborough, 183 ff. +Sigel, Gen. Franz, 108 +Smith, Gen. Kirby, surrender of, 191 +Soldiers authorised to vote in presidential election, 152 +Southampton, insurrection at, 256 +South Mountain, battle of the, 124 +Stanton, Edwin, M., 65, 101 ff., 185 +Stephens, Alexander H., and the Peace Conference of Feb., 1865, 162 ff. +Sumter, Fort, restoration of the flag on, 182 + + +T + +Taylor, Gen. Richard, surrender of, 191 +Thomas. Gen. Geo. H., 136 + + +V + +Vicksburg, surrender of, 112, 134 + + +W + +Wallace, Gen. Lew, 143 +Washington assailed by Early, 142 ff. +Washington, George, and the + Ordinance of 1787, 239; + Farewell Address of, 252; + the example of, 266 +Weitzel, Gen. Godfrey, 119 +Whittier on Lincoln, 201 +Wilderness, battle of the, 140 ff. +Williamson, Hugh, 237 +Wilmington, capture of, 167 +Winchester, third battle of, 149 +Winder, Gen., and the management of the Southern prisons, 190 +Wisconsin, troops from, 165 +Wisewell, Col. F.H., 144 ff. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: This letter has not been published. It is cited here +through the courtesy of Mr. Robert Lincoln and Mr. R.W. Gilder.] + +[Footnote 2: The text of the speech, as revised by Lincoln and with the +introduction and notes by Nott and Brainerd, is given as an appendix to +this volume.] + +[Footnote 3: The late George Palmer Putnam.] + +[Footnote 4:--The Constitution is attested September 17, 1787. It was +ratified by all of the States, excepting North Carolina and Rhode +Island, in 1788, and went into operation on the first Wednesday in +January, 1789. The first Congress proposed, in 1789, ten articles of +amendments, all of which were ratified. Article XI. of the amendments +was prepared by the Third Congress, in 1794, and Article XII. by the +Eighth Congress, in 1803. Another Article was proposed by the Eleventh +Congress, prohibiting _citizens_ from receiving titles of nobility, +presents or offices, from foreign nations. Although this has been +printed as one of the amendments, it was in fact never ratified, being +approved by but twelve States. _Vide_ Message of President Monroe, Feb. +4, 1818.] + +[Footnote 5:--The Convention consisted of _sixty-five_ members. Of +these, _ten_ did not attend the Convention, and _sixteen_ did not sign +the Constitution. Of these sixteen, six refused to sign, and published +their reasons for so refusing, _viz._: Robert Yates and John Lansing, of +New-York; Edmund Randolph and George Mason, of Virginia; Luther Martin, +of Maryland, and Elbridge Gerry, of Mass. Alexander Hamilton alone +subscribed for New-York, and Rhode Island was not represented in the +Convention. The names of the "thirty-nine," and the States which they +represented are subsequently given.] + +[Footnote 6:--The cession of Territory was authorized by New-York, Feb. +19, 1780; by Virginia, January 2, 1781, and again, (without certain +conditions at first imposed,) "at their sessions, begun on the 20th day +of October, 1783;" by Mass., Nov. 13, 1784; by Conn., May----, 1786; by +S. Carolina, March 8, 1787; by N. Carolina, Dec.----, 1789; and by +Georgia at some time prior to April, 1802. + +The deeds of cession were executed by New-York, March 1, 1781; by +Virginia, March 1, 1784; by Mass., April 19, 1785; by Conn., Sept. 13, +1786; by S. Carolina, August 9, 1787; by N. Carolina, Feb. 25, 1790; and +by Georgia, April 24, 1802. Five of these grants were therefore made +before the adoption of the Constitution, and one afterward; while the +sixth (North Carolina) was authorized before, and consummated afterward. +The cession of this State contains the express proviso "that no +regulations made, or to be made by Congress, shall tend to emancipate +slaves." The cession of Georgia conveys the Territory subject to the +Ordinance of '87, except the provision prohibiting slavery. + +These dates are also interesting in connection with the extraordinary +assertions of Chief Justice Taney, (19 How., page 434,) that "the +example of Virginia was soon afterwards followed by other States," and +that (p. 436) the power in the Constitution "to dispose of and make all +needful rules and regulations respecting the Territory or other property +belonging to the United States," was intended only "to transfer to the +new Government the property then held in common," "and has no reference +whatever to any Territory or other property which the new sovereignty +might afterwards itself acquire." On this subject, _vide Federalist_, +No. 43, sub. 4 and 5.] + +[Footnote 7:--Sherman was from Connecticut; Mifflin from Penn.; +Williamson from North Carolina, and M'Henry from Maryland.] + +[Footnote 8:--What Mr. M'Henry's views were, it seems impossible to +ascertain. When the Ordinance of '87 was passed he was sitting in the +Convention. He was afterwards appointed Secretary of War; yet no record +has thus far been discovered of his opinion. Mr. M'Henry also wrote a +biography of La Fayette, which, however, cannot be found in any of the +public libraries, among which may be mentioned the State Library at +Albany, and the Astor, Society, and Historical Society Libraries, at New +York. + +Hamilton says of him, in a letter to Washington _(Works_, vol. vi., p. +65): "M'Henry you know. He would give no strength to the Administration, +but he would not disgrace the office; his views are good."] + +[Footnote 9:--William Blount was from North Carolina, and William Few +from Georgia--the two States which afterward ceded their Territory to +the United States. In addition to these facts the following extract from +the speech of Rufus King in the Senate, on the Missouri Bill, shows the +entire unanimity with which the Southern States approved the +prohibition: + +"The State of Virginia, which ceded to the United States her claims to +this Territory, consented, by her delegates in the Old Congress, to this +Ordinance. Not only Virginia, but North Carolina, South Carolina, and +Georgia, by the unanimous votes of their delegates in the Old Congress, +approved of the Ordinance of 1787, by which Slavery is forever abolished +in the Territory northwest of the river Ohio. Without the votes of these +States, the Ordinance could not have been passed; and there is no +recollection of an opposition from any of these States to the act of +confirmation passed under the actual Constitution."] + +[Footnote 10:--"The famous Ordinance of Congress of the 13th July, 1787, +which has ever since constituted, in most respects, the model of all our +territorial governments, and is equally remarkable for the brevity and +exactness of its text, and for its masterly display of the fundamental +principles of civil and religious liberty."--_Justice Story, 1 +Commentaries_: Sec. 1312. + +"It is well known that the Ordinance of 1787 was drawn by the Hon. +Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, and adopted with scarcely a verbal +alteration by Congress. It is a noble and imperishable monument to his +fame."--_Id._ note. + +The ordinance was reported by a committee, of which Wm. S. Johnson and +Charles Pinckney were members. It recites that, "for extending the +fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the +basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions, are +erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, +constitutions, and governments which forever hereafter shall be formed +in the said Territory; to provide also for the establishment of States +and permanent government, and for their admission to a share in the +federal councils, on an equal footing with the original States, at as +early periods as may be consistent with the general interest-- + +"It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid, that +the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact +between the original States and the people and States in the said +Territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to +wit:" + +"_Art._ 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in +the said Territory otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof +the party shall have been duly convicted; provided always that any +person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully +claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully +reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or +service." + +On passing the ordinance, the ayes and nays were required by Judge +Yates, of New York, when it appeared _that his was the only vote in the +negative_. + +The ordinance of April 23, 1784, was a brief outline of that of '87. It +was reported by a Committee, of which Mr. Jefferson was chairman, and +the report contained a slavery prohibition intended to take effect in +1800. This was stricken out of the report, six States voting to retain +it--three voting to strike out--one being divided (N.C.), and the others +not being represented. (The assent of nine States was necessary to +retain any provision.) And this is the vote alluded to by Mr. Lincoln. +But subsequently, March 16, 1785, a motion was made by Rufus King to +commit a proposition "that there be neither slavery nor involuntary +servitude" in any of the Territories; which was carried by the vote of +eight States, including Maryland.--_Journal Am. Congress,_ vol. 4, pp. +373, 380, 481, 752. + +When, therefore, the ordinance of '87 came before Congress, on its final +passage, the subject of slavery prohibition had been "_agitated_" for +nearly three years; and the deliberate and almost unanimous vote of that +body upon that question leaves no room to doubt what the fathers +believed, and how, in that belief, they acted.] + +[Footnote 11:--It singularly and fortunately happens that one of the +"thirty-nine," "while engaged on that instrument," viz., while +advocating its ratification before the Pennsylvania Convention, did +express an opinion upon this "precise question," which opinion was +_never_ disputed or doubted, in that or any other Convention, and was +accepted by the opponents of the Constitution, as an indisputable fact. +This was the celebrated James Wilson, of Pennsylvania. The opinion is as +follows:-- + +MONDAY, _Dec._ 3, 1787. + +"With respect to the clause restricting Congress from prohibiting the +migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now +existing shall think proper to admit, prior to the year 1808: The Hon. +gentleman says that this clause is not only dark, but intended to grant +to Congress, for that time, the power to admit the importation of +slaves. No such thing was intended; but I will tell you what was done, +and it gives me high pleasure that so much was done. Under the present +Confederation, the States may admit the importation of slaves as long as +they please; but by this article, after the year 1808, the Congress will +have power to prohibit such importation, notwithstanding the disposition +of any State to the contrary. I consider this as laying the foundation +for banishing slavery out of this country; and though the period is more +distant than I could wish, yet it will produce the same kind, gradual +change which was pursued in Pennsylvania. It is with much satisfaction +that I view this power in the general government, whereby they may lay +an interdiction on this reproachful trade. But an immediate advantage is +also obtained; for a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not +exceeding $10 for each person; and this, sir, operates as a partial +prohibition; it was all that could be obtained. I am sorry it was no +more; but from this I think there is reason to hope that yet a few +years, and it will be prohibited altogether. _And in the meantime, the +new States which are to be formed will be under the control of Congress +in this particular, and slaves will never be introduced amongst +them_."--2 _Elliott's Debates_, 423. + +It was argued by Patrick Henry in the Convention in Virginia, as +follows: + +"May not Congress enact that every black man must fight? Did we not see +a little of this in the last war? We were not so hard pushed as to make +emancipation general. But acts of Assembly passed, that every slave who +would go to the army should be free. Another thing will contribute to +bring this event about. Slavery is detested. We feel its fatal effects. +We deplore it with all the pity of humanity. Let all these +considerations press with full force on the minds of Congress. Let that +urbanity which, I trust, will distinguish America, and the necessity of +national defence--let all these things operate on their minds, they will +search that paper, and see if they have power of manumission. And have +they not, sir? Have they not power to provide for the general defence +and welfare? May they not think that these call for the abolition of +slavery? May they not pronounce all slaves free, and will they not be +warranted by that power? There is no ambiguous implication, no logical +deduction. The paper speaks to the point; they have the power in clear, +unequivocal terms, and will clearly and certainly exercise it."--3 +_Elliott's Debates_, 534. + +Edmund Randolph, one of the framers of the Constitution, replied to Mr. +Henry, admitting the general force of the argument, but claiming that, +because of other provisions, it had no application to the _States_ where +slavery _then_ existed; thus conceding that power to exist in Congress +as to all territory belonging to the United States. + +Dr. Ramsay, a member of the Convention of South Carolina, in his history +of the United States, vol. 3, pages 36, 37, says: "Under these liberal +principles, Congress, in organizing _colonies_, bound themselves to +impart to their inhabitants all the privileges of coequal States, as +soon as they were capable of enjoying them. In their infancy, +_government was administered for them_ without any expense. As soon as +they should have 60,000 inhabitants, they were authorized to call a +convention, and, by common consent, to form their own constitution. This +being done, they were entitled to representation in Congress, and every +right attached to the original States. These privileges are not confined +to any particular country or _complexion_. They are communicable to the +emancipated slave (for in the new State of Ohio, slavery is altogether +prohibited), to the copper-colored native, and all other human beings +who, after a competent residence and degree of civilization, are capable +of enjoying the blessings of regular government."] + +[Footnote 12:--The Act of 1789, as reported by the Committee, was +received and read Thursday, July 16th. The second reading was on Friday, +the 17th, when it was committed to the Committee of the whole house, "on +Monday next." On Monday, July 20th, it was considered in Committee of +the whole, and ordered to a third reading on the following day; on the +21st, it passed the House, and was sent to the Senate. In the Senate it +had its first reading on the same day, and was ordered to a second +reading on the following day (July 22d), and on the 4th of August it +passed, and on the 7th was approved by the President.] + +[Footnote 13:--The "sixteen" represented these States: Langdon and +Oilman, New Hampshire; Sherman and Johnson, Connecticut; Morris, +Fitzsimmons, and Clymer, Pennsylvania; King, Massachusetts; Paterson, +New Jersey; Few and Baldwin, Georgia; Bassett and Read, Delaware; +Butler, South Carolina; Carroll, Maryland; and Madison, Virginia] + +[Footnote 14:--_Vide_ note 3, _ante_.] + +[Footnote 15:--Chap. 28, Sec. 7, U.S. Statutes, 5th Congress, 2d Session.] + +[Footnote 16:--Langdon was from New Hampshire, Read from Delaware, and +Baldwin from Georgia.] + +[Footnote 17:--Chap. 38, Sec. 10, U.S. Statutes, 8th Congress, 1st +Session.] + +[Footnote 18:--Baldwin was from Georgia, and Dayton from New Jersey.] + +[Footnote 19:--Rufus King, who sat in the old Congress, and also in the +Convention, as the representative of Massachusetts, removed to New York +and was sent by that State to the U.S. Senate of the first Congress. +Charles Pinckney was hi the House, as a representative of South +Carolina.] + +[Footnote 20:--Although Mr. Pinckney opposed "slavery prohibition" in +1820, yet his views, with regard to the _powers_ of the general +government, may be better judged by his actions in the Convention: + +FRIDAY, _June 8th,_ 1787.--"Mr. Pinckney moved 'that the National +Legislature shall have the power of negativing all laws to be passed by +the State Legislatures, which they may judge improper,' in the room of +the clause as it stood reported. + +"He grounds his motion on the necessity of one supreme controlling +power, and he considers this as the _corner-stone_ of the present +system; and hence the necessity of retrenching the State authorities, in +order to preserve the good government of the national council."--T. 400, +_Elliott's Debates_. + +And again, THURSDAY, _August 23d,_ 1787, Mr. Pinckney renewed the motion +with some modifications.--T. 1409. _Madison Papers_. + +And although Mr. Pinckney, as correctly stated by Mr. Lincoln, "steadily +voted against slavery prohibition, and against all compromises," he +still regarded the passage of the Missouri Compromise as a great triumph +of the South, which is apparent from the following letter: + +CONGRESS HALL, _March 2d_, 1820, 3 _o'clock at night_. + +DEAR SIR:---I hasten to inform you, that this moment we have carried +the question to admit Missouri, and all Louisiana to the southward of +36 deg. 30', free from the restriction of slavery, and give the South, in a +short time, an addition of six, perhaps eight, members to the Senate of +the United States. It is considered here by the slaveholding States as a +great triumph. + +The votes were close--ninety to eighty-six--produced by the seceding and +absence of a few moderate men from the North. To the north of 36 deg. 30,' +there is to be, by the present law, restriction; which you will see by +the votes, I voted against. But it is at present of no moment; it is a +vast tract, uninhabited, only by savages and wild beasts, in which not a +foot of the Indian claims to soil is extinguished, and in which, +according to the ideas prevalent, no land office will be opened for a +great length of time. + +With respect, your obedient servant, + +CHARLES PINCKNEY. + +But conclusive evidence of Mr. Pinckney's views is furnished in the fact +that _he was himself a member of the Committee which reported the +Ordinance of_ '87, and that _on every occasion, when it was under the +consideration of Congress, he voted against all amendments_.--_Jour. Am. +Congress_, Sept. 29th, 1786. Oct. 4th. When the ordinance came up for +its final passage, Mr. Pinckney was sitting in the Convention, and did +not take any part in the proceedings of Congress.] + +[Footnote 21:--By reference to notes 4, 6, 10, 13, 15, and 16 it will be +seen that, of the twenty-three who acted upon the question of +prohibition, twelve were from the present slaveholding States.] + +[Footnote 22:--_Vide_ notes 5 and 17, _ante_.] + +[Footnote 23:--"The remaining sixteen" were Nathaniel Gorham, +Massachusetts; Alex. Hamilton, New York; William Livingston and David +Brearly, New Jersey; Benjamin Franklin, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, +and Gouverneur Morris, Pennsylvania; Gunning Bedford, John Dickinson, +and Jacob Broom, Delaware; Daniel, of St. Thomas, Jenifer, Maryland; +John Blair, Virginia; Richard Dobbs Spaight, North Carolina; and John +Rutledge and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, South Carolina.] + +[Footnote 24:--"The only distinction between freedom and slavery +consists in this: in the former state, a man is governed by the laws to +which he has given his consent, either in person or by his +representative; in the latter, he is governed by the will of another. In +the one case, his life and property are his own; in the other, they +depend upon the pleasure of a master. It is easy to discern which of the +two states is preferable. No man in his senses can hesitate in choosing +to be free rather than slave.... Were not the disadvantages of slavery +too obvious to stand in need of it, I might enumerate and describe the +tedious train of calamities inseparable from it. I might show that it is +fatal to religion and morality; that it tends to debase the mind, and +corrupt its noblest springs of action. I might show that it relaxes the +sinews of industry and clips the wings of commerce, and works misery and +indigence in every shape."--HAMILTON, _Works_, vol. 2, pp. 3, 9. + +"That you will be pleased to countenance the restoration of _liberty_ to +those unhappy _men_, who, alone in this land of freedom, are degraded +into perpetual bondage, and who, amidst the general joy of surrounding +freemen, are groaning in servile subjection; that you will devise means +for removing this inconsistency from the character of the American +people; that you will promote mercy and _justice_ toward this distressed +race; and that you will step to the _very verge_ of the power vested in +you for discouraging every species of traffic in the persons of our +fellow-men."--Philadelphia, Feb. 3rd, 1790. _Franklin's Petition to +Congress for the Abolition of Slavery._ + +Mr. Gouverneur Morris said: "He never would concur in upholding domestic +slavery. It was a notorious institution. It was the curse of heaven on +the States where it prevailed.... The admission of slavery into the +representation, when fairly explained, comes to this--that the +inhabitant of South Carolina or Georgia, who goes to the coast of +Africa, and, in defiance of the most sacred laws of humanity, tears away +his fellow-creatures from their dearest connections, and damns them to +the most cruel bondage, shall have more votes, in a government +instituted for the protection of the rights of mankind, than the citizen +of Pennsylvania or New Jersey, who views with a laudable horror so +notorious a practice.... He would sooner submit himself to a tax for +paying for all the negroes in the United States than saddle posterity +with such a constitution."--_Debate on Slave Representation in the +Convention. Madison Papers_.] + +[Footnote 25:--An eminent jurist (Chancellor Walworth) has said that +"The preamble which was prefixed to these amendments, as adopted by +Congress, is important to show in what light that body considered them." +(8 _Wend. R.,_ p. 100.) It declares that a number of the State +Conventions "having at the time of their adopting the Constitution +_expressed_ a _desire_, in order to prevent _misconstruction or abuse of +its powers_, that further _declaratory_ and restrictive clauses should +be added," resolved, etc. + +This preamble is in substance the preamble affixed to the "Conciliatory +Resolutions" of Massachusetts, which were drawn by Chief Justice +Parsons, and offered in the Convention as a compromise by John Hancock. +(_Life Ch. J. Parsons,_ p. 67.) They were afterward copied and adopted +with some additions by New Hampshire. + +The fifth amendment, on which the Supreme Court relies, is taken almost +literally from the declaration of rights put forth by the Convention of +New York, and the clause referred to forms the ninth paragraph of the +declaration. The tenth amendment, on which Senator Douglas relies, is +taken from the Conciliatory Resolutions, and is the first of those +resolutions somewhat modified. Thus, these two amendments, sought to be +used for slavery, originated in the two great anti-slavery States, New +York and Massachusetts.] + +[Footnote 26:--The amendments were proposed by Mr. Madison in the House +of Representatives, June 8, 1789. They were adopted by the House, August +24, and some further amendments seem to have been transmitted by the +Senate, September 9. The printed journals of the Senate do not state the +time of the final passage, and the message transmitting them to the +State Legislatures speaks of them as adopted at the first session, begun +on the fourth day of March, 1789. The date of the introduction and +passage of the act enforcing the Ordinance of '87 will be found at note +9, _ante_.] + +[Footnote 27:--It is singular that while two of the "thirty-nine" were +in that Congress of 1819, there was but one (besides Mr. King) of the +"seventy-six." The one was William Smith, of South Carolina. He was then +a Senator, and, like Mr. Pinckney, occupied extreme Southern ground.] + +[Footnote 28:--The following is an extract from the letter referred to: + +"I agree with you cordially in your views in regard to negro slavery. I +have long considered it a most serious evil, both socially and +politically, and I should rejoice in any feasible scheme to rid our +States of such a burden. The Congress of 1787 adopted an ordinance which +prohibits the existence of involuntary servitude in our Northwestern +Territory forever. I consider it a wise measure. It meets with the +approval and assent of nearly every member from the States more +immediately interested in slave labor. The prevailing opinion in +Virginia is against the spread of slavery in our new Territories, and I +trust we shall have a confederation of free States." + +The following extract from a letter of Washington to Robert Morris, +April, 12th, 1786, shows how strong were his views, and how clearly he +deemed emancipation a subject for legislative enactment: "I can only say +that there is no man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a +plan adopted for the abolition of it; but there is but one proper and +effective mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is, BY +LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY, and that, as far as _my suffrage will go, shall +never be wanting_."] + +[Footnote 29:--A Committee of five, consisting of Messrs. Mason, Davis, +and Fitch (Democrats), and Collamer and Doolittle (Republicans), was +appointed Dec. 14, 1859, by the U.S. Senate, to investigate the Harper's +Ferry affair. That Committee was directed, among other things, to +inquire: (1) "Whether such invasion and seizure was made under color of +any organization intended to subvert the government of any of the States +of the Union." (2) "What was the character and extent of such +organisation." (3) "And whether any citizens of the United States, not +present, were implicated therein, or accessory thereto, by contributions +of money, arms, munitions, or otherwise." + +The majority of the Committee, Messrs. Mason, Davis, and Fitch, reply to +the inquiries as follows: + +1. "There will be found in the Appendix a copy of the proceedings of a +Convention held at Chatham, Canada, of the Provisional Form of +Government there pretended to have been instituted, the object of which +clearly was to subvert the government of one or more States, and of +course, to that extent, the government of the United States." By +reference to the copy of Proceedings it appears that _nineteen_ persons +were present at that Convention, _eight_ of whom were either killed or +executed at Charlestown, and one examined before the Committee. + +2. "The character of the military organization appears, by the +commissions issued to certain of the armed party as captains, +lieutenants, etc., a specimen of which will be found in the Appendix." + +(These Commissions are signed by John Brown as Commander-in-Chief, under +the Provisional Government, and by J.H. Kagi as Secretary.) + +"It clearly appeared that the scheme of Brown was to take with him +comparatively but few men; but those had been carefully trained by +military instruction previously, and were to act as officers. For his +military force he relied, very clearly, on inciting insurrection amongst +the Slaves." + +3. "It does not appear that the contributions were made with actual +knowledge of the use for which they were designed by Brown, although it +does appear that money was freely contributed by those styling +themselves the friends of this man Brown, and friends alike of what they +styled the cause of freedom (of which they claimed him to be an especial +apostle), without inquiring as to the way in which the money would be +used by him to advance such pretended cause." + +In concluding the report the majority of the Committee thus characterize +the "invasion": "It was simply the act of lawless ruffians, under the +sanction of no public or political authority--distinguishable only from +ordinary felonies by the ulterior ends in contemplation by them," etc.] + +[Footnote 30:--The Southampton insurrection, August, 1831, was induced +by the remarkable ability of a slave calling himself General Nat Turner. +He led his fellow bondsmen to believe that he was acting under the order +of Heaven. In proof of this he alleged that the singular appearance of +the sun at that time was a divine signal for the commencement of the +struggle which would result in the recovery of their freedom. This +insurrection resulted in the death of sixty-four white persons, and more +than one hundred slaves. The Southampton was the eleventh large +insurrection in the Southern States, besides numerous attempts and +revolts.] + +[Footnote 31:--In March, 1790, the General Assembly of France, on the +petition of the _free_ people of color in St. Domingo, many of whom were +intelligent and wealthy, passed a decree intended to be in their favor, +but so ambiguous as to be construed in favor of both the whites and the +blacks. The differences growing out of the decree created two +parties--the _whites_ and the people of color; and some blood was shed. +In 1791, the blacks again petitioned, and a decree was passed declaring +the colored people citizens, who were born of free parents on both +sides. This produced great excitement among the whites, and the two +parties armed against each other, and horrible massacres and +conflagrations followed. Then the Assembly rescinded this last decree, +and like results followed, the blacks being the exasperated parties and +the aggressors. Then the decree giving citizenship to the blacks was +restored, and commissioners were sent out to keep the peace. The +commissioners, unable to sustain themselves, between the two parties, +with the troops they had, issued a proclamation that all blacks who were +willing to range themselves under the banner of the Republic should be +free. As a result a very large proportion of the blacks became in fact +free. In 1794, the Conventional Assembly _abolished slavery_ throughout +the French Colonies. Some years afterward, the French Government sought, +with an army of 60,000 men, to reinstate slavery, but were unsuccessful, +and then the white planters were driven from the Island.] + +[Footnote 32:--_Vide_ Jefferson's Autobiography, commenced January 6th, +1821. JEFFERSON'S _Works_, vol. 1, p. 49.] + +[Footnote 33:--"I am not ashamed or afraid publicly to avow that the +election of William H. Seward or Salmon P. Chase, or any such +representative of the Republican party, upon a sectional platform, ought +to be resisted to the disruption of every tie that binds this +Confederacy together. (Applause on the Democratic side of the House.)" +_Mr. Curry, of Alabama, in the House of Representatives_. + +"Just so sure as the Republican party succeed in electing a sectional +man, upon their sectional, anti-slavery platform, breathing destruction +and death to the rights of my people, just so sure, in my judgment, the +time will have come when the South must and will take an unmistakable +and decided action, and then he who dallies is a dastard, and he who +doubts is damned! I need not tell what I, a Southern man, will do. I +think I may safely speak for the masses of the people of Georgia--that +when that event happens, they, in my judgment, will consider it an overt +act, a declaration of war, and meet immediately in convention, to take +into consideration the mode and measure of redress. That is my position; +and if that be treason to the Government, make the most of it."--_Mr. +Gartell, of Georgia, in the House of Representatives_. + +"I said to my constituents, and to the people of the capital of my +State, on my way here, if such an event did occur," [_i.e._, the +election of a Republican President, upon a Republican platform], "while +it would be their duty to determine the course which the State would +pursue, it would be my privilege to counsel with them as to what I +believed to be the proper course; and I said to them, what I say now, +and what I will always say in such an event, that my counsel would be to +take independence out of the Union in preference to the loss of +constitutional rights, and consequent degradation and dishonor, in it. +That is my position, and it is the position which I know the Democratic +party of the State of Mississippi will maintain."--_Gov. McRae, of +Mississippi._ + +"It is useless to attempt to conceal the fact that, in the present +temper of the Southern people, it" [_i.e._, the election of a Republican +President] "cannot be, and will not be, submitted to. The 'irrepressible +conflict' doctrine, announced and advocated by the ablest and most +distinguished leader of the Republican party, is an open declaration of +war against the institution of slavery, wherever it exists; and I would +be disloyal to Virginia and the South, if I did not declare that the +election of such a man, entertaining such sentiment, and advocating such +doctrines, _ought to be resisted by the slaveholding States_. The idea +of permitting such a man to have the control and direction of the army +and navy of the United States, and the appointment of high judicial and +executive officers, POSTMASTERS INCLUDED, _cannot_ be entertained by the +South for a moment."--_Gov. Letcher, of Virginia_. + +"Slavery _must_ be maintained--in the Union, if possible; out of it, if +necessary: peaceably if we may; forcibly if we must."--_Senator Iverson, +of Georgia_. + +"Lincoln and Hamlin, the Black Republican nominees, will be elected in +November next, and the South will then decide the great question whether +they will submit to the domination of Black Republican rule--the +fundamental principle of their organization being an open, undisguised, +and declared war upon our social institutions. I believe that the honor +and safety of the South, in that contingency, will require the prompt +secession of the slaveholding States from the Union; and failing then to +obtain from the free States additional and higher guaranties for the +protection of our rights and property, that the seceding States should +proceed to establish a new government. But while I think such would be +the imperative duty of the South, I should emphatically reprobate and +repudiate any scheme having for its object the separate secession of +South Carolina. If Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi alone--giving us a +portion of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts--would unite with this State in +a common secession upon the election of a Black Republican, I would give +my consent to the policy."--_Letter of Hon. James L. Orr, of S.C., to +John Martin and others, July_ 23, 1860.] + +[Footnote 34:--The Hon. John A. Andrew, of the Boston Bar, made the +following analysis of the Dred Scott case in the Massachusetts +Legislature. Hon. Caleb Cushing was then a member of that body, but did +not question its correctness. + +"On the question of possibility of citizenship to one of the Dred Scott +color, extraction, and origin, three Justices, viz., Taney, Wayne, and +Daniels, held the negative. Nelson and Campbell passed over the plea by +which the question was raised. Grier agreed with Nelson. Catron said the +question was not open. McLean agreed with Catron, but thought the plea +bad. Curtis agreed that the question was open, but attacked the plea, +met its averments, and decided that a free-born colored person, native +to any State, is a citizen thereof by birth, and is therefore a citizen +of the Union, and entitled to sue in the Federal Courts. + +"Had a majority of the court directly sustained the plea in abatement, +and denied the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court appealed from, then all +else they could have said and done would have been done and said in a +cause not theirs to try and not theirs to discuss. In the absence of +such a majority, one step more was to be taken. And the next step +reveals an agreement of six of the Justices, on a point decisive of the +cause, and putting an end to all the functions of the court. + +"It is this. Scott was first carried to Rock Island, in the State of +Illinois, where he remained about two years, before going with his +master to Fort Snelling, in the Territory of Wisconsin. His claim to +freedom was rested on the alleged effect of his translation from a slave +State, and again into a free territory. If, by his removal to Illinois, +he became emancipated from his master, the subsequent continuance of his +pilgrimage into the Louisiana purchase could not add to his freedom, nor +alter the fact. If, by reason of any want or infirmity in the laws of +Illinois, or of conformity on his part to their behests, Dred Scott +remained a slave while he remained in that State, then--for the sake of +learning the effect on him of his territorial residence beyond the +Mississippi, and of his marriage and other proceedings there, and the +effect of the sojournment and marriage of Harriet, in the same +territory, upon herself and her children--it might become needful to +advance one other step into the investigation of the law; to inspect the +Missouri Compromise, banishing slavery to the south of the line of 36 deg. +30' in the Louisiana purchase. + +"But no exigency of the cause ever demanded or justified that advance; +for six of the Justices, including the Chief Justice himself, decided +that the _status_ of the plaintiff, as free or slave, was dependent, not +upon the laws of the State in which he had been, but of the State of +Missouri, in which he was at the commencement of the suit. The Chief +Justice asserted that 'it is now firmly settled by the decisions of the +highest court in the State, that Scott and his family, on their return +were not free, but were, by the laws of Missouri, the property of the +defendant.' This was the burden of the opinion of Nelson, who declares +'the question is one solely depending upon the law of Missouri, and that +the Federal Court, sitting in the State, and trying the case before us, +was bound to follow it.' It received the emphatic endorsement of Wayne, +whose general concurrence was with the Chief Justice. Grier concurred in +set terms with Nelson on all 'the questions discussed by him.' Campbell +says, 'The claim of the plaintiff to freedom depends upon the effect to +be given to his absence from Missouri, in company with his master in +Illinois and Minnesota, _and this effect is to be ascertained by +reference to the laws of Missouri_.' Five of the Justices, then (if no +more of them), regard the law of Missouri as decisive of the plaintiff's +rights."] + +[Footnote 35:--"Now, as we have already said in an earlier part of this +opinion upon a different point, the right of property in a slave is +distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution. The right to +traffic in it, _like an ordinary article of merchandise and property_, +was guaranteed to the citizens of the United States in every State that +might desire it, for twenty years."--_Ch. J. Taney_, 19 _How. U.S.R_., +p. 451. _Vide_ language of Mr. Madison, note 34, as to "_merchandise_."] + +[Footnote 36:--Not only was the right of property _not_ intended to be +"distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution"; but the +following extract from Mr. Madison demonstrates that the utmost care was +taken to avoid so doing: + +"The clause as originally offered [respecting fugitive slaves] read, 'If +any person LEGALLY bound to service or labor in any of the United States +shall escape into another State," etc., etc. (Vol. 3, p. 1456.) In +regard to this, Mr. Madison says, "The term '_legally'_ was struck out, +and the words 'under the laws thereof,' inserted after the word State, +in compliance with the wish of some who thought the term 'legally' +equivocal and favoring the idea that slavery was legal in a moral point +of view."--_Ib_., p. 1589.] + +[Footnote 37:--We subjoin a portion of the history alluded to by Mr. +Lincoln. The following extract relates to the provision of the +Constitution relative to the slave trade. (Article I, Sec. 9.) + +_25th August_, 1787.--The report of the Committee of eleven being taken +up, Gen. [Charles Cotesworth] Pinckney moved to strike out the words +"the year 1800," and insert the words "the year 1808." + +Mr. Gorham seconded the motion. + +Mr. Madison--Twenty years will produce all the mischief that can be +apprehended from the liberty to import slaves. So long a term will be +more dishonorable to the American character than to say nothing about it +in the Constitution. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Gouverneur Morris was for making the clause read at once-- + +"The importation of slaves into North Carolina, South Carolina, and +Georgia, shall not be prohibited," etc. This, he said, would be most +fair, and would avoid _the _ ambiguity by which, under the power with +regard to naturalization, the liberty reserved to the States might be +defeated. He wished it to be known, also, that this part of the +Constitution was a compliance with those States. If the change of +language, however, should be objected to by the members from those +States, he should not urge it. + +Col. Mason (of Virginia) was not against using the term "slaves," but +against naming North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, lest it +should give offence to the people of those States. + +Mr. Sherman liked a description better than the terms proposed, which +had been declined by the old Congress and were not pleasing to some +people. + +Mr. Clymer concurred with Mr. Sherman. + +Mr. Williamson, of North Carolina, said that _both in opinion and +practice he was against slavery; but thought it more in favor of +humanity, from a view of all circumstances, to let in South Carolina and +Georgia, on those terms, than to exclude them from the Union_. + +Mr. Morris withdrew his motion. + +Mr. Dickinson wished the clause to be confined to the States which had +not themselves prohibited the importation of slaves, and for that +purpose moved to amend the clause so as to read-- + +"The importation of slaves into such of the States as shall permit the +same, shall not be prohibited by the Legislature of the United States, +until the year 1808," which was disagreed to, _nem. con_. + +The first part of the report was then agreed to as follows: + +"The migration or importation of such persons as the several States now +existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the +Legislature prior to the year 1808." + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sherman was against the second part ["but a tax or duty may be +imposed on such migration or importation at a rate not exceeding _the +average of the duties laid on imports_"], as acknowledging men to be +property by taxing them as such under the _character_ of slaves. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Madison _thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the like idea +that there could be property in men_. The reason of duties did not hold, +as slaves _are not, like merchandise_, consumed. + + * * * * * + +It was finally agreed, _nem. con_., to make the clause read-- + +"But a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding +_ten dollars_ for each PERSON."--_Madison Papers, Aug_. 25, 1787.] + +[Footnote 38:--Compare this noble passage and that at page 18, with the +twaddle of Mr. Orr (note 30), and the slang of Mr. Douglas (note 37).] + +[Footnote 39:--That demand has since been made. Says MR. O'CONOR, +counsel for the State of Virginia in the _Lemon Case_, page 44: "We +claim that under these various provisions of the Federal Constitution, a +citizen of Virginia has an immunity against the operation of any law +which the State of New York can enact, whilst he is a stranger and +wayfarer, or whilst passing through our territory; and that he has +absolute protection for all his domestic rights, and for all his rights +of property, which under the laws of the United States, and the laws of +his own State, he was entitled to, whilst in his own State. We claim +this, and neither more NOR LESS." + +Throughout the whole of that case, in which the right to pass through +New York with slaves at the pleasure of the slave owners is maintained, +it is nowhere contended that the statute is contrary to the Constitution +of New York; but that the statute and the Constitution of the State are +both contrary to the Constitution of the United States. + +The State of Virginia, not content with the decision of our own courts +upon the right claimed by them, is now engaged in carrying this, the +Lemon case, to the Supreme Court of the United States, hoping by a +decision there, in accordance with the intimations in the Dred Scott +case, to overthrow the Constitution of New York. + +Senator Toombs, of Georgia, has claimed, in the Senate, that laws of +Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode +Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, for the exclusion of slavery, conceded +to be warranted by the State Constitutions, are contrary to the +Constitution of the United States, and has asked for the enactment of +laws by the General Government which shall override the laws of those +States and the Constitutions which authorize them.] + +[Footnote 40:--"Policy, humanity, and Christianity, alike forbid the +extension of the evils of free society to new people and coming +generations."--_Richmond Enquirer, Jan_. 22, 1856. + +"I am satisfied that the mind of the South has undergone a change to +this great extent, that it is now the _almost universal belief_ in the +South, not only that the condition of African slavery in their midst, is +the best condition to which the African race has ever been subjected, +but that _it has the effect of ennobling both races, the white and the +black_."--_Senator Mason, of Virginia_. + +"I declare again, as I did in reply to the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. +Doolittle), that, in my opinion, slavery is a great moral, social, and +political blessing--a blessing to the slave, and a blessing to the +master."--_Mr. Brown, in the Senate, March_ 6, 1860. + +"I am a Southern States' Rights man; I am an African slave-trader. I am +one of those Southern men who believe that slavery is right--morally, +religiously, socially, and politically." (Applause.) ... "I represent +the African Slave-trade interests of that section. (Applause.) I am +proud of the position I occupy in that respect. I believe the African +Slave-trader is a true missionary and a true Christian." +(Applause.)--_Mr. Gaulden, a delegate from First Congressional District +of Georgia, in the Charleston Convention, now a supporter of Mr. +Douglas_. + +"Ladies and gentlemen, I would gladly speak again, but you see from the +tones of my voice that I am unable to. This has been a happy, a glorious +day. I shall never forget it. There is a charm about this beautiful day, +about this sea air, and especially about that peculiar institution of +yours--a clam bake. I think you have the advantage, in that respect, of +Southerners. For my own part, I have much more fondness for your clams +than I have for their niggers. But every man to his taste."--_Hon_ +_Stephen A. Douglas's Address at Rocky Point, R.I., Aug._ 2, 1860.] + +[Footnote 41:--It is interesting to observe how two profoundly logical +minds, though holding extreme, opposite views, have deduced this common +conclusion. Says Mr. O'Conor, the eminent leader of the New York Bar, +and the counsel for the State of Virginia in the Lemon case, in his +speech at Cooper Institute, December 19th, 1859: + +"That is the point to which this great argument must come--Is negro +slavery unjust? If it is unjust, it violates that first rule of human +conduct--'Render to every man his due.' If it is unjust, it violates the +law of God which says, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself,' for that requires +that we should perpetrate no injustice. Gentlemen, if it could be +maintained that negro slavery was unjust, perhaps I might be +prepared--perhaps we all ought to be prepared--to go with that +distinguished man to whom allusion is frequently made, and say, 'There +is a higher law which compels us to trample beneath our feet the +Constitution established by our fathers, with all the blessings it +secures to their children.' But I insist--and that is the argument which +we must meet, and on which we must come to a conclusion that shall +govern our actions in the future selection of representatives in the +Congress of the United States--insist that negro slavery is not unjust."] + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABRAHAM LINCOLN*** + + +******* This file should be named 11728.txt or 11728.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/2/11728 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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